10 Essential Elements of Successful Ecommerce Websites

Successful e-commerce stores do more than just encourage users to click on the “buy now” button. They make it easy for customers to find the right information for each stage of the buyer’s journey. Helping users to research products and validate a purchasing decision. If customers struggle to find their way around your site, are surprised by unexpected costs, or encounter a frustrating checkout process, they'll bounce back to the search results and seek out your competitors.

Utilize the following 10 elements to ensure you offer visitors an engaging and compelling experience that boost your conversion rate and increases sales.

1. Fast Checkout

Streamline your checkout process to make it as easy and straightforward as possible for users to complete a purchase. Every extra step a user has to go through increases the chances of cart abandonment and a lost sale. Statistics show that 26% of online shoppers will abandon a purchase due to a long or complicated checkout process.

Eliminate unnecessary steps and shorten your checkout process to enable users to quickly complete a purchase - reducing cart abandonment and increasing your conversion rate.

2. Compelling Product Descriptions

Product descriptions are crucial for converting website traffic into paying customers. Focus on the target market and craft your product descriptions to appeal to those users and their pain points. Highlight the benefits that people will receive from purchasing your product, rather than merely focusing on the features. Sell the sizzle, not the steak.

It’s crucial to keep your product descriptions concise. Online shoppers scan content rather than read every word, so anything that is overly long is going to be skimmed over or skipped entirely. If you need to communicate a lot of information about your product, consider using a read more tab or formatting the text into easy to read bullet points.

3. View Cart Button

Allow your visitors to easily view the products they have added to their cart by including a view cart button on every page. This button is one of the most critical elements on your product pages. Place it in a position that is easy to find and consider using a contrasting color to make it stand out from the background.

Users that have selected items might not be ready to complete the purchase. According to a recent survey, 24% of online shoppers that abandon their shopping carts want to save their selected items to consider or complete the purchase at a later date. Allow users to save their cart to encourage sales when they return to your e-commerce site.

4. Clear Calls To Action

A clear and compelling call to action (CTA) is essential for converting traffic into sales. Place your CTA buttons in a prominent position on your product pages and consider the use of color to attract the attention of your visitors and encourage them to click.

Creating a sense of urgency can be an effective tactic for increasing the conversion rate of your e-commerce site. Simply changing the wording of your CTAs can increase the sense of urgency and improve your conversion rate. For example, swapping “Buy” buttons for “Buy Now” could provide the extra nudge to encourage a potential customer to proceed to the checkout.

5. Reviews and Testimonials

Establishing trust is crucial to the success of an e-commerce website. 61% of online shoppers read customer reviews before making a decision to purchase a product. Incorporate testimonials and customer reviews to encourage trust and increase your conversion rate.

You can place product-specific reviews directly underneath your product descriptions to encourage users to complete a purchase. E-commerce giant Amazon puts a star rating below the product name and customer reviews below the product description to encourage users to complete a purchase.

6. Thank You Pages

Once a shopper has purchased a product, redirect the user to a thank you page. A thank you page has two important functions for an e-commerce store. First, the user can be confident that their order has been placed successfully and highlights that you appreciate their custom. Second, a thank you page is crucial for measuring analytics and the success of social media marketing.

7. Navigation Menu

An intuitive and easy to use navigation menu ensures users can find their way around your site and locate what they are looking for. Your menu should be accessible on every page and feature concise and clear navigation options.

Don’t frustrate your users by overloading your menu with too many options. Categorize your options to keep your menu organized and ensure users can find what they’re looking for in a couple of clicks.

8. Honest Pricing

According to the Magicdust ecommerce website company it is very important to be upfront and clear about the price of your products. Don’t hide pricing information or make it difficult for users to find. According to Baymard Institute, 60% of users will abandon their purchase due to unexpected costs or fees.

This also applies to your shipping costs. Make your shipping fees and policies are clear and provide a breakdown of total costs, including shipping. A great way to increase the average order value of your store is to offer free shipping for orders that meet a threshold. A recent survey shows that 24% of shoppers are willing to spend more to qualify for free shipping.

9. Quality Photos

The primary concern shoppers have about buying online is that they can’t see products in person before committing to a purchase. That’s why quality product photos are so important. High-resolution images are absolutely necessary. Any pixelation or poor quality images will see your bounce rate soar and your conversion rate plummet. Consider creating photo galleries so users can see your products from different angles and zoom in to examine product details. The aim is to try and make the experience as close to a brick and mortar shopping experience as possible.

10. Keep The User in Mind

Every element of your e-commerce store influences a user’s decision to make a purchase. From your copy to your page layout, every aspect should be created with the user in mind. User experience is crucial to converting your website visitors into paying loyal customers. In fact, a study by Forrester revealed that improving the user experience of an ecommerce store can result in a 400% increase in conversions.

Conclusion

Successful e-commerce stores are built on the above elements, but they are also never truly finished. Testing, measuring, and improving are crucial in developing and optimizing your store. Every business is unique and what works for one store might not as effective for another, that’s why testing is so important.

The goal is to make it as easy as possible for users to locate what they are looking for and complete a purchase in as few steps as possible. Keep your user in mind and strive for efficiency to increase conversions and drive sales.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or management of EconoTimes.