Boost Online Sales: 14 Elements of Effective E-Commerce Web Design
Updated March 2024
The Importance of Optimizing Your Online Store
Are you an aspiring business owner or entrepreneur looking to establish a successful online presence? In the fast-paced world of e-commerce, having a well-designed website can make all the difference. It’s not just about aesthetics; it’s about creating an experience that captivates your audience and drives conversions.
This blog post will explore the 14 crucial elements of effective e-commerce web design. Whether you’re a seasoned professional or just starting, implementing these key elements will elevate your online store and position you for success. Get ready to unlock the secrets to creating an engaging e-commerce website that leaves a lasting impression.
Let’s dive in and discover the building blocks of effective e-commerce web design.
Why You Need Effective E-Commerce Web Design
We work with many e-commerce clients and noticed a consistent, if somewhat alarming, trend. Many businesses think they can build an e-commerce website, add products and pricing, and start selling. In reality, many things go into building and maintaining an e-commerce store. Today, I want to focus on how effective e-commerce web design can help increase conversions.
It is easy to understand why e-commerce site owners focus on sales only; they are ready to sell when visitors arrive. However, consumers may not be prepared to buy at that stage. Especially if they are new to your business, they are at a different stage in their conversion journey. Instead of being an overly pushy salesperson, you can use effective e-commerce web design to align your selling process with your consumers.
Put Yourself in Your Consumers’ Place
Imagine you visit a mall. The first retailer bombards you with pushy sales promotions the moment you enter, so you leave. At the second store, you are entirely ignored, with the same results. Your online store works the same way. Don’t be overly “salesy” or pushy; your visitors will go elsewhere. Instead, focus on providing guidance and answering questions from potential consumers as required.
As an e-commerce business, you already know that there are many easy tips and tricks to increase conversions. From a design perspective, your responsibilities may seem only for visual appeal. You probably didn’t know that effective e-commerce web design increases online store conversions. Let me show you why and how this works.
Three Facts Supporting Effective E-Commerce Web Design
1. People Would Rather Spend Time on a Well-Designed Site
According to a study conducted by Adobe, consumers would rather spend their time on a well-designed site, even if they are short on time! Additionally, if you are trying to attract Millennials, you should focus more on entertainment and micro-interactions than sales facts alone.
66% of consumers would prefer to engage with a well-designed website and not just any website, even if short on time.
Adobe Research
If you can use effective e-commerce web design to engage consumers, you’ll likely keep them on your site. Effective e-commerce design generates more content shares and increases your e-commerce revenue. Your design efforts will be appreciated by the traffic that lands on your site.
2. Effective E-Commerce Web Design Provides Credibility
You would not go shopping in a business down a dark alley. Online consumers need some sign that your e-commerce site is trustworthy before they make a buying decision. Effective e-commerce web design considers this right from the start of your project.
51% of online consumers think that, aside from products and services, complete contact information is an essential piece of a company website, and 44% will leave if that info isn’t conspicuously posted.
KoMarketing
Effective e-commerce web design isn’t just coding, imagery, and navigation. An experienced designer pays attention to critical details like transparency, trustworthiness, and user engagement. This focus includes displaying contact information, shipping and return policies, customer testimonials and reviews, and a robust about section.
3. Fast Page Load Speeds Increase Return Visits
A quick page load speed is not only a Google requirement for better search rankings; it also plays an essential part in user satisfaction. Attention to the details is important, especially for image-heavy sites such as e-commerce websites.
82% of consumers say slow page speeds impact their purchasing decisions.
Blogging Wizard
Web page speed and image compression are important aspects of effective e-commerce web design. By optimizing your e-commerce design for desktop and mobile visitors, you’ll keep potential consumers on your site longer and increase the odds that they will return.
14 Effective E-Commerce Web Design Elements You Must Have!
Whether you are building your first e-commerce store or merely updating or redesigning an existing one, the same rules apply. To offer a better user experience and increase engagement and conversions, you must include these effective e-commerce web design elements.
You can choose from many e-commerce content management systems or hire a professional web designer or agency to build a custom e-commerce site. That part is entirely up to you. But aside from fabulous products, of course, these elements of a fantastic e-commerce site will make your online store much more successful.
Mobile-First Design
This should not even be mentioned anymore in 2024. Meeting the expectations of demanding and sophisticated mobile consumers is essential. Effective e-commerce web design looks and functions equally well on desktop and mobile devices, benefiting the user experience.
As of 2024, 60.67% of website traffic comes from mobile devices. 92.3% of internet users consider accessing the internet through their smartphones compared to other devices.
What’s the Big Data
You must consider mobile and omnichannel (mobile and desktop) consumers when designing an active online store. The average consumer will use a variety of desktop and mobile devices on the journey to conversion. Effective e-commerce web design means simplifying this process as much as possible.
Load Speeds of Less Than Three Seconds, Even on Mobile!
As mentioned above, having a fast-loading online store is crucial to user satisfaction. And this trend is only accelerating, so to speak! Google expects desktop sites to load in less than 2 seconds for maximum search benefits. Now that’s fast! And websites are expected to load in less than 3 seconds even on mobile devices.
About 53% of mobile site visits are abandoned if pages take longer than 3 seconds to load, highlighting the critical window e-commerce sites have to capture and retain customer attention.
Website Builder Expert
To check on your site, test your pages using a tool like Pingdom, GTMetrix, or Google PageSpeed Insights and follow their optimization guidance. These tools will explain what you need and how to fix it for mobile and desktop site versions.
For example, if you need to optimize images, the PageSpeed tool will list the photos that need to be updated and exactly how much smaller they need to be.
SSL Certificate
Another effective e-commerce web design element is a secure socket layer (SSL) Certificate. Many payment processors need this, and as of July 2018, Google also requires it. An SSL certificate adds an extra layer of trust and transparency to your website, which is a deciding factor for many online consumers before they share their credit cards or other sensitive information.
Simple and Consistent Navigation
Nobody will buy anything on your site if they cannot easily find it first! So don’t let your e-commerce store navigation confuse shoppers. They should be able to decide where they want to go at a glance. Otherwise, they will simply go to a site with better navigation or search experience.
Half of referral traffic is going to use the navigation menu to orient them; the other half will be using your search bar and clicking through your calls to action.
KoMarketing
For the 50% of potential online consumers using your navigation menu, combine items into product categories and subcategories to keep traffic flowing. Don’t include so many product categories that site visitors must read through all of them to find the right product.
Increasing your online sales by designing navigation that allows shoppers to find what they’re looking for is a highly effective element of e-commerce web design. Unfortunately, many online stores still lack this element.
Prominent Contact Information
What if your online consumers have questions before or during the buying process? Prominently posting your contact information on your homepage, in the footer or sidebar of your website, is a simple way to make it easy to find. Include a phone number, email address, and a contact form so that site visitors have options to get in touch.
Prominent Shipping and Return Policies
Another very effective e-commerce web design strategy is to prominently display your shipping and return policy on the home page, in your header, and again in the footer of your pages. Contrary to popular belief, this will not lead to increased returns. Providing this info removes a frequent obstacle in the conversion journey and increases sales!
Privacy Policy
Your privacy policy is next on our list of effective e-commerce web design elements. Remember that you ask your site visitors for sensitive personal information, such as their credit card information and home address.
Among other laws, the FTC Act mandates website owners to clearly and conspicuously disclose their privacy practices, including how they collect, use, and share consumer information. If your website collects personal information, you must include a privacy policy that outlines these practices.
They will feel more comfortable doing that if your site appears trustworthy and reputable. For those who want to know, ensure they can find out their personal information is safe on your website.
If you do not have a privacy policy, you can use a generic privacy policy generator to create a boilerplate version for your website. A general privacy policy is usually good enough for starters. But if you want to be thorough, you may wish to consult with your business lawyer.
You can create a privacy policy for online stores and e-commerce sites using this free tool.
Regardless of your policy type, you must link to it in the site’s footer and make the privacy policy visible during checkout.
Data Privacy
In 2024, protecting customer data is crucial for e-commerce businesses. However, recent large-scale data breaches, such as Casio’s breach, which hit their customers in 149 countries, have highlighted the need for better data privacy in online retail. When companies fail to secure sensitive customer information, it damages consumer trust and can seriously impact their business.
GDPR and CCPA Compliance
If you sell to consumers residing in any EU country, you must fully comply with the General Data Protection Rules (GDPR), which went into effect on May 25th, 2018. While EU regulators will most likely not blitz your door if you don’t comply, you will still want to become compliant.
If you operate an e-commerce business in California or target consumers in that state, you must comply with the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018.
The CCPA gives consumers more control over the personal information that businesses collect about them, and its regulations provide guidance on how to implement the law.
Simple Shopping Cart and Checkout Process
Shopping cart flow and a simple checkout process are two more of our effective e-commerce web design elements. No matter how wonderful your products are, if your consumers have a hard time during checkout, they will leave!
The latest shopping cart abandonment rates show that in January 2024, 72.88% of all online shopping carts fail to make it to the checkout stage.
Oberlo
Your checkout process should encourage complete transactions, not hinder them. Like the rest of your pages, your shopping cart must be responsive to omnichannel mobile consumers. If possible, cut the checkout process into four pages:
- Login/ Sign-Up (If Required)
- Delivery and Payment Information
- Order Details Confirmation
- Order Placement
If you want to increase conversions and sales, consider offering guest checkout. Forcing potential shoppers to register a profile on your site before they can buy is a major turnoff. Instead, make it easy for returning customers by allowing them to log in with their social media profiles. The fewer steps your potential shoppers have to take, the more likely they are to convert.
Multiple About Pages
No, this is not a typo! There are excellent reasons why having two or more About pages is a very effective e-commerce web design strategy. No matter what type of online store you have, there are at least two stories behind it.
Of course, online shoppers want to know about your products and services, which is why you have product pages and reviews. They also want to know about you and your company. By telling that story, you involve your consumers in your brand story.
What made you decide to open your own business? Why did you choose to sell what you do? Did a personal experience lead you to it? Are you fulfilling a life-long dream or hoping to help your local community? And that makes it more likely they will become loyal brand advocates.
One of our clients opened her online store to spend more time with her kids. Another decided to do it to provide better food alternatives for young families, like her grandchildren. This type of story resonates with your potential consumers.
Be sure not to hide this information in your footer or some other obscure section of your site. Just like a shopkeeper greets customers as they come to your online store, introduce yourself to your online audience as well.
Include a page on your online store explaining your products and another page with details about the company. Both are part of our top effective e-commerce web design strategies.
Customer Service Pages
Many online stores focus primarily on selling products. But what if your online consumers have questions before, during, or after their purchase? The problems can range from delivery expectations to what to do if the product is defective or the wrong size to after-purchase customer support. Effective e-commerce web design includes adding customer service pages to answer these questions.
A 2022 study on US consumer behavior reports that 56.6% of survey respondents prefer to shop online rather than in person.
Raydiant
Customer service pages include frequently asked questions (FAQs), support pages, and contact forms. By leveraging support pages like these, online retailers can offer crucial information about their products without receiving excessive customer service inquiries by phone and email.
Effective e-commerce web design includes easy access to relevant information, such as contact forms. If you have multiple contact forms for emails, link to the appropriate forms from related pages. You don’t want to direct consumers to the press and media team or journalists connected to your customer service team.
Buyer’s Guides and How-To’s
An often-overlooked element of effective e-commerce web design is sales and shopping guides. Like an attentive store clerk can influence your buying decision by answering questions, buyer’s guides do the same for your e-commerce site.
E-commerce digital sales materials are more than just products. You need to guide shoppers along the path to conversion. Buyer’s guides and how-to’s help consumers decide which sizes, colors, and dimensions to order. They also give helpful pre-sales info, such as care instructions.
Large e-commerce stores can benefit from interactive buyer guides that suggest related or cross-sell products. You can also offer alternative product suggestions and pre-sales suggestions to your online shoppers. For instance, Amazon includes links to pop-up buyer’s guides directly on product pages with hyperlinks to size charts and other product options.
But even for smaller budgets, there are now options to include virtual assistants and even bots guided by artificial intelligence on your e-commerce site. That allows even the smallest online retailers to interact with online consumers and guide their shopping behavior.
Press or Media Kit
Once you have your online store up and running, you will want to promote it as much as possible. E-commerce sites will likely have more traffic if external blogs and articles link to them. A press or media kit and a press or media page are essential, effective elements of e-commerce web design.
Therefore, you should make it easy for journalists and bloggers to generate hype by including a media kit on your site. Media kits contain whatever your business wants people to share. That can consist of your brand logo and style guide, images of the business owner, public relations links, and press releases about new products.
Be sure to include all relevant contact information. That way, anyone interested in publicizing your online store has access to the information they need. If you can offer some of this information in downloadable PDF files or online videos, it becomes more sharable online and on social networks.
Final Thoughts on Effective E-Commerce Web Design
In conclusion, implementing the 14 elements of effective e-commerce web design is crucial for engaging and converting potential consumers to your online store. Similar to a brick-and-mortar business, a well-designed e-commerce site can effectively replace an attentive shopkeeper, meet the expectations of mobile consumers, and ultimately boost online sales.
Simply put, effective e-commerce web design will increase e-commerce conversions. Think of how you react in a brick-and-mortar store. If the sales staff ignores you or pushes products on you the moment you enter the store, you are likely to turn around and leave. Attentive staff that answers your questions and addresses your concerns will turn you into a loyal customer.
But you must optimize your online store for sales. Ensure your e-commerce site is mobile-first, easy to use and navigate, and that your pages load within three seconds on all devices. Post contact information prominently on your website and offer a smooth checkout process. Make sure product pages link to relevant buyer’s guides to optimize conversions and answer all consumer questions.
Incorporating all or most of our effective e-commerce web design elements ensures a positive perception. It helps direct people to the intended pages and products. Even more important, it connects them to the real people and stories behind your online business, which is what will make your brand stand out!
Need Help Incorporating Effective E-Commerce Web Design Elements?
So, you are not sure where to go from here. I understand that deciding which e-commerce web design elements you need and where to add them can be tricky. Here is an idea: Why not let our team help you figure this out? As a top e-commerce marketing agency, we can help you boost your e-commerce sales.
Our professional e-commerce designers will happily help you enhance your e-commerce user experience for mobile consumers. First, please review our portfolio and read our case studies.
Then, if you believe we are a good fit for your e-commerce web design needs, contact us! We offer a full range of consulting and design solutions for businesses and product brands.
Why not get started by requesting your free estimate?
Let’s talk if you are unsure how to build and grow an effective e-commerce site! Our team will listen to your concerns, analyze problems and obstacles between your audience and your e-commerce website, and how to overcome them. That way, you can focus on running and growing your online business. Does that sound good to you?
Do You Have an Effective E-Commerce Site?
Perhaps you have some effective e-commerce web design elements that worked well for your online store. We would love to know about them. Please share them with our audience in the comments. Don’t forget to grab our feed so you don’t miss any updates. And help any online business owners among your friends and associates by sharing this post with them.
For more content relevant to your business or product brand – check out the range of articles on our web design blog. (This one, outlining how to enhance e-commerce user experience, is an excellent place to start!)
Thank you! We appreciate your help to end bad business websites, one pixel at a time!
By Gregor Saita
Co-Founder / CXO
@gregorsaita