8 Tips for Designing an Ecommerce Website

Web design plays an important role in creating a successful e-commerce site. Without design to support the presentation, the world’s best products can easily go unnoticed.

The best thing about Web Design and Tips is that much of the design advice is based on data and case studies. There is always room for creativity and inspirational expression, but data-based advice guarantees concrete results.

The goal is to sell more of what your brand offers. Through clever design elements and bold statements, customers will want to know more.

Good web design not only motivates users to take action , but also helps strengthen their trust in your brand. Actions drive sales, and design exists to encourage users to take action, such as making a purchase or contacting you.

This article is for anyone who wants to improve the design of their e-commerce website. It doesn’t matter if you use WordPress, Wix, BigCommerce , or a custom ecommerce platform. The lessons and tips outlined below are universally applicable as modern design principles.

tell a story

Great products have great stories behind them. Anyone can build an e-commerce site and sell whatever they want. However, not everyone is able to create a successful brand image around their product.

The ability to tell a compelling story about your brand helps you build a strong brand image . Storytelling also fosters loyalty. Customers are more likely to remember your brand if you feel authentic and personal. And the best way to get personal is to tell a story.

• What inspired you to create your product?
• How has your product impacted your life?
• What is your vision for the future?
• Who is your target customer?

Once you start answering these questions, you’ll get a clearer idea of ​​how to structure your ecommerce design. Make users feel like they are part of something special.

Don’t you want your customers to come back to your store because they’re inspired?

reduce choices

There’s nothing worse than a sloppy store navigation experience. The goal of sales is to get users to add items to their shopping carts. However, if your navigation has hundreds of options, users will quickly lose patience and leave your site entirely.

Walmart is a great example of what not to do if you don’t want to scale for long-tail sales. Their navigation provides a saturated list of navigation options that leaves you feeling dizzy by the time you finish finding what you need.

The easier it is for customers to find a particular product, the more time they will spend reading about it and ultimately making a purchase.

Helpful: Try creating your navigation structure using Sketch, Photoshop, or other wireframing tools. Analyze the process by which users arrive at your home page, browse your directory, and finally reach your product page.

This is probably one of the most important tips for designing an e-commerce site.

colors stimulate emotions

Long before the digital revolution, color has had a psychological impact on sales. Understanding the different types of emotions that colors evoke allows you to design your e-commerce site to match specific emotions and moods.

Below is a chart showing the emotions commonly associated with different colors.

Depending on your product and target audience, colors can be used to evoke specific emotions. For example, if your store sells environmentally friendly products or agricultural products, the color green will complement the sense of nature.

Research shows that it takes customers about 90 seconds to formulate an opinion about a product. And the majority of that interaction duration (about 70%) is set exclusively in color.

Consistency is key

Users will remember your brand design not because of your catchy name, but because of the overall brand image you present. When it comes to web design, it mainly concerns the structure of the page.

Are you using the same fonts and colors on every page? Powerful typographic patterns can imprint a memorable experience in your users’ minds.

Additionally, using different colors across multiple pages risks giving the impression that you have a versatile brand.

Therefore, it is essential to focus on using similarities in your design patterns if you want to be recognized and remembered. Even if your product has many branches, designing your pages with similarities in mind can help create a stronger brand presence. That’s your ticket to increasing sales .

Hurry up and experiment

Urgency is primarily based on offers and special deals. As you can see in the photo above, Bestbuy uses the top of the homepage to highlight attractive deals. But are there other ways to increase the sense of urgency?

One of the biggest reasons customers abandon their shopping carts is high shipping costs . Therefore, you have the opportunity to profit by offering special deals on shipping charges.

This is also a tactic used by brands like Bestbuy. And Amazon is known for its Prime service. Free shipping on almost all products for Prime users only. You can also encourage users to spend a certain amount on your store and offer free shipping in return.

Another form of urgency is limiting the available stock of a particular product.

This is a beautiful holiday-based crew neck sweatshirt. This offer includes free shipping to the US, but is only available for a limited time. This is a prime example of urgency used in e-commerce store design.

Are there other ways to increase urgency? We’d love to hear your thoughts and success stories.

clear and beautiful photos

There’s plenty of data to back up the claim that high-quality, relevant, and visually appealing images can help improve conversion rates. And we’re not just talking about product images.

The images you use throughout your design can have a huge impact on attracting users’ attention.

Great photos evoke emotion, create a sense of identity, and make you more memorable. The average person can recall up to 2,000 images with near-perfect accuracy.

However, if there are no photos to support the product design, the product will not sell. As an e-commerce store owner, it is important that you do your best to captivate the essence of your products through high-quality photography.

Best of all, you don’t have to hire expensive photography equipment to get the job done. There are tons of tutorials and how-to guides on how to create great product photos using just your phone or an inexpensive camera.

Sites like Pexels and Unsplash are well known for providing stunning, license-free, professional photos.

become a customer

There are two sides to web design: the professional side and the subjective side. The professional side is all about following UX and UI trends when building designs.

The subjective side requires you to step back and look at the design from the customer’s perspective. Site visitors, so to speak.

• What do you think about the overall design layout?
• Can you quickly find the information you need?
• What does navigation mean?
• Are the product descriptions loud and clear?
• How quickly can I get to the checkout page?

Answering these questions will help you notice any discrepancies that need to be addressed.

Use A/B testing frequently

Now that we’ve reached the final part of our e-commerce site design tips, let’s close out the list by talking about A/B testing.

A/B testing is necessarily a way to use two different website layouts at the same time. A is one version, B is another version.

Then, after some time has passed, you can compare metrics for each version individually. Metrics you can monitor include conversion rates, usability, and overall interaction with different parts of your layout.

Even small design changes can significantly increase user engagement. Similarly, experimenting with different color variations etc. will give you a clearer idea of ​​where to focus your future designs.

summary

Design is an ever-changing landscape. Understanding patterns, user behavior, and the latest trends gives you an edge to increase sales.

Our design tips are for anyone looking to improve the user experience of their e-commerce site.

So, let’s get to work without wasting a minute. We’d love to hear how these tips helped you shape a better design for your e-commerce store. If you need a professional designer, you can always check out 99designs .