Website design plays a heavy hand in how people make their purchasing decisions online. It only takes one mistake to drive potential shoppers away, such as misleading product descriptions and images, or a messy and confusing checkout process.
Poor ecommerce website design is the leading cause of faltering sales. What design flaws should you look out for, and how do you correct any mistakes you may have already made?
If you fear your online sales are dragging, take a look at these common ecommerce website design mistakes you could be making.
1. Confusing Product Descriptions
Contrary to popular belief, most consumers spend more time reading product descriptions than looking at product photos. You can convey a lot of crucial information in a product description, such as the specific materials that were used, the benefits users will receive from your products and where the product originates from. Your copy should resonate with consumers while strengthening your brand’s voice and identity.
2. Poor Image Usage
From low-resolution photos and tiny product thumbnails to products that only utilize one image, poor imagery can result in lost sales.
Common image mistakes include:
• Low image quality
• Tiny product images
• Lack of zoom function
• Only one image and angle per product
• Misleading images
For the best practices, invest in professional product images with high resolution that allows users to scale-in for more detail. Utilize thumbnails directly in search results, and ensure the quality of your images matches the value of the goods you’re selling. Finally, add multiple images for each product that showcase a different angle or color. Whatever you do, don’t use one color to showcase your entire range!
3. Ineffective Site Search Engine
Ecommerce website design should always incorporate a search engine function. This helps customers find a product they’re interested in rather than plodding through individual categories. You can get even more from your search engine if you enable keyword searches and allow users to filter their results by specific criteria, such as the lowest prices first, the most popular items in your store, or the latest items you have in stock.
4. Hidden Contact Information
Consumers are less likely to purchase from a website that purposely makes it difficult to contact customer support or inquire about a product. Keep your contact information visible on every page of your ecommerce website. Common locations for information such as email addresses and phone numbers include the header, footer and the top of a sidebar. Transparency adds to trust, which reassures most consumers when it comes to sharing credit card information.
5. Requiring an Account
A customer has found a product they want and placed it in their shopping cart. Now they’re eager to check out. But before they do, they’re prompted to register a free account on your site. This supposedly will make future checkouts easier, but for now, the consumer isn’t sure if they’ll continue to shop with you. They just want their product.
This pivotal junction is where a lot of ecommerce sales are lost. Unfortunately, it’s a strategy that a lot of ecommerce sites still use to capture customer data. While customer data is very valuable in itself, is it more important than making a sale?
Instead, allow consumers to checkout quickly as a guest. After they’ve completed their transaction, you can follow-up to see if they’d like to register on your site. It’s less intrusive and more effective.
6. Frustrating Checkout Process
When it comes to closing a sale, you need to remove as many obstacles as possible from the checkout process. A multi-layered checkout that includes an account sign-in and numerous pages of personal and shipping info gives a customer more time to change their mind.
Keep customer engaged with a simple two-step checkout process. First, they enter their billing and shipping information, then they review and confirm their order on the next page. That’s all you need, and your sales results will show it!
7. Untrustworthy Design
Before handing over their credit card information, most consumers want some reassurance that their identity is in good hands. For smaller organizations and ecommerce sites, this means establishing a level of trust as soon as possible.
How do you convey trust through design? Customer testimonials are a good way to motivate new sales and promote trust, as they reveal elements of your operation from a customer’s point of view. You can further establish trust by providing interesting facts about your company, revealing the employees behind your brand, and by maintaining a clean and contemporary web design.
Drive Sales with Smart Ecommerce Website Design
By avoiding these common design pitfalls, you can seize stronger sales, improve your traffic, and start seeing better search engine rankings.
Do you have any questions about ecommerce website design? Contact us for more information.
