Running a successful eCommerce store isn’t easy. It requires a lot of attention, a strong vision and will to make your online store a success.
As a web design agency with almost 20 years of experience in designing & building eCommerce websites, we know what you need to do in order to be a success. We also know what you need to avoid – things that can be detrimental to your online success. We see these things time and time again on eCommerce sites not built by us and so we thought we’d share the most common mistakes that you need to avoid.
No guest checkout
According to a 2022 study on online shopping, shoppers expect a super quick checkout experience with two thirds of shoppers expecting checkout to take 4 minutes or less. They also found that 43% of shoppers prefer using guest checkout (even those who have an account!). Add in the fact that the study also highlighted that around 82% of shoppers would abandon their cart if the account registration process is too long or complicated. That’s a lot of lost business for you right there if your checkout experience is long winded.
Of course there are benefits to having an account registered – shoppers will have access to order history, they can save their cards for faster checkout in future etc. But it seems that shoppers today would rather just checkout as quickly as possible and not have to worry about remembering another password. Give your customers the flexibility to choose between guest checkout or via a registered account.
Lack of payment options or too many!
While we’re on the topic of checkout, how many payment options do you have available to your shoppers? With inflation and rising costs continuing to be a factor affecting people’s shopping habits, there has been a huge rise in popularity in Buy Now Pay Later services such as Klarna and Clearpay. These platforms allow users to spread the cost over time making those bigger purchases more manageable. And then there’s paying with Apple Pay & Google Pay which allow super quick and secure payment options.
Are you missing out by not having these available on your website? Just be careful to not overwhelm your customers though with zillions of different ways to pay – remember keeping it easy is key!
Poor user experience
Getting users onto your website is only the first part, you need to then convert them into a customer. It’s incredibly important that your website is easy to navigate and that users can find exactly what they are looking for quickly and easily. Your menu structure should be clear and concise, your homepage should be well laid out, highlighting all of the key components of your business and your product pages should highlight all of the key features of your product. This all sounds pretty obvious but you’d be surprised at the amount of eCommerce stores we’ve seen over the years that have terrible layouts!
If you’re reading this and thinking ‘is my website layout bad’ or ‘is my navigation structure clear and considering’ then please do get in touch with us. We’d be more than happy to help you out.
Low quality imagery and poor content
How likely are you to buy a product if the product imagery is poor? We’re going to guess and say very unlikely. So why would you expect people to buy from you if your images are poor quality too? If your products come from a manufacturer then you should be obtaining hi-res imagery directly from them. If you make the products yourself then professional photography is the way to go. You’re selling fantastic products – show them off!
It’s not just about the imagery though, every product should have engaging content detailing the product. Product descriptions shouldn’t just be a couple of words – it should cover everything a customer would need to do before purchasing. That way you’re reducing the potential for returns and spending time answering questions when you could be spending that time elsewhere.
That’s just a few of the things that you should be avoiding if you want to have a successful eCommerce store. Here at Xtensive we have a wealth of experience in creating stunning eCommerce stores across various platforms that convert users into customers. Whether you’re online store is on BigCommerce, Shopify, Woocommerce or anything else – we can help. Get in touch with us today and begin your journey to a whole new level of eCommerce success.
