When it comes to creating an e-commerce website, your goal should always be to create something that is visually stunning, strategic, and functionally robust. However, getting this magical combination is not easy without some expert help. As a major Sydney digital marketing agency, we at AT Digital IO have had the pleasure of working with merchants across multiple industries, helping design their dream e-commerce store. In this blog, we’ll be sharing some of our insights into what goes into designing an e-commerce store that fits both the needs of the present and the future. 

What goes into designing a great e-commerce website? 

According to multiple market studies, it takes all but 50 milliseconds for visitors to decide if it’s worth staying on an e-commerce website or not. It is within this short period of time that you need to make a good first impression, and much of this impression comes from creating a visually compelling experience. As such, we find that the best approach to designing a great-looking e-commerce website involves

• Selecting your style and theme 
• Facilitating user engagement
• Optimising Sales Funnel 
• Focusing on curation 
• Regular performance checks 
• Harmonisation with other channels

Selecting your style and theme

When building an e-commerce store, one of the first things you need to do is to figure out a theme and style for your store that conveys a message and perfectly captures the essence of your brand. This is where the visual cues in your websites, such as typography, images, colours, and logos, come into play. 

The fonts you choose convey a lot about your personality and can significantly influence how your other visual cues are organised. It is ideal to go with two fonts—one for the header and footer and the other for the rest of the content. Speaking of colours, selecting a high-contrast colour palette is always a good choice.   

Facilitating user engagement

Having a visually stunning interface is only one part of the process; you also need to streamline your platform to maximise user engagement. The key is to make it simple and intuitive as well as build confidence. When a visitor comes to your e-commerce site, he should be able to navigate to any part of the website without having to go on a wild goose chase. 

Your website also needs to inspire confidence in potential customers, and the best way to erase most doubts is to clearly state your contact information as well as the reviews and testimonials from previous customers. Adding information about your shipping and return policy and making them easy to find is also a must. 

Optimising Sales Funnel

At the end of the day, your end goal is to sell your products and services. To do that, you need to make sure that there are no obstacles for customers from start to finish. You should design your store in such a way that it’s easy for customers to find a product, add it to their cart, and check out with just a few clicks. If the customers change their minds, it should be easy for them to backtrack a few steps without having to start the process all over again. Facilitating multiple modes of payments is also a must. 

Focusing on Curation

Merchandising is an important part of what behavioural economists call choice architecture. When you thoughtfully curate your products into categories such as “New Arrivals,” “Best Sellers,” or any other suitable categories, it creates a subtle psychological effect within the customers that translates to trust. The more trust you gain with your existing customers, the more likely it is that they will visit your site again and also recommend your site to others.  

Regular Performance Checks

No matter how good your website might look, it won’t make a difference if it doesn’t load properly. The last thing you want is for your website to crash and lose you a significant number of potential sales. Therefore, make it a point to regularly engage in website performance checks and make sure your website is running smoothly.

Harmonisation with other channels 

There are many ways across the internet where a potential customer might stumble on your e-commerce website. Regardless of how they discover your website, there needs to be a sense of continuity to make customers feel like they are not missing out on anything, regardless of which device they choose to visit your store. Therefore, it is important that your website is optimised for multiple platforms, most notably mobile devices.

Conclusion

When building an e-commerce platform, the end goal is to achieve the perfect combination of it being visually stunning, strategic, and functionally robust. From intuitive navigation to mobile optimisation, every element plays a part and must ensure a seamless shopping experience. If you’re looking for someone to help revamp your e-commerce platform to the next level, call our Sydney-based digital marketing agency, and we can get started right away. Let’s turn your ideas into high-converting reality.