How to Design an E-Commerce Website?

With the passing of time, the progress of technology, and the spread of the internet to the general populous, e-commerce has created a deeply rooted structure among us. We have seen the rise of huge giants such as Amazon, Alibaba, eBay and so much more.

Not only that, but even smaller businesses are opening up online websites for their business, to gain a better reach for their customers. So, the demand for designing and developing e-commerce websites has seen a huge surge in the past decade.

While it may seem a daunting task at first, with a bit of effort and perseverance, it is certainly a feasible task. That is our topic of discussion for today. However, PWAs or progressive web apps may also be your choice. If so, you may visit website regarding PWAs to know more about them. They tend to be more reliable, fast, and engaging than a native app. Hence their popularity has soared in recent times as well as their demand.

What Are the Steps to Designing an E-Commerce Website?

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Designing an e-commerce website, yourself requires a bit of proficiency in web development and web design. Assuming that you have already gained enough proficiency in both, I will provide a general brief of the important considerations below.

1. Creating a Draft for Navigation:

After you have set up a framework, make sure you have a draft of the web design that you wish to implement. It must definitely include the common navigational paths. Such as Home, Profile, Search, Filter, About Us, Product Descriptions, etc.

But you MUST not put everything on the home page. It would only clutter the home page. The key is to keep it as simple and elegant as possible. That seems to be the aesthetic of the current trend.

However, make sure to not make navigation too obscure by putting them in several nested drop-down menus.

2. Choosing a Pleasant Color Palette:

The first thing that a visitor and potential customer will notice is the color palette of your website. Here the psychological aspect of color and its effect on human emotion comes into play.

Before you begin creating further design components, you must first create a well-defined color palette. Choose a color that attracts and promotes engagement depending on your target consumers and the items you wish to highlight.

Especially if you wish to create an app alongside the website, it is necessary to choose an icon and color scheme that looks aesthetically pleasing and the colors do not conflict with each other.

3. Keep it Clean:

The UI has to be clean and easy to navigate. Make sure everything that the user needs and is more likely to use, is within the reach of the user. Such as the search bar, the cart, the profile icon, and such.

Too much complication tends to deter visitors and customers. Especially if your targeted age range tends to be the elderly or less tech-savvy people. Customers want quick and effortless operation throughout the entire website.

Also, make sure to use high-quality images for your products. Shabby websites with low-quality images do not give off a professional and trustworthy vibe.

4. Keep the Visitors Engaged:

Make sure you showcase the popular items on the homepage on a slideshow. This tends to draw user attention as well as increase the sales of said item.

Also, put up banners for offers and sales. This will also help to draw user attention and keep them engaged as well as increase site traffic over time. And more traffic generates more revenue. So user engagement is a must.

5. Track User Activity on Site:

Make sure to keep track of each user's most-visited products, most searched products, and Wishlist. Show suggestions to each user which will cater to their interests.

As well as notifications for price drops and offers on their wishlist items. This will also generate more revenue from each user. Appropriate suggestions can turn into a rabbit hole for a curious buyer. And that tends to be good for business.

For businesses with a headless ecommerce model, this is a must as most users always search for what they want to buy now, or in the future. So, off-site tracking with user consent may also be implemented.

6. Provide Support for a Wide Variety of Transaction Mediums:

Online payment has also come a long way with the advent of ecommerce. Make sure to integrate APIs for most of the common online payment methods. To include as much of the population as possible.

Oftentimes potential customers may back off if they do not find their specific means of payment on your site. So, to prevent this from happening, provide a transparent, simple, and inclusive transaction methodology for the visitors to your site.

These are some of the key concepts to keep in mind when designing an ecommerce website for a business. To get an e-commerce store up and running, you'll need to start with the essential pages and basic settings and keep updating them with time to see which works best.

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Benefits of a Good Website Design for an E-Commerce Business

The design of a website is a serious topic that should not be treated lightly. An attractive website does not only generate higher revenue for your business, but it also helps provide the visitors and customers with a pleasant experience overall. But let’s summarize some of the key benefits.

• Helps your website stand out from the crowd.
• An aesthetically pleasing and smooth website seems more trustworthy than a buggy website.
• Smooth user interaction ensures further dealings with said customer.
• Visitors tend to have a more positive impression.
• A responsive website can increase your business reach.
• Assists your brand to establish a better presence among competitors.

… and so much more.

Verdict

E-commerce websites are built in order to extend the reach of your business and gain more revenue. By making it accessible to a greater number of customers. But without a properly designed website, you may be doing the opposite.

So, good web design is crucial for a business to establish itself online and make its presence known. Make sure to put proper effort into making your website more accessible, visually pleasing, and transparent as possible.