eCommerce Website Design Tips You Need to Know About

Where Do You Sell Your Products? Do you sell them at a shop just around the corner? In a busy shopping mall? Or at a night market where people flock for affordable products?

Wherever it may be, the internet allows people to no longer be limited by distance. If you offer something people want, they can access your business and purchase from you.

This may seem quite simple, but it’s not always the case.

Here’s your complete guide to all the website design tips you need to know to increase sales.

What Is an E-Commerce Website?

An e-commerce website is a site that allows people to buy and sell physical goods, services, and digital products over the internet rather than in physical locations. Through an e-commerce website, a business can process orders, accept payments, manage shipping and logistics, and provide customer service. It’s hard to imagine daily life without e-commerce. We order food, clothes, and furniture; sign up for courses and other online services; download books, music, and movies, and much more. E-commerce has rooted itself and will last.

It’s hard to imagine daily life without e-commerce. We order food, clothes, and furniture; sign up for classes and other online services; download books, music, and movies, and do much more. E-commerce has taken root and is here to stay.

When creating an e-commerce website, many companies make the critical mistake of thinking it only needs to look good. While this is certainly part of the equation, the structure of an online store is very different from that of a brochure or portfolio website. The primary function of an e-commerce website (also known as e-commerce) is to make sales.

There are distinct differences between traditional websites and e-commerce websites. Here are the main differences between these two types of websites:

• Purpose: E-commerce websites are designed for buying and selling products or services. Traditional websites are more focused on providing information or content.
• Functionality: E-commerce sites have functionalities like shopping carts, payment processing, and inventory management. Traditional sites typically offer basic features such as search and contact forms.
• User Interaction: E-commerce sites offer high interaction, allowing users to browse products, add them to their cart, and make payments. On traditional sites, users primarily read content or download information.
• Update Frequency: E-commerce sites require frequent updates for new products, discounts, or promotions. Traditional sites have more static content that rarely changes.
• Security: E-commerce sites maintain high levels of transaction security using SSL certificates and payment encryption methods. Traditional sites typically do not require such high levels of security.

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In summary, the purpose of a traditional website is to be the “face” of a company. It should showcase a person’s work, values, how to reach them, and even a company’s culture. For online stores, these are all the same with a slight nuance. An e-commerce website functions as a strict extension of a physical store, offering additional convenience with its availability anytime and anywhere.

Types of E-Commerce Websites

E-commerce spans a wide range, but web pages can be categorized based on the type of business they serve.

• Business-to-Administration (B2A): Websites that provide products or services from a business to a government or public administration. E-tendering platforms used by companies bidding for government contracts are an example of B2A websites.
• Business-to-Business (B2B): A B2B platform facilitates electronic transactions between two businesses. For example, if you have a t-shirt-selling company, you can purchase t-shirts from an online wholesaler. Alibaba.com is a B2B website that connects manufacturers and wholesalers from different countries.
• Business-to-Consumer (B2C): Likely the most familiar to the average person, a B2C site enables a business to sell goods or services to a consumer, such as purchasing a t-shirt from your favorite online store. Amazon.com is a B2C site offering a wide range of products for online shoppers.
• Consumer to Administration (C2A): Similar to B2A, this type of site allows a consumer to provide information, goods, or services to a government or public administration. The Turkish Revenue Administration’s (GIB) Internet Tax Office is an example of a C2A website.
• Consumer to Business (C2B): C2B websites allow individual consumers to sell their products or services to businesses. Upwork.com is a C2B website that connects freelancers from various industries with clients.
• Consumer to Consumer (C2C): A C2C site, often known as a marketplace, hosts transactions between two or more consumers. eBay.com is a C2C website that facilitates online auctions and transactions between buyers and sellers.

Knowing which type of website you operate is important as it helps you tailor your services to meet the needs of your target audience.

Best E-Commerce Web Design Tips You Need to Know

Building an e-commerce website and increasing sales isn’t easy. This is why the average conversion rate for e-commerce is between 2.5% and 3% (Shopify). So, how can you make your online store conversion-ready? Here are some web design tips you should consider:

Design for Mobile

All responsive web design tips start with mobile. “Without this, customers will have a bad user experience on their smartphones and other devices.” Nowadays, it’s a must for your website to be optimized for these devices. Everyone carries a smartphone, making it easier for them to shop online and on the go. Ensure your e-commerce web design can:

• Load quickly
• Resize images and text to fit smaller screens
• Have a user-friendly interface for touch commands

An example is the Nike website;

Make Navigation Easy for Everyone

Of course, resizing elements for all screens isn’t enough. Your customers should easily understand how and where to navigate your website. For example, if you sell different types of products, organize them into clear categories like clothing, accessories, and shoes. Also, use simple and easy-to-understand labels for your navigation menu. 

We can look at how ETSY uses navigation for a better user experience and e-commerce website development:

In this way, customers will not feel lost while browsing the website despite the variety of products offered.

Everything Is About Conversions

Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) is the process of intentionally placing elements and text on your website to encourage visitors to take action. E-commerce designers use this strategy to increase sales on a single webpage. Here are some responsive web design tips to do this:

• Call-to-Action Design: The Call-to-Action (CTA) tells your target audience what to do next. This could be a button that says “Buy Now” or a simple phrase like “Schedule Your Appointment Now.”
• Use of White Space: Cluttered websites drive customers away and reduce the likelihood of purchases or service sign-ups.
• Keep Forms Simple: Long and complex forms prevent potential customers from filling them out. Keep your forms short and ask only for necessary information.

Build Trust with Customer Reviews

It’s natural to be cautious about untested products. If you don’t see proof of how a product has helped other customers, you may hesitate to purchase. Therefore, provide your customers with much-needed assurance by displaying customer reviews and ratings on your website. These can be in the form of written text, video, or even photos.

Don’t Forget Your Brand

You’re competing with other online stores offering similar products. Therefore, it’s crucial to give consumers a reason to choose you.

This is what brand consistency in e-commerce design means.

To achieve this, we recommend maintaining consistency throughout your website with the following elements:

• Colors
• Fonts
• Logos
• Tone of voice

Focus on Visuals

An e-commerce store without photos? 

Customers rely on visuals to see the details, features and benefits of your products. Offer different angles, zoom functions and customer feedback to help the user compare and choose the best option. Visual content is crucial to showcase your products and give customers a clear idea of what they are buying. 

Using professional level lighting and photography to showcase their products makes them look even more appealing. The use of natural elements also complements the organic brand, further strengthening the brand identity.

Here is a look at the visual gallery of a brand work with us at Digipeak:

Technical Aspects Matter

In addition to looking good, your e-commerce store should also feel good to use. This means ensuring that it is user-friendly, loads quickly and has a secure checkout process. We recommend using one-click checkout for all purchases or filling in the minimum amount of information needed to complete the transaction. 

To achieve this, it is crucial to optimize technical search engine optimization (SEO) elements. Check your Core Web Vitals, fix broken links and use HTTPS encryption to ensure a smooth user experience. Yes, these website design tips sound very technical. But there are tools that help diagnose website health, for example:

• Google Search Console 
• Google Lighthouse
• Semrush

Use these tools to detect any technical issues and address them quickly. This will help you achieve a good ranking in search results and reduce the number of customers leaving your website. 

Create a Conversion-Ready Website with Digipeak

Finding the right combination for your e-commerce store can be challenging. Do you want it to be visually appealing or user-friendly? Should you prioritize search engine rankings or the payment process? Use these responsive web design tips for your e-commerce store to take your business to the next level.

At Digipeak, we can help with all this and more. Our e-commerce designers and teams offer comprehensive website building solutions suitable for businesses of all sizes. Whether you’re a small business just starting out or a large company with multiple products, we have the tools, expertise, and best web design practices to help you succeed.