Statista reports that e-retail revenues worldwide are projected to grow to $4.88 trillion by 2021. That’s why every retail business should consider hiring an ecommerce website design and development company to start selling online.

While the quality of the products you sell is essential, it’s the design for your ecommerce website that ultimately tempts potential customers to purchase your products. So here is a list of the 12 best ecommerce website design features that every successful website must have to stay competitive in the market. All these features are subdivided into 4 categories: website navigation, products, marketing, and purchasing.

Website navigation

Website navigation is one of the most important factors of an ecommerce website design. Navigation should be intuitive and logical. If a visitor can smoothly access your online store’s products/services and find their descriptions, the chances of visitors turning into customers increase considerably. Moreover, superior navigation helps potential customers find what they’re looking for without hassle.

The question then is what actually constitutes as superior navigation. The main idea is to present a clear path from the landing page to checkout with the help of a user-friendly menu, advanced search function, and customized call-to-action.

1. A user-friendly menu. One of the most crucial aspects of a professional ecommerce website design is a user-friendly menu. Try to put the menu in a prominent place and make sure the categories and products in each category are properly named. Usually, it is recommended to implement Mega, Dynamic, or Drop-down menus on their Magento websites.
2. Advanced search function and filtering. Product search and filtering are top ecommerce website design features as they enable customers to find the products they are looking for quickly and with ease. Filters allow shoppers to narrow down product lists and focus on the products they’re actually interested in, skipping over the pages and products they don’t need.
3. Customized Call-to-Action. A call-to-action (CTA) is aimed to encourage customers to take an action you want them to do. Call-to-action buttons form direct points of connection between customers and the retail business from the first interaction to conversion.

Products

To buy products online, people need to understand what an ecommerce website sells and easily browse to discover what products are available and which best suit their needs. The path to products must be wisely designed to convey differences among various product categories and among individual products, and therefore help customers purchase the item they are interested in.

Let’s talk about three key things you should have when displaying your products in your online shop: product images, catalog, and product page.

1. High-quality photos. Ecommerce websites should display high-quality, large, and eye-catching photos optimized for page load. Make sure that your photos can be viewed from different angles with text directing the customer’s attention to a call-to-action. Your ecommerce website design shouldn’t be focused only on your homepage. You should also use high-quality product images throughout your design at the product page or product catalog. So if you really want to provide the best user experience, use a 360-degree view to let customers spin the items left and right from every angle possible.
2. Product catalog. Creating an information-rich product catalog is a major key to converting potential customers into loyal clients for ecommerce retailers. A product catalog is a detailed document related to a store’s inventory which usually includes product images, product information, delivery options, price, company name, handling charges, stock keeping unit details, the available quantity, color, etc. Showcasing such structured and diverse categories helps customers understand what your website offers and makes it easier to browse the products they are interested in.
3. Product page. An effective product page can help you convey the value of the products offered on your ecommerce website. The product page shows customers what the products look like and helps them understand if they want to purchase the items. Encourage customers to continue exploring your website and products by including a section for featured products, best-sellers, exclusive items, related products, or top savers. Furthermore, you can also show bundles of products that are frequently bought together for the upsell.

Successful ecommerce companies implement CRO (conversion rate optimization) techniques on their product pages such as customer reviews, product recommendations, pop-ups, and micro-animations. Using micro-animations on an ecommerce website can really increase the overall experience and highlight areas of a page where you’d like your customers to focus. Micro-interactions can provide useful visual feedback, display products more effectively, and make navigating more natural. Typically, micro-interactions take the form of confirmation messages, hover animations, scrolling visuals, transition animations, sound effects, and error messages.

Marketing

Make sure your online store allows you to create and manage discount coupons, special offers, gift cards, and pricing rules. These marketing tools mentioned below can help you to upsell and cross-sell your products.

1. Product reviews. Reviews are creative ecommerce website design features that help to drive social proof and improve customer loyalty. Customers read reviews and about 88% trust online testimonials as much as personal recommendations. Encouraging customers to write feedback on the products gives your website credibility as it shows that you have real paying customers. Furthermore, customer reviews will add keywords to your online shop, which improves your site SEO (search engine optimization).
2. Special offers and discounts. Your ecommerce website will benefit from having discounts, offers, and freebies listed right on your product page. Many ecommerce sites use special offers in their standard marketing techniques via email, social media, or text messages. Creating promotions will motivate people to purchase more because they’re saving more. What’s better than savings? Free shipping! People are likely to complete an order and purchase the product if shipping is free, thus, reducing a customer’s shipping fees will eventually increase your sales.

Purchasing

A minimalist design with an easy-to-use checkout, well-designed shopping cart, secure payment options, and various shipping possibilities are key drivers that make it easier for the users to buy products.

1. A well-designed shopping cart. A shopping cart should be simple to use. It has to give customers the option to add or remove products to the cart, change quantities, choose shipping options, enter promos, or purchase something else. A shopping cart layout also needs to have a simple visual design, displaying company branding (colors, logo, motto) and including prominent checkout buttons.
2. An easy-to-use checkout. The average online shopping cart abandonment rate is 69.89%. One of the reasons for cart abandonment is the long or complicated checkout process. Make your customers fill out only the information that is necessary to purchase, including mailing and billing address, credit card number, and shipping option.
3. Shipping options. The ability to order online and receive the product on time can help to drive sales and create return visitors. Make sure you choose the best shipping software for your ecommerce businesses. Furthermore, it’s crucial to allow your customers to select the type of delivery options for their orders. The system also needs to automatically calculate the shipping fees and include delivery time and options for faster delivery.
4. Secure payment options. Similar to shipping, the payment option is one of the most important features of an ecommerce website design. A credible ecommerce store should have a secure payment gateway such as PayPal, Stripe, and Braintree. Furthermore, your customers should be given the possibility to select from a list of various payment gateways as different payment options are popular in various parts of the world.

Mobile ecommerce sales are projected to make up to 67.2% of total ecommerce sales in 2019. So, don’t forget to add Apple Pay as a payment option on your online store to capture more orders from mobile devices.

Final thoughts

Launching a successful ecommerce website can’t be done overnight. You should not only select the right platform but also provide your customers with the top ecommerce website design features to make the purchasing process as seamless as possible.

In this article were mentioned the 12 best ecommerce website design features every ecommerce website should have. You can also add other features depending on your business’ scope and products.