6 Tips and Tricks For a Great and Effective eCommerce Website

1. Let your customers know why they should purchase from your ecommerce site.
 
It’s important to make clear from the outset what value you’re providing to customers. Why should your visitors purchase anything from your website and not from the competition? Is it about low prices? Fast shipments? Superior quality? Great customer product reviews? A big variety of products? A specialized, custom and unique set of products that are hard to finda anywhere else? Is your site easy to use? These are the the core values of your ecommerce site and letting your visitors know will make big difference in their visitation experience.
 
2. The more ways to find your products the better!
 
Your ecommerce site should provide multiple ways to navigate and mainly reason is because your customers look for products in many different ways. While some customers know exactly what they want, others may have to use the search box and jump straight to that product’s page. Auto filling inputs can also help even further the product findings. Few customers on the other hand a vague notion of what they’re looking for therefore they might want to explore lots of browsable content, clicking different categories and check all the options to get a better sense of what’s available in your ecommerce site.
 
Promote what's new and interesting in the first 1 to 2 clicks of the landing pages of your site. Add cross-selling and up-selling features to help your clients find related products. Tailor individual interest and needs of your clients in order to drive more sales. Provide personal recommendations that may benefit your customers.
 
Let your customers provide feedback and comments on your products by leaving product reviews. Other people might be interested in what your customers say about your product before they buy it, not to say it will add fresh new content for your web site, and yet it wil be another reason to revisit your web site again in the future. Here are some ecommerce features you might want to consider in your ecommerce website
 
3. Keep their purchase experience more convenient.
 
Customers love the idea to be in control by searching through your site to find product detail information, compare products and prices. The reality is, more and more customers want to make educated decisions about the products and services they are purchasing. If the information you provide is hard to be found, your customers will get frustrated and most of the times will leave your site. Finding one product or features they like will motivate them to look further for other things they like. Letting your customers add multiple items in a shopping cart can greatly simplify the shopping process.
 
4. Don't add too many distractions in the checkout process.
 
Keeping your customers focused on their checkout process is essential. Customers might give up the entire order if the checkout process has too many options or doesn’t seem simple enough. Remember, at this point your customer wants to finalize purchase, and your job is to make the checkout process as smoothly and as quickly as possible.
 
5. Add few fresh and new features often
 
Now that you have the basic mechanics of shopping and purchasing implemented, you might want to look at some more features that will add value to the entire site. For example, many people purchase products as gifts for other people. Gift Giving involves numerous details, such as wrapping, receipts, personalized notes, returns, and buying multiple gifts and sending them to multiple destinations. As another example, some people may be interested in creating and saving a wish list with the products of their choice, then on a later stage retrieve the list and finalize purchase.
 
6. Be informative and avoid surprises
 
By adding full disclosure about site polices up front, will avoid frustation and surprises towards the end. Be straighfoward with your customers and make sure you present information about their privacy and security, additional charges (if any), return policies and shipping prices. Build trust by establish a set of fair information practices that will be followed throughout your company, and make these practices clear in your privacy policy. In other sense, how would your customers feel when they discover that the price of shipping and handling erases the savings they thought they had when you advertised a 20% lower price from your competition?
   
Although shipping and handling costs can sometimes be justified, if its costs of shipping and handling are surprisingly high, shoppers become discouraged. It might be a good idea to display the estimated cost of shipping at early states of the purchase.
 
Not sure where to start? We can help. Check our ecommerce design and ecommerce development.

E-Commerce Do's and Don'ts

Do's of eCommerce
 
1. Always Hire a professional: Do your homework and hire a professional ecommerce person or company. If you don’t know where to start talk to someone local and see what they have to say. If possible take in consideration a project manager. It pays to have knowledgeable people behind you, you will save money and time in the end. Check our e-commerce packages here.

Tricks & Tips for creating an effective e-commerce website that sells!

Make It Clear Why People Should Purchase from You
 
It’s important to make clear from the outset what value you’re providing to customers. Why should they purchase anything from your website? Do you offer low prices? Fast shipments? Unbiased, high-quality product reviews? A wide selection of products? A specialized set of products that are hard to find? Ease of use? This is your up-front value proposition, the core value that is woven into the design and organization of the entire website.
 
Provide Many Ways to Find Products
 
Web sites must provide multiple ways to navigate because customers look for products in many different ways. Some customers know exactly what they’re looking for and want to type the name of the product into a search bar and jump straight to that product’s page. Predictive input can help streamline the product selection process further. Other customers have only a vague notion of what they’re looking for and want to explore lots of browsable content to get a better sense of what’s available
 
Find new ways to help your customers scratch itches they didn’t even know they had. Tell your customers what new and interesting products you have by showcasing Featured Products on your Homepage portal. Help them find related or more expensive versions of products by cross-selling and up-selling. Drive more sales by providing personalised recommendations specially tailored to their individual interest and needs.
 
Finally, offer a recommendation community in which customers can provide feedback and comments on products. By fostering a thriving community, you are partnering with your customers, having them create new content for your web site, and, in effect, providing everyone with yet another reason to visit your web site again in the future
 
Keep It Convenient
 
Customers love to be able to search vast stores of information, see many clean product detail pages that provide thorough descriptions, and compare products. In doing so, they can make more educated decisions about the products and services they need. On the flip side, if the information you provide is not easy to find, your customers will become frustrated and perhaps even leave. Finding one thing they like may motivate customers to look for other things they like. A site that facilitates collecting multiple items in a shopping cart can greatly simplify the shopping process
 
Keep customers focused on their tasks so that they don’t become distracted when they go through the quick-flow checkout process. Customers might abandon the entire order if checkout doesn’t seem simple and straightforward. Remember, at this point their goal is to finish shopping, and your goal should be to close the sale as smoothly and as quickly as possible.
 
For an e-commerce business that might benefit greatly from impulse buying, it’s a good idea to create a site that supports as many computing platforms as possible so that customers can act on their impulses whenever and wherever they are. The Mobile Screen Sizing, Mobile Input Controls, and Location-based Services patterns can help you incorporate mobile Web capabilities into your sites.
 
Avoid Surprises
 
Customers want to know what to expect when they start shopping because it will take at least a few minutes to complete the transaction, and they don’t want to have a surprise toward the end. Full disclosure about site polices up front is important to shoppers.
 
Customers value their anonymity because it provides them with a sense of privacy and security from being defrauded or abuse by people who gain access to their personal information. Build trust by establish a set of fair information practices that will be followed throughout your company, and make these practices clear in your privacy policy. Also be sure secure connection whenever personal or financial information is being transmitted.
 
Additional charges.
 
Sometimes, customers find products at a lower price when shopping online, but only discover that the shipping and handling charges erase the savings. Granted, if people factor in the time saved because they’re not personally travelling to and from the store, shipping and handling costs can sometimes be justified. However if the costs of shipping and handling are surprisingly high, shoppers become discouraged. They think the online merchant is trying to trick them and they become distrustful. Providing information about all the costs involved with a purchase early in the shopping experience will build trust.
 
A final note
 
Differentiate your site from the competition so your customers know why it’s compelling and valuable. Give shoppers browsing and searching tools, and provide rich, detailed information about your products and services. Make your site accessible to everyone. One every page include clear links to your privacy and security policy, shipping and handling polices, return policy, and frequently asked questions. Let customers collect items in one place and check out quickly, with minimal distraction. Not sure where to start? Let us design a professional e-commerce for you! Click here to get started.