PUBLISHED IN
Jan 04, 2023 Category:
eCommerce Business Posted by:
Staff Reporter

How to Build a High-Performing e-Shop in 2023

Reading Time: 7 minutes

The post-pandemic world is a different place. We have changed the way we work, live and shop. Industries like travel and hospitality industry for instance, witnessed a severe crunch as all travel came to a standstill. Who could have thought of that before Covid-19 hit? On the other hand, internet commerce boomed during the pandemic as people found online shopping convenient, safe and cost-effective. Although the economy witnessed a slowdown and sales slumped once the world began to break free of the pandemic, the surge in e-Commerce has continued. According to MorganStanley, e-Commerce is slated to grow from 3.3 trillion dollars today to 5.4 trillion dollars in 2026.

And that’s why you need to get on the e-Commerce wagon and reap in the profits. Designing and developing an e-Commerce website is fast and easy given the plethora of software and tools available in the market today. However, there are certain points you need to keep in mind when setting up your e-Shop to make it stand out from your competition. Here are some of the e-Commerce web design best practices to follow:

#1 Make a Plan/Strategy

Make a Plan/Strategy

The first thing that you need to do is make a plan. The e-Commerce landscape is vast and diverse. If you are looking at setting up an e-shop, it means you probably have a product or products to sell. If not, you might want to do an analysis first on what goods or services would work best for the business you plan to setup online. You can do a simple SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats) to assess product ideas and build your e-Shop accordingly. Once you decide on a product, you can build your e-Commerce website that highlights your product in a systematic way. This is one of the most essential e-Commerce Web Design Best Practices to follow.

#2 Choose a Winning Domain Name

Choose a Winning Domain Name

Your domain name needs to set you apart and catch the attention of your audience. It is your identity and you will be building your brand around it. You need to:

Keep the domain name short and simple without unique words or with difficult spellings. You want your audience to remember your domain name and how it spells. So, just keep it easy. And yes, no special characters, double letters or hyphens either if you can avoid them.
Be flexible with your domain name. If you are offering your services in a particular niche, you should not have to change your domain name if you add another service to your profile.
Incorporate keywords in your domain name. This might be difficult as you have a limited number of characters to use. However, an innovative domain name with a keyword can help you rank high on search engine results.

Choosing an innovative domain name is one of the most crucial e-Commerce Web Design Best Practices that you need to keep in mind.

#3 Choose an e-Commerce Builder

Choose an e-Commerce Builder

It is much faster to build an e-Shop with an e-Commerce Builder website. Today you can use advanced builder software that can create amazing e-Commerce webpages without having to do any coding for the process. You can use a builder software for your existing website as well. For instance, if you have a regular wordpress website without transactional capability, you can use a builder software to convert it to an e-Commerce website. This is a very useful feature as you only need to invest for the e-Commerce capability only while retaining all previous functionality of your website. You do not have to start from scratch. This works well if you have a business that only operated out of a physical location and now plan on selling online. If you are not a website developer and have little to no experience in building websites, using builder software is a great and efficient idea! In fact, every e-Commerce Web Design Best Practices guide will tell you about choosing the right e-Commerce builder software for your e-Shop.

#4 Keep It Simple

Keep It Simple

One of the major pitfalls when designing an e-Commerce website is adding too many elements to entice potential buyers. So much so, that CTAs or call-to-action buttons become hard to find. Remember that users need to find what they are looking for in typically less than 3 secs. If they do not find it within that time, they are probably not going to stay on your website and decide to move on. It is not necessary to add everything to grab the attention of the users. Only add elements that are relevant to your e-Shop. You can use menus to organize or e-Shop in an efficient way much like you would do in a physical store. Your website must have good search capabilities so that users can simply search with a simple word like for instance, jewelry or skirts etc. What a search toolbar does is help the user to not scroll up or down when trying to find what they want. Always add a filter with options to help your users to narrow down on the search.

#5 Easy Checkout Process

Easy Checkout Process

Now that you are almost ready with the design of your e-Shop, check for any steps that might feel complicated to the user. Buyers often shy away from finishing their purchase if they are unable pay in an easy way. It is best to not force users for information when making a purchase but you can ask them to provide details like their name and phone number or email and of course, address for delivery. Always keep the most popular and quicker payment options at the top. This may change from one country to another, therefore you may have to keep your payment options flexible, in case you are shipping international.

Conclusion

As the technology advances and algorithms for search engines changes, marketers must remain flexible to create campaigns that are relevant to the times. With increased possibilities in the internet, digital marketing has become one of the most important advertising and marketing channels for brands. At the same time, as a digital marketer you need to make a judgment call and not blindly follow a pattern that seems to have worked for several products. It all depends on how and what you need to have potential customers connect with your brand or product. It is best to leverage on the trends of digital marketing in 2023 to keep up with the market while focusing on customer engagement for your brand.

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