Top Five Ecommerce Website Design Requirements

You have a great ecommerce idea, have products, and a basic business plan.  But building a shopping cart using the top shopping carts such as OsCommerce, ZenCart or Miva, require a few additional and important items to consider while setting up your shop.

1)  Site navigation – When a visitor comes to your page, the first thing they will look for is the product navigation.  It should not be hidden or unfriendly.  You should not try to hide your navigation by changing it to symbols or make it difficult for your visitors to understand.  The less clicks and links to follow for your customer to find products, information and make a purchase is best.  If the order process takes more than seven links, then you should group the links into different navigation groups.  

2)  Product description – While creating the product description, keep your customer in mind.  You want to help him or her understand the product and feel confident that this is what they want to buy.  It is more than cutting and pasting an image and product description.  For instance, if you are selling food items, it will be better to add a description to help your customer “taste it.”  

3)  Testimonials –   Every customer who has a successful transaction and have received your product is a candidate for a testimonial.  In exchange for the testimonial, give them a discounted coupon for their next purchase.  But it is always better to have other people talk positively about their online shopping experience with your ecommerce site, than for you to just tell it.

4)  Visual design – try to stay consistent with colors and images through the site.  This will make you appear stable, reliable, trustworthy and competent.  Every Wal-Mart store is setup the same way in every city, so if it is your first time visiting a store in a new city, you will automatically know the general layout of the store.  The point I am making is that you do not need to create 100 ecommerce sites like Wal-Mart, but you should be consistent in your own site so that people can feel like they know what to expect each time they visit and click through your website.

5) Check-out process – when a customer decides to commit to making a purchase, you should provide them with a very professional and easy checkout.  Think about how it feels on a Saturday morning at your grocery store.  After you have gone through every aisle and selected your products, how do you feel?  Studies show that most people how are finished shopping are ready to leave immediately.  But they must pay for their purchase.  Imagine yourself turning the corner of the last aisle to head towards the checkouts and each lane has at least five people in the lane with completely filled baskets.  How does that feel?  Do you feel a bit anxious and stressed?  A bit angry?  Are your feet tired?  So think about this when your visitor wants to buy from you.  The site must load quickly with very little delays.  Your “cashier” should be friendly, so write very nice text to your customer to show your appreciation.  And then once they have made their payment, assist them out of the door by sending them an email with thorough details about their order.  

By following these top five ecommerce suggestions, you will be off to a successful start with your online business.

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