With the rising digitalization, the eCommerce industry has witnessed a huge boom in growth, lauding it the title of one of the most powerful channels a retail business can use. Still, all that glitters is not gold, and the same applies to eCommerce websites. For them to be successful, they not only need to look the part, they need to play the part as well.
In this blog, we’ll be discussing 12 of the most essential features that are a must-have for any eCommerce website to ensure a stunning user experience and help drive more sales.
Must Have Features
Let’s start of with #1 on the list.
1. An Easy-To-Use Navigation System
A user-friendly navigation system is essential for assisting customers in finding the products they require quickly. According to a recent poll, first impressions of a website are 94% design-related. Why? Usability helps enhance a customer's ability to search for products while helping mitigate the chances of them bouncing from your website and actually sticking around long enough to make a purchase.
2. Mobile-Friendly Design
An eCommerce website's traffic and conversion rates are sure to rise if it is mobile-friendly and responsive. That means web pages adjust to the size of the visible screen, accordingly. A mobile-friendly design will ensure that your users, whether on laptops and smartphones, will always get a well-balanced eCommerce website and bug-free experience.
3. High-Definition Photos & Videos
Today's consumers want to view a product from various perspectives before buying. A zoom-in feature will offer your users a thorough look of the product. Including high-resolution photos can help boost consumer check-outs and also increase the number of organic visitors to your product pages.
4. Online Product Catalog
An information-rich product catalog that encourages consumer conversion is one of the most important features of an eCommerce website. The products in a store are described in an inventory catalog. The description, price, delivery choices, pictures, and amount that is offered are all included in the product catalog. Using the catalog's structure, you can affect and influence your customers behavior in an effort to help drive more sales.
5. Customer Reviews & Ratings
Customers are wary while making purchases on eCommerce websites because there are many options available. Consumers read the reviews and ratings of the products that other customers have purchased as they believe user reviews to be honest and respect them as such. Sales success is a result of the product receiving favorable evaluations and reviews.
6. Secured Payment Options
What determines the success of an eCommerce website? the means of payment. Including well-known payment options improves consumer satisfaction and conversion rates. Any reliable online retailer should provide multiple safe payment options such as Shopify Payments, PayPal, Stripe, or more, so customers are able to easily purchase products on your eCommerce website. Mobile payments are also becoming more and more popular. You should consider integrating Apple Pay or Google Pay into your checkout if you want to further increase the number of mobile orders.
7. Easy and Manageable Check-out
69.89% of shopping carts are abandoned on average. This issue might arise in a retail setting when customers abruptly leave. Reduce cart abandonment and retain customers with an efficient checkout experience in eCommerce. Ask the customer to provide all necessary purchase information, including their postal address, preferred method of delivery, and credit card information. Customers rarely choose to look at more than three pages at a time. And because of this, one-page check-out extensions are growing in popularity with clients.
8. Buyer Friendly Shopping Cart
A well-designed shopping cart is an essential factor of any successful eCommerce website. Customers should be able to easily add and purchase items in the cart to finish the transaction, change the amount of items, use discount codes, and choose their preferred shipping method in shopping carts. By sending a reminder email to the customer if their cart is abandoned, you’ll have a higher chance of recovering the abandoned cart.
9. Related Product Links
Displaying related products is a feature of eCommerce that is always present. Displaying products that are connected to the item a consumer is looking at is a successful upselling tactic. By improving the sales of related products, you may maximize the selling opportunity. Even if the consumer already knows what they want, it doesn't hurt to look at a few items.
10. Chatbots
One key advantage of owning an online store is the potential to make money all year long, every day of the week, seven days a week. That also entails offering assistance to your clients at certain times. The employment of chatbots will help direct customers to a particular product or support page and answer their basic concerns. When searching for a specific response, locating a certain product, or resolving a simple customer service issue, brands like Lowes always use an automated assistant with specific prompts for visitors to choose from, substantially improving the user experience of their customers.
11. Push Notifications
Push notifications are the next-best method for gaining subscribers from visits to your eCommerce site if you want to avoid spam filters and social media algorithm changes. Visitors can subscribe to your most recent updates via push notification systems in their browsers. You can send a message that will be delivered to your subscribers' notification centers via their browsers if you have a promotion or anything else you want to let them know about.
12. Order Tracking
When a consumer puts an order, their main concern is when their order will arrive. By including an Order Tracking function, you can make it simple for clients to check the status of their orders on your website. Clients can check the progress of their orders by simply entering their email address and the order number they received in their order confirmation email, helping greatly enhance their user experience.
Winding Up
These were just a few of the many more must-have features your eCommerce startup should definitely have. By adding these features, you can greatly increase the user experience of your customer and help drive more sales. Because in the end, that’s the purpose of every eCommerce website, to churn more and more revenue. Also, read about Best Mobile Apps if you’re an eCommerce startup, this blog will help you a lot.
