The rise of e-commerce
A few years ago, people might be sceptic about shopping online as they questioned about the security and quality of the products. However, e-commerce is getting more prevalent than ever nowadays. Latest report from various sources indicate that eCommerce is growing steadily and is predicted to account for more than 14% of total retail spending by 2020.
There are several advantages of eCommerce that make it attractive to many people. First, it’s flexible. Unlike the typical business where you have to choose a location to set up your store, eCommerce can be done online. You get to choose your own domain name that represents your business. Furthermore, you can market it globally and ship worldwide without needing a physical store.
E-commerce also allows you to compete with the bigger names in the industry. In the online space, it’s far easier to get going. With proper marketing efforts, it’s absolutely possible to increase your brand visibility and exposure.
Elements of e-commerce website
You probably need a website to do ecommerce. While some smaller businesses rely only on social media to showcase their products and receive orders, having a website certainly provides a significant boost.
Design of an online retail website have some differences to those of a regular website, and here are some elements and practices that can be implemented in e-commerce website design:
- Prominent and detailed images: Use of images and visuals helps people to get a better picture of what a product looks like. Apart from providing a clear photo of the products, it should also be of high quality so that people can zoom in to examine the details. Also, it’s good to have photos from various angle.
- Give recommendations: In case you’re selling more than one product, showing small images and links to other relevant products may be beneficial. Often, people are looking to purchase a set of items together. For example, people who buy a mobile phone are likely to be interested in accessories such as phone case and headset.
- Simple checkout: The “add to cart” button should be easily noticed in each product pages. Next, the checkout process should be simple and include only the essential steps such as the review page before confirming order. Creating an account can also be omitted unless it’s really necessary to do the purchase.
E-commerce website design review
Check Bellroy. The wallet maker’s homepage is a clean and minimalist. It uses large images to showcase the products, and a very visible shop now button to prompt visitors into taking the next step. The top navigation bar is also made simple with only 4 main menus.
The unique feature about the website is that it uses moving animations to demonstrate how slim its wallets are compared to the other brands’ products, as well as the construction of the wallets. Bellroy website is a good example of how a simple design can still provide valuable information for the customers.
