Do you want to open a brand new e-commerce store? Whether you’re a newcomer to the online shopping sector or have been operating for years, make no mistake: you are entering a fruitful market that is only going to grow exponentially in the near future.
With this type of platform, it might seem easy enough to launch your business into success and start earning large profits. All you need is a website and some great products to sell, right? Sadly, it’s not that easy.
In fact, there are many different elements you need to take into account when creating an e-commerce store. Whether you’re going it alone or bringing in expert help like MageCloud.Agency, here are five of the main elements required.
1. A fully-functioning search bar
If your e-commerce store offers a wide range of products, the search function is an essential element. Along with a prominent position at the top of your website, it’s important that search results are accurate and customers find what they want straight away.
To help with that point, consider incorporating an auto-complete search feature. By pre-empting what a user is typing, this helps save even more time and improve search accuracy.
2. Modern design with intuitive navigation
If your website has a dated appearance, it’s going to cause a lot of potential customers to turn away and look for an alternative. The same can be said if it’s difficult to navigate with undefined categories and other links. This is why it’s mandatory your site is contemporary in its appearance and easy to move around.
Along with this, ensure the design and navigation elements are of the same quality on mobile devices. Considering there are more mobile and tablet internet users than their desktop equivalent, there needs to be a particular focus on this side of your e-commerce store.
3. A no-fuss checkout process
Cart abandonment is something no e-commerce business wants to face, but it’s a distinct possibility if the checkout process is an overly complicated or laborious one.
Try and simplify your checkout page as much as possible. Try and stick to one single page, and only request the necessary details like address and payment information. Also avoid populating the page with social media icons and other links a user could click to take them away from the checkout.
4. High-quality imagery
It’s a simple enough point, yes, but too many e-commerce stores features low res product images or ones that don’t capture items in the right light. As a remedy, make sure you have professional snaps for each product. Also consider having multiple angles of a product if a single image doesn’t cover all details.
5. Full product descriptions
Pictures on their own are not sufficient in detailing your products to customers. What you require is a full product description, one that highlights the main points in bullet point form, and then goes into further detail and covers all the information potential customers require.
These are not just for your customers, either. A product description that is lengthy, grammatically correct, and features relevant keywords is going to grab the attention of Google – and this SEO will ensure your site ranks higher in search results.
