E-commerce websites have been a real game-changer in the recent decade. Not only do they allow their customers to shop from home and make payments with a finger’s touch, but they also offer them a wide variety of product options to choose from.
An e-commerce website is pretty different from regular websites in a lot of ways. Especially, if we consider the technical aspect of it, the two differ in more than one way. If you own an e-commerce platform, this article is for you. In this article, we shall be listing the top 10 key e-commerce website requirements to make your site stand out from the crowd. So, here we go.
12 Essential E-commerce Website Requirements
1. Intuitive Shopping Cart
You’re browsing through a web page and come across a product that seems pretty interesting and you’re quite convinced to buy it. You tap on the product and it takes you to a webpage selling it. You add the product to the cart and are willing to checkout, but as soon as you click on “buy now”, you’re taken to another page, which makes you follow a lengthy process before you check out.
Very often, in the process of filling in all the details and going through the lengthy process, customers tend to lose interest in the product and might start giving second thoughts to buying it. Hence, an e-commerce website must have a brief checkout process for guest users.
2. Seamless Return Policy
Quite often when a customer is buying a pair of shoes or a piece of clothing, they’re not very sure about the exact size they should be ordering. In such cases, they look for a website that has easy return policies if in case they wish to return the product.
An e-commerce website should make sure that they have their return policy listed in a precise manner and a page that helps the user to easily navigate to the page has all the terms and conditions listed.
3. Mobile-friendly Shopping
Almost 80% of the population uses their smartphones more than they use their laptops and tablets. When a customer wishes to buy a product, there is a 95% chance that they shall be using their smartphone to check the e-commerce websites and won’t be turning to their laptops for such a task.
If they come across a website that cannot be operated on the phone and functions only as a desktop website, they shall rather skip to another one, than open their laptop. Hence, an e-commerce website should make sure that it can be used both via laptops and phones.
4. Engaging Ecommerce Layout
You find an attractive product and to buy it, you jump to the website selling it, but as soon as you reach the home page of the website, you’re trying to figure out a way to navigate through it better. The user interface of the website is more complex than you can handle. So, what do you do? You’d naturally start looking for a different website that is easier to use.
The importance of a simpler user interface cannot be emphasized enough. There are users of all age groups browsing through the internet, looking to buy their favorite products. As an e-commerce website, you should make sure that you keep in mind all the age groups you’re serving.
5. Personalized Content
Personalized content can turn your website visitors into buyers, and existing buyers into loyal ones. From welcome emails to push notifications, personalized communication will boost your engagement rate and put your sales funnels into rocket mode. Moreover, sending personalised recommendations based customers purchase history can help you get more conversions.
The best part is that you can use the marketing automation and customer data capabilities of Wigzo to send personalized content to customers at all digital touchpoints. Simply use Wigzo’s double-tap automation for email, SMS, WhatsApp, onsite pop-up nudge, and push notifications to accelerate your customer growth.
6. Ensure Seamless Third-party Services
When a customer is buying a product and makes the payment, the involvement of the third party is initiated, for the shipment of the product. To make the process smoother, make sure that your customers are provided with a complete invoice of the product and the bill they’ve paid.
7. Provide Great Customer Service
After ordering the product, if there is a delay in its shipment or delivery, it could worry the customer. To solve their query, there should be a customer service department, always functioning to offer them solutions and answers to their questions.
8. Ensure Product Reviews
Make sure that each product on your website has some reviews by its buyers. This makes the website look more reliable and authentic. A website that has no customer review, appears fake and does not attract many customers.
9. Augmented Reality Shopping Experience
E-tail brands can implement an augmented reality (AR) feature that allows customers to virtually try on products before purchasing. This could apply to clothing, accessories, makeup, and even furniture. Users can use their device’s camera to see how products would look in their real environment, helping them make more informed purchase decisions.
10. Personalized AI Shopping Assistants
As an online retailer, you can implement AI-driven shopping assistants that use machine learning algorithms to understand customer preferences, browsing history, and purchase behavior. These assistants can provide real-time recommendations, assist in product searches, and offer tailored discounts, creating a highly personalized shopping journey.
11. Sustainable Shopping Impact Tracker
E-commerce brands can implement a feature that quantifies the environmental impact of each purchase made on the platform. Using data on carbon footprint, resource consumption, and waste generation, customers can see the ecological footprint of their shopping choices. This transparency can encourage more sustainable consumption habits and provide users with insights into their contribution to environmental conservation.
12. Voice Commerce Integration
Integrate voice commerce capabilities to enable users to make purchases using voice commands through devices like smart speakers and smartphones. This feature can enhance accessibility and convenience, allowing customers to add items to their carts, place orders, and track shipments using natural language.
For a Spot-on E-commerce Website…
There are countless e-commerce websites on the internet making our lives easier by making shopping, the easiest task to accomplish. Some key features make an e-commerce website attract more customers. It should have an easy user interface and must have an efficiently functioning customer service department. Also, the products and brands should be marketed well by emails and on social media platforms.
A combination of all the tips and strategies mentioned in this article will help you showcase your e-commerce platform as a truly customer-friendly website.
If you’re still confused about what you can do to enhance your e-commerce platform, take Wigzo’s free trial today to get your site to where you’d always wanted it to reach.
