Important characteristics of an effective e-commerce website

In today’s fast paced world everyone needs everything at their doorstep. The hectic schedule and the habit of getting everything in one click have brought a revolution in the purchasing behavior of any product or getting any services. With higher purchasing habits, the saturation has also taken place in the e-commerce companies, the struggle to sell  products online is getting tougher and tougher. The probability of getting your e-commerce products purchased over competing companies is very difficult. There has to be excellence in your designing and the strategies made to run the e-commerce online business. 

Reasonable comparison can be made with a customer visiting any physical store where they can touch and analyze the product according to their needs and they find the products to be poor or their aesthetics and presentation are not up to the mark they may leave the store. In the case of an e-commerce business, the same theory can be applied. In this scenario, the products can only be seen online before making any purchase but if the customer does not like the presentation, aesthetics or the organization it will make the customer leave the page. 

To have an effective e-commerce business here are few features which can be included to convert online customers:

1. Fast load time

Having trouble loading any site or getting delayed is the main reason for any customer to abandon a site and bounce to the other one. Fast loading sites have a good ranking on google. Online customers have a lot less patience as compared to the customers visiting the physical store.  A two-second delay in the load time whether it is during the time of payment or while having a look at the product can result in bounce from the website and shift of business to your competitors.

2. Ease in navigation

Simple and accessible navigation is one of the important aspects of the website. Having trouble navigating may result in failure faced by customers to browse through your store and locate the products they are seeking. It does not only result in irritating the customers but also put an end to their visit to return to your website. Make sure that you perform proper testing and examine all the errors and fix them to have smooth navigation.

3. Factual product description

The description and the product in reality, should be similar. Having differences in the product and its description breaks the trust of the customer and makes it certain that they will not visit your site again. Providing the wrong description of the product is the same as giving false hopes to the customer that can never be fulfilled. It is necessary to give them the actual description of the product and describe what exactly your product is so that they can have clarity.

4. Seamless checkout experience

The abandonment of online sites can be seen at a very higher rate and is a challenge for online sellers. Every single problem during online shopping results in the abandonment of the customers from the site. Having trouble in the checkout experience increases the number of abandonment statistics. Google Analytics is not useful in determining the conversion rate if there is a failure in the checkout system.

To have a seamless checkout experience it is necessary to have customers profiles where they can store their address and their mode of payment to accelerate their checkout experience. The facility of login through social media and retrieving account information created by them earlier also make work easier. To speed up the checkout experience proves to be useful to make your customers spend more time on your website.

Effective and active e-commerce sites remove all the potential obstacles which may arise in the process of placing an order or in the payment process. It is positive and satisfying to notify the customers through an email of their transaction and having the facility of customer care to resolve any query if they encounter any.

5. Transparent policies

Being trustworthy is a responsibility that should be adhered to by every tradesperson where it is of an online store or physical store. Making any purchase decision from an online seller demands a leap of faith in the seller as well as in the product quality and service. It is important to have clear policies that define all the policies in relation to product return, exchange, and warranties and how to use it.

6. Be attentive the design does not divert attention from shopping

In some cases, the design of the website distracts the user from shopping. The simpler the design of the website it is easy to navigate and make a purchase decision. The website should be designed in a manner that does not take away the customer’s shopping experience and does not seem to be cluttered.

7. Quality images and videos

The customers purchase any product online just by having a look at the product and take a leap of faith in the product images, videos, and description. If the videos and images of the product are not clear the customer may find difficulty to examine the product. It may mislead the customer or they may have unrealistic expectations about the product. They can be confused about whether it is the same product which they want to buy.

Conclusion:
The e-commerce platforms endeavor impressive revenue opportunities and a captive marketplace, it is the obligation of a business person to satisfy the expectations of customers through all the possible ways and on all fronts, whether it is a site functionality, quality of the product or the ease of using and performing any function. E-commerce is well entrenched if it includes customer insights and combines it with the best practices.