Every website redesign has its own set of challenges, but e-commerce businesses have challenges that most other websites don’t. These may include issues related to web page design. Every day, internet sellers commit a slew of blunders, all of which might be avoided with a little forethought. Even if you’ve previously made some of these errors, the majority of them are simple to correct. Avoiding these will drastically enhance your consumers’ experience.
Here are 10 of the most frequent features to avoid in e-commerce websites, along with tips on how to avoid or correct them. Consider the following suggestions before starting a new e-commerce project or thinking about your present e-commerce site, and attempt to follow the principles stated below.
- A lack of detailed product information
When you purchase at a physical store, you have the option of picking up an item, inspecting it from every aspect, and reading any information on the box or labels. A recent study states that 81% of customers carry out research by comparing price and product amongst multiple websites. Therefore eCommerce websites must do all possible to improve the in-store purchasing experience.
How many times have we gone to an internet business just to discover that their descriptions are inadequate? And if a consumer is left in the dark about a product’s characteristics, they’re more inclined to search for answers elsewhere. And unless your site’s pricing is considerably cheaper than that of your competitors, they’ll most likely buy from the other.
What to do about it?
Include as many details as possible of the product. Sizes, materials, weight, and measurements, as well as any other relevant information, depending on the product. For example, in an online clothing store, you may provide the fabric type, available sizes, and colors, a size chart (typically linked from several goods), the item’s weight or thickness, cut and fit, care instructions, and remarks on the brand or designer. Using descriptive phrases instead of only technical jargon might have a bigger influence on the customer.
- Hiding contact information
When consumers send over their credit card information, they want to know that they’re working with a legitimate firm. They want assurance that if they have an issue, they will be able to speak with a live person and receive the assistance they require. If your site doesn’t give contact information or hides it in a way that makes it difficult to discover, customers are less inclined to trust it and, as a result, are less likely to conduct business with you.
What to do about it?
On every page of your website, include your contact information in an easy-to-find location. Your contact information should be placed in your header, top of your sidebar, or footer, to name a few places. If at all feasible, provide several contact options. Customer confidence is increased by having a contact form, email address, phone number, and postal address. Also keep in mind that the more expensive or technically complex your product is, the more likely a customer will desire additional contact information.
- A long or confusing checkout process
One of the most costly blunders an e-commerce site can do is to commit this mistake. According to a report 18% of customers leave the site if the checkout process gets too complicated. To tackle this issue make providing credit card information and completing orders as straightforward and feasible for your customers. The more steps you add between adding an item to their cart and paying for it, the more chances you provide them to abandon their shopping cart and exit your site without completing their transaction.
Consumers should be able to review their purchases and enter their billing and shipping information on a single page, followed by a confirmation page before submitting their transaction.
What to do about it?
As nearly as possible, emulate the ideal model. If you must include more pages, make them as simple and quick to fill out as possible. To make pages look shorter, combine pages where possible and utilize two-column layouts for specific areas, such as putting billing and shipping information next to each other.
- Requiring an account to order
As per a report 23% of people will abandon their carts immediately if prompted to create an account at checkout. If you have a consumer create an account before they can place a purchase, you’ve added another roadblock in their way. Which is more essential to you: obtaining the order or collecting client data? Keep in mind that the second alternative may result in the loss of certain consumers. As per a report, 23% of people will abandon their carts immediately if prompted to create an account at checkout.
What to do about it?
This is a simple problem to solve. Instead of forcing customers to create an account before placing a purchase, provide them with the choice after the process. Allow them to keep their account details to make placing future orders or tracking the status of their current order easier. Many consumers will choose to preserve their information, which means you won’t lose clients before they finish their order.
- An inadequate site search engine
Many customers will use a search engine rather than browsing through categories and filters if they know exactly what they’re looking for. You should make sure that your site’s search function is up to par, and that it has filters that allow customers to narrow their results.
When you search for a product on a major e-commerce site, how frequently do you get hundreds of relevant results? While having a wide range of alternatives might be beneficial, if half of the results aren’t what you’re searching for, it’s more of a hassle than anything else. This problem may be solved by allowing clients to limit their search results by category or feature.
What to do about it?
Check to see if the e-commerce software you’re using has a solid built-in search engine, or seek for plugins to enhance it. In an ideal world, an e-commerce search engine would allow customers to search by keyword and then narrow their results depending on the categories available on your site. Allow users to filter their search results using conventional criteria and to exclude things that don’t fall into a certain category.
- Poor customer service options
A report states that If a client has an issue or a query, you should make it as simple as possible for them to contact you. Make it obvious how they should contact you if they have a technical concern, a sales question, or if they need to return something. Customers will feel more confident if you provide them with a help request form rather than just an email address.
What to do about it?
For customer support inquiries, use a ticketing system, especially if you don’t have a phone number. Make sure you include a FAQ on your website that answers typical questions buyers could have, such as what your return policy is or how to obtain components or replacement goods.
- Tiny product images
Because customers can’t physically handle the items you’re selling before placing an order on your website, you’ll need to replicate and improve that experience as much as possible. This is difficult to do with small product pictures.
What to do about it?
Either provide huge photos on the product page or allow customers to zoom in by clicking on an image. Users should be able to see the image as large as possible on a standard display. This indicates that a resolution of 1024×768 pixels is a reasonable starting point.
- Only one product image
You’ll want to offer numerous pictures from various perspectives unless your goods are supplied digitally. A color photograph of the front, back, and sides, as well as comprehensive shots of certain characteristics, may all help a customer decide whether or not to buy from you.
What to do about it?
This one’s simple: include more images. Each product should have four or five photos, with enough views for a customer to feel certain that they know exactly what they’re buying.
- A poor shopping cart design
An e-commerce site’s shopping cart is a crucial component. It must allow users to add numerous goods, change quantities or other choices related to those products easily, and stay visible at the same time.
What to do about it?
Make sure that a user may add an item to their cart and then return to the previous page. Better still, let them add anything to their cart without ever leaving the page they’re on by using a mini cart. Allow users to alter the number of items or remove them from the cart completely. Along with varying items display the change in price and the final amount(including taxes and shipping charges) before they begin the checkout process.
- Not including store policies
Customers will want to know what your shipping policies, refund policies, and other shop restrictions are before they buy from you. There’s also no reason not to provide this information in a FAQ or elsewhere on your website. Making your shop policies clear up front may save you a lot of trouble later on from consumers who are dissatisfied with their orders.
What to do about it?
Use your website’s FAQ or shop policies section to set out your policies for various types of client interactions. It’s something that can save you a lot of trouble in the long run.
Author’s Note:
All the above features to avoid in eCommerce websites are extremely crucial for your e-commerce website. By abiding by these pointers and getting continuous customer feedback you can optimize your website more effectively.
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