Online shoppers now have far higher standards than in the past. There is a higher expectation for customization, a simple and unified path to purchase across all channels, a clutter-free and aesthetically pleasing shopping experience, and sophisticated tools for finding the finest products. What's the takeaway? Customers in the modern era are more interested in having a pleasant buying experience than ever before.
For many customers, a website is the initial point of digital contact before, during, and after a purchase. eCommerce enterprises must provide a superior website experience and fulfill the needs of their clients or risk losing them to a competitor. E-retailers face a difficult task when creating a website that makes a great impression on clients: they must design and implement eCommerce website features that customers are amazed by and that companies can scale. What exactly are these characteristics?
In that case, let's plunge in and check it out!
How Popular Are eCommerce Websites?
Many people weren't surprised by the rapid expansion of online shopping because of the internet's increasing relevance, power, and impact. The precise causes for eCommerce growth are essential to understand if you want to make the most of this expanding market. Several factors contribute to this rapid increase, including social media proliferation and brand ambassadors' increased influence. Let's take a brief look at eCommerce statistics to assess the growth and acceptance of online shopping.
Statista report states that online retail sales reached about $5.2 trillion in the United States in 2021. Over the following few years, this number is expected to climb by 56%, earning over $8.1 trillion by 2026.
World players
Chinese retail giant Alibaba will have over $700.0 billion in 2022 in online sales, making it the largest e-commerce store in the world. On the other hand, the Seattle-based e-commerce behemoth Amazon is expected to produce over $1.2 trillion in online sales by 2027, putting it ahead of Alibaba in the predictions.
Features Every eCommerce Business Needs
A user's time on your website or online store should be pleasant and productive if it is user-friendly, quick, safe, and attractive. Certain cutting-edge elements are required to deliver such an experience to your customers. To help you out, we have mentioned some of the best features of eCommerce; let's check what those features are:
1. Cart, Search, & Login
These three qualities are vital to any e-commerce shop and are always mentioned at the top. It's hard to run an online store without allowing customers to save and check out things. If you have several products, a search box will assist clients in easily finding what they need. Having visitors register an account is a great approach to keep them coming back. They can examine past and current orders, make a wish list, and receive great rates on future purchases if they join up.
2. Different Payment Options
In the e-commerce world, shopping cart abandonment is a common problem. If you want to increase the likelihood of a sale being made at the website's final checkout page, you should provide several different online payment options available to customers. Consider including choices for payment providers like PayPal or Stripe in addition to the usual debit and credit card alternatives. You can increase clicks on the "purchase" button by installing plugins that offer "buy now, pay later" options.
3. User-Friendly Navigation
Online retailers can get an edge over their rivals and boost revenue by prioritizing user-friendly navigation. From the time a consumer lands on your homepage, they should be able to navigate to the point of purchase without any confusion easily. A web shop's data structure shouldn't be overly complex or vast. An extensive menu can be off-putting to customers, leading them to abandon the site. It would help if you started with simple primary categories and then used a secondary menu to provide additional granularity.
4. Order Tracking
Creating a satisfying customer shopping experience should be the primary focus of any online retailer's operations. Providing a positive experience for customers can help ensure that their orders are processed promptly and accurately. Order tracking lets companies determine precisely where each order is in the fulfillment process to provide their consumers with reliable updates. In addition to this, it assists firms in identifying any potential problems that may result in a delay in the fulfillment of an order.
5. Product Filtering Option
Customers will be more likely to purchase from you if they can quickly and easily locate the necessary products. Here is where revenue can be significantly increased through product screening. Product filters are a powerful tool for guiding shoppers to your store's sections that will be most interesting to them. They can narrow down the options to those that best suit their needs using filters. Unfortunately, only around 16% of e-commerce websites have effective product filtering. If you want your e-commerce website to be successful, you need to ensure it has a reliable filtering system that visitors can use easily.
6. Product details
Many consumers still feel cautious about online purchases, especially from smaller firms. Online shoppers can't view or try the product before buying. Offer as much product information as possible to convince customers your product is high-quality and worth their money. Include size, material, color, ingredients, and provenance on product pages. Offer high-quality, 360-degree product photos. Include model photos for apparel.
7. Various Security Features
It would help if you integrated multiple reliable payment channels so that customers can choose one that best suits their needs and preferences. Build a secure website where customers' financial data is encrypted and safe from prying eyes. Protect sensitive client data in transit by encrypting your site with SSL. Customers will think twice about purchasing from our online store if they have doubts about the site's safety and security.
Wrapping Up
If you run an online store, you need to include the above-mentioned aspects of eCommerce website construction. While these are some of the most advanced and greatest eCommerce features, they are by no means exhaustive. E-commerce sites can benefit from consulting eCommerce development services, which can give them a more polished, professional appearance.