How to have a great online store?

Online stores have revolutionized how we buy and sell products in the last decade. Without the need for a brick and mortar shop, you can sell your products on the internet and sell it to billions of people worldwide, 24 hours of the day and save money on overhead expenses along the way!

Shopping has never been easier and people are increasingly switching to online stores and with the growing number of online stores, expectations are growing everyday and competition is becoming tighter.

In order to attract and retain your customer base, your online store requires certain features and qualities.

In this article, we will introduce you to some of the essential features and qualities that your online store needs in order to be great and succeed.

• Great User Experience (UX)

Every online store at its core aims to attract visitors, convert them to buyers and retain them as loyal customers. That is why user experience mentality in web design is crucial for an online store.

The feel and look of your online store along with convenience of navigation are the keys to a successful online store business, no matter what you sell.

A great User interface (UI) including theme, layout, size and placement has great impact on user experience in your online store.

Easy to understand and noticeable CTA will make your visitors’ experience a lot easier and your sales a lot higher.

With increasing use of mobile devices, it is essential for your online store to be mobile friendly (m-commerce) and responsive to various device sizes.

• Relevant and Credible Content

Your content is what creates the feel and look of your online store. The more engaging your texts and the more appealing your visuals, the more visitors will be hooked and encouraged to buy and return the next time when they need something.

The tone of your content sets the stage for visitors to feel what you want them to feel in order to stay and return.

The more personalized your contents are, the more engagement they encourage and the more relevant they become.

Content earns your online store authority and credibility and that in turn will help your SEO and increase your traffic and sales!

• High loading speed

According to stats, 40% of people won’t wait more than 3 seconds for your pages to load or they are gone checking your competitions’ online store. Every extra second reduces conversion by 7%!

Other than your web host, your web design has a lot to do with your high speed online store. The slower your online store is, the more visitors you lose, the less traffic you generate and your sales will suffer a lot.

One way to have a faster online store is to compress images to a smaller size without losing image quality. There are many apps on the market both free and paid that can help you with that.

• Easy product search and filtering

Nothing is more frustrating than an online store that doesn’t let buyers to search products effortlessly. With popularity of voice and image recognition technology, an effective search feature is even more essential for an online store.

Price comparison is another great feature that provides your visitors with all they need to know about products.

• Honest user reviews

People are trusting user reviews more than before so letting people express their experiences about your products and rate them honestly, will add more credibility to your online store.

• Simple check out

Many shopping carts are left abandoned because the check out process is too complicated or slow!

Incorporation of easy and secure payment methods is absolutely crucial to reduce sales loss at check out.

• High Security

In digital age, Trust is more important than ever before where you hand over your bank account details to online stores.

Using SSL certificates and encryption are simple ways to earn customer trust and retain it for years to come.

Success Measurement

In order to succeed as on online store, you must measure some important Metrics for yourself and also your competition in order to compare performances in the market.

Design options

There are many options in the market to design your great online store which can be categorized in 3 groups:

• Custom design

You can have your online store designed from the ground with custom design and code. The good thing is that your online store will be as unique as you are and it will stand out in the crowd.

The codes are also scalable and adaptable meaning if you want to make some changes in the future; it will be done quickly and cleanly.

Technical SEO will be incorporated in your web design so taking your online store to the top spots in search result pages becomes an easier task.

Usability testing (split or A/B testing) will be done to see how your visitors are feeling about different versions of your online store.

Just keep in mind; because the codes will be written specifically for you, it will take more time to launch your online store.

• Ready to use template

To make it faster for customers who are in rush to launch their online store, some web design companies have ready to use templates for online store that can be quickly modified according to your needs and preferences.

They generally have all the essential elements of custom design.

• Free

There are many free options to start an online store that have gained popularity. The problem with free design is that you can’t have a customized and personalized style and theme according to your own preferences.

The free themes are also being used by everyone so your online store is not unique as much as you want it to be.

Conclusion

With all the great options that are in the market, building a great online store is not an impossible task on your own. But if you want to stand out in the crowd, be as unique as you are and win the competition, you can get help from professionals and design your online store from the ground.

The value proposition you offer to people will make the difference between you and others in the market and At Admark Vision, we can help you with that in order to build your great online store.