Getting started with e-commerce - the 7 essential ingredients of a great e-commerce website

E-commerce websites in the UK

It wasn’t so long ago that e-commerce websites were limited to major businesses and companies. Now, even the smallest of ventures can sell online with an e-commerce site. In 2022 nearly 60 million people in the UK made a purchase online and the total value of monthly eCommerce sales in the UK reached £2.2billion in October 2022. If you’re a commercial brand selling products, it’s never been more important to have an e-commerce website.

How to get started with e-commerce – building your eCommerce website

It’s important to remember that an e-commerce site is simply a website with the purpose (and means) of taking payment for the sale of goods. So, that means that all the usual principles of web design apply – you want to build an appealing, website that functions well, including on mobile.

Your goal is to secure conversions (a sale) and it’s worth noting that this isn’t easy. According to Osome around 4.1% of visits to UK e-commerce websites converted to a purchase in the second quarter of 2022. That means you will need to attract a lot of visitors to secure sales. It’s worth checking out this blog post: 7 actions to increase conversions on your e-commerce website to get more of an idea of how you can design your website to achieve better sales from those who do visit your website. However, in this blog post, we want to help users new to eCommerce…

The essential ingredients of an e-commerce shop

Here are our seven essential ingredients to help make your e-commerce website a success:

1. Easy navigation

No one wants to spend ages trying to find the product they want online. 70% of users have abandoned a shopping cart due to poor user experience and you can guarantee that if your shop isn’t user friendly you’ll lose customers. A Clutch survey of over 600 web users identified that making a website easy-to-navigate was the most important web design feature for 94% of those surveyed. Categories and tags are particularly important in the world of e-commerce, allowing users to easily move between similar products like all men’s sweaters or children’s t-shirts.

2. Great product pages

Your products need to be well described and photographed. Good photography can be particularly important. eCommerce giant Etsy found that 90% of its users considered photograph quality to be the most important factor in a sale. When it comes to text, your product pages should include your product name, description (emphasise features and advantages), and project specifications (size, colour, materials etc). For more information, see our blog post on writing product descriptions.

3. Fully responsive design

A survey by Google showed that 59% of shoppers said that being able to shop on mobile was essential when deciding who to buy from. We’ve blogged previously about the need for responsive web design, with mobile and tablet use exceeding desktop usage in the UK. But in the world of e-commerce, this requirement is critical and shoppers expect to use either a dedicated mobile app or an e-commerce website that is fully functional on mobile.

4. Detailed order, returns and warranty information

Users want to shop with confidence and that means that your e-commerce website must clearly communicate key details such as return policies, warranties and terms of service. You should also inform customers about shipping costs, delivery times and cancellation rights. Standard website conditions also need to be met including providing cookie warnings and privacy policies.

5. A simple order process

Nobody wants to lose a customer to an overly long checkout process. Keep your transaction as simple as possible and focus on obtaining only the information critical to the sale such as billing details and delivery address. When it comes to payment, users want to use a method that is accessible and familiar. As well as credit and debit card payments, PayPal is a globally recognised payment option with high user confidence.

6. First-rate support

Support isn’t just there for when things go wrong. Users may have questions that they’d like answered before committing to purchase. They also want confidence that in the event of an issue they’ll have the support they need. Make sure customer support channels are easy to find, and if you can, provide a range of options such as email, telephone, instant chat etc. Support is a critical factor in customer loyalty. It costs around 5 times more to win over a new customer than to retain an existing one, so you want your customers to be happy with the service they experience.

7. SEO that delivers

SEO is just as important for e-commerce sites as it is with a standard website. Unless your brand is a global market leader, you’ll still be dependent on organic discoverability. Page descriptions, correct use of headings, image alt-tags and a great blog that utilises your keywords are all great ways to drive traffic to your e-commerce website. Check out our blog on SEO keyword research and keyword planning tools.

Get help from experienced e-commerce web designers

If you’re ready to take your brand online with an e-commerce website but still aren’t sure where to start, we can help. We work with small businesses to design e-commerce sites that look great and convert visitors to sales. If you’d like to find out more, get in touch with us in Exeter today