Key Features of Successful Ecommerce Websites
Ecommerce growth in the past few years, and even few months, is substantial. Accordingly, the expectations of customers have also increased. Finding success in such a saturated market requires well-thought out strategy in every aspect. While the ecommerce company itself must have a strong foundation, the company’s website heavily impacts the bottom line. Having a high-quality website is the backbone of any outstanding ecommerce business. Thankfully, we do know there are some key features that are common among every truly successful ecommerce site:
Call to Action on Home Page
One of the most important features to have on your ecommerce site is a clear, well-designed call to action on your home page. It should push people to products and other important sales pages to drive conversions and other positive outcomes. A call to action on the home page would typically be a “Shop Now” or “Sign Up for Our Emails” button, but there are endless possibilities! Ultimately, every page on your site should have a call to action, directing site visitors to eventually make a purchase, but the home page call to action is the essential first step in driving conversions. Your home page call to action should:
• Create a sense of urgency
• Contrast the background and the rest of the page—you want it to stand out!
• Most of all, it should be relevant to what your site visitors want
Featured Products on Home Page
Similar to the call to action, your home page should include a set of featured products (and a link to them). These featured products could be best-sellers, new arrivals, sale items, etc. These can change during different seasons, events, sales, etc., but you should always be spotlighting sets of products on your home page to catch the attention of your customers and drive traffic to product pages.
Wishlist (and account signup)
When a customer is thinking about a product but not quite ready to purchase, saving the item to a wish list is a perfect way to navigate back to the product if and when they are ready to buy. Moreover, a wish list feature allows your company to see what customers are interested in and curate advertisements, product suggestions, and more to that specific customer.
Additionally, having a wishlist is a great incentive to create an account on your website, which increases your engagement with those customers. Driving potential customers to create a login for your site is critical, as it can increase your touchpoints with them.
Product Reviews
Let’s admit it-- in our vast online shopping experience, we’ve all looked at product reviews to verify that a site is credible. It is important that the product review section exists in order for potential customers to verify that your company and products are trustworthy, and it’s also a great way to get feedback from previous customers on ways to improve your products.
If you’re having a hard time getting customers to leave reviews, a great way to hear back from them is by asking directly for feedback. This may take the form of an email survey about a week after the product was delivered, or a variety of other forms. What matters is that you make it quick and easy for customers to leave a review. Additionally, make sure you respond to any product reviews that may need your attention. This is a way to offer our customer support, and is often able to turn a bad review into a public display of customer service,
Advanced Onsite Search
While it may seem clear, having advanced search integrated into your ecommerce site is essential. Customers must be able to quickly and easily find what they need and what they’re looking for on your site. Some customers won’t bother to go through sidebar categories to find what they’re looking for; they want to search with a few key words.
And if they don’t find anything relevant quickly, they’ll move on. With the correct use and optimization of search, you can increase conversions astronomically.
Order Tracking
Finally, every ecommerce site should offer order tracking. This will likely be through a third-party shipping or mailing service, but it’s important that you make this easy for your customers to access. With Amazon 2-day shipping and similar offerings from other sites, customers are anxious to receive their orders quickly, and to know exactly where their order is and when it will arrive. This is a simple way to take your customer service to the next level.
These are just some of the key features that most successful ecommerce websites have. Americaneagle.com has designed and developed thousands of profitable ecommerce websites, including WeatherTech, Stuart Weitzman, and more. To learn more about what Americaneagle.com can do for your ecommerce presence, contact us today.