Are you selling your products online? Then your e-commerce website is the heart and soul of your business. This means you need to have up-to-date e-commerce website features in 2022, that you constantly check and improve. To make the whole process easier, we have prepared an e-commerce website features list 2022 – if you carefully complete each of the 9 steps, it is impossible to go wrong with your online store:
Responsive Website Design
It is no secret that nowadays consumers are using their mobile phone to research and purchase products rather than staying in front of their desktop computers. Even major purchases are conducted from mobile devices, and around 80% of B2B buyers are now using a mobile device to shop. All users expect to be able to securely place orders from the comfort of their smartphone screen. For this reason, you need to ensure your website is mobile-friendly and responsive for all devices.
What is responsive design and why is it important? This older post from VMA will tell you everything a business owner needs to know about responsive design and how to use it to achieve success. The main benefits of having a responsive design are improving customer experience on all devices, boosting conversion rates, increasing revenue generation, achieving cost-effectiveness, enjoying flexibility, and obtaining search engine optimisation gains.
User-Friendly Navigation
User-friendly navigation is closely connected to responsive website design. Users expect to find very quickly whatever they are looking for, and if they can’t find it, they will most likely leave your website & go elsewhere. A website that is difficult to navigate does not gain the trust of users and potential customers will not find your online store credible and safe enough to place an order.
One of VMA’s oldest areas of expertise is web design and development and we know how to create and build reliable small business ecommerce websites that are secure, fully responsive and easy to navigate. Examples of good website navigation features include: using colour contrast wisely, creating visual separation between navigation and other page elements, only using buttons for calls to action, ordering links by priority, optimising for mobile, and using descriptive labels. Clear menus that let users browse different product categories and allowing users to filter and sort items by various criteria are must-have features on an ecommerce website features 2022 and definitely lead to more items reaching the shopping cart! Graphic design also plays an important role in ensuring easy and user-friendly navigation.
Multiple Security Features
Where there is money to be handled, there are concerns about the safety of transactions.
Having an e-commerce website means that you need to implement the latest data security standards and use a reliable payment processor. Methods to secure data and information online include using a VPN (virtual private network), installing an SSL (Secure Socket Layer) Certificate, using two-factor or multi-factor authentication, using a firewall and choosing plug-ins carefully.
In order to offer peace of mind to your customers, include a privacy policy link in footer, which addresses the website’s privacy policies and ensures that customer data is not shared with third parties. We also highly recommend including trust symbols like SSL, payment or other trust logos to build trust with your customers.
Shopping Cart and Checkout Buttons
Having a shopping cart and checkout buttons on your ecommerce website is a no-brainer, but the level of sales will be influenced, among others, by how these elements are optimised. When customers face barriers or difficulties during the purchasing process, they can change their mind and choose not to buy from you anymore. Even as much as 80% of users can abandon their purchase if they encounter barriers in their customer journey. Here the best practices to follow in order to make the purchasing and checkout experiences seamless:
- Make products clickable so customers can easily review products again before placing the order. This also helps avoiding orders applied by mistake.
- Optimise product names and details – users should be able to see all kinds of details when reviewing their order, such as price, shipping details, and product description. Including these details with your products also helps with search engine optimisation.
- Include several checkout buttons with your website – this enables your website visitors to see the checkout button without looking too much for it, thus increasing your conversion rate.
Offer Multiple Payment Options
Having multiple payment options makes the purchasing process more convenient and also comes in handy when one of the payment options is not working. Reassuring clients that you have plenty of options to help them complete their purchase builds trust with people. In the end, featuring multiple payment options is another factor that has a positive impact on your conversion rate.
In order to choose the right payment options, you need to know who your customer is and what are the most effective solutions for them. If you are targeting technology-savvy individuals, you can also consider offering Buy Now, Pay Later or Bitcoin as payment options. If you don’t, it is important that you explain users why it is not an option on your website.
Detailed Shipping and Return Information
Do you know what the number one reason for shopping cart abandonment is? It is not difficult to guess – unexpected shipping costs. People hate to see their expenses going up unexpectedly.
Make a priority out of including shipping information early in the checkout process. Feature a ZIP code calculator to estimate costs from the beginning, before the user even adds products to their shopping cart.
Other things that you can try to ensure a higher level of satisfaction regarding shipping options are to provide delivery time estimates and options for faster delivery. Many customers will prefer to pay less and wait more until the order arrives, but you are giving them multiple options that all involve purchasing, so the risk of people abandoning the shopping cart when they see the shipment costs decreases considerably.
Free shipping is another great tool to make your customers happy. Statistics show that shoppers spend 30% more per order when free shipping is included.
Another major aspect you should include on your checkout page is informing clients on your return policy. This is because 90% of consumers will buy again if the return process is easy. Ensuring a great user experience makes people become repeat customers and bring more value on the long term.
High-Quality Photos and Videos
93% of online buyers say that visual appearance is a key deciding factor in a purchasing decision. Successful businesses rely heavily on visual content, which starts with high-quality images and videos and goes beyond with features such as shoppable images and videos (buying products straight from visual content), personalisation, encouraging user-generated content (social proof, customer reviews, customer blog posts), and augmented and virtual reality features enabling customers to ‘try’ products before buying them.
Images are important on e-commerce websites because they get the users’ attention, keep them engaged, offer valuable information about products, and make your website look professional. Remember to use more than one image of your product and include photos from multiple angles, with zoom in options and people using the product in different situations (photos and even videos if possible).
Contact Page with Multiple Contact Options
If users cannot find the information they need on your FAQ page, make it easy for them to contact you. Place the link to your contact page in a visible spot, usually at the bottom of the website, to help your business appear trustworthy and prevent customer frustration.
Contact options should include phone number, email address, social media profiles, and optionally live chat and chatbot. The chatbot can handle a part of the inquiries and put the customer through with the right members of your team when necessary.
Create an Omnichannel Platform
Featuring an omnichannel platform on your website empowers customers by providing them multiple options such as choosing how they want to interact with you, connecting customers with brands without users having to log in to different social media channels, offering a consistent, coordinated customer experience across all possible customer channels, and offering customers a choice of ways to purchase their products, via both online and offline channels.
Omnichannel retail is a business model where all existing channels become completely integrated to offer customers a seamless shopping experience. It is powered by centralised data management tools, which blurs the boundaries between physical and online channels.
As a result, customers can start their search at a channel and finish the purchase in another. They have the chance to create their own shopping routines and construct a personalized, enhanced e-commerce experience.
Do you need help going through your e-commerce website features list 2022? Companies like VMA can help as we provide digital marketing services that enable you to implement any of the 9 e-commerce website features in 2022 good practices presented above. Contact us today for professional e-commerce development advice and services!
