Does your e-commerce website have all of the necessary features to make for a safe and comfortable shopping experience?
Your customers should be presented with a site that is secure, attractive and easy to navigate!
As e-commerce specialists, we have put together a list of the essential features that should be included in your e-commerce website.
1. Mobile Compatibility
More and more people are doing their online shopping from their mobile phones. In fact, recent studies show that at least half of online shopping purchases are made from mobile devices. Therefore, is your site mobile-compatible? Keep the modern, mobile shopper in mind by providing a fully optimised mobile shopping experience from their phone. Optimise your site and you can expect your online sales to increase dramatically!
2. High Quality Photographs
We live in a highly visual society and people want to be able to see exactly what they’re purchasing before handing over their hard-earned cash.
Ensure that all images on your site are of a high quality and can be zoomed in on so that customers can see the details that every product offers. There should be multiple photographs of each product, from a variety of angles. While photos should be high quality, they should also be optimised and correctly compressed so that they do not slow down the page loading speeds.
3. Special Deals And Offers
People love to feel as if they’re getting a good deal, so it’s essential that you have a ‘Special Offers’ section on your e-commerce website.
By letting your customers think that they’re getting a special promotion, they will automatically be more inclined to spend and buy immediately, especially if the deal is offered for a limited timeframe. Special offers also give new buyers a starting point if they’re not too sure what they’re looking for.
4.Wish Lists
Wish lists are a feature on almost all respected e-commerce sites for good reason. Wish lists are extremely convenient and allow shoppers to curate a list of all their favourite products that can be shared with family and friends.
It also gives customers the opportunity to bookmark items that they may want to purchase when they get their next paycheck.
Additionally, wish lists can become important aspects of your marketing and engagement strategies as they give vital information about what your potential customers are interested in buying.
5. Related Items
The ‘Related Items’ feature on e-commerce sites uses simple algorithms to present customers with other products that they may be interested in.
If they are buying clothing, they may be presented with other clothing items in a similar style. By presenting the shopper with further items in their style and price range, you could initiate additional purchases.
‘Related Items’ create many positive signals for the buyer, the main one being that your brand understands them and their personal taste.
6. Security Features
One of the most important aspects of your entire e-commerce site is your security features. E-commerce sites with substandard protection are easy targets for hackers and cybercriminals.
You need to ensure that you have a secure platform to protect your customers’ personal details, as well as the following security features:
- Two-factor authentication – This provides an additional layer of security by asking the shopper to provide their log in details as well as a code sent to their email address or phone number in order to purchase.
- Firewall – Firewalls provide a gateway or wall between two networks and permits authorized traffic and blocks malicious traffic.
7. Variety Of Payment Options
Does your e-commerce website offer enough payment options? And are these payment options advanced, safe and secure? Be sure to cater for your target market and provide the payment options that they are most likely to use.
Be transparent about why certain payment options aren’t available on your site, and above all keep your customer’s safety as a top priority.
8. Shipping Information
Don’t frustrate your customer by surprising them with unexpected shipping costs. State plainly and clearly the cost of your shipping. You will also need to state the different shipping options you offer, the different countries that you ship to and the expected timeframes for each shipping option.
You may want to offer free shipping if customers spend over a certain amount, as this is a great incentive for people to spend slightly more.
9. Return Policy
To prevent you from dealing with any issues when it comes to customer service and returns, your return policy should be stated as clear as day on your site so that your customer knows your return process should they happen to buy the wrong size etc.
Do you need help incorporating some of these must-have features into your e-commerce site? The team at Mad Cat Marketing can assist you in creating a responsive and engaging e-commerce site, built for a comfortable online shopping experience. Get in touch with us today!