Websites designed for eCommerce use have their own unique look and feel which attracts a visitor to do one thing, and one thing only, on the site – purchase something. The individual whom is designing the website needs to consider several factors of online selling during the design process.

Below are a few principals an eCommerce website design should include:

1. Be sure to give the user a pleasant experience when visiting your site and doing online shopping

2. Be sure to provide sufficient contact information, so visitors can contact the site owner with questions or concerns.

3. Make sure the website is easy to use and navigate.

4. Provide many examples of the items that are for sale

The principals of a good eCommerce website design are not new to anyone. Our every day to day experiences shopping either on or off line are still required to follow the same basic principles, however, with online sales it can get a bit trickier because all contact is visual and not verbal.

Be sure to give the user a pleasant experience when visiting your site and doing online shopping

When designing a site be sure it simple for individuals to find the items they want and the checkout process is not overly lengthy. It is important to have all items easily navigated to by one to two clicks of the mouse and plenty of ‘order now’ and ‘checkout’ buttons in front of the user. When users have to click back and forth multiple times to checkout, it can be a frustrating experience.

Be sure to provide sufficient contact information, so visitors can contact the site owner with questions or concerns.

Unlike a regular store, when purchasing items through an online eCommerce platform, it can be difficult to talk to a representative if questions arise. Be sure to make your contact information readily available to anyone who visits your site, either with a dedicated ‘Contact Us’ page or simple contact us text. It is beneficial, but not necessary, to have a contact us form dedicated to contacting the site owner directly.

Make sure the website is easy to use and navigate.

Similar to giving your user a pleasant experience on your site, you need to create a site that is easy to use and navigate. A website can become overbearing when there is a lot of content on the site, tons of pictures, pop-ups, and rollover text. When visitors come to your site to purchase something, they want to see what they are purchasing, and may not be interested in all the other fluff (however cool it may be). One of the best methods to follow is the KISS method: Keep it Short and Simple

Provide many examples of the items that are for sale

It is important to provide users to your site live examples of the items in which they are purchasing. The more examples you can have on the site, the more informed of a decision the user will be making on what they are purchasing. This can help alleviate questions and issues in the future that it was not fully understood what was being purchased.