elements for a successful ecommerce siteThe growth of ecommerce caught a lot of observers by surprise. There were many concerns about the business when it was in its infancy. These concerned included buyers being unsure about purchasing products they could not physically see, trust issues with credit cards to online retailers and the viability of the businesses they were purchasing from. These issues offered challenging times for the industry early on, but they have been put aside and the industry now thrives as companies like Amazon, Alibaba, and eBay generate billions of dollars by providing millions of customers with thousands of goods daily. To replicate their success with your own ecommerce store, you will have to ask yourself the following questions: What are the elements these companies use to attract customers and keep them coming back? And most importantly, what can you do to get customers to buy from you directly?

Present core information: You need to present any key product details as quickly and clearly as you can. You can do this in several ways including highlighting text, video content or visual imagery that focuses on features that are appealing to the customer. For example, if you are trying to sell art online, you need to make sure that your ecommerce store has large images and lots of white or negative space. Put all information buyers need to determine if they are interested, including price and any key product features, in clear view.

Sensible Navigation: Your site needs to have an immediate impact on visitors and be inviting. Quickly following this, your site’s navigation needs to be intuitive and logical. Buyers will not spend time trying to figure out how to get around and find what they want. They want this part figured out before they arrive. So make sure that buttons are where they are supposed to be and your site flows the way that other notable ecommerce sites do. Remember, you want the focus on your products, not your navigation.

Mind the Clutter: Sites like Amazon offer pages that are designed to overwhelm you with options. They can do this because they have such market presence and people will forgive the clutter. Your goal is to present something that has an opposite effect. One where the eye is trained on a few things that highlight the fact that they are important and need the buyer’s attention. The buying process should be built towards driving people to their choices and then their purchase. Colors should be more muted and fonts should be simple and easy to read.

Search: Site search is a core element. Ecoconsultancy estimated that site search visitors converted at a rate of 4.63 percent, compared to the average 2.77 percent. Make sure your search function is easy to locate. Also it must autocomplete and be able to interpret complex queries.

FAQs is a Must: You should assume that people will have a range of questions about your company, products, shipping, and return policies. So provide information on these issues that customers can access on their own. This means you need a robust FAQ section. You should also supplement this with an ability for customers to connect with your service department to have any additional questions answered.

Following these tips, you should have no problems setting up an ecommerce for whatever products you choose to sell. Sticking to a dedicated site plan and selling plan will give you ecommerce success in no time.