Before deciding to read this topic, ask yourself first - What are the things you wished were there in your last visit to a shopping site?
Should there have been more scope for interaction? Should there have been a price comparison facility? Did the web design communicate what it promised to sell ? Would you purchase more if they offer seasonal discounts / free delivery next time?
Being 'user friendly', is the focal point of all e commerce sites. A design that is user focused, generates more conversions. So, if you were given the opportunity to make some improvements to the last visited shopping website, what would you have added or changed?
This post will bring to you a set of five best shopping site names, which try to maintain the key marketing principles, together with a beautiful web design.
Five E-commerce Websites that Deliver The Best User Experience
Apple - For Color And Typography
Selection of color and typography is an important part of a website. If you have an online store selling luxury products, but have a website, which looks like some e-store that sells warehouse products, then that means you are not reaching out to your target audience. Besides, if your typography is beautiful but people find it hard to decipher what is written, that too does not help your business much, does it?
Apple is one such website, which has got its font and color selection absolutely right.
Simplicity is what dominates the entire website. There is a well maintained balance between the font and the color. White color builds up a form spaciousness that is comfortable to the eyes, while the Sans font (i.e. lightweight Myriad), speaks a lot about the products that Apple store sells.
Apple offers a website that can work as an inspiration for people who plan to build up or redesign their e-commerce site.
When your customer lands on your home page, he/she must immediately get an idea of what kind of items you are offering. Whether you are a medical store or a retail shop for vintage goods, your clients must understand this.
Is your shopping site's color and font converting better ROI?
J. Peterman - For Intriguing Copywriting Style
Since we have just now spoken about selection of the right font and color, I thought it right to jump into the copywriting style straightaway. Your site content must be interesting and catchy. I often find it boring to shop in a site, which follows a run-off-the-mill product description pattern. Just imagine you are the sales person and there is a client standing right in front of you. You have to be both spontaneous and interesting. People don't mind spending some extra time if you have something interesting for them to listen.
It is the same with your shopping site. "What's interesting about you?", is what your viewers would ask. The copy that J. Peterman brings is somewhat different from the other shopping sites.
The copy is short and is written in sync with the dressing style, to build up the appropriate mood within the reader's mind. From introductory to product description, J. Peterman produces interesting copy for every page.
Amazon - For Simple and Clear Navigation / For Guide To Search And Shop On-line
A good shopping website must have a proper navigation guide. When someone lands on the home page of a website, he/she would want to know where to head first. Therefore, it is necessary for a website to provide both search and shop options. Look at the screen shot of Amazon:
Though I have highlighted the search and shop option, this #1 shopping site has more to talk about than just that. The product page they have, is clean and well organized-all in one page. Not only that, they also offer you details like when is the last date to get a discount offer, and what is the deal that a buyer can get for a particular product. When you search for a product, you can also find the other related products available.
The two screen shots take you to the product page for video games. There are some good user experience guides to look into for any e-commerce web developer. You can check into the recent deals to grab and the related deadlines after which,the offer expires. There is also a side panel, which will take you to other search results that link to the 'video games' section. In addition, Amazon also mentions which product is available for what kind. For example, if you look at the second screen shot above, you would find that the first game product 'Tales from Deep Space' is available for fire tablet only.
Next Day Coffee - For Their Persuading Landing Page
Every shopping site must state clearly, the advantages a buyer would get if they purchase from their site. This is called the 'persuading factor' and must be added to a landing page. Customers come across this particular page, while searching for something that your site also offers. For instance, just a few weeks back, I was searching online for flavoring syrup and came across the landing page of Next Day Coffee:
<!--/*--><![CDATA[/* ><!--*/ P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm; direction: ltr; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); }P.western { font-family: "Liberation Serif","Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; }P.cjk { font-family: "WenQuanYi Micro Hei"; font-size: 12pt; }P.ctl { font-family: "Lohit Hindi"; font-size: 12pt; } /*--><!]]>*/
This indirectly acts as a persuading factor to influence a viewer's decision making plan - they are going to get an advantage of free delivery, if they make a specific amount purchase.
An advantageous factor can be anything like discounts, free delivery, gift vouchers, special wrapping offers and more.
Mood By Me - For A Clear Call To Action
A website should have a clear call to action. This helps the visitor not to get confused when they land on your home page. Also, a call to action should directly state as to why a visitor has visited the website in the first place. This leads to quick conversion and prevents the customer from getting distracted by some other prospect on your site. Just look at the screen shot for this particular e-shop.
Mood By Me is one such website, which has its Call-To-Action clear and direct. The top left side 'customize everything', accompanied with two tiny arrows tell you that their customized specialty can be availed by both men and women. The right hand side CTA tells us about the range of collection they offer and that you can order to customize your choice by simply clicking on the gray 'customize' button. Notice the use of neon green color for the CTA on the right side. Anyone who fails to notice the top left call-to-action, will not fail to notice this neon green one with the small gray colored button for sure.
The above five examples were brought to you after thorough study and comparison. However, there are other sites that you can also visit and find out what marketing and design techniques they have to offer. You can find other interesting marketing techniques and learn from there. I would have ended my post with a crucial concluding suggestion, but given the upcoming e-commerce scenario, it seems there are two more vital suggestions to give.
No matter what web design strategy you use, going mobile is the hour. 2015 would be a tough competition for those who do not yet have a responsive web design for their e-store. You could even face the impact of loosing in the race.
The other thing to suggest is - complete your final e-commerce site design with a proper A/B split test. No website can achieve a good user experience, without relying on a split test. This would help you to know which element on your site is making conversions and which one is repelling your visitors' eyes.