The Top E-commerce Success Factors

There are multiple challenges faced by e-commerce businesses today. Some of the essential factors affecting them are identifying the unique products, reaching the right customer, maintaining the targeted traffic, converting them to buyers, and retaining them by choosing the right technology and partners to achieve profitable long-term growth. The three most essential e-commerce business success factors are:

1. Business Strategy
2. User Experience
3. User Interface

Business Strategy

Every e-commerce enterprise has a marketing plan with some unique goals. It is elemental to consider these business aspects and consolidate them into the design to meet the goal. The business aspects include:

USP- Unique selling point e-commerce experience should always revolve around USP.

Brand Character- What character should your e-commerce platform represent? Is the brand fun or official? How does your brand communicate to the audience? 

Target audience- Define target audience of an age group, a career, or culture. It will help you create an effective platform to sell products to the targeted audience.

Type of business- Design experience depends on the business type like B2B, B2C, C2C, B2G, etc.

Marketing- Collaborate with the designers and the marketing team members to have a consistent outlook.

User Experience

The usage of the product depends on the features that help users identify and buy products and services. User experience methodologies make the customer's journey hassle-free. Without excessive clicks, decreased load time, the frustration of not getting feedback from the system, and other factors improve user experience. Users' expectation in an e-commerce site that is faster, easier, and more convenient when compared to going to the actual store. 

When the user experience fails, they will look for it elsewhere and move away from your website. 80% of users own smartphones in the global population, mobile compatibility is a must while designing an e-commerce website. With responsive design, single sites are easier and more efficient to manage. In addition, the administration interface is flexible and optimized so that business owners can access it at all times and on any device. Below are some essential things to consider when designing or revamping your e-commerce site. They are:

Intuitive Navigation

An e-commerce site should be easy to navigate, which will have a higher probability of making a sale right from the start. The homepage should be welcoming and help visitors click on products or divisions of items they would like to buy. Navigation sections should be clear and broken down into subcategories so visitors can instantly find what they are looking to buy. Every button, link, and card will play a vital role in changing the conversion immensely. The search bar should be prominent and easy to navigate quickly and list all relevant items available for sale once the user types in the keyword. Voice Shopping (Search) will be one of the significant innovation drivers for e-commerce. By 2022, more than 50% of all searches will be voice-driven.

Rich Product Content

Shopping online has some disadvantages because the buyer cannot physically view or handle the items they want. So, it's essential to give the product content an immense and interactive experience by using multiangle view, AR and livestream shopping when required and even context, before making their purchase. Also, one shouldn't forget to maintain information density along with quality.

Shopping Cart and Checkout

Adding products to the shopping cart should be simple. Users usually like to check the items in their cart as they shop, so make sure you have a design that makes the process hassle-free and user-friendly. A shopping cart page's goal is to motivate checkouts. All elements of your shopping cart design should help users complete their orders. Don't complicate the checkout process and keep things simple and value your user’s time.

User Interface

An intuitive interface and attractive design are the most valuable aspects of the e-commerce user experience, which can directly impact the performance of the business, and ultimately lead to higher or lower sales. Measuring the visual impact of your website will help create positive emotional feedback from the users. The UI designers should always follow the UX aspects mentioned earlier and the design principles that deliver an attractive user interface.

• Choose colours that represent the brand image and boost emotional feedback

• Setting the style blending to the nature of the business offer: by seeing the website, a user should immediately understand its business

• Visual Hierarchy is the essential zone of interaction that is immediately noticeable

• Aesthetic design benefits positive user experience 

• By following accessibility standards, you can ensure that there are fewer obstacles for customers to interact with your eCommerce site

Conclusion

An e-commerce platform with a planned strategy coupled with a great user experience and aesthetically designed interface put together draws potential customers and puts your business in the spotlight. Apart from being attractive, your e-commerce site should also be user-friendly and provide customers with a hassle-free shopping experience. 

Consumers are becoming more conscious of the environment, and in turn, they are helping boost green consumerism. In the current market, there are a lot of businesses considering going green by using biodegradable packaging, going paperless, and using recyclable materials to be more environmentally friendly. An easy-to-navigate and seamless checkout process on any device with universal standards will always help your business retain customers and attract newer ones.