E-Commerce
E-commerce is in full swing nowadays. Its rapid growth, cutting-edge innovations, and geo-independent development and influence make it one of the most desirable forms of business, which apart from bringing significant financial returns, creates fierce competition among all related stores.
When entering the E-commerce market, having a nice website and high-quality goods is never enough, as it will not set you apart from the others. How to create an E-commerce website and root deep into the E-commerce environment? Let’s follow the guide.
Key Features of Contemporary E-commerce Applications
Best team of developers
An e-store’s development and functioning depend completely on the choice of developers. While the market seems to be flooded with IT services, real E-commerce web design and development professionals aren’t that easy to find. Make sure you draw the list of possible candidates based on their portfolios, Clutch and TrustPilot reviews, and the introductory meeting. When the team of developers boasts a proven track of successful projects, hears and considers your requests, and you simply enjoy the communication, you can proceed with them to the most important part, E-commerce store development.
Safety and security
The ‘efficiency talk’ should address the safety and security of data, as it is the foundation of the store’s functioning and, thus, its success. Considering huge volumes of sensitive data related to store management and customers’ private information, having a top-notch security system is the basis of the E-commerce store’s existence. Data breaches may lead to financial losses and numerous types of cybercrimes.
Every point of digital presence should always have its data regularly backed up and encrypted; the security software should always be up-to-date. Besides, it is important to teach the employees even the elementary rules of online behavior, as a man-made mistake is the most common reason for cyber crimes.
User-friendly interface
Everyone who is even slightly related to the commercial industry knows that everything is supposed to be built around the customer’s liking and needs, as they are the main source of profit and growth.
The design and layout of the store should create a comfortable store environment where all the interactions are performed seamlessly and intuitively. The CTAs (call-to-action), which help users proceed to every next stage in the sales funnel, must be clear, straightforward, and unambiguous; the ideal proportion is one CTA per page or not more than two.
Customer’s engagement
The Internet space is flooded with E-commerce stores, which makes the shoppers extremely difficult to please. Apart from the personalized offers and deals, it is recommended to create a system of bonuses, achievements, and digital batches, which can be turned into certain types of discounts.
By appealing to the competitive nature of every customer, the shops are sure to increase the retention of customers and have an increase in loyal clientele.
Consistency of the brand
Every E-commerce unit that is targeting global influence should develop its brand, principles, philosophy, and tone of voice. Moreover, their approach should be seen across all devices and points of presence to create an atmosphere of consistency and unity.
SEO optimization
SEO optimization is the key to digital visibility and high ranking in a search engine. As a rule, the SEO strategies include adding keywords, meta descriptions, ‘alt’ descriptions for the image content, internal and external linking, etc.
The effective usage of SEO strategies will bring the E-store to the top five search results and, thus, attract a wider audience to your services and goods.
Responsiveness of the website
One of the major technical characteristics of a website is its responsiveness and the speed of loading. The slowness of reaction (3-5 seconds delay) will off-put the visitors and de-rank the website in the search. The responsiveness of the E-commerce website provides the optimal level of performance and usability.
Novelties
The tech progress never stops, developing new software and hi-tech solutions. Among the latest and most beneficial to implement are:
- Augmented reality (AR) is an interactive solution that enhances the shopping experience and lets the users ensure the rightness of the choice. The AR application or glasses overlay the digital image of the goods onto the real-life object, creating the effect of its presence.
- Voice shopping is the best tool to ensure hands-free shopping. Instead of using filters and scrolling the goods, the user can voice all the activities, and everything will be performed instantly. Voice shopping promotes multifunctionality, letting to perform shopping everyone who is overloaded with duties and have limited visual or physical abilities.
- Artificial Intelligence is a mighty AI used for enhancing practically every sphere of our lives. Its algorithms enhance the flow of documents, reports, and insights; it analyzes the personal data of every customer coming up with a personalized selection of goods; it provides help with customer support, resolving minor issues of the customers, etc.
By acquiring such innovations, you are sure to create a new layer of attractiveness and usability to the store, thus, engaging more shoppers and increasing the level of conversions.
Social media feedback
Social media presence is one of the main ‘reliability’ checkpoints. The activity of the social media pages and the reviews prove the trustworthiness of the E-commerce store. Moreover, you can increase the comfort of the search by placing the social media widget on your pages, letting them go straight to your pages, without looking for external sources.
Customer support
Customer support is like a ‘power behind the throne’. Efficient, timely, and thoughtful support can make up for all the failures that may happen along the shopping journey. Make sure you have two types of support – the chatbots, which can help with the simplest requests and categorize all the inquiries; and the human-based call center, whose workers are taught to listen and help the customers.
The Final Thoughts
A well-developed E-commerce store is the first thing to consider when planning a long-term and successful commercial business. SEO optimization, AI implementation, user-friendly design and layout, secure environment, and individual approach 一 there are many things to use and implement to emphasize your distinction from others. However, none of the ideas will come alive unless you hire a dedicated and skillful team of developers. Make sure you choose the best ones who will lay the ground for your success.
