10 Features Your E-Commerce Website Needs
E-commerce is one of the fastest-growing markets in the world. Businesses of all types, big and small, sell their products online, benefiting from reaching a wider audience, having an always-open 24/7 digital storefront, and working remotely. Each business has its own e-shop needs, but some features are universally useful for all e-commerce platforms to have. We’ve put together a list of common critical factors to include in an online store to make your clients’ digital experience with your business seamless.
1. A Content Management System (CMS)
A CMS application allows you and your team to easily manage your website’s content without needing any complex coding knowledge. Some examples of functions that a CMS provides include creating/editing pages, adding/removing products, uploading/deleting images etc.
2. Attractive UI/UX design
Attractive designs and layouts are crucial for your e-shop to capture viewers’ attention and truly wow them. Intuitive user interface design is also vital in ensuring that your shop is easy to use by someone who has never visited your site before.
3. Mobile responsive design
According to Statista, over 60 per cent of all retail websites are accessed through smartphones. Mobile responsive web design makes sure that visitors get full use of your e-shop’s functions and features depending on their needs.
4. Easy-to-use and trustworthy checkouts
Nobody wants to be a victim of online scamming or fraud! Gain your client’s trust by providing user-friendly checkout systems with portals integrated from established payment and processing companies. These portals encrypt the users’ payment details for secure and seamless transactions.
5. SEO tools
Search Engine Optimisation is one of the most critical factors for e-commerce success. Using SEO plugins such as Yoast boosts your websites ranking in search engine results pages, such as Google. Good SEO means that new clients could click on your website before a competitor’s.
6. Promo/discount code functions
Having a promotional code function on your e-shop encourages exclusive discounts and deals curated by you and your team. Giving consumers the incentive of a special offer encourages them to want to try out your products/services.
7. Blog and News article section
This very article has been posted using a built-in blogging section feature. If you want to write informative content and keep your audience in the loop on the latest news in your field, a blogging section is ideal. Furthermore, you can target specific keywords and phrases in your blog posts for SEO purposes.
8. User ratings and reviews
Giving customers the options to leave ratings and reviews is beneficial for other potential clients to see relevant experiences from a certain product or service. Customer reviews can provide insight into any further questions or information from another customer’s real and honest perspective.
9. Newsletter subscription
Giving visitors the option to subscribe to your newsletter is a call to action to allow future communication. With newsletters, you can keep customers up to date with special offers and news alerts straight to their inboxes.
10. Geo-location support
Integrating location geo-location support on your website allows for automatically calculated shipping and tax rates, currency, metric units, and language. What’s not to love about automation? This saves you and your customers a lot of time and possible misunderstandings.
In short, there are quite a few features that e-commerce websites simply cannot go without.
E-commerce websites should feature good user interface design, mobile compatibility, and secure payment systems. Equally important, your site should use search engine optimisation, customer reviews and ratings, and email newsletters to better your chances of knocking out your competition.
Check out our e-shop solution with all of the above features and more!