11 Essential E-commerce Website Features: A Web Design Perspective

What Do Customers Look For on an E-commerce Website?

When customers visit an online store, they expect the following basic e-commerce website features:

1. An intuitive, fast-loading experience that works on all devices.
2. Detailed, accurate information about a product/service.
3. Big, high-quality images with all the small details.
4. A diverse range of reliable reviews, testimonials, and ratings.
5. A fast and dynamic on-site search engine.

What Are the Must-Have Features of Any Successful E-commerce Store?

Here are 11 must-have features that every successful e-commerce website has:

1. Responsive Design

   Nearly everyone today uses their mobile devices to purchase the things they want. Indeed, studies suggest that 58% of all website traffic comes from mobile, and 60% of all global e-commerce purchases are conducted through a mobile device.

   As such, making your e-commerce site responsive or mobile-friendly is more than just a simple option; it is a necessity. This can be as simple as creating text, images, or media that are optimised to fit any screen size. This ensures that your shoppers have the same seamless experience regardless of whether they are shopping on a desktop or tablet.

   An example from BikeBear: BikeBaju leverages Shopify apps to create a responsive web design that enables mobile device users to quickly and easily access a functional online store that perfectly fits on their device’s screen.

2. Quickly Loading Pages

   Customers want to navigate your e-commerce site as quickly as possible. Ideally, your page should load under two seconds. If a page takes too long to load fully, they may grow impatient and outright leave for a faster-loading competitor. To ensure fast load times, compress your images and videos to optimise their loading speeds without compromising on their quality.

3. User-Friendliness

   User-friendliness in e-commerce web design refers to how easy it is for your audience to use. This means creating an intuitive interface that is easy to navigate through, allowing customers to find the products they want and purchase them with little issue.

   Key user-friendliness elements include a visible search bar, a header and footer that offer clear value to visitors, and strong calls-to-action (CTAs) that guide shoppers towards checkout.

4. Easy Navigation

   Easy navigation is a crucial element in user-friendly e-commerce web design. Customers like to know where exactly they are, where the product they want is, and how to find their way back to the homepage.

   Including a sticky menu ensures that customers will always have convenient access to the navigation menu, no matter where they are. The navigation bar should also include product categories, with popular categories such as new arrivals, featured products, or special discounts being listed first as an effective CTA.

   Finally, a quick link to the homepage should be placed where it is most visible, such as the brand logo on the top left or bottom right of the page.

5. Attractive, Eye-Candy Design

   Aesthetics matter in web design. A successful e-commerce website should look clean, organised, and professional. If your website is visually appealing, customers are more likely to trust the quality of your products and buy them from you. Investing in brand colours is an effective means of building visual appeal for your e-commerce site, as shoppers are more likely to associate certain colours with your products.

   Study up on the hottest web design trends and use them to your advantage.

   An example from BikeBear: We designed Cosmic Cookware’s website to beautifully display the brand’s image on every page, utilising brand colours and high-quality imagery to highlight the company’s various cookware.

6. Informative Product Pages

   Customers want to know what they’re buying, so product information must be displayed concisely yet informatively. After all, no one likes going through endless clutter just to find the needed information. Be sure to include all of the specifications and product features that a customer is looking for in your product.

   One of the most important elements of a product page is high-quality images. Use high-quality, professionally shot product photos to catch your shoppers’ attention and drive them to open the page. Additional elements, such as zoom-in functionality, multiple angles, and a 360-degree view, will be immensely useful for giving detailed views of the product.

7. User accounts

   Returning customers like to have their information saved for quicker and easier ordering at a later date. As such, implementing a user account function will encourage greater engagement from your customer base. Keep in mind that some shoppers may prefer to checkout as guests, so don’t try to force them to join your user account programme if they don’t want to.

8. Shopping Cart & Checkout Page

   The lifeblood of any good e-commerce site, a shopping cart page provides a fast and easy summary of the customer’s purchases, allowing them to add or remove items when need be. Ensure that the shopping cart button is readily visible and visually distinct. Be sure to include some CTAs in the shopping cart page itself.

   Among these CTAs should be a button directing shoppers to the checkout page. One-page checkout is especially useful as it means you will only need one page to include key elements like your brand logo, a go-back button, and a summary of the order (product name, size, colour, changeable quantity, etc).

   You should also include a guest checkout option for guest shoppers, letting them enter information as guests while also encouraging them to create an account on your e-commerce site.

9. Shipping Methods

   Ideally, shoppers would want low-cost or even free shipping. Delivery speed is also an important factor; the faster a product arrives, the better. Therefore, your e-commerce website should offer multiple delivery options (including fast delivery) and shipping methods and should display shipping fees from the start.

10. Multiple Payment Options

    Online payment is another key feature of an e-commerce site. Your website should offer multiple secure payment options, such as FPX, Grab, and TouchNGo, allowing customers to use whatever method they prefer. Make sure that your site also accepts Visa and Mastercard payments.

11. Customer Support

    If your customers have any complaints or concerns, it will be a good idea to direct them to a team that handles e-commerce issues. Offering customer support is a great way to build trust with your customer base, as it shows that you value their time, opinions, and level of satisfaction with your brand.