Ecommerce Design: Internet has offered a new platform for trading, today businesses make websites to reach millions of consumers across the world, and small business enterprises are competing with big multinationals to make their presence felt on the internet. Although millions of companies and individuals are running their online stores, the major problem faced by most of them is having a non user friendly website, resulting in potential customers spending minimal time on their sites and not purchasing. At ISHIR Digital we pride ourselves in making ecommerce websites extremely user friendly, making it easy for customers to view product details and complete online transactions. At the same time we implement our usability practices for the admin area, so the administrator can also manage the store with ease. We follow certain basic usability requirements for an e commerce website design: Simple and Organized Design: A cluttered web design creates confusion in the customers mind. Web users tend to favor other sites, which offer easy navigation. An e commerce site design must be simple and organized so that customers can easily navigate the site. Navigational Headings There is nothing worse in an e-commerce shop than being a potential customer trying to figure out which part of the shop you are in. Breadcrumb navigation should always be used to show how deep into the shop they have gone. A good example would be: Home > Consumer goods > Washing Machine > Whirlpool ... etc. Searching a Product Adding a search function is mandatory in designing e-commerce websites. It's similar to asking an assistant in a retail store where a particular product is. You may know that they sell trousers, but it can be difficult to locate the exact brand amongst the hundreds on offer. The search bar should be located at the top of the page, above the fold where it can be seen instantly. Refining a Search Whenever there is a possibility of huge number or listing in search results, an option to narrow the criteria of a search is a very useful tool. Sometimes providing search criteria like price range etc. could be very useful to your customers. Shopping Basket It is beneficial to have shopping basket or cart viewable at all times so customers feel like they have it with them whilst they are browsing your site. It also keeps customers aware of what they have selected to purchase and allows them add or remove items with ease, like in the offline world. Customer Registration Asking customers to register before purchasing can deter them from purchasing a product. Customers do not always want to commit all their details to a website whilst they are only window shopping. The smarter way of getting registration details is during the checkout stage, where it can be disguised as simply adding shipping and billing details which the customer will accept as compulsory. This data can be saved as an account for future visits. By doing this the checkout process is sped up and the number of customers abandoning their shopping cart is reduced. Add to Cart In order to achieve a greater rate of conversions, a bold clear button in a strong color should be added to each product page. This should stand out from the rest of the content on the page. Clear business policies An e commerce website design must clearly demonstrate the business policies of the company. Make clear conditions with regard to purchase of products and the entire shipping process which is convenient for the customer. Earn trust of the customers It is not easy to earn the trust of the customers. As there is no direct communication between the store owners and the customers it is very important to provide the customers with all possible contact information such as telephone number, postal address etc. Some usability guidelines for administrator who is responsible for managing the store Easy product upload New products on sale can easily be displayed on the web page. In case of uploading thousands of products at once there should be an option for bulk upload as well. Quick price modification There should be an option in the admin area which allows prices of goods displayed on the web page to be easily modified. Marketing features Option for cross selling and applying discounts on range of products is also a good option for the person who is managing the store. The products on sale will be displayed on screen within seconds of the admin changing them. Sales report It can be a nightmare for a store owner if they are unable to easily obtain a sales report. Sales reports should be available for daily, weekly and monthly sales so that the store owner can decide future strategy for increasing or decreasing products from their inventory.
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