What Do We Expect from Online Stores? 7 Examples to Follow in Your E-commerce Journey
Did you know that the total number of online stores in the world amounts even to 24 million? The e-commerce industry is constantly developing as more and more people decide to shop without leaving their homes. So how to make the most of the available possibilities and what does today’s Internet user expect from online stores? Keep reading!
What should you do to increase the conversion rate of your online store and attract more trustworthy, regular customers? What to focus on to make everything work right?
7 examples to follow in your e-commerce journey
1. User-friendly UX and UI
What are the greatest challenges faced by online store owners? The list is pretty long. Today customers expect e-commerce stores to offer them the possibility to finalize transactions just with a few clicks, without the necessity to set up an account or fill in numerous forms. Already at this stage, you can lose even 31% of potential buyers. Too many tables to fill in and “I agree” buttons to click on? People will leave.
There should be only 2-3 subpages between clicking the “buy now” button and receiving the confirmation email. The interface should be as intuitive as possible, so that at first glance users know what, where, and why to click. A thorough Customer Journey Map analysis will help you develop the proper UX/UI of your store.
2. Quality product descriptions
What do we mean by quality? Packed with reasons proving it’s worth buying a given product. Benefit-driven language is unbelievably powerful. Create descriptions that comprehensively inform about the applications and features of your product range. They should answer specific questions: How will the customer’s life change after buying the item? How can it help or facilitate everyday work and life? An ideal product specification represents your whole brand and offer. Would you be able to give your right arm and state that your product can boast the finest and most effective product descriptions?
Simple Q&A or FAQ sections discussing specific elements of your product range could successfully complement your product descriptions. If you know what are the most frequently asked questions about a given product, make sure you answer them in its specification. Apart from supporting the SEO process of the product page, these pieces of information will also resolve customers’ doubts. Refine your product descriptions with accurate CTAs.
3. Appealing product pictures
Stock pictures or photos sent by manufacturers (if you’re only a distributor) won’t suffice. Today customers care about social proof. What do these shoes look like in real life? What are the reactions of people who got a given item as a gift? Will that armchair or poster look aesthetic in the living room? Which well-known Influencers use this product and advertise it on Instagram?
4. Proper product filtering and sorting options
To buy your products, users first need to find them. This can happen not only due to appropriate SEO activities ensuring that your website is ranked high on Google but also thanks to appropriate product filtering and sorting options on your website. Imagine that eBay or AliExpress lacks this solution and all offered goods are simply displayed on one subpage. Quite a disaster, right? As a customer, you’d probably leave without making a purchase. Proper filtering and sorting options will certainly allow you to decrease your bounce rate.
Product sorting options will also significantly facilitate up-selling activities responsible for persuading users to buy some extra goods that will perfectly complement the remaining items in their shopping carts. Showing everything you offer at the very beginning makes it significantly harder for users to realize what’s going on and where they can actually access given products.
5. User-friendly return policy, shipping, and payment methods
Clear and understandable regulations, an efficient product return policy, affordable or free delivery, and a variety of available payment methods – bank transfers, online payments, installments, or cash on delivery. These are customers’ expectations and as many as 44% of potential buyers can resign from finalizing the transaction if the shipping costs are too high. Especially that nowadays they can take advantage of subscription models available in numerous online stores.
6. Positive online reviews
The famous quote “there’s no such thing as bad publicity” doesn’t apply here. All reviews, especially the negative ones, matter. One unflattering comment outweighs even 10/20 positive ratings. Online customers’ feedback, including Google reviews, is crucial for people wanting to buy expensive devices such as household appliances or electronics. In such a situation, before making the final decision, users will probably think twice. After all, they aren’t about to order cosmetics that cost a few dollars. In this case, credibility and trustworthiness are literally worth its weight in gold.
7. Efficient customer service
Theoretically speaking, high customer service standards are a total must-have. However, we can still read about sellers who don’t reply to messages, don’t read emails and social media comments, or simply have their phones switched off. Poor customer service will very quickly translate into negative online reviews and then even the finest product descriptions, pictures, or store interface won’t help.
Useful pieces of advice for every online store owner
Customers’ expectations for online stores are increasing every year. What should you do to keep up with the pace? Optimize your conversion rate and refine product descriptions, get as many positive reviews as possible, expand your product range, use photos and videos to show how attractive your offer is, and don’t let potential customers abandon their shopping carts. In a nutshell, don’t rest on your laurels even for a second.
Similarly to every traditional store, your online eCommerce business needs to constantly develop. If you ordered your signboard 20 years ago and your window display hasn’t changed for ages, there’s a huge probability that potential customers won’t even look in the direction of your store when passing it by. Make sure that every organic user browsing the net in search of specific products chooses your online store and leaves it satisfied, waiting for the shipment.
