This is in continuation to Essential Features of an eCommerce Site Part I. I had discussed a few essential features in the previous part. Here, I will discuss a few more important and effective features which will help you increase conversions, and make your eCommerce venture successful.
Shopping Cart:
As the name itself suggests, a shopping cart is the first requirement for an eCommerce website. Online stakeholders are now looking for advanced shopping cart functionalities. The best shopping cart allows the buyers to add/ remove products very easily and go back to the store to make some changes or buy/add something new.
Good Payment Gateway & Trustmark
You should choose the perfect payment gateway solution for your site. This will give assurance and peace of mind to your visitors. So opt for a merchant account that your visitors are comfortable with.
Trustmarks are small images or logos that show a security guarantee by an external party. This indicates that it is safe to shop on the site. Some of these trustmarks come from Network solutions, McAfee, VeriSign, BBB, TRUSTe, GeoTrust, etc. Such authorization certificates give the customer a sense of security and confidence in sharing their personal information. Visitors would be more inclined to make a purchase if they know that their payment details are safe.
Hence, trust plays an important role in a customer’s willingness to part with their money.
Good Privacy Policy & Returns Policy
You should ideally display a Privacy Policy link clearly in footer of your website.
When a buyers view a good Returns Policy they will surely have more security and peace of mind. If something goes wrong they can easily return their product. A good policy will always increase sales, as customers feel safer to buy.
Delivery Information
Always inform how you’re going deliver your products to the customers. Along with realistic information, also convey clear time scales, which will let your customers know when to expect the product’s delivery.
Latest News & Popular-Brand Products
Home page is the best place to grab the attention of your visitors in case you want to share some exciting news, announce a sales campaign, or let them know about upcoming events. Do not make it difficult for the buyers to find exclusive deals and hot prices. Regular customers will more likely look through several ‘latest’ items on sale rather than spend hours browsing through the complete inventory for something new and trendy.
It is obvious that you might not know what the next customer will be looking for. This does not mean that you will place all inventory products on your land-up page. The best solution is to display the most eye-catching offers in an easily accessible manner. This tactic makes vast difference for retailers with a large product catalog.
If your store has branded goods on sale, then specifically display them on the land-up page. It’s would very effectively grab the visitor’s attention especially the first-time visitors who don’t know what exactly they are looking for. You can also highlight the section as ‘Shop by Brands’ on your website.
Social Media Redirection
Approximately 30% of online purchases are completed after browsing the social media sites. These days’ people are more inclined towards getting a public opinion. Social media websites are the best, if not fastest, source to get the info you need on just about everything.
They are excellent space for self-promotion. Online channel helps you identify the most alive and dominant customers, or find new ones who are unfamiliar with the web store yet. Hence, it’s a good channel to keep customers updated with the latest news, or special deals which are oriented towards these sites followers only.
Online Chats & Contact Details
With online shopping, buyers interact with sellers via computer networks making minor as well as major transactions. When there is a problem however, customers more likely prefer to have someone they can talk with and solve their queries. This is core to any eCommerce store. It is highly valued and appreciated if your store includes store support team, and incorporates live chats. Online purchases can be done all day and all night long. So there is a need to provide 24*7 customer services to solve majority of pre-sales and after-sales queries.
Mobile Enabled Shopping Site
The eCommerce sales went up by 25% in 2013, and it is expected to reach $87 Bn in 2016. In an age of device fragmentation, websites need to incorporate responsive web design, so that the end user gets an optimal experience regardless of the device they choose to shop from.
Above mentioned feature list is not comprehensive but a starting point for eCommerce Web Development, which will help you achieve success in your venture. We, at Semaphore Software have catered to the neesds of businesses across the industry verticals. With expertise in multiple domains we are able to deliver software as per your niche needs. To know more write to us at info@semaphore-software.com and we shall answer all your queries.
