The fundamental purpose of each e-commerce site is to sell. This entails attracting a big number of viewers, convincing them to purchase, and preserving first time shoppers as future customers.

Many businesses spend gigantic quantities of time, effort and money on digital advertising and other activities to bring traffic on their site. Competition is ferocious, as they are struggling for every client. Given these excessive stakes, losing clients as a result of web design errors is steeply-priced and painful.

We don’t say that an inaccurate homepage will sink your ship. Generally, it’s those extra problematic e-commerce mistakes which can be the perpetrator.

We’ve put together the most common mistakes that could occur. So, if you plan to run an online shop, be conscious of all these. If your current site is inflicting you some issues, you might need to opt for a few development ideas to aid you out.

Bad Imagery, Layout, and Visual Style

A visitor develops the first perception of a company on its website, within seconds. A flashy, loud and visually unappealing site is not inviting. Also, the wrong images or an outdated brand can add to an impression that is already negative. Thankfully, the most visible defects are also the easiest to correct. If the website can not be fully improved, you should first pay attention to these things.

• Small and gradual adjustments can raise conversion rates without the enhancements being noticed by most visitors. All pixels, pictures, shades, and words matter. De-cluttering enhances a website’s design and functionality, but unnecessary white space can make it look unattractive.

• One of the worst mistakes you can make is to ignore your clients, because you won’t be able to make the visual design, calls-to-action, and other features appealing for them.

• Also, nowadays stock images are outdated and do not appeal anymore. They can occupy all the precious space of your site, but won’t say anything important about your brand. In other words, these pictures can ruin the perception of your business.

• Also, a great logo is more than a homepage item . Like the entire site, it must trigger a successful and professional vibe. Your logo and company name should reflect not only what you’re selling currently but also your future opportunities. Your logo and company name should not only illustrate what you are actually promoting, but also your prospects for the future.

• It’s also very important not to waste the above-the-fold space of your homepage. It will take just milliseconds for a new visitor to determine whether to stay or leave. You should know that you won’t keep the visitors without a stunning headline. Make sure your headline is clear and understandable!

• For a shop that sells products, the product pages must contain all the essential selling elements. If somehow the product image is in conflict with the description, it’s bad!

• Poor images on e-commerce shops not only boost the bounce rate, they can also affect the sales. The point is, if the product images and overall look fail to impress, the customers won’t visit the site again. And if it is the case, the physical store either.

Inaccurate navigation and shopping process

If an online store, which is visually appealing, fails to sell, it might be the result of a poor user experience. Don’t expect people to spend huge amounts of time on your website and do not assume they will know what to do next! The best idea is to lower the number of scrolls and clicks that a purchase takes.

You should always invest time and money into an astonishing search experience for the customers. Don’t ever make them search for exclusive deals and hot prices for long periods of time, and also make sure that the search bar on your site will generate the optimal number of clear and easy-to-read products. Take into account the placement, size, fonts and colors because all these can impact  the user experience.

For the products that appear to be out of stock you should add a distinctive badge. In case the user that will click on many products that are out of stock, will definitely not return to the site. So, keep in mind that blank pages with No results or Page not found may turn the users away for good.

Also, if the users will face a huge amount of options, many of them irrelevant, they still may leave as well.

Always try to offer different solutions to the visitor’s search and create some intelligent ways do direct the users exactly where you need them!

Regarding the shopping process, keep in mind that a complicated process during checkout will cost you money! Avoid complicated forms, and don’t force the user to sign up just to buy a product! Instead, make sure that the purchase process is clear, simple and painless, because if the user enjoyed the experience on the site, will definitely return.

Banalities that weaken trust

As we mentioned earlier: an outdated and poorly design shop and a painfully complicated shopping process will hardly increase the users’ trust.

What you should have on your page to make customers trust you:

• Testimonials
• Product reviews – can encourage them to buy
• “About Us”, “Contact Us”, “FAQ” pages
• Absolutely some social media links

Annoying the customers

It’s a bad idea to spam users with popups – they can ruin the whole experience. Generally, users don’t like to fill up surveys, sign up for newsletters and share personal information without a clear compensation.

Also, advertisements that take over a page and make the user navigate around them are dangerous!

Not a mobile-friendly shop

Did you know that average mobile phone conversion rates of e-commerce websites are higher than those on desktops? This is a good reason to start optimizing your website, or otherwise you might lose at least 50% of the conversions. Find out from our article how to make your website mobile-friendly!

Our advice is to opt for a simple, minimalist interface with easy navigation, because it’s the best for mobile devices.

To conclude

Invest in an authentic, clean, simple and very professional-looking website, and make sure the users will enjoy the experience! This way you can increase your site’s conversion rate up to 400%!!! Sounds great, right?

If, for some reason, your website falls short, it’s time you figure it out! But be careful: a disorganized redesign may be counter-productive!