To attract users’ attention and keep them on the site, web designers constantly analyze the tastes and needs of the audience, working to improve the interface, the technical part of the resource, and the visual design. Visualization in the field of e-commerce plays an important role. According to research, the appearance of a web page affects its financial performance, that is, conversion. Those online stores with high site design and meets modern requirements and trends have 32% more profit than the rest.
Importance of web design in e-commerce
The process of developing and designing a site involves working on the layout, color, graphics, interface, fonts, content, style, and structure. Web design in the field of e-commerce has the following tasks:
- Improving interaction with visitors
- Broadcasting brand values
- The opportunity to become a point of contact between business and customers
- Way to stand out from the competition
The quality of customer service is one of the crucial criteria used in evaluating commercial activities connected to selling goods and services via the Internet. A site can be trendy and unusual but bring almost no sales. The visitor pays attention to the design and usability of the resource first. And it is these two leading indicators that determine whether the user will remain on the site, whether he will place an order, and whether he will return to the page.
Why is the vision of an online store so important from a business point of view? When the client experiences difficulties when scrolling through the pages and something distracts him from completing the target action – making a purchase- sales figures will never be high until the situation changes.
An inconvenient interface and a primitive design can cause failures when the buyer reaches the shopping cart. Emerges the risk of losing existing customers who have made a purchase but are not satisfied with the site and do not trust the brand. The visual connection between the web design of an online store and the presence of a loyal audience is evident.
How “super” should be the design of the selling site?
The concept of “super-design” has rather blurred boundaries. Entrepreneurs also have their own opinion on this matter. The design and visual of a site selling products made of natural stone and a site that provides cargo transportation services will differ significantly.
In the field of online trading, you can find very stylish and expensive resources made by the best webmasters, but with design elements that make it difficult for users to find the information they need. There are also “Spartan” sites that convert well despite the simple visual and make a profit. To come to that very golden mean, you will need to perform a series of actions:
- Find templates for basic website designs that match the specifics of the business
- Include in the design the accents identified by identifying the pains and needs of the target audience
- Add elements to the site that correspond to the values and objectives of the brand
- Develop several design schemes
- Conduct A/B testing of the site, aimed at identifying a more attractive and selling design layout
After completing all these steps, all that remains is to approve the final version of the design of the resource and launch the site. Some entrepreneurs ignore the recommended scheme, explaining that there is no time to complete all the steps. But more often not, the design of a site that has not been thought out and tested has to be redone. And also, overpay money and wait a few weeks until the designer makes a new layout.
What is essential to consider when developing a web design
First of all, you need to take care of security. This is important because personal customer data and certain types of content are business assets from which the company makes a profit. To avoid problems in the future, you should approach the issue of choosing a webmaster with particular scrupulousness. The specialist must provide cases and real reviews. It is recommended to independently double-check the studies with the help of search engines and acquaintances if any. Be sure to sign a cooperation agreement. Do not deceive yourself with the cheap services of inexperienced designers. Better to pay more and not worry about security.
The adaptability of a resource is essential for a business. The site must load correctly and work on all types of devices: desktops, tablets, and smartphones. Large design elements often remain unadapted: buttons, templates, and images. During the development of design layouts, adaptability must be constantly monitored so as not to redo the same elements several times.
What is crucial in web design in the e-commerce industry
First impression
The first thing customers see when they click on your eCommerce site will decide if they will stay to see more.
According to Australia’s leading e-commerce SEO agency SEO Advantage, the rise of the e-commerce industry has seen many businesses compete with each other, and websites with the best designs are often highlighted as the best. This is because customers are attracted to bold and clear designs.
It’s more compelling and enticing than a bunch of random content.
Grab the reader’s attention with focal points
Also, it’s very important to create focal points where you want the reader’s eyes to land. This can be anything from images to block content, but they will stand out enough to grab the visitor’s attention.
You’ve heard the term “call to action” in marketing – well, it simply means you want a response from the visitor. Whether you want them to click through to a sales landing page or product demo video, creating focal points is the key to getting them to click through from page to page. After all, this is one of the very effective ways to reduce your bounce rate.
Organized content is more accessible
From now on, to focus on the content, the website’s structure should be the top priority. Neat information and product display pages provide an easier and hassle-free browsing experience. Categories, company information, FAQs, and contact pages should be tagged so they can’t be missed.
In this way, the website becomes more accessible and easier to navigate, which is what customers ultimately want. As a consumer, it would be far from ideal to walk into a store and see a disorganized and chaotic display of products – this line of thought should be carried over to websites.
Limited use of fonts
As mentioned, first impressions can make or break a site. Along with well-organized content, you should avoid overusing fonts. Although you might think that some of them are extremely attractive and maybe even chosen to highlight the product or feature you are trying to highlight.
Unfortunately, too many fonts can detract from your main message: the products or services you sell on your eCommerce website.
Sometimes you can add some color to highlight something like a significant 50% off sale for a limited time. This is fine. However, if possible, stick with the colors in your brand logo. Learn more about using color below.
Brand image
What is presented to the world is critical regarding how customers perceive a brand. Brand image determines how a business is perceived, and a positive perception tends to increase sales and consumer engagement.
A prominent, consistent brand mode provides increased credibility and a more authoritative presence. It can also make it easier to enter global markets by making it easier to establish clear boundaries between your company’s reach and alternative competition.
Strategic use of color
In keeping with brand image, another very important aspect of design for eCommerce is the strategic use of color. Depending on your brand’s Logo design, you should use those colors in your web design.
It will not only keep well-organized content but also work subconsciously in the future. When developing a brand image, you work to ensure that your audience thinks of your brand whenever a product in your niche or product line is mentioned.
For example, think about Coca-Cola for a moment. Their label is red with white lettering and always has been. Take a moment to visit the global website, coca-cola.com. You will see these two colors prominently.
When someone asks for a Coke, they can almost see the Coca-Cola logo on the edge of their mind, even if they are being served some generic brand.
Convenient use on different devices
A user-friendly website is more attractive than one that is difficult to navigate. This merges with dots around the content organization. In addition to this aspect, user interfaces must be accessible to support visits and interactions.
If a website is difficult to use, no one will use it. It would help if you also considered replicating a site that can be used on mobile devices and tablets. Mobile sites are condensed and edited versions of the main website that make it easier to access from a phone or similar device, less annoying, and more intuitive for the customer.
Convenient shopping cart navigation
One of the main reasons for abandoning the shopping cart is the way it was designed – or, better, the lack of a functional design. The shopping cart should be clearly designed and easy to navigate regarding all the information needed during checkout.
There must be clear instructions on how to enter billing information. All fillable fields must be clearly labeled, and radio buttons must also be clearly defined. Many people often miss the switch, which means you’ve read the website’s terms and conditions.
Instead of processing the order and paying, the screen returns to the shopping cart checkout screen. Clear and concise instructions and buttons are fundamental if you want to avoid cart abandonment.
Web Design Trends for E-commerce in 2022
Dark theme
The fast development of technology has affected the behavior of users on the Internet. People began spending more time online, behind a laptop screen, or with smartphones in their hands. Such a load affects well-being – the eyes get tired of the constant glow. Therefore, the designers came up with an ingenious solution and introduced the ability to set a dark mode into the interfaces. Now users can easily surf the Internet even at night. The statistics show that about 30% of online purchases are made at night.
Engaging scrolling
Scrolling through an endless page with a large amount of information in the text is boring. But now comes the opportunity to make this process exciting and interesting. When you move the website, some actions are displayed in the center of the screen: animation or video with sound. The designer literally creates a story that unfolds on the resource page. It is unlikely that anyone will resist and close the site before the story reaches its logical conclusion.
Mobile 3D elements
Three-dimensional and colorful 3D graphics will hardly surprise anyone. But users still like content in this format. Therefore, the designers decided to combine 3D technology and animation, and the picture has become even more realistic. Elements of this type can now be found on some portals during site loading. 3D objects are spinning while resource pages are being loaded. This allows visitors to decrease the waiting time and cheer up at least.
Full-color fill
One of the easiest and most effective e-commerce packaging design tricks to start with. Unlike other trends that use intricate illustrations or unusual expressive fonts, the consumer is drawn to bold, bright, and often unconventional packaging colors. In addition, bright colors immediately attract attention among the same type of goods.
The right choice of color helps set the right mood, create a specific aesthetic perception of your products, and give customers functional information: composition, volume, and preparation method. For example, you can use a palette of colors that describe the main ingredients: red for a Korean strawberry-scented mask and pale yellow for a lemon soap. This trend is somewhat underestimated, but it’s an incredibly effective way to make your products stand out from the competition.
Simplified geometry
Another graphic design trend shaping the world of packaging on online marketplaces is simple yet vibrant geometry. This design is predominantly built on straight lines, sharp corners, and bright, exciting colors to attract potential buyers. The geometry looks aesthetically pleasing, looks good even on the small screen of your smartphone, and easily scales to a wide range of SKUs.
Although geometric patterns may seem simple at first glance, their superpower lies precisely in their abstract simplicity. Instead of directly showing or telling clients a story through complex illustrations or photographs, geometric elements tell us a story through simplified images. For example, you can reflect the bright taste of the product in colorful geometry with a lot of contrasting shades or emphasize the seriousness of the brand by painting the geometry in gold or bronze colors, work out the direction with a single color.
Environmentally friendly packaging
The mantra of “reduce, reuse and recycle” is becoming increasingly popular among young, educated, and modern consumers. According to an Accenture survey, most consumers prefer to buy from companies that share their personal and fundamental human values. 62% of surveyed said they would like to buy their products from companies that reduce plastic and care about safety and the environment.
Consumers are aware that they are leaving a carbon footprint on the Earth and are more likely to support brands that relieve them of negative thoughts about it at the time of purchase.
Variety of natural shapes and colors
This is one of the most popular packaging design trends right now. This trend combines several currents that form modern design: environmentalism and art therapy, naturalness and plasticity of forms, conscious consumption, and love for the magical realism genre.
How to be in trend? Use not even symmetrical blocks filled with complementary colors but expressive collages of unbalanced, unevenly weighted shapes that use chaotic overlay and are replete with details, dots, lines, spirals, simple geometric shapes, worn effects, foil, and embossing.
They allow the imagination to complete the plot, whether they are abstract illustrations or illustrations depicting some natural scenes. For many people who have spent the entire pandemic at home and now also do not go out very often, this is a real breath of fresh air.
Split screen
This trend involves dividing the page into two fields. Each part has objects and design elements that are opposite in meaning and different in color and contrast. Content with this design looks good on any device. Designers use a split screen to make it easier for the user to perceive content, manage the visitor’s attention and focus on important information. Dividing the page into two parts, one with an image and the other with text, the customer’s eye is focused on the information, even though the illustration should draw more attention.
Emphasis on typography
Tiered headings, lettering in large print, and bold highlights are a bold yet practical trend for 2022. Words are now an independent graphic unit and not just text. Atypical size, modern concepts, and new color combinations make it possible to more clearly convey to the audience the thoughts and values that the brand conveys. When using this trend, you should ensure that the chosen font and design are consistent with the company’s image and style, customers’ interests, and brand goals.
Product as a design element
If the product’s packaging looks aesthetically pleasing and original, it can be used in the page’s design. This achieves two aims: to create an unusual design that is radically different from competitors’ plans and to capture visitors’ attention, thus increasing the memorability of the product. Packaging is often used as a design element to promote food products.
Retro
The desire of designers to remember the good old days has resulted in a new trend – retro or nostalgia, as it is also called. Users greeted the reference to the theme of the 80-the 90s with a bang. Retro style elements now make friends with neon lights, grids, dark hues, and pastel palettes. The combination of a modern background image with prints from the past looks great together and is actively used in website designs. Retro style helps visitors better perceive information and remember details directly related to the product.
Structural blocks
Not all entrepreneurs are chasing complex and trendy websites. Some prefer elegant simplicity and clear structure. This design also exists. This is not bad when the site elements are designed as blocks or resemble a table. In 2022, there is a trend towards the return of realism to the visual. Therefore, there are more visible borders. If the designer manages to choose the right colors and combine them into a standard harmonious palette, you will get a discreet, concise, stylish, and aesthetic website.
Anti-design
Recently, people have become too obsessed with design, paying a lot of attention to this aspect. As a result, one can now observe a kind of race of design works; each specialist is trying to do better than the other to surprise and impress the user. Based on this situation, a new trend was born – anti-design. It was created for those tired of template builders and similar sites. It will appeal to those who want to rid the web design sphere of stereotypes and allow beauty to be different.
This trend is characterized by asymmetrical elements, incompatible and contradictory colors, and incomprehensible font. Most visitors, getting to a site with such a design, will be shocked by what they see. But some will appreciate and accept the anti-design trend.
Conclusion
A great design is the first step to creating a successful website that helps your business grow, not hinders it. A site must look good to attract attention and inspire further viewing, but all other components must also meet high standards to stimulate sales.
Market and customer research can speed up this process by providing insight into the needs specific to a company’s customer base.
