10 Peculiarities of Successful Internet Retail Website Designs

10 Peculiarities of Successful Internet Retail Website Designs

Many of you probably wonder what’s best for huge retail online stores home page designs. Nobody knows for sure which feature or design element will generate more sales. There is no panacea to grab web surfers’ attention and to make them desire to spend their money with your online store.

Peculiarities of Successful Internet Retailers Designs

So if you are expecting to learn magic words which will praise your business to the skies of profitability (like hocus pocus or abracadabra) then we will be disappointing you: there is no magic, just thoughtful everyday work. But don’t be upset! There are several things that online store customers expect to see on the home pages of retail websites. All these things have already been explored and all you need to do is just to apply this knowledge to your web store design.

In this article we are going to tell you about 10 peculiarities of successful internet retail website designs. They are quite simple but they will help you to significantly increase your business profitability.

10 Peculiarities of Successful Internet Retail Website Designs

1. The simpler, the better

Your customers don’t expect to be confused by a super innovative and inconvenient navigation or non-readable text. Inappropriate innovations are bad for the reputation of eCommerce websites. Your main goal is to help people to find what they are looking for but not to surprise them with mind-blowing design ideas.

Don’t overload your store’s home page with a complex navigation structure. People won’t spend precious minutes learning how to act on your web store even if you sell exclusive and rare things. Make sure that all the links are active and that they lead to the right pages. And thoughtful short call to actions will complete the home page look.

Want to know more about successful eCommerce web designs? Look at some examples below.

Amazon
Amazon

Nineteen 47
Nineteen 47

Lulu’s
Lulu's

John Lewis
John Lewis

Watches
Watches

2. New Products, Hot Deals and Favorable Shipping Terms

Everybody likes discounts. So, if you give the chance to save at least $1 people will try to cash in on this chance. People prefer to think that they are absolutely unique, so they want to have something nobody else has. To buy a thing at a lower price means to get something special and you can easily give it to your customers.

One slider banner with several rotating images (with vivid titles, discounted prices and special buying conditions) will be enough to grab visitors’ attention and to make them follow the link to take a closer look at the featured products. It will work for both first-time and returning visitors.

And new products tabs are mainly intended for returning customers. Usual site visitors are already versed in your assortment and each time they enter the store their primary interest is the latest offers.

These are some of the most important elements of eCommerce websites that’s why you should put them at the top of a home page. This area is the most viewed part of the page and it wouldn’t be right to miss such an opportunity.

Walmart
Walmart

Chronicle Books
Chronicle Books

Bass Pro Shops
Bass Pro Shops

3balls
3balls

Staples
Staples

3. Shop By Some Criteria

Huge and famous internet retailers (or even networks of shops like Drugstore.com and Beauty com) always have many goods and services on sale. It can be impossible to place all links on groups of products on a front page. Experienced online store owners suggest letting customers shop by their preferred criteria: by category, by brand, by age, by gender, etc. Such website filters increase the efficiency of your store for customers and can save them much time while shopping. Don’t forget that a satisfied client is the best client you can have.

eToys
eToys

Tilly’s
Tilly's

School Specialty
School Specialty

Drugstore
Drugstore

Wiltshire Farm Foods
Wiltshire Farm Foods

4. Search Box

When it comes to online retail websites there are two types of customers: those that know what they’re looking for and those who don’t mind spending some money but they don’t really know what they need. Search boxes were created for the first type of clients.

There are hundreds of retail stores on the web and if, a few seconds after entering your site a potential customer can’t find a thing he/she needs, more likely he/she will go away and find another store. So, you need to grab visitors attention by presenting that very product he’s looking for at the moment. What is the best way to give a customer the product he’s interested in? Give him freedom of choice. So, in this situation a good search through the website is a must have.

Just try to imagine a website with thousands of goods and brand lines but without the ability to search for something definite. Visitors will have to look through long product lists and waste much time. Would you like to be such a customer? It’s doubtful.

So, here are several examples of popular internet reselling websites with a search box (note that this item works perfectly well in the top right corner of a website):

AbeBooks
AbeBooks

Versapak
Versapak

Blue Nile
Blue Nile

The Home Depot
The Home Depot

Sears
Sears

5. Products List

If your store is offers a huge range, you’re not able to mention every product on the home page directly. Moreover, there is no point of doing that. Thoughtful products categorization will bring better results and help to arrange your web space better. If in doubt, you can follow the examples of the most popular online stores of your trade niche and learn from them a little (hey, we all need to learn from time to time).

And another aspect which is extremely important is an availability of images. You know, people shop visually. They see attractive colors or forms or whatever else and they’re already on the hook. Do you understand what we’re talking about? Yeah, you should illustrate your products with images (upload several pictures of each product, so that people are able to take a good look at them from different perspectives).

Of course, home pages can’t include numerous pictures of all products, but they can be illustrated with the most eye-catching ones. Sometimes it happens that images are too small to be recognized and then they could even be harmful for your business. A good idea can be to open photos in new tabs. Think about it while observing the next web stores designs.

Newegg
Newegg

Online Gadgets Store
Online Gadgets Store

Office Depot
Office Depot

Buy
Buy

Musician’s Friend
Musician's Friend

6. Contact Info

The bigger the online store is, the more questions its customers can have. Shipping conditions, some guaranties for products quality and other pre-sale and after-sale questions require a solution in the shortest period of time. That’s why an ability to get personal help using different communication channels is very important. E-mail support is the most popular way of client contact. Also many people prefer live chats and phone calls as they contribute to faster problem solving.

If you have purchased on the web (which you definitely have) you probably know how important it can be to get in touch with an operator and to know that your order is safe. For example, once waiting for a package from Amazon I was a little bit nervous about shipping terms.

Probably, I was quite annoying because every day I was asking store operators about my long-awaited device and every time they reassured me that there was nothing to worry about. You know, it was so great to know that this famous shop takes care about me! And now as a thankful customer I tell this story to all my friends and now to you, and I compliment this site because I received good help and I’m very pleased with such services.

Toolup
Toolup

Thomas Pink
Thomas Pink

FourEleven
FourEleven

Softmart
Softmart

eCost
eCost

7. Wish list

All huge online retailers have wish list facilities. These services allow you to create your personal list of things that you want to buy. You can also create wish lists for other people and look through their notes. Such wish lists are real godsends at holiday times when you’re confused by what gifts to buy.

Such small helpful things can win people’s hearts forever. Thus, you can buy presents and send them to the addressee without any personal participation.

As long as you’re going to create a powerful and popular online store, spend a little more time on such customer care. It’s worth trying, really!

Sunglass Hut
Sunglass Hut

Shoon
Shoon

Books-A-Million
Books-A-Million

Best Buy
Best Buy

Cabela’s
Cabela's

8. Payment System Icons

Online stores are often open to the international market: their customers live in different countries and can use different payment tools. It is impossible to use some payment systems in different regions, that’s why online stores should provide for such possibilities and create the most favorable conditions for purchasing. The majority of shops accept several payment options.

Credit cards are the most popular way to make payments, however some online shops can accept alternative payment means such as checks, debit cards, gift certificates, electronic money of different types and others. Sometimes it happens that eCommerce websites allow their customers to combine payment methods (for example Apple Sore).

Payment system icons are usually located at the bottom of the home page or even through the entire website. They are not clickable and just let you know how to you can pay on this store. Here you’ll find several examples of how payment system icons can be arranged on a page.

Brand Neusense
Brand Neusense

Chocomize
Chocomize

US-Mattress
US-Mattress

HSN
HSN

Etronics
Etronics

9. Shopping Cart/Checkout link and Login Form

Probably, there is no need to explain why it’s so important to place a shopping cart and a login form in plain view. As usual, people should create an account (but it’s not an obligation). It will not take much time but customers will be able to check their previous orders. Also some stores track their customers account activity and present them with some discounts or special buying conditions.

Shopping carts are usually depicted with a basket or a bag icon, so there is no need to re-invent the wheel. A small user-friendly icon at the top right corner of the site will be good enough. It’s considered that the upper left part of web pages is the most viewable because visitors start looking through a website’s content from there. But it’s established historically that shopping cart and login links are located at the right. So, you can place the shopping cart icon and login form wherever at the top of the page. It will be ok.

Macy’s Inc.
Macy's Inc.

Williams-Sonoma
Williams-Sonoma

Overstock
Overstock

Amway
Amway

PC Mall
PC Mall

10. Name, Logo

This small tip will probably apply not only to internet retailers but also other online business owners. The absolute majority of customers are interested in goods and services you sell and not too much about your company.

The home page is not a place for self-promotion. Clear logo, store name and short descriptive sentences about what you are will be more than enough. Moreover if your web shop is quite popular its name will speak for itself. Don’t overload the front page with useless information, potential customers won’t appreciate it.

Ok, here you can look at several eCommerce websites with well designed logo areas. You can design the logo to your liking. Just remember that the story of your success is not the topic of this page, ok?

Beauty
Beauty

Watches
Watches

Keurig
Keurig

OfficeMax
OfficeMax

Nordstrom
Nordstrom

Conclusion

So, as you can see, there is nothing complex in creating and managing eCommerce websites. All the tips from this post are quite intuitive and if you think a little about them you’ll probably be able to remember other examples of internet reselling sites to confirm the post statements.

Don’t agree with some article items? We’ll be glad to discuss your opinions in the comments section below. The more you think about it, the better results can be reached. So go ahead and we’re waiting for your feedback!

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