The number of mobile devices used daily to perform various activities via the internet is growing day by day. According to the data, this number is currently measured to be in the billions, and this is why it is important that the design of every business website is optimized to accommodate mobile device use. This is especially relevant when it comes to web stores.
What do we mean when we say web store?
Online shopping involves any type of online payment for a product or service, bank transaction, accommodation reservation, and much more. If you own an online store, it is necessary to adapt the design of your user interface (UI) and user experience (UE) to sales that will be completed through mobile devices, as this is the most common way of shopping online today.
Below you can read curated tips used by the best web design agencies that will surely help improve your website’s design in the best way possible.
Web Design Should Ensure Content is Easy to Understand
Navigation Menu
The first thing you need to pay attention to is the navigation menu. You should always strive to make the navigation design as clear and concrete as possible. Having a long list of categories and subcategories will become confusing for the customer and deters them from finding what they need on your site. One tip to follow is to ensure that the user who searches for your offer should, at all times, have the option of simply returning to the previously viewed page.
Quick Start-to-Finish Payment Flow
When a potential customer visits your website via their mobile device in order to purchase a product or service, they generally want it to be as fast and easy as possible to complete from start to finish. It is optimal that the customer can complete their purchase in 3 or 4 steps, anything beyond that is not desirable. An online store with a complicated payment flow makes it more difficult for a customer to understand, which often deters them from completing a purchase.
Therefore, make sure that the design of your website for online sales is informative enough to help your potential customer make a decision to buy, but is still easy to navigate. An adequately designed site greatly contributes to a better user experience.
Customer Support
The final tip in this section is: do not underestimate the impact of having good customer support implemented into your website design. With this tool, you allow your potential customers to contact you if they have any questions or concerns.
Web Design Must Not Increase Page Load Times
Importance of Lowering Load Times
If you want your online store to be functional and to allow for shopping via mobile devices, you need to make sure that the site’s design is customized properly and well optimized for quick load times. Research has shown that users have very little patience when it comes to loading a site. If your site loads too slowly, it is very likely that you will lose a large number of potential customers.
Minimize use of Elements on your Mobile Page
The best way to speed up the reading of the mobile version of your website is to reduce the number of unnecessary elements. With a minimum number of elements and well-optimized existing elements, users will be able to quickly read the website and make a decision whether they shall make a purchase.
Use a Responsive Design
When creating a web design for your online store, the best solution is to use a responsive design. With a responsive or customizable design, the display of your website will change according to the screen size. Also, with a responsive design for your website, you will remove all the elements you do not need. By removing elements that bring no real value to your end goal, you will free up space on your page and provide users with better visibility.
Web Design Should Contain a Detailed Description of the Categories and Individual Products/Services
Use Detailed Text and Visual Descriptions of Categories/Products/Services
The description of categories, products, and services on the site should be as detailed as possible. Therefore, when creating the design of your website, you must put both a text and visual description next to each product, as it is important that they are as complete as possible.
The text description of the product must list all the basic characteristics of the product (available sizes, dimensions, available product colors etc). This will make it easier for your potential customer to browse your online store via mobile phones.
Conclusion
The fact is that online shopping is increasingly done via mobile devices. For this reason, it is more than clear that the UI / UX design of an online store must be as well adapted as possible to mobile devices. By hiring one of the best web design agencies to create a unique web design with as many innovative solutions and opportunities for customers as possible, your e-shop will surely be a place where customers will always be happy to return.
