With online shopping rising in popularity, it’s important to have a website that can handle requests from customers. Compared to physical stores, your site is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for people to buy from you. This makes it important to have a website that makes the buying process as easy as possible. Here are some elements of e-commerce sites that customers hate, and how you can avoid them.
Not Listing Contact Information
Ideally, when a customer buys something from you, they are able to do so with no problems. However, there is a possibility that there could be an issue and they need to contact you for help. Making it difficult for users to find your information can lead to irritation for users. Make sure that your information is easily accessible, either at the bottom of your site or via a contact link in your main menu.
Bad Graphic Design
Your website can serve as a first impression for your business. If it has unnecessary graphics or feels too clunky to navigate around, it can erode trust and cause customers to look elsewhere. You want to have a site that looks professional and secure. From a navigation standpoint, ensure that links to various parts of your site are short and clear to give customers a sense of where they will link to.
No Way to Filter or Search
If you have a lot of products available for sale, it can be hard for users to scroll through every product to find the one they are looking for. Adding an option to filter by specific elements like color or size helps them narrow down your inventory. In addition, a search function lets your customers navigate directly to an item they want.
Slow Loading Times
It may be tempting to add tons of bells and whistles to your site thinking it will help you stand out. However, it can cause your site to become slow to load. If it takes too long for your site to appear, your potential customers will likely look elsewhere. There are things you can do to help your site run faster, including compressing your graphics. You can also hire a web designer to help create a site that appears quickly while having the features you want most.
Make It Mobile-Friendly
As customers do more of their shopping on mobile devices, you want your site to be able to display correctly. Make sure that your products can be viewed without your user having to pinch or zoom in to see specific items. Web designers can help with creating a site that works on both phones and tablets.
Setting up an e-commerce site for your business offers many benefits, but there can be things that cause potential problems. By getting ahead of these issues, you can provide your customers with a solid shopping experience.