When you sell products online, your web storefront is crucial. This will mean the difference between customers that shop at your site repeatedly and those that click away from your site just to find one that is easier to navigate or more user friendly in some way.
A good web storefront means having your products found easily by the customers without overwhelming them with too many choices and options, and allowing them to control their shopping cart and overall experience as easily as possible. As an example, once they add something to their cart, do they want to check out, increase the quantity, or continue shopping? If you don’t add these simple options to your web storefront, your customers may become frustrated with trying to find the right buttons for their choices and they will leave your site.
Too often a site owner will look at their web storefront from their point of view and will think only of what they want to accomplish, such as highlighting certain products that are on special. They don’t see their site from the customer’s point of view and this can be costly. Remember that your web storefront is for the customer’s advantage and for their use, not for yours. This is why it’s crucial to consider the best way to create such a site so that their buying experience is as easy as possible.
One thing to remember is that you don’t want your web storefront to look cluttered and busy, even if you’re looking to add information about sales and specials and things like these. If you have too much information on your pages, your customers cannot easily shop around and they won’t purchase the items they want. A few simple choices and a layout that is easy to navigate will mean more customers stay at your web storefront, which means they’ll buy more product as well.
Another consideration for your web storefront is if it’s easy to navigate and search. Some customers will want dropdown menus and others may prefer a search bar, so it’s often good to provide both. They may search by certain keywords so you need to add those to your products or services. For dropdown menus, you don’t want them overly specific because then no one can find those other great options that might work for them when they’re shopping. Give those at your web storefront a nice broad range of options and this will mean getting them to the choices they want without keeping other options from them.
It’s often good to have a professional do at least some of the designing for your web storefront so you know it will function properly but also be easy for customers to use. A neutral third party looking at your site objectively can help to ensure that it will work for customers and that nothing is overlooked. You’ll be sure to increase your sales from your web storefront if you invest in the right professional services for its design.