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Getting buyers for your eCommerce store is not an easy task. However, once you get buyers, you will be left with the big task of convincing them to buy your products. There are some common e-commerce designs mistake you might be making that are preventing you from making sales. In this article, we will discuss these mistakes and give you some tips on how to fix them.

eCommerce Design Mistakes That Are Hurting Your Store

1. When your store is not compatible with all devices

More than 60% of searches are done with mobile devices. Even though the purchase is not done with the use of mobile devices, the search and selection can be done with a mobile device before the buyer then decides to purchase the products either from an online or physical store.

Take a hint from this and make sure that your store is compatible with multiple devices. You can make use of a free app like “Am I Responsive?” to observe how your store looks on different devices.

2. When your products lack detailed information

When shopping in a physical store, there is the benefit of you being able to pick up a product, feel it, examine it, and read the information on the labels or packaging. However, online shopping doesn’t enable this sort of interaction. This is one of the reasons eCommerce websites must try their best to improve the online store shopping experience for their customers.

When customers visit online stores to see the store’s product catalog but discover that their product description is completely lacking, it discourages them from actually buying a product. The customer will look elsewhere for the details of the product they want to buy, and they may eventually buy from the store where they found the details.

So, ensure you provide as much product information on your site. You can provide information such as materials, sizes, dimensions, weight, and other important information depending on the product.

3. Choosing the wrong plugins or theme

You must not make the mistake of selecting a theme just because it appears good on another website. Rather, while choosing a theme for your online store, you should first list out the elements that are significant to your store.

The use of the wrong plugins and/or themes is one of the design mistakes that affect an eCommerce store. Depending on what you want, choose either a ready-made theme, which has built-in features, or a basic theme that allows you to add a custom code.

4. A confusing or long checkout process

Having a long or confusing checkout process is another design mistake hurting your store. You need to make it very simple and easy for your online customers to make use of their credit card information and finalize their transactions.

The more processes you put between your customers putting an item in their cart and paying for it, the higher the chances that they’ll leave your website without finalizing their purchase. Make it easy for your customers to complete their purchases by simplifying the checkout process.

A good checkout process comprises a single page for your customers to check their order and to put in their shipping and billing information, plus an authorization page before their order can be submitted. Any processes more than this are just a barrier to finalizing the checkout process.

5. Poor sort, search, or filter options

There is an entire category of online shoppers who are given to staring at shop windows. The majority of them don’t know what they want or what they are looking for. You need to make your product display visually appealing so it will grab their attention.

Besides making your product display visually appealing, you also need to make it easy for your customers to find what they are looking for. This can be achieved by categorizing your products and enabling visitors to filter and sort them.

A search button option can also help. Product reviews, FAQs, and comparison tables can also be used to help your customers quickly find or decide on a product.

6. Requiring customers to sign up before they can order

Making it compulsory for customers to sign up on your site before they can place an order is an eCommerce design mistake you should avoid. An e-commerce site should focus more on getting a customer’s order than capturing their information. Requesting too much information may make you lose your customers.

Instead of making it mandatory for a customer to sign up on your site before they can order, make this option available at the end of the ordering process. Offer them the option of saving their account information to make it easier for them the next time they need to place orders.

7. Unreliable website hosting

Nothing destroys a shopping experience like a slow-loading website. Online shoppers believe that eCommerce stores must load faster than any other. The hosting you choose plays an important role in determining how fast your e-commerce store will load.

Unless you are just starting, don’t make use of cheap shared hosting. Instead, use a quality cloud hosting option or a virtual private server (VPS).

8. Boring or unhelpful images

One picture can speak a thousand words. Images can sell what words may not be able to. So, not making use of high-quality images on your site is another eCommerce design mistake you must avoid.

Use high-quality images to describe your product. You can also include multiple images per product to give your visitors more information about the product.

9. Uninspiring trust with your site

If you desire that shoppers share their personal information with you and make a payment on your website, you need to ensure that you can be trusted. Your site must possess all the trust features, which include a secure website, clear logo, testimonials, contact details, gateways, and reliable payment options, and no spam.

10. Not allowing shoppers to add items to a wishlist

Shoppers sometimes aren’t ready to purchase a commodity right away. So, enabling them to add items to a wishlist is something they love. It makes it easy for them to come back and purchase the item at a time more convenient for them.

Conclusion

We’ve discussed in this article the common eCommerce design mistakes that are hurting your store. As much as you can, try to avoid these mistakes. If you are already making any of these mistakes, you can use some of the recommended tips we gave to give you a greater chance of success with your online store.