Web design most often refers to the layout of a website, or how that layout caters to a user’s needs. If you have an online business, developing a streamlined ecommerce website design is even more critical, as it plays a significant role in influencing whether or not your users manage to reach that “complete order” button. 

While ensuring that you provide clear navigation for your users, among other features, is valuable to consider, we’ve already developed a list of 10 ecommerce web design tips more strongly related to the functional needs of users. Today, however, we’ll be focusing on the role of aesthetics in ecommerce web design. 

Here are 4 tips for creating an outstanding ecommerce website design.

1. Your design should reflect your brand.

You may have heard it said: People often buy brands, not products. Many of the top retail brands out there—think Apple, Starbucks, or Nike—can be recognized based on appearance alone. While all of these brands offer quality products, they can also reap the benefits of branding, which include customer loyalty, increased trust, and a relatable identity.

Not only do consumers tend to be more trusting of brand-name products when shopping in a brick-and-mortar store, but those same instincts apply when shopping online. Especially if your online business is an up and coming venture, you’ll need to work a bit harder to prove the credibility of your business to consumers—the good news is that branding can help you to win them over.

By centering your ecommerce website design on your organization’s brand, your users will more quickly gather a better idea of what your brand has to offer, as well as what you stand for. As such, you’ll increase your chances of gaining your consumers’ trust and their potential to make a purchase.

2. Looking great doesn’t have to be complicated. 

If you’ve visited an ecommerce site recently, you may have noticed that there is a growing trend toward minimalist design—there’s a reason for that. Maybe you’ve heard the saying that “less is more,” a saying that certainly applies to web design as well: When you’re trying to direct users toward a sale, the fewer the distractions, the better.

Think about it this way: The goal of your ecommerce site is to keep users engaged long enough to make a purchase. While there are a variety of reasons why users may choose to leave your site, one could be cognitive overload, which occurs when an individual is given too much information to process at once. Users can experience cognitive overload when presented with too many pop-ups, banner ads, or other distracting calls-to-action.

Rather than putting your users in the position to frantically press the back button, or exit altogether, choose to streamline the user experience by providing your users with only the essentials. Statistics even reveal that 40% of users will abandon a site that they find outdated and cluttered, so increase your users’ chances of staying on your site with the help of a minimalist design. 

3. Quality visuals are everything.

Humans are visual creatures. While most find it less difficult to process visuals than text, research has shown that our brains process images 60,000 times faster than text. Moreover, one case study found that relevant images can boost conversions by 40%. 

Depending on your business model, your industry, and what you sell, you’ll need to determine what purpose your images will need to serve on your site for the best results. Whatever you choose, quality is key: An eye-tracking study found that people find detailed photos more appealing than generic stock images. As such, it might be worth hiring a professional photographer to take some photos that are custom to your business.

Even if your great visuals don’t sell your users on making a purchase now, it might help you in the long run: In fact, when a person sees an image, they can remember 65% of that image three days later, which means that your quality product image could linger in the memory of your consumers several days after the fact. 

4. Color can be used to your advantage.

Not only should you consider the quality of the visuals you choose but the colors they present. The colors of your site can also play a critical role in how your consumers will perceive what you have to offer. In fact, one study found that the average person’s initial snap judgment of a product is 62% to 90% based on color alone.

Color affects us through the power of association. Think about the color red, for instance. You may have noticed that some of your favorite brands, including Coca Cola and Canon, use the color on their logos and products. According to Canva, the food industry uses the color red because it “is thought to stimulate appetites,” while tech-brands use the color because we also relate it to “creativity.” 

With this in mind, you’ll want to consider your industry and what effect you want your site to have on your customers. Remember, the colors you choose can leave a lasting impression, with the potential to increase brand recognition by 80% as well.

Bring Your Ecommerce Website Design to Life

With these 4 ecommerce website design tips in mind, you should be ready to start drawing up some plans for what you’d like your online store to look like. Throughout that process, you may also want to consider what ecommerce website features it may include and, if you already have an online store, where your website could improve. 

Once you have a reasonably thought-out vision in mind, it’s time to start building the ecommerce store you’ve been waiting for. For many organizations, that means partnering with a team familiar with ecommerce web development, and our team is skilled in that department.

To make your ecommerce website design a reality, drop us a line.