“We don’t just sell websites; we create websites that SELL.”

― Dr. Christopher Dayagdag

Here are seven proven best practices for website design that we at QualDev swear by and that you should know about –

1. Keep it simple

They say, “If you think math is hard, try web design!”

An important rule to remember while designing your eCommerce website is to stick to simplicity and aim to create to appeal to a broader audience. A minimalistic approach helps the website and favors the products. Everything on the website should have a purpose, with nothing distracting the user from focusing on content.

If the design is complicated, there is a good chance that the visitor will not understand or appreciate it. Websites that have fewer colors per page, pure hues and simple and readable fonts are the ones that sell. This ensures the buyer sees the woods behind the trees, and the most helpful information does not get lost behind flashy design.

2. Easy navigation

If it were not for convenience, people would have never shifted to online shopping. The process of buying from website should be rational and free-flowing from one point to another so that the process feels natural – akin to muscle memory. If a visitor to your website needs to click ten diverse menus to get what they are looking for, they will most likely flee within the first few seconds.

User experience can be simplified by keeping the following in mind –

• The brand logo should bring the visitor back to the homepage
• Hamburger menu bar allow visitors to choose the correct category
• Filters help narrow down search results
• An easy to locate search bar shortens the buying journey

3. Use quality visuals

The better the quality of graphics and visuals on your website, the more the users will favor your online store. This could include the following (with easy zoom-in zoom-out capabilities) –

• High-resolution photos (preferably creative photography)
• 360-degree views of your products
• 3D models or renders to show minute details
• Short and engaging videos

A huge reason visitors abandoning category and product pages, is because the owners of the website have failed to create visually appealing landing pages.

4. Make it look professional

Imagine giving your sensitive information, like your credit card number, to a website that does not look professional. This is how a customer would feel as well. Building trust is crucial if you want your ecommerce website to succeed and thus instill a professionalism and credibility. This means it is essential that your site content has –

• No typos or misspellings
• Consistent font, color palette, and footer design from page to page
• Fully functional product links and CTA buttons

If you want your shoppers to take you seriously, you need to show them that you are serious about your business. The only way to do that is with a professionally designed website and app.

5. Make it responsive

A recent report states that mobile has surpassed desktop devices as the most favored method to surf the internet. 79% of smartphone users buy products online using their mobile devices. So, if an ecommerce website is not engineered with a mobile-first approach, it is going to fail miserably. If you wish to grab new buyers who enjoy shopping on their phones or tablets, ensuring that your website design is fully responsive is important.

6. Provide multiple ways to get in touch

Your patrons are likely to hit the “Order” button faster if they know how to get in touch with you when they face any issues during their shopping journey. Having the following items on your contact page would undoubtedly help –

• E-mail, phone number, chatbot for instant contact
• Store location
• Social media profile links
• FAQs page for any contemplated queries

7. A breezy checkout

Remember how we said nothing kills a sale faster than complicated product pages. Well, a clunky checkout is the second reason. You are bound to lose customers if your checkout process is long and complex. If you want people to buy from your website, you must make buying as concise and hassle-free as possible. Make sure the steps on the checkout from your website are –

• Clean, simple, and easy to navigate
• Give the option to check out as a guest user or register an account
• The navigation and check out process should be crystal clear and easy to understand
• Offer different shipping options
• Provide a list of things to do in case of any problems
• Offer return or refund options

Once the purchase is completed, direct your consumers to a confirmation page so they know everything went through successfully.

The proverb “never judge a book by its cover” does not apply to ecommerce websites because there is a high chance that if your design fails to make a tremendous first impression, visitors are more likely to bounce. Enforce the tips outlined above and create a high-converting ecommerce website design that brings in more conversions!

Designing an ecommerce website can be a thorny task, but QualDev has you covered. QualDev is a web development company in New York known for building clean, customized eCommerce website designs that create lasting impressions both visually and interactively. So, what are you waiting for? Get in touch with us today!

The post 7 Best Practices to Keep in Mind While Designing Your eCommerce Website appeared first on QualDev.

That being said, if you are looking to build your own eCommerce website, here are 10 success stories that are sure to inspire you –

1. Taylor Stitch

Taylor Stitch launched its ecommerce website over a decade ago in 2010. They offered sophisticated and affordable clothing tailored for men. Their website’s popularity spread like wildfire due to a unique feature Taylor Stitch on their website. They displayed customer success stories on important pages of their website. Customers could purchase items and post stories with images and videos of their newly purchased merchandise. This helped new customers form deeper “connections” with the brand and their offerings, and hence they became more likely to not only make a purchase but also share their buying experience with friends.

Not more than 3 years after the launch of their website, Taylor Stitch made $1.5 million in sales. More than a decade later, they are still going strong.

2. Triangl

Triangl, a brand that needs no introduction, was founded when Erin Deering discovered that she was unable to find a bikini that fit her well, made her look good, and didn’t cost a fortune. So, she decided to make her own. After the company went online using a Shopify template, it made over $5 million within the first year. Better still, they were able to increase their revenues 5 times over the following year.

Besides offering a great product, Triangl’s trust in Shopify helped the company flourish rapidly.

3. Pour Moi

The lingerie and nightwear store, Pour Moi, has been around since 1998. In 2015, using Shopify, they launched their first eCommerce website. Shopify provided them with the options to make the whole customer experience of exploring the store, adding items to the cart, and finally purchasing them, simple and hassle-free.

Pour Mio’s amazing range of lingerie, and their strong presence online, has helped them expand their presence to over 50 countries.

4. Sunday Somewhere

Going online with Shopify in 2010, Sunday Somewhere was a complete sensation. Selling premium, handmade designer eyewear, and providing a unique combination of quality and simplicity, they were able to gain worldwide recognition in almost no time.

Choosing a Shopify template and customizing it, enabled the brand to display their products creatively, using eye-catching camera angles and creative product placement.

5. Bremont

There is no brand that screams “luxury watches” louder than Bremont. Founded in 2002, and a winner of many awards, Bremont has a reputation for creating stunning chronometers. After they launched their ecommerce website in 2017 (which is based on Shopify again) the company made about $17 million in revenue.

Manufacturing more than 50,000 watches annually, Bremont is thriving in the watch making business, and they owe it all to their inspiring online presence.

6. Zero Gravity

Zero Gravity, a company that creates stunning, on trend iphone cases, is fast gaining popularity across the United States. Since their launch in 2010, the company has been dedicated to designing one-of-a-kind iPhone cases. Using unusual elements like embroidery, each case is artistically designed and 100% unique.

With their Shopify website, they provide customers with a place to get unique cases for their iphones. If you visit their website, you are bound to find something trendy that fits your iphone too.

7. 18 Karat

Offering creative homeware and furniture, 18 Karat is an attractive online furniture store, with extremely appealing products. What makes them unique is that they combine the smooth, luxurious feel of premium furniture with the freshness of nature.

Using the warm colors of fall, this Shopify-based online store completely captures the safe and comforting feel that a home should provide. Expanding beyond furniture, 18 Karat also offers art and other home décor to elevate your living space and take it to the next level.

8. Pure Cycle

By focusing on style and comfort, Pure Cycle has made a real name for them in the world of bicycles. What is extremely cool about their Shopify website is that they have adopted Shopify’s AR feature to give potential customers a real feel of the bikes they sell, thus helping customer make informed decisions while buying the bike their hearts desire. Customers can shortlist bikes on the website and then visit any Pure Cycle’s physical store to test it out in person.

This amazing feature not only saves time but also provides the customer a fun and exciting online shopping experience.

9. Gymshark

Gymshark started out as a group of friends in a garage, screen printing their products one at a time. Today, they have a gargantuan social media following and are valued at over 1 billion pounds. Creating an extremely engaging eCommerce website with Shopify has helped Gymshark expand their customer base to over 130 countries. The company does not have any physical stores and functions completely online.

They have experimented with “pop-up shops” which is something that keeps their customers excited.

10. Negative

Since the company’s launch in 2014, helping women feel fit and have confidence in their own bodies has been the only goal of Negative. The company was able to grow its revenue by 150% in just a few years.

In fact, this Shopify store does so well that it has received acclamations from Forbes, Vogue, and The Wall Street Journal for reuniting appearance and comfort.

Are you looking to launch or redesign your own eCommerce website? If you are, consider using Shopify to get the job done quickly and easily. QualDev is a Shopify development company that lets you hire experienced Shopify web developers to improved your online presence and ensure that your business goes places. Get in touch with our team to know more!

The post 10 Great Shopify eCommerce Stores to Inspire Your Own appeared first on QualDev.

The crucial part of all of this is – choosing the right eCommerce platform for your business. Let us look at two widely used eCommerce platforms, and understand the benefits each of them has to offer – WooCommerce and Magento (now known as Adobe Commerce).

What to Look for in an eCommerce Platform?

Before we start exploring the nitty-gritty of Magento and WooCommerce, let’s go over a list of the features to expect from an eCommerce development platform. They include –

1. Reliability
2. Performance
3. Scalability
4. Ease of use
5. Customization
6. Cost-effectiveness
7. Security

How to Choose Between WooCommerce and Magento?

WooCommerce and Magento both have their pluses and pitfalls. Choosing which to use boils down to selecting which is best for your business. It is not that easy to pick a clear-cut winner, as both are very popular choices. However, you can make this decision based on how big your business is at the moment, and the extent to which you expect to grow in the near future.

The general consensus is that Magento is more useful for rapidly scaling businesses, mid-sized, and large enterprises, while WooCommerce works best for smaller firms. Let us look at why that is the case and what you should look for in the eCommerce development platform you choose.

Benefits of WooCommerce for Small Businesses

WooCommerce is a user-friendly and efficient plugin for the WordPress platform. It gives you all the must-have eCommerce features that your small business may need. Since this is a WordPress plugin, it is quite easy to use because it retains some of its parent’s original features. The features include –

• WooCommerce is FREE! With the free version, you can get started instantly.
• You would need to have an existing WordPress website to use this platform.
• WooCommerce supports an unlimited number of products, which is great if you do not have a set limit or fixed number at the moment.
• It supports all WordPress themes and also offers a multitude of customization options.
• It comes with an extension system and offers many handy features, including security, payments, and integration with Google Analytics.
• Barring hosting fees, setting up your online store or business is completely free of cost, which makes this great for smaller businesses with lower budgets.
• WooCommerce’s backend is easy to access and use, even for beginners.

For small-scale businesses and beginners, WooCommerce is the clear, better choice. Easy to use and less expensive to set up, this platform offers you a plethora of benefits without having to rely on expert web developers.

Why Magento is Considered Better for Mid-Sized and Large Businesses

As a platform, Magento, or Adobe Commerce, has been developed keeping in mind the needs of web development professionals. This means that it is a more nuanced platform and is better for stores and businesses that are medium to large in terms of operations. Why is this platform more suited to relatively larger enterprises?

• Magento is a complete package. You do not need an additional plugin to enable Ecommerce functionality. It is inbuilt.
• With Magento, you can add unlimited products onto the platform, paving the way for future additions and unlimited scalability.
• Magento offers a variety of customizable themes and supports a plethora of useful extensions.
• Magento has better security features and dedicated security patches as well. This is not to say that WooCommerce is not reliable, but Magento provides that additional layer of security.
• It is a slightly more complex platform to use (prior web development knowledge is required) and hence not ideal for small business owners. You will most likely want to ally with a Magento development company to extract the most out of this platform.
• Magento is designed for unlimited possibilities and extensive scalability, thus making it the perfect choice for larger businesses that are thriving and growing at a rapid pace.

Thanks to its efficiency and inherent features, Adobe Commerce is an excellent solution for enterprises that have large operations. Its intuitive interface and API make it easy to connect with various third-party solutions.

Magento is a great option when it comes to a bigger scale of operations. This fantastic eCommerce solution is designed for scalability. If you are an already established mid-sized or large-scale business that wants to go that extra mile, Magento is clearly the best for you.

Looking for a Web Development Company in the USA?

When it comes to web development, ecommerce development, web design, Magento development, mobile app development, marketplace management, SEO, internet marketing, and many more such services, Qualdev is your best choice. We take pride in the fact that we use innovation, technology, and creativity to deliver result-driven solutions for you!

Using the latest technology like AMP, reactJS, PHP and more, our expert developers will construct for you a unique, out-of-the-box website that is designed to perfection. Your responsive website will perform flawlessly across all devices, will convey your message effortlessly, and will help convert visitors into assured clients.

Whether you are on the lookout for a Magento development company or a WooCommerce expert, we can help you. Get in touch with us today!

The post WooCommerce Vs. Magento: Which eCommerce Platform Should You Choose Based on Your Size? appeared first on QualDev.