Must-Have Features on Your eCommerce Website

Posted On August 12, 2019 by Anca Iusan
Blog

After researching multiple successful online shops and analyzing elements they all had in common, we put together a checklist of features and pages you must include in your eCommerce website to drive more traffic and increase conversion.

Are you launching a new eCommerce website? Are you looking to improve your current one? You are not sure where to start and what to include or change on your website?

We did the heavy lifting for you!

Here is a comprehensive list of must-have features for your eCommerce website!

  1. 1. Homepage

    This is an essential page for your store and it acts as the brand’s first impression. What should it include?

  • Big headline
  • A clear value proposition
  • High-quality banners and images/videos
  • Simple navigation (logo, phone number, account login, cart icon, search, store finder, language, and currency selection)
  • Contact information
  • Call-to-action
  • Special offers
  • Popular products
  1. 2. Security

    SSL certificate and payment security badges in the footer are mandatory.

  2. 3. Category pages – key features:

  • Category overview/description
  • Banner
  • Product swatches (if applicable)
  • Price
  • Quick view and quick add to cart buttons
  • Add to wishlist and add to compare buttons
  • Improved layered navigation with relevant filters
  • Sort by function
  • Product labels for special products
  • Reviews star rating
  • Infinite scroll of products
  1. 4. Product pages – key features:

  • Product title
  • High-quality images
  • Videos
  • Zoom option
  • Add to wishlist
  • Multiple views of the item
  • Social sharing buttons
  • Quantity field
  • Discounted prices (if applicable)
  • Product description
  • Product reviews
  • Call-to-action button (add to cart)
  • Related products
  1. 5. Shopping cart

  • Ability to modify product information – quantity
  • Ability to save the products
  • Billing info
  • Clear shipping info & costs
  • Payment methods
  • Sign in/Create an account
  • Promo discount field
  • Upsell related products
  1. 6. Easy checkout flow:

  • Progress bar if using multistep checkout
  • Log in or checkout as guest/register features
  • Easy forms for shipping & billing address
  • Easy payment steps
  • Gift cards or promo codes fields
  • Specific promotions associated with memberships
  • Review order information page
  • Confirmation page
  1. 7. Improved search – functionality & auto-suggest feature

  1. 8. Login/Create an account

  1. 9. My order/Order History pages

  1. 10. Individual order view page

  1. 11. Account settings (where the customers can update their information, addresses, payment methods, shipping addresses, etc.)

  1. 12. Email sign-up – give your visitors a reason why they should sign up and what types of emails they will be getting. 

  1. 13. Returns policy – add this to the footer and be as clear as possible about your returns policy to avoid customer complaints. 

  1. 14. Privacy policy

  2. This informs the users what data you are collecting and for what purposes. You can provide information about the way you collect customer data, cookies on the website, forms, regulations and much more. Websites like https://www.freeprivacypolicy.com/ can help you get started.
  1. 15. Shipping policy

  1. 16. Terms & Conditions 

  1. 17. Live chat

  2. Automate your customer service workflow by adding a live chat and potentially a chatbot on your website.
  1. 18. Order tracking

  1. 19. Contact us page:

  • Contact us form
  • The physical address of the company
  • Store locations
  • Hours of operation
  • Phone number
  • Support contact information
  • Google map
  1. 20. About us page:

  • State your mission
  • Write about the activity of the business
  • History
  • Team
  • Images (stores, team, owner, etc.)
  1. 21. Store locator – help your customers find you faster if they want to visit your brick-and-mortar shops.

  1. 22. FAQ page

  2. Having an FAQ section on your website establishes credibility and builds confidence with the buyers. It also provides a self-help area to address common customer questions or problems.
  1. 23. Blog

  2. Increase traffic on your website by adding more blog pages, share your articles with the right audience and discuss popular topics on your blog.
  1. 24. Social media links

  1. 25. Sitemap

    Use this to help search engines crawl your eCommerce store.

  1. 26. Rewards/Loyalty programs

  2. Entice your shoppers to buy more by offering attractive rewards and loyalty programs.
  1. 27. Transactional emails

  2. These emails are messages that are sent to an individual in response to a specific action and are crucial for the customer experience. Don’t forget to customize and brand your transactional emails – newsletter subscription, order confirmation, abandoned cart, password reset, account registration, welcome emails.
  1. 28. New visitor offers

  2. Create special deals for new visitors and add them to an appealing pop-up message.
  1. 29. Mobile-friendly design 

  1. 30. Accessibility Statement & Compliance

  2. Being ADA compliant is very important nowadays. Here is an example of an ADA compliance checklist you can use for your website.

Need more information about how to improve your online shop? Talk to our experts – contact us!

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