In the year 2024 and beyond, millions of e-commerce businesses that use advanced features and adaptive technologies in their websites are going to survive. But the reality hits to the core when you choose to DIY your e-commerce website without much knowledge and expertise of Content Management Systems (CMS), features, and web development needs.
This is where knowing all the useful features to include when designing an e-commerce website is beneficial. In this blog, we will guide you through the e-commerce web design features that even experts vouch for. Alongside, you will also realise the importance of hiring a web design agency in Melbourne to make any complex web development turn easy.
Must-Have Features in an E-commerce Website
Let’s get familiar with every feature that makes your online product selling website functional and effective for end users.
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Use Reliable and Convenient Plugins:
When creating a website, it is useful to have sufficient knowledge about different e-commerce platforms like WooCommerce, Magento, or Shopify. Magento and Shopify are web development platforms while Woocommerce is a plugin within WordPress.
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Shopify:
Shopify is a fully hosted platform that lets you use drag and drop interface and add third-party apps for more features. It also features mobile-friendly themes and is easy to combine with other payment gateways, beyond Shopify payment provider.
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WooCommerce:
The plugin extends the capabilities of WordPress with hundreds of functional themes and plugins. You can customise your website through them or hire a professional web design agency in Melbourne to set up your website technically.
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Magento:
Available in free or paid versions, Magento is a popular yet expensive platform for managing products, marketing, and handling large catalogues. Being highly customisable, using this website demands higher costs for technical setup, premium features, and paid hosting plans and apps.
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Plan Your Website Structure:
Every website contains Home Page, About Us, Contact Us, Blog, FAQ, menus, and shopping cart, and user account pages in logical order. As much as these pages are essential, deciding the features to add on individual pages is just as much non-negotiable.
If Home Page is personalised based on the user’s past search history, then the user account gathers their personal data and order details. Not to forget, a web design agency in Melbourne is always a call away to help you, if you are a beginner in the field.
It is important to enlist add-ons like wishlist and recommendations on every page to make the shopping experience memorable for your target audiences.
3. Don’t Forget About Intuitive Interface:
As soon as your website completes its initial development phase, the next feature is to add in intuitive features. Your website must have features like search bars, breadcrumb menus, product category menus, all with easy to understand labels.
When a user can find all the information easily without hovering over multiple pages in confusion, they are more likely to trust your website. If you have extensive product categories to handle, it is never too late to trust a professional web design agency in Melbourne.
4. Add Products to Your Store:
A functional website lets you now add your products. In every product page, product descriptions should have features, benefits, along with their specifications. Keep in mind that the descriptions contain the SEO-focused keywords.
In addition, you must put in multiple images in closeups and lifestyle to add credibility. Using alternative texts and meta descriptions are equally useful SEO factors.
5. Secure Payment Gateway:
Taking every bit into consideration will make your e-commerce website responsive and functional. Make sure you add a secure payment gateway that is available within the platform. If not, most of the popular platforms integrate third-party payment providers too.
Enlisting multiple payment methods like Netbanking, UPI apps, debit/credit Card transfer, EMI, or Pay on Delivery will make the checkout process convenient. In addition, defining shipping costs for different deliveries entitle your customers to make payments without delays.
A professional web design agency in Melbourne can handle the complex payment page development process easily.
6. Security Features:
Last but not the least, adding the latest security tools and themes to protect your customer’s personal information, transactions, and other confidential information is also valuable. You can hire a professional developer who can configure security changes and adapt your website with the latest security measures ahead of time.
Final Words
We hope you found this blog useful. Coming to an end, it is clear that designing an e-commerce website is a process that requires thorough understanding of functional features. Whether you choose WordPress, Magento, or Shopify, you must include all the relevant and must-have features to make the shopping experience for your audience truly memorable.
Throughout the blog, we have guided you through the essential features that are beginner-friendly. But you can also use advanced features with paid plugins and themes either yourself or through the help Make My Website – best web design agency in Melbourne.