With explosive growth over the last few years, the eCommerce industry’s worth will be about 8.1 trillion dollars by 2026, and there are no signs of it slowing down. With such a massive market opportunity, businesses need to have an online store that delivers exceptional customer experience. To achieve this, they must ensure that their eCommerce website has the essential features that modern consumers expect.
In this article, we’ll be looking at the six essential features that every eCommerce website should have in 2023. From mobile optimization to social media integration, we’ll explore each feature in-depth, providing insights into why it’s crucial and how businesses can implement it to improve their eCommerce strategy. We’ll also share some examples to help you understand the impact these features can have on your online store’s performance today.
1. Mobile Optimization
One of the crucial features that every eCommerce website should have today is Mobile Optimization. With mobile devices accounting for over half of the internet traffic, businesses nowadays cannot afford to ignore the importance of mobile optimization. For this, we have suggested a few tips which may help you ensure that your eCommerce website is optimized for mobile devices:
- If you’re a business owner, your primary focus should be on creating a responsive website design. This means that the website must adjust to fit the screen size of the device on which it’s being viewed and that the website is user-friendly, which makes it easy to navigate on any device.
- According to a study by Google, 53% of mobile users will leave a website if it takes more than 3 seconds to load. So, ensuring a fast loading speed on your website, (as slow loading speeds can lead to a high bounce rate) can be another crucial feature to consider.
An excellent example of a mobile-optimized eCommerce website is BigCommerce. The platform offers a wide range of mobile optimization features, including responsive design templates, fast loading speeds, and more. As a result, businesses that use BigCommerce have seen an average increase in mobile conversion rates. So, if you’re a business owner and want to switch your existing eCommerce platform to BigCommerce or start fresh with it, you may consider hiring experts from leading providers like CodeClouds, which is a BigCommerce development agency that develops high-performing, scalable websites and mobile apps for your eCommerce store with seamless multichannel integration.
2. Fast Loading Speeds
Fast loading speeds are a critical feature that every eCommerce website should have in 2023, as we know, users abandon a website that takes more than three seconds to load. Therefore, it’s essential for your business to ensure that its eCommerce website has a fast loading speed that will ultimately improve the website’s user experience and increase conversions. To achieve this, here are some tips that you can follow:
- Optimize your website’s images. As large images significantly slow down a website’s loading speed, compressing them and using the correct file format would do the work.
- Minimize HTTP requests by reducing the number of scripts and plugins on the website. Additionally, using a content delivery network (CDN) can help you to distribute your website content across multiple servers, improving their loading speeds. Shopify is one such example of an eCommerce website that has a fast loading speed. The platform’s infrastructure is designed to ensure that websites must load quickly.
Hence, by following these tips, businesses can smoothly increase their website’s loading speed and rise up conversion rates too.
3. Seamless Navigation
A well-designed navigation system can significantly impact user experience and influence purchasing decisions. In fact, a study by Forrester found that 50% of potential sales are lost because users can’t find what they’re looking for on a website. Therefore, businesses must ensure that their website’s navigation is user-friendly and easy to navigate by following these two tips:
- Using drop-down menus, breadcrumb trails, and search bars helps businesses find what they’re looking for, quickly.
- Organizing products into categories and subcategories makes it easier for users to navigate the website. You can identify which pages users are visiting the most with the help of data analytic tools, and make those pages more accessible through the website’s navigation. This makes the navigation process more user-friendly.
For instance, the website navigation of Amazon is simple and intuitive, which makes it easy for users to find what they’re looking for quickly. The use of drop-down menus and search bars further enhance its user experience, which results in an increase in its sales. Thus, making it clear that seamless navigation is a crucial feature of any eCommerce website.
4. Secure Checkout
Online shopping is becoming increasingly popular, and with it comes an increased risk of cyber threats. As such, businesses must check if their website’s checkout process is secure to protect a customer’s personal and financial information. Here are a few tips to consider:
- Use SSL encryption to protect customers’ personal and financial information.
- Integrate trusted payment gateways, such as PayPal or Stripe within the website.
- Display trust badges and security seals on their website to assure customers that their information is safe, like how Nike does.
- Update software and plugins regularly to keep the website’s security up to date.
Thus, ensuring that your eCommerce website has secured checkouts in their business.
5. Personalization
With so much competition in the online marketplace, businesses need to find ways to stand out and create a unique shopping experience for their customers. As we know, more online shoppers are likely to make a purchase from a website that offers personalized experiences, businesses should follow the tips given below to streamline the process:
- Data such as customer browsing and purchase history can be used to offer personalized product recommendations.
- Personalized email campaigns are also an effective way to engage with customers and offer targeted promotions.
For example, Netflix, an eCommerce website uses customers viewing data to offer personalized recommendations for movies and TV shows. It also uses personalized messaging to promote new releases and offers. Thus, keeping the collected customer data ethical and with their consent.
6. Social Media Integration
With the increasing importance of social media in our daily lives, businesses need to find ways to leverage these platforms, so that they can increase their online presence and reach a wider audience. Therefore, to integrate with social media, businesses must take care of the following tips given below:
- Include social media buttons on your website, as it allows customers to easily share products and content on their own social media profiles.
- Use social media to promote products, engage with customers, and create a sense of community around their brand.
- Offer social media-exclusive promotions and discounts as an effective way to drive traffic to an eCommerce site.
For example, Fashion Nova, which is a fast fashion retailer, built a massive following on Instagram. It regularly promotes its products using that platform, featuring influencers and celebrities wearing its clothing. Additionally, the brand’s website prominently features social media buttons, that allow customers to easily share products on their own profiles as well. This widens the reach for the brand’s products which in turn increases its sales rate.
The Ending Note
As we move further into this year, eCommerce businesses need to ensure that their websites have the essential features to stand out in a competitive market. By incorporating these six features discussed above, into your eCommerce website, you can enhance the user experience, increase customer engagement, and ultimately drive more sales. So, don’t overlook the importance of these essential features and invest in your website’s success today to stay ahead of the competition and achieve your business goals in 2023!
