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Maneet Puri

Maneet Puri, a renowned IT professional, heads a reputed web development company called LeXolution IT Services. It is the best of all India web site design companies for it delivers high quality and cost effective results. For more information about the author and the company, please visit www.lexolutionit.com

Maneet Puri has written 10 articles for SB Informer.

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10 Features Of A Successful E-Commerce Website

Maneet Puri

August 20, 2008


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E-commerce websites are the online shopping malls for people. But though they are designed to sell, not all of them make the job easy for their customers.

Here are 10 tips to design a successful e-commerce website:

Tell Visitors Where They Are
It is critical to show the users the structure of the website and where they are on it. Put on headlines and breadcrumbs on all the pages. For example: Home > Category > Sub-cat > Product. No matter on what page they are, they should be only 1 click away from the home page

Allow Them to Sort Through
The users should be able to sort the product category in the way they desire. So make sure you give them enough options. For example:
• Price- High to Low or vice versa
• Most popular
• User rating
• Latest

Show Them the Products
Make them see all the products in the desired category on one single page rather than having them leaf through pages containing singular images. Internet speeds is a concern but more than that letting them see all the options on one page saves their time.

Make Categories More Specific
All the product categories should be narrowed down to more specific sub-categories in order to help users get to what exactly they are looking for. For example: Shoes > Boots/ Sandals/ Slippers etc.

Inform About Cost Savings
All your product categories should carry details users are craving for. And that is, what is the edge they are getting by purchasing from your portal. Make sure you show the original pricing along with your discounted pricing. Nothing gets you more conversions than a good bargain offer. Also list out the sizes/colors/options that you have in stock.

Keep the Search Bar in Easy Reach
Apart from displaying the search and the results, the search bars should ideally be located in the center and maintain the user's query in the box for any potential modification.

Give Them Search Refinement Options
Get an advanced searching system that will enable users to select prices, options, colors, sizes, models, etc. this will make them more comfortable on your site and that can eventually further sales.

Share the "Fit" Information
one size may not fit all. The major reason why customers back off from making a purchase online is because there is no size mentioned. For instance in case of clothes , shoes and even laptop bags, one cant really purchase an item without knowing if it will fit or not. Make sure you provide this critical piece of information overlooked my most other sites.

Tell Them the Availability Status
There are many sites out there that allow ‘Add to cart’ and even ‘Checkout’ options only to flash out later that the selected item is out of stock. Don’t disappoint your visitors this way. Let them know the availability status of the product they intend to purchase.

Have Lots of Photos
Since users don’t get to see and feel the item in real, the only way to entice them is through photographs. Get as many photos, reviews and videos as you can. Only if you can make them love the product can you make them buy it.

Delivery Options
it’s important to let the users know about the delivery options. If possible make the link obvious in the permanent navigation bar so that they have a clear idea of how the product is going to get to them.