10 Must Have Features of an eCommerce Website
When running an online business, an eCommerce website is essential. Your website has to be equipped with features that are important for any eCommerce site. These features will help to make sure your website is of a high standard and suitable for your customers.
Shopping Cart
The shopping cart of an eCommerce site is where your consumers store their products before they continue to checkout. This is one of the most important features of any eCommerce store. It should allow any user, whether they are registered or not, to checkout easily without any issues.
Payment Gateway Integrations
In order to have an eCommerce store that is suitable for all users, you should have the option of integrating with multiple diverse payment gateways. You should not limit your choices to just a select few payment methods. This can influence whether a potential customer is able to checkout or not, meaning it is possible to lose some customers if you do not have suitable payment types set up.
Security
This feature is especially important as it ensures that no customer credit card information is saved and that all checkout processes are done through a secure payment gateway. Security should make sure that all passwords are encrypted which means they are not stored in any readable format. All web pages on your eCommerce site should be protected by SSL, which allows secure connections from the server to a user’s web browser.
Scalable Infrastructure
Your hosting infrastructure should be able to support your website as it grows, it should be able to handle more and more website traffic. If there is more delay on a website then the rate of transactions will drop, leading to eCommerce websites losing money. Having suitable infrastructure for your website means that your website is ready to handle customers and transactions at any time.
Mobile Compatibility
Mobile compatibility is important for any website, but it is especially important to make sure your eCommerce website is suitable for mobile. This is because many people now like to browse via phones. Your site should display any products and their information clearly on any device. It should also be easy to get from your sites homepage, to relevant products and then to the checkout where it should be simple to make a purchase. Why would someone want to buy a product when it is difficult to do? Ensure your new eCommerce website is mobile-friendly by consulting with a professional web design company based in Manchester.
Reports and Analytics
You should be able to export reports often which will contain details about orders, customers and products. To get these reports your website should be integrated with marketing tools and analytic plugins to help to market the brand and read about the performance of your eCommerce store. All of this can help you to make better informed decisions about your site and brand.
Logistics Integration
Logistics should be integrated with your eCommerce store to allow seamless shipping and to ensure that merchants and consumers get real time updates and order tracking. This will allow the user to manage shipments from the same panel, instead of contacting the courier partners separately.
Communications and Regular Updates
It may be useful to have notifications for when orders are available. There are options to send and receive notifications regarding current orders. This way, you can keep your customers informed about their order status, and you can get notification updates about them as well.
Content Management Systems
A content management system, such as WordPress, will help you to manage your website. You can change website content, the logo, banners and links all from the back end of your site. A CMS is often used by online retailers to easily add and change their products. You can use a CMS to keep track of your current products and make amendments to what you want to sell.
