Having an online business, and in particular, an online store, is not that uncommon these days. A lot of people have started selling stuff online, whether these are items they made themselves or they are resellers of products of other merchants. The competition is tough these days online, so if you have an online store, you must find ways to make it the people’s choice instead of your competitors. This means you need to make your online store as customer-friendly and as appealing as possible to your target market.
So, what should you do to achieve the kind of revenues you have always dreamed of with your online store? Do you know how to make your online store more user-friendly? To help you out, here are some of the things you should keep in mind:
Easy navigation and responsive design – Whether you have an online store or any other type of online business, these two should always come hand in hand. What people are looking for should always be easy to find and can be located with the help of an intuitive navigation system that isn’t difficult to figure out. Simple categories, proper categorization of products, and a menu that isn’t complicated should be part of your design.
Your site (or store) should look good and properly displayed on whatever device is being used to view it. This is what responsive design is – it translates your site according to whatever format the current device is using. This will help you generate more leads and sales on all platforms, be it mobile, tablet, or desktop.
Great customer service – One thing that a lot of buyers find irritating when they want to buy something online is that there is no one to cater to their needs immediately. Whether it’s to answer a query, to follow up an order, or to handle a client dispute (another way to handle these conflicts or disputes is to use third-party mediation services such as Purchase Guard), highly-responsive online support should be continuously provided. In order to do that, you can have either an online chat portal for visitors to use or a hotline that they can call. You can also have both to ensure that your customers can easily get in touch with you or your staff for assistance whenever they need it.
Reliable site security – Another thing that online shoppers are concerned about is the security of their private information. This is something that most people should be worried about since identity theft is pretty rampant and can put a person in a huge amount of debt (or other danger) without them even knowing. Personal information security can be implemented with the help of third-party providers who encrypt the data that is sent to and from your store. Use trusted payment portals that ensure people’s personal data stay private and secure.
Fast loading speed – If you noticed people are leaving your store in the middle of shopping, then you might have problems with slow loading speed. This is one of the pet peeves of online shoppers. This can result in abandoned shopping carts right before the checkout or even at the beginning of their shopping. Make sure that all your web-pages load quickly to provide your visitors with the best and smoothest shopping experience possible.
