Online Shopping
The shopping experienced has been revolutionized and buying your food, presents and books online have become the norm. So if you are considering including an online store on your website, what should you recommend your web design company include?
Shopping carts is a great place to start. It is a good idea to include both a full-page version where shoppers can check the contents of their trip and a mini cart as a side bar accompanied by a summary where they can keep track purchases continuously.
Make sure the checkout process is clear, and easy to follow. Use sign posting to let customers know where in the system they are and make sure it is well constructed and obvious. Where money is concerned, if people feel the slightest bit uncomfortable with the process they will log off.
Use a big bold mini cart icon; this makes it clear where you are going, even if your customer is not a first language English speaker. Also make the text for “checkout” and “add to cart” obvious and ensure that you use an easily legible font. It should always be blatantly apparent what your customer has bought and where they should go next.
Have regular “continue shopping” or “go to checkout” buttons and avoid too many fields that will clutter the page. Constantly put “help” keys, make it simple to offer advise and explanations to users, building in visual supports if necessary, like “drag here”, “click this” buttons.
Always have a ‘verify details’ section. Make sure it stands out and allows customers to make one last check before they commit themselves to their purchase. The easier the experience the more likely shoppers are to return.
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