Online retail can be a challenging business. It’s not enough to have products that your market wants. You also need to present your offers in a way that builds trust and creates repeat business for your brand. However, achieving a professional look for your e-commerce site is not just about aesthetics — it's about how well your design decisions elevate the visitor experience and drive sales. Let’s explore a few e-commerce website design best practices that will help you build a high-converting online storefront:
Pay Attention to Your Sales Funnel
Your sales funnel is the pathway that potential customers follow from the moment they come in contact with your brand all the way to the final point of sale. Generally speaking, how you optimize your sales funnel should depend on the typical customer journey as well as your specific business goals. However, sales funnel optimization always involves facilitating any payment method your site visitors might want to use.
When choosing a payment gateway, WooCommerce and Shopify site owners need to make sure that their websites accept payment types that are relevant to their target markets. If your WooCommerce or Shopify site is aimed at the Philippine market, make sure to integrate Maya Checkout with the Maya Plugin for WooCommerce or the Maya Plugin for Shopify. These plugins integrate a Shopify or WooCommerce payment gateway Philippines’ e-commerce sites can use to accept locally popular payment methods like digital wallet, QR code, and card payments. This allows the website to cover payment methods that may not be available on solutions meant for overseas markets, like the WooCommerce Stripe payment gateway, for example.
Add Relevant Content, Site Elements, and Services
Aside from your Shopify and WooCommerce payment gateway, you’ll also want to make sure that the content, design aesthetic, and features of your site also appeal to the types of consumers you’re trying to reach. Customizing your content and site elements in this way will help it provide a tailored shopping experience that can cultivate loyalty and result in repeat purchases.
To start, check out other sites that aim for your target audience and see what sort of design elements you want to include or exclude from your own. To heighten your site’s appeal even more, consider including locally relevant shipping options as well as promotions that are designed to attract your target market.
Use Professional-Quality Images and Videos
Original, high-quality visual elements can provide legitimacy to your site and help drive interest in your offers. Invest in professional product photography and videography to make your offerings more attractive and provide context in how the product can be used. Make sure the images and videos load quickly and don’t interfere with the overall browsing experience.
Follow Established E-Commerce Site Navigation Practices
Over the years, online customers have come to expect certain navigation elements in e-commerce websites. Most visitors will want a search bar, filters for excluding irrelevant items, and a catalog system that helps them find what they want. Most will also appreciate site elements like an always-visible clickable brand logo that takes them to the homepage, regardless of where they are on the site.
If your site deviates too far from this formula, it may confuse or put off customers, reducing the likelihood of repeat purchases. While there’s certainly room for creative expression, e-commerce websites are primarily meant to provide efficient shopping experiences, not serve as a canvas for avant-garde design experiments.
Keep Your Site Simple and Uncluttered
While it's tempting to show off everything you have, a cluttered layout can overwhelm visitors and lead to high bounce rates. This is especially relevant given that, most Philippine-based consumers are likely to visit your site through their mobile phones with limited screen real estate.
Rather than cluttering your site with all your offers, go for a clean and minimalist design that focuses on your flagship products and bestsellers. Be sure to keep your site’s search, filter, and catalog elements within sight so that visitors can easily find products that aren’t currently being highlighted.
Maintain Mobile Responsiveness
As mentioned earlier, Philippine-based consumers are most likely to visit your site through a mobile device. They are also more than twice as likely to make purchases over mobile than they are through desktop. Given the significant preference for mobile among Philippine-based consumers, you should implement a mobile responsive site design and periodically test it to ensure it consistently offers a smooth mobile experience.
Hire Professional Web Designers
Lastly, one of the best investments you can make to achieve a professional look for your e-commerce site is simply to hire professional web designers. Great web design doesn’t come cheap but experienced designers are your best bet for turning your brand's vision into a visually appealing and high-converting e-commerce website. To ensure you’re hiring the right talent, check out their portfolios and see if they’ve previously done work meant for your target market.
Amplify Your Website’s Reach with Maya Plugins
Maya Checkout is the best custom payment gateway WooCommerce and Shopify-based stores can use to accept all payment cards, digital wallets, QR Ph codes, and other online payment methods that matter to Philippine consumers. Integration is as simple as creating a Maya Business Manager account, installing the plugin to your WooCommerce or Shopify site, and configuring your settings. Create your Maya Business Manager account today to start accepting all digital payments on your store.
Setting up a Maya Business Manager account lets you unlock the benefits of the Maya 1-2-3 Grow bundle. This special offer gives you a 1% MDR discount on all QR Ph sales for 3 months after signing up. This translates to PHP 14,600 in savings for every PHP 1 million in QR Ph sales. As part of the Maya 1-2-3 Grow bundle, you can also enjoy the benefits of using Maya Business Deposit as your settlement account. With an industry-leading 2.5% per annum interest rate, you’ll earn PHP 25,000 in interest per year on a PHP 1 million deposit. Signing up also qualifies you for a Maya Flexi Loan offer of up to PHP 2 million in only 3 months, allowing you to have another funding source to further develop your e-commerce site. Complete your Maya Business Manager application today to enjoy the benefits of Maya 1-2-3 Grow.
