What Customers Really Want from Your eCommerce Store

Although eCommerce is thriving, the competition is fiercer than ever. Success relies on giving people exactly what they want and fully engaging shoppers who have increasingly short attention spans.

So, what do customers REALLY want from your eCommerce store? How do you get them to make that all-important first purchase, and what can you do to keep them coming back again and again?

An easy to use website

According to Magento’s most recent UK Consumer Preferences report, an easy-to-use website is the most important thing to shoppers. This means offering simple navigation, an accurate search function, and an intuitive checkout process.

At Aware, we always prioritise the user experience and understand how important it is for sales and conversions. In 2020, there’s simply no room for a badly designed or difficult to use website.

Speed, speed, speed

41% of UK consumers say a quick loading time is important when shopping online. What’s more, every second counts, with a mere 1 second delay reducing conversions by up to 7%.

In short, your site should be quick to load on every device. Enabling compression, minifying code and leverage caching are just some of the techniques we use to make websites that are faster than the competition. Once you’ve lost the customer, it’s highly unlikely you’ll ever get them back.

Mobile responsive design

One in four respondents to the Magento survey said they wanted a website that loads well on a smartphone. We suspect the actual figure is higher than this, since mobile responsiveness is something that is now largely taken for granted.

At Aware, we always take a ‘mobile first’ approach to eCommerce design and work hard to ensure your site provides the best experience on all screen sizes. We’re also keen to push the boundaries by taking advantage of the latest technologies like Progressive Web Apps.

Product selection

29% of consumers will return to a retailer if they offer a wider choice of products than competing brands. This means it’s important to know exactly what your target audience wants to buy and keep track of any emerging trends.

It should also be easy for people to browse through your range, perhaps utilising features like item suggestions to show them only the most relevant products.

Availability

Aside from this, you should closely monitor stock levels to make sure your best sellers are always available. If possible, set your store to show real-time stock information, which will help to instil confidence in the buyer that they won’t be waiting days or weeks for their item. Remember: most buyers are impatient and want their item yesterday!

Low prices, and free delivery

Almost two thirds of people say free delivery would help persuade them to shop with a brand again. This was closely followed by price (compared to competitors) and free returns (42%), which demonstrates just how much people value transparency and fairness. 19% would abandon a cart if free returns aren’t offered.

Trusted payment methods

While technologies like cryptocurrencies and mobile wallets attract a lot of news coverage, most people still want to pay by trusted means like debit cards. More than half of people would not want to shop with an online retailer that didn’t offer this as a payment method.

Brand reputation

People are becoming increasingly choosy about who they want to shop with. Ethical brands that demonstrate strong environmental credentials are especially popular, while consumers also care a lot about data protection and privacy. Promoting these things on your website can help build trust and increase brand reputation.

Key takeaways

When it comes to ecommerce, it’s important to cover the basics. This means having a fast, easy-to-use website with a professional design and clear navigation, a varied range of relevant products, and a simple checkout process. Pay attention to the small things, like offering popular payment options.

Put yourself in your buyer’s shoes and think about what you’d expect if you were stumbling on your store for the first time.

Looking for some expert advice on how to take your ecommerce store to the next level? Contact us today.