Ecommerce Best Practices

Account 6

• Implement a visually consistent style for the account dashboard
• Provide easy account password recovery
• Use low password requirements
• Provide suggestions for the email field
• Offer optional account creation
• Explain why your customers should create an account

Cart 4

• Product thumbnail should match the appropriate variation
• Display key information on the cart page
• Keep cart notification open until the user clicks elsewhere
• Show confirmation whenever a product is added to the cart

Checkout 5

• Avoid contextual words for CTA buttons (e.g. 'Continue' or 'Back')
• Avoid 'reset' and/or 'clear' buttons
• Show progress indicators
• Consider implementing an accordion-style checkout
• The checkout process should be linear and clear

Copy & Language 4

• Avoid 'Sign up' or 'Purchase' for your CTA
• Have an FAQ page or answer questions in context
• Verify any claims with citations or references
• Avoid copywriting errors

Credibility 4

• Use live chat, and display it in the bottom right corner
• Provide the familiar basics and remain consistent throughout the site
• Display your full office address, phone number, and staff
• Display shipping, return, and refund policies prominently

CTA & Value Proposition 5

• Highlight the CTA with visual cues
• Secondary CTA should be less noticeable
• CTA buttons are usually more desirable than links as they garner more attention
• CTA should be visually prominent
• The value proposition should be above the fold

Homepage 2

• Avoid placing site promotions directly over product listings
• Display images or thumbnails next to product categories

Mobile 7

• Create separate URLs to maintain consistency when not using responsive design
• Make sure layouts are flexible and fluid
• Test mobile versions of your site
• Use analytics to decide which devices to prioritize
• Maintain consistent design across platforms to create a great UX
• Redirect mobile users to a fully optimized mobile site
• Design your mobile site first

Navigation 2

• Draw attention to the navigation menu
• The transactional menu should be placed higher in the visual hierarchy than the content menu

Product 4

• Add a 'wishlist' or 'favorites' button
• Add a 'Find in store' CTA
• Product pages require a CTA
• Show a simple background for product images

Product List 5

• Show total number of products when product list is paginated
• Consider the best page design for your specific product list
• Match the product list design with the product type
• Consider how many products per row to display
• Add relevant sorting options

Search 6

• Show the search term and the number of results
• Automatically redirect to important pages
• Allow shoppers to search within their current category
• Start with products in the search results
• Provide auto-suggestions as your shoppers are typing in the search box
• Avoid 'zero results' page

Site Speed 4

• Consider installing Memcached
• Install Google PageSpeed on your server
• Host your static files in the cloud that uses a CDN
• Start using a Content Delivery Network (CDN)

Visual Hierarchy 3

• Visually distinguish separate content blocks
• The visual hierarchy should follow information hierarchy
• Avoid pointless, extra design elements that unnecessarily increase cognitive load