Six features of a good e-commerce application
Why would a customer stop at your storefront, spend time gazing through the glass window at the merchandise, and not the next shop down the road? It has to do with the design you’ve applied and the attention to detail you’ve managed to portray.
The same goes for an e-commerce application. It isn’t enough that popular features are presented front and centre. The customer wants to see that you’ve covered everything. Here are six aspects that you should pay attention to when designing an e-commerce app.
1 - Customer Journey. For many users, the shopping experience is far more important than the product itself. At no stage of the experience should the customer pause and start having doubts, e.g. how to pay for an order or track an order. Therefore, it is crucial to analyse each individual activity in the customer journey to understand which stages of the process need to be improved to make the application more accessible and more intuitive.
2 - Product presentation. Most app users are guided by visual experience when making purchase decisions. That's why it is crucial for visual content to be engaging and to show as many product details as possible, such as a material's texture, size, and weight. However, a description alone is often not enough. The closer the feelings are to shopping in a real store, the better. That's why it's worth using solutions like 360° visualizations, which allow you to see the product from different angles and perspectives.
3 - Speed of the application. The faster the application and the less time-consuming the shopping process is, the better. The software should run smoothly and mesh seamlessly with external processing systems like payment providers (Adyen, Paypal, Stripe, etc.) and external components like eCom backend (Magento, Shopware, etc.). Seamless transition to external sites reduces the risk of an abandoned cart by the customer.
4 - Search engine and store optimization. The place of the application (or web store) in search engine rankings and app stores is often crucial for a potential customer looking for a particular product. An adequately designed e-commerce app should have code and content architecture to support visibility in search engines and stores like Google Play and Apple Store. Keep in mind that trends and algorithms change dynamically, so an outsourced company that is specialized in SEO needs to stay on top of the constant changes. This will overcome the threat of your app suddenly dropping rankings and losing its online visibility.
5 - Security. The security of customer data is a priority. A good application should use technology that minimizes the chances of data leakage. Therefore, it is essential to consider how the application is written (e.g., using HTML5 for data entry) and whether a regular data backup is made. Copies of customer data or code should be made as often as possible. It is also worth arranging for the external monitoring of your application. Regular application tracking will allow developers to react immediately in case of any irregularities. You will be sure that customer data and your code are always protected.
6 - Platform consistency. While designing an app, you need to remember that it cannot be inferior to the website in terms of features and accessibility to content. It should be as fast, responsive, and intuitive as the website. Your app and website must be consistent in graphics and technical alignment with your business needs. Therefore, it's good to have both the app and the website designed by the same company.
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