It’s impossible not to see the impact that the pandemic had on online shopping. E-commerce has grown at a staggering rate, rising each year since the pandemic started. According to a report from the US Department of Commerce Retail Indicator Division, 2021 saw an increase of 14% from 2020 and a 50% increase from pre-pandemic times.
This dramatic increase means two things for retailers:
- E-commerce numbers are only going to continue to rise.
- There’s a lot of competition, so your website needs to stand out.
Based on these two factors, it’s easy to see that web designers are already playing a major role in boosting the economy. And as the post-covid era gets longer, the impact of web designers will only get stronger.
What A Web Designer Will Give Your E-Commerce Site
Whether you’re just starting out with a brand-new online store or you have one that hasn’t been updated in a while, you might want to consider enlisting the help of a professional web designer. With all the competition and high expectations from online shoppers, you need to ensure that your website provides a top-notch experience. A web designer will do this by bringing the following skills to the mix:
A Knowledge Of How To Lay A Site Out
The layout of an e-commerce site is crucial to its success. Visitors need to clearly see what the website is selling, who the brand is, and, most importantly, what the products are. This comes down to a clean design that clearly showcases both the brand and the products.
There’s a lot that the design of an e-commerce website needs to do. It needs to be functional, easy to navigate, and have clear images. It also needs to be enticing, motivating and interesting, so that visitors convert into customers. Finding that balance is easier with a professional designer.
An Understanding Of Color Psychology In Web Design
Color psychology is the practice of combining colors in such a way that our brains are automatically more intrigued by the visuals they’re seeing. Different colors evoke different emotions. For example, blue is calming, while red is stimulating and exciting. It’s so important to understand what the colors you pick say about your brand and how they work together to provide a positive user experience.
An Up-To-Date Knowledge Of Trends
Online shopping is constantly evolving, and there are new trends emerging all the time. This is due to a variety of factors, including the release of new technology and external influences on how people shop—the pandemic being a major factor.
A skilled website designer needs to be up to date on these trends and understand how they impact the way people use e-commerce sites. While you don’t have to follow every trend as they emerge, you can at least be made aware of them and work out what is important for your brand and your online store.
Insight Into User Experience
UX design (User Experience design) is a critical element for any website. A designer needs to know what will work for your target audience and to design your site to cater to these requirements. This includes thinking about how users interact with the content available on your homepage, your product pages, the contact page and any other elements.
E-Commerce Web Design Tips
You only have a few seconds to entice a new user to become a customer. If someone new lands on your website and something isn’t right—the page takes too long to load, the design is confusing, or there’s no clear CTA—a user will click away and likely never come back. In fact, you’ll lose about half your visitors if your website takes more than three seconds to load.
So, here are some thoughts to keep in mind when building a new e-commerce website:
- Ensure Branding Is Clear – It’s important that any user knows exactly who your brand is when they arrive on any page of your website. They should also know exactly what your brand stands for and who the target audience is.
- Use Good-Quality Images – The images, especially the images of the products you’re selling, need to be clear and obvious. You don’t want your potential customers wondering what it is that you’re trying to get them to buy. Think of this as an online product portfolio that shows what’s for sale at a quick glance.
- Keep The Content Easy To Read – A good e-commerce website should be easy to scan. A user needs to very quickly see what the products are and find the information they require before buying with ease. Readability and accessibility are both priorities as a site should be as easy to read by as large a number of people as possible.
- Include Social Proof In The Design – Social proof like reviews, testimonials and recommendations are a huge part of the online shopping world. Since a customer can’t pick up the item and see how it feels or works firsthand, they rely on what other customers who have bought the product say about it.
- Make The Site Responsive – Mobile commerce is a big deal. More and more people are shopping on their smartphones for everything from groceries and other essentials to clothes, furniture, and electronics. The mobile browsing experience you offer must be as user-friendly as the experience your desktop site delivers.
A Web Designer Is The Key To A Successful Online Brand
Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works
In a post-pandemic world, web designers are at the forefront of the rise in e-commerce globally. Consumer behavior has changed dramatically in just a few short years and every brand or business needs a web designer to ensure their website brings in the maximum number of sales on an ongoing basis. Their insights into what users want and how to grab their attention are what make online shoppers take notice of one website over another.
In a nutshell, web designers have become a huge part of how the global economy is recovering in the aftermath of the pandemic, and their impact doesn’t seem likely to lessen anytime soon.
