The UK market offers some excellent potential for ecommerce businesses looking to serve a multitude of marketplaces. According to We Are Social, 92% of the UK’s population are internet users, and with that online retail trade is on the rise. The growth of online sales doesn’t seem to be slowed by our impending departure from the European Union either.

Whilst the increase in online shopping means the British high street is no doubt facing its inevitable and long anticipated demise, rising sales are news to the ears of all ecommerce business owners. Getting a slice of the action in such a competitive modern day market however isn’t easy. These days everyone who’s anyone is online, and with themes and website building apps so readily available, people have the resources to ‘knock up’ a site in minutes.

Differentiating yourself from the crowd with a bespoke ecommerce website is the way to go, but how can you get started with planning an ecommerce website that really captivates your target audience and achieves the sales your business deserves?

Define your audience

Market research isn’t just essential to marketing and advertising success. Knowing your audience inside out also comes in handy when designing and developing a website, after all how can you cater for your audience if you know diddly-squat about them?

Different design features, layouts, fonts and content appeal to different audiences. A fact that makes designing your ecommerce website with your audience and your business end-goals in mind important. Taking a closer look at your competitors’ websites, and noting not just the negatives but the positives will stand you in good stead for providing a market leading ecommerce experience.

Abide to the three-click rule

Making your customer journey as seamless and straightforward as possible is something we actively champion here at Square Media. The three-click rule is something well worth keeping in mind during the design planning process. The rule suggests that browsers should be no more than three clicks away from what they need. Don’t beat yourself up if your journey can’t be completed in three clicks or less, the buying journey is more complex than it was 17 years ago when the three-click rule was coined.

Design your navigation with clarity, making web content and features accessible in as fewer clicks as possible to avoid the frustrations felt by so many browsers.

Plan for all devices

These days online shopping isn’t undertaken just on desktop. Mobile is now king of search, and whilst Google’s Mobile-First Index is just hearsay at the moment, planning your ecommerce website with mobile friendliness at its forefront will prepare you for the future. Catering to all types of mobile shopper, including the exploiters, savvys, price sensitives, experience seekers and traditionalists, will ensure all browsers are catered for and the options they expect are at their fingertips.

Create an ecommerce website worth shouting about by contacting our web design and development team today. We have created tons of ecommerce websites from scratch, so your brand will be in the best hands, whatever your market or audience.

Square Media is Northamptonshire’s premiere Web Design & Marketing Agency experienced in developing effective content and marketing strategies for forward-thinking companies in the local area. Our team of specialists consistently deliver outstanding results working in a variety of areas such as Search Engine Optimisation, Social Media Marketing Consultancy, Pay Per Click (PPC) and AdWords Management amongst a wide range of other services.