The Future Of Ecommerce Web Design

The United Kingdom (UK) boasts the most advanced eCommerce market across Europe, with an estimated 60 million users in 2022, representing 86% of the country's population. The situation in other countries across the globe isn't much different.

ECommerce is fast becoming the norm for tech-savvy shoppers worldwide. Moreover, it has become one of the companies' bold and innovative processes to get a competitive edge.

So far, many developments have been made to improve the overall shopping experience. But even so, eCommerce is continuously undergoing numerous changes due to technological advancements.

Although some changes introduce untold uncertainty and fear, they may also make you more interested in improving your online store and in-depth understanding of eCommerce dynamics.

Ecommerce is booming now, and in the future, it's set to become vast, better and more diverse through intricate website designs. Reading detailed marketers guide to eCommerce should help you understand the current situation.

The following are some future website design trends you should consider integrating into your current system:

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1. Unconventional layouts

Many eCommerce businesses depend on existing templates to make their website layouts. This makes the designs very common and no longer fun and surprising to users.

However, developers are now coming up with unconventional layouts that are odd enough to break the norm. Your website's design should go beyond its functionality and appear exceptionally attractive, and you can thrive on oddity. Instead of plain colours on your page, the future is towards having well-curated, dynamic and sophisticated art displays.

Ultimately, this unconventional layout will result in an exciting experience, better user engagement and an increased conversion rate.

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2. Voice search

According to experts, voice search is the next big hit in eCommerce, especially in improving customer experience. The technology is already trending in other sectors with an accuracy of 95%, and it'll not be much longer before eCommerce websites adopt it fully. Voice-empowered shopping will assist your customers in getting the best deal they can. Other benefits include the following:

• Improved website store navigation
• Secure each transfer gateway
• More mobile purchase
• Improved customer experience

Your customers will appreciate voice search for how it creates a personalised digital experience.

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3. Mobile commerce

Unlike the past use of desktops to purchase goods online, most customers now use their handheld and wireless devices like tablets and cell phones. It's the whole idea of mobile commerce, and its engagement and activity are rising. According to Statista, the ownership of smartphones in the UK had reached 92% by 2021, and the upward trend persists, meaning more mobile shoppers are on the horizon.

With this in mind, your eCommerce web designs should accommodate mobile phones first. You should include features that allow easy thumb navigation by the user. Most users hold their phones vertically. So to make thumb use easy, you should put the navigation buttons at the bottom of the screen.

The following are some essential mobile-friendly features you should include in your future web design:

• Placing your call-to-action buttons on the sticky navigation
• Spacing the navigational elements to avoid misclicks
• Responsive websites that reformat themselves to fit any screen
• Usable short forms and easy-to-access email and phone number

Covering these mobile-friendly features makes your website one step into the future of eCommerce website design.

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4. Use of Chatbots

According to Nasdaq, by 2040, 95% of all purchases will be done through eCommerce. Hence, you can expect an exponential expansion in the eCommerce sector in the next few years. With such competition coming your way, you need to pay more attention to your eCommerce website development. One of the rising aspects you could incorporate is the chatbot.

Chatbots will offer your customers an impressive shopping guide that's more human-like, and they'll not have to grope in the dark while on your page. Integrating a chatbot makes your business smarter than the rest of the competition.

In addition, a chatbot saves time by providing fast, instant and automated answers to your customer queries, unlike having them wait for several hours or days before an assistant reaches out to them. It also runs 24/7 with no sick, vacation, or off days, giving maximum availability. Chatbots are cheaper and more beneficial than hiring full-time customer service agents.

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5. Integrating artificial intelligence (AI)

Your eCommerce website gets several visits, but this doesn't automatically translate into your customer numbers. Your website conversion rate can be affected by fake negative reviews and a bad user experience while on your site.

Luckily, this is about to change with the integration of AI into your eCommerce website. With AI on your website, you can do the following:

• Retarget your potential customers
• Give a customer-centric visual search
• Filter fake product reviews
• Avail intelligent shopping assistant
• Improve product recommendations for your customers
• Use a personalised tone with customers

AI is revolutionising the eCommerce market, and in the years to come, it'll impact more than the customer experience. It makes AI a must-include website feature in the future to avoid the common pitfalls of an eCommerce business.   

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6. Electronic fund transfer

With more shoppers shifting to eCommerce, payment systems are also making the same changes to allow for electronic fund transfers and, more so, mobile payments. Mobile payments are more prevalent in Europe and Asia and are fast spreading to the rest of the world.

Therefore, as part of your website design, you need to integrate a digital wallet that allows your buyers to make payments from their phones.

Mobile payments benefit your eCommerce buyers by giving a frictionless, convenient, fast, private and secure mode of fund transfer. In contrast, as a business owner, you can benefit from the security and take no financial hit.

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7. Predictive analytics personalisation

Predictive analytics has been in the market for some time; however, its take up in eCommerce has been slow, but it's expected to grow. With predictive analytics in your web development, you can analyse historical and current customer data to find underlying patterns that you can exploit to benefit your business.

Moreover, it helps predict upcoming events, adjusts the use of resources, and makes your marketing more strategic.

Predictive analytics helps your eCommerce business in the following ways:

• It helps in decision making, as you know in advance what your customers are likely to buy
• Determining a product price range
• Reducing fraud
• Improving your supply chain management
• Enhanced product, recommendation, promotions and marketing
• Better price management

Therefore, to make the best of your sales in the future, you need to integrate predictive analytics features into your business website.

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Conclusion

Technology is changing fast, and it's a great catalyst in the expansion and diversification of eCommerce. Therefore, integrating the trends in technology into your eCommerce website design is a great way to keep your customers satisfied, happy and eventually the success of your store.

The trends mentioned above are just gaining their round in the market, but they'll soon be the main thing. So, if you're ready to step into the future of eCommerce, start by integrating these into your website design.

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Article by Pankaj Shah: DCP Web Design Barking