The ecommerce business refers to the sale and purchase of goods and services through the medium of the internet. Many large and small enterprises have formed their e-commerce or electronic commerce website.

Some popular names in The E-Commerce trade are Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra, eBay, Snapdeal and so on. Departmental stores like Target and Walmart have also joined in the e-commerce business with their websites.

An eCommerce website development requires some basic features for its proper functioning. If you are planning a startup in The E-Commerce trade or have already established your new website, then you must know about the best and basic features for the benefit of your website.

Benefits features rich E-commerce websites

Keeping the features in consideration can bring numerous benefits to your website and help in expanding your business. Read out the following points to know more details on what benefits you can avail from the best practices of eCommerce.

1.   Smoother functioning

There is absolutely no doubt in the efficiency of an eCommerce store development and its smooth working or functioning. However, this is only possible if you develop your website with proper features.

A smooth and fast functioning website is very desirable by the users. As a matter of fact, 53% of mobile users leave the website if it does not open a load within three seconds. It means that you will lose more than half of your mobile using customers if you don't follow up with the necessary features.

2.   More traffic

One of the most desirable things for developers or owners of E-commerce websites is higher traffic. A large traffic displays more involvement of users with the website.

Only a fully functional website with all the desirable features can pull off the higher traffic phenomena. If you don't consider establishing the features, then your customers may face problems with the loading speed in case of traffic as well.

This will not be a very desirable situation, and thus, the users will be inclined to leave the website. So look for the ecommerce web solutionsthat are given further below in the page and make sure to follow them.

3.   Easy navigations

Navigating a website with an easy interface and well-established features is easy and convenient. If a user faces complications while using your website, then he or she may not visit your platform again.

So, you must ensure that thewebsite developer enables it with the best features that facilitate easy navigations to prevent such a situation from happening.

4.   Growth of business

Another major component wanted by every e-commerce business person is the growth and expansion of the business.

One of the most important factors that can help in achieving this goal is the use of the best features that increase the efficiency and effectiveness of an eCommerce website.

Obviously the purpose of the website, that is the products or services that you are offering matters the most. But well-programmed features are crucial as well and can help you come much closer to your business goals.

5.   Elimination of risks and uncertainties

You eliminate the possibilities of risks and uncertainties by utilizing the correct and best features for the development of your website. It means that you can have a safe and secured as well as properly functioning website for years if you follow up with the correct instructions and features during its development.

This point again makes it very important and necessary for you to consider the best features while developing a website for e-commerce. But what are these features? Let's see and understand them in detail.

Must-included features in an eCommerce website:

You are now aware of the benefits that you can avail by developing an eCommerce website with the proper features and functions.  So, it is about time that we discuss what exactly are these features? Read the below-mentioned points for the answer to the best search engine optimization (SEO) tools.

1.   Mobile usages

Your website for E-Commerce trade must be compatible with mobile usages. Over 1.8 billion people living in the world use the method of online shopping. Out of that, more than 50% of the consumers are mobile users, and this data is slowly but constantly rising.

In such scenarios, it becomes mandatory for you to develop an E-commerce website that is suitable for mobile usages or else you may end up losing more than half of your customers.

2.   Super easy navigations

One does not know what kind of customer is visiting their website. There are possibilities that the customer may be a technology expert and vice versa. If the interface isn't user-friendly in the fore the user to understand, then he or she may eventually leave.

Whatever the scenario may be, a business-women or men does not want its customers to leave their website. And one reason why a customer may choose to leave depends on the navigations so always ensure that the website is easy to access and use with no complications.

Studies show that navigations are the most valuable aspect for 76% of users. Therefore, make the project plan to include an interface which is appealing on both design and usages basis.

3.   Reviews

Believe it or not, but reviews are a crucial factor for more than 93% of the buyers. Your product must have positive reviews in order to generate the user's interest.

If your only reliable source for generating positive reviews are customers, then you are making a wrong decision. Yes, the actual reviews are important, but you will need to have fake reviews along with that. Don't worry; this is an actual eCommerce trend.

There are many small companies that can help me with this process of generating positive reviews regarding your products. Keep in mind that 2-3 negative reviews, along with 13-14 positive reviews, is completely fine and creates a balanced situation.

4.   Chatbox or FAQs

Another very beneficial thing or element while using E-Commerce trading is the feature of a chatbox or FAQs.

You must try to answer all the doubts and queries, especially the frequently asked ones of your customers. You can either create a column of FAQs near the description of the product or a robot managed chat box along with customer services. It will provide a betteruser experience.

This will help in clearing any doubt that a customer has regarding the product instantly and increasing the possibilities of them making a purchase.

5.   More graphics and fewer texts

Customers tend to pay more attention to the graphics rather than the written text. Writing thousands of words in the description may not attract the customer as much as a great quality high definition picture of the product well.

You must add the suitable images of the product along with the description. Also, ensure the inability of zooming options on the image and the sliding option instead of one image placed next to another.

You can also make a creative landing page design for further promotions. According to a HubSpot survey, 54% of customers look for graphic content when purchasing a product online.

6.   Add to cart/wishlist

Another E-Commerce feature to get your website development from scratch is the feature of an optimized shopping cart or wishlist. Almost every customer uses and looks for such options while going through an eCommerce website.

It helps them to save their interests for future purchases and to make them easily discoverable. These options certainly increase the possibilities of your product sale.

You can also provide the customer frequent updates of the decreasing stock of the product to get them to make a purchase quickly. So make sure that your online shopping website design includes the option of wish list and cart.

Features of the Triple S:

You must include the triple S features on your website. The triple S features are :

Share :

You must add a feature to share the products to your online shopping website design as the customers usually look for recommendations from their peers.

Also, the sharing option helps in increasing the audience on your website. You can also add coupons to unlock through sharing and purchase.

Speed :

Another S stands for speed. As already mentioned, most of the users leave if your site does not open fast.

So make sure to check for any errors causing such inconvenience. Do not add too many non-required graphic ads for your products as they can also slow down the speed of your page.

Social Media :

The power of social media is unbelievably strong with over billions of users on popular media handles like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and so on.

You must add a column of "About Us" wherein you include your social media handles for support and promotions.

Discount coupons and loyalty specials/perks

According to statistics, about 93% of shoppers use discounts throughout the year. The chances are that you can increase your sales by up to 73% by adding discount codes for a specific time period.

Adding loyalty perks and specials will help in increasing the number of returning customers. You can also use the strategy of leaving reviews to gain loyalty perks like discount codes.

This will not only influence the customers to make another purchase but also leave reviews on the product they purchased.

7.   Diversity in Payment

The more diversity you will add in payment options, the more possibilities you will create for the customer to make a purchase. You can also contact an eCommerce development company for this purpose.

If you don't add diversity in payment options, then you may lose a customer or more because of difficulties with payments.

Therefore, it is the best to add as many payment options possible from cash on delivery (COD) to net banking. Ensure that the payment options are not limited on your eCommerce website.

8.   Recommendations

Your website's custom development must come up with numerous recommendations and suggestions to what the customer is looking for.

This feature will help a lot in increasing your sales and also giving a larger insight to the customer regarding your website. Keep in mind that not everyone who will visit your website is determined to make a purchase.

So your content of suggestions and recommendations must be designed in an extremely appealing way that can attract the viewers into making a purchase.

9.   Description

The description that you add to your products must be crisp and informative in the product page design. Users usually avoid reading large paragraphs, so keep that in mind as well.

The description you add must contain only the positive aspects of the product and should be able to provide all the information regarding the product.

About 29% of users who make a purchase online consider the description and value it. So, you must not disappoint this 29%, instead, fulfil their requirements with the description.

10.   Keywords and needs

Your website must be able to catch little typing errors made by the customers instead of showing them a blank page that reads "no product found". Such web design features will help in delivering the products better and increasing sales.

For example, if the user writes 'tabel" instead of "table", then your website should be able to come up with "showing results for table" and display the desired results.

In the end, you must prioritize the needs and considerations of the customers and make your website an easy and convenient platform for them to use.

11.   Customer login/sign up

Your website must allow the customers to login and register with your platform. However, do not make these registrations compulsory unless the customer is deciding on adding a product to cart/wishlist or making a purchase.

Users prefer to browse first on a new and non-familiar website and then make a decision with login and register.

So, ensure your website fulfils such requirements of the users successfully. Also, ensure that the process for registering and logging is not complicated at all and can be done quickly within a few minutes.

12.   Language options

Creative website design is important, but it is better if your website offers more than one language search as well, especially if it is a worldwide one. English is one basic language which is better to include on the website along with the other local or national languages.

Navigations will become easier for users who prefer their native language more than any other national or international language.

This will help in increasing the traffic on your website and also increasing sales. So make sure that your website is bilingual or multilingual.

13.   Filters are categorization

You must add filters and categories of products on your website. This will help the customers in personalizing the website according to their needs and find what they are looking for quickly and easily.

You can add filters like "search by popularity", "search by price", "search by latest addition", "set a budget", "search of particular brands" and so on.

These types of filters will modify the users' experience as well and influence them to use your website more and more, ultimately increasing your sales.

14.   Option to change purchase quantities

There are times when your customers may want to purchase more than one quantity of the product. So, there must be options included to do so.

It is the best to add the option of increasing or decreasing quantities of the product right below the space where the product is being displayed, or the amount is being shown.

This will increase the convenience level of the customers with your platform and save their time from adding the product again and again to cart.

Plus, an optimized shopping cart will bring more chances of the customers to purchase, and your sales will increase, which will lead to an increase in profits.

15.   Automatic site backup

This feature is more useful to you than your users or customers, and you must include it when building or establishing your website of eCommerce for safety and precautionary purposes.

An automatic site backup will prevent any mishap or accident from occurring. It will save you from any future troubles, risks or uncertainties.

After all, it is crucial for an eCommerce website to stay in the game with strong terms, and the data and information must be secured for that to happen.

Final Note

This discussion showed all the important features that you must include while creating an online store and also why these features are important in the first place.

So, make sure you follow up with all the features and instructions given to form the best and most efficient website for your eCommerce business and help in the growth and expansion of the same.