In a 2021 survey of over 1,000 customers, 65% switched from one brand to another because of a poor customer service experience. Besides complaint resolution and interaction with a service representative, the website’s design plays a deciding role in the brand experience. Hence, you must keep up with the design trends in 2023 to remain in the game and improve the customer experience.
E-commerce website design and development teams have incorporated augmented reality and other visual elements into online stores. Some go all in with virtual reality and unconventional layouts, while others prefer a minimalistic design in the online shopping experience. Nevertheless, going with eCommerce design trends that work for your products is best.
For example, you don’t need a 360-degree view of a wall-mounted, framed picture. You’ll learn about upcoming eCommerce design trends in 2023 and where they work best. In addition, we’ll include tips to help you adopt the right trend for optimized customer satisfaction.
10 Upcoming Ecommerce Design Trends in 2023 to Consider
You must reduce the bounce rate if you want a better conversion rate for your eCommerce site. One of the primary causes of high bounce rates is poor customer experience due to slow page loading and other technical issues. This is even more prominent on mobile web pages, where users expect a fluid browsing experience.
1. Micro Animations
We all know the famous circle that appears when a page is loading. How about replacing it with something more engaging?
You can use micro animations when a user clicks a call-to-action button in your eCommerce store. They are more user-friendly and engaging. Moreover, the better your eCommerce site engages with online shoppers, the better your chances of landing sales.
Examples of micro animations include the following:
- Progress bar: This micro animation can be used for checklists or page loading.
- Hover animation reveals: An example is revealing a simple drop-down menu when you hover over a button. This animation speeds up interaction by eliminating the need for clicks.
- Gamified animations: You’ll find this illustration in Asana when you complete a task. It increases the dopamine level of shoppers the same way an impulse purchase makes them feel happy.
- Gradient color blending: This effect animates the colors on buttons when you hover over them. It can be effective in maintaining engagement on eCommerce sites.
Micro animations have been around for a while. Nevertheless, we should expect more active participation on eCommerce websites.
2. Progressive Web Apps
Progressive web apps are a step ahead of average web apps. They are more efficient and do not require creating different applications for Android or iOS mobile devices. Consider them if you plan to start an eCommerce business in 2023.
This design trend is particularly receptive to mobile users because of its versatility on mobile devices. Native apps' speed, reliability, and engagement are often better than traditional websites.
Progressive web apps provide these capabilities while maintaining a typical website structure. Hence, there is no need for downloads.
Starbucks is a popular online business that uses a progressive web app. You can shop online, customize, and add items to your cart without using the internet. Also, Starbucks has recorded a two-fold increase in its daily active users.
3. Interactive Product Listing
Look at a typical Amazon product listing or most listings on eCommerce websites. They are often 2D images of the products with pricing and other essential information attached. There are no interactive features.
Turn your imagination to exploring a 360-degree view of a product or touching certain sections to reveal more information. These interactive shopping experiences are becoming mainstream for eCommerce brands as they are more eye-catching. Also, they help in product exploration, like an in-store experience.
The following features are typical of interactive product catalogs:
- Clickable sections on products: This feature allows customers to learn more about specific product sections while keeping an eye on them. It differs from a product description page, where you might only see some of the product while reading about particular sections.
- Interactive video: You can create an animated or explanatory video about products so that online shoppers can learn more about the items before purchasing them.
4. Long Scrolls and Lazy Loading
This feature is not new in today’s digital age, especially in web design. It allows eCommerce businesses to list more products on a single page while avoiding the need to switch pages quickly. You’ll find it more on mobile devices because of the smaller screen size.
Long scrolls and lazy loading solve two problems simultaneously.
- They allow more products to be featured on one page of an online store.
- They cover up visual elements with longer load times because of progressive loading.
These features improve performance and engagement, allowing customers to continue scrolling for more products. They can reduce the number of product pages on your eCommerce platform. Instead of having five product pages for 100 items, you can keep them on one page using the long-scroll eCommerce web design trend.
5. Mobile First Design
Global users that shop online with smartphones reached 45% in 2022, showing the importance of mobile first design. This design concept prioritizes the mobile shopping experience when designing an eCommerce website.
We understand the limitations of the smaller screen in displaying information. Hence, web designers develop the platform for mobile devices before scaling it to desktop size.
This eCommerce web design trend also introduces responsive design. In this approach, the interface adapts to the screen size of the customer’s device.
For example, you might have four columns on the product pages on desktops. That number might reduce to two columns when you open the site on a smartphone.
Responsive design makes your online store adaptable to different screens. It is essential to maintain a smooth experience across devices.
6. Animated Scroll Design
Animated navigation is an eCommerce web design trend that comes from online games. Instead of having the traditional vertical and horizontal scroll, web designers incorporate more motions. Potential customers feel more like they are working towards a goal.
This visual experience enhances feelings and engagement. It also leaves a memory that can boost your repeat customers.
7. Advanced Chatbots
Chatbots are set to do more than answer basic questions. E-commerce businesses can incorporate artificial intelligence into the shopping experience.
You can use it to provide product recommendations, answer questions, provide customer service, etc. Users will have a more personal shopping experience because of these interactions.
Artificial intelligence can also streamline checkouts, reducing abandoned carts and increasing sales. While it isn’t a visual aspect of the latest eCommerce design trends, it is now the bedrock of website development. Web development companies are increasingly integrating artificial intelligence into their processes to enhance user experience and streamline functionality.
8. Dark Mode
Typical eCommerce websites have light backgrounds with dark text to create a legible contrast for users. That is alright for shopping during the day. However, dark mode makes for a better visual experience at night.
Once left to the operating systems, “dark mode” has become popular and is among eCommerce platforms' latest web design trends. It causes less eye strain during nighttime browsing and saves battery on devices that use OLED screens.
Some users report a better experience in dark mode. Hence, it is best to provide it as an alternative to the light theme when designing your next eCommerce site.
Tips to Get the Best Web Design Trend
As promising as these web design trends might be for eCommerce sites, it is prudent to exercise caution. Your platform does not need all the features to hit your sales target. Moreover, you must incorporate marketing to reach your customers.
We have a few tips to guide you in picking the right web design trend as an eCommerce seller. They include the following:
Evaluate Your Business Goals
Why did you design your eCommerce website instead of using SaaS? Any feature you implement should lead back to your business goals. In addition, the design should reflect your brand identity, not just follow popular eCommerce web design trends.
For example, you can include interactive features to reduce bounce rates and increase engagement.
Understand Your Customers
Your consumer expectations will differ based on their demographic. For example, older buyers are better off with a smooth shopping experience without fancy details. You can provide advanced chatbots to support and guide them.
Younger buyers will appreciate a more immersive experience. The animated scroll designs can come with other fancy features.
Implement Easy-to-use Designs
Whichever web design trends you implement, ensure your eCommerce website is easy to use. We appreciate the fancy and immersive details but want to purchase an item. Hence, ease of use should be at its center.
Test Your Design
Test your eCommerce website adequately before launching. You can invite a few shoppers to use it and survey their experience. This step will help you identify bugs and remove unnecessary details.
Simplify Checkout
Customers often abandon their carts because of a complicated checkout process. Hence, it is best to keep it simple and to the point. You can use AI chatbots to streamline it and make the process more personalized.
Conclusion
The online shopping experience gets better every day with new designs and features. E-commerce websites have become more immersive than traditional 2D product pages with simple scrolls and buttons.
Today, we have AI chatbots, animations, lazy loading, and other interactive features for shoppers. It is best to keep up with what users demand. Nevertheless, introduce features at an optimal level.
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