Take your e-Commerce Websites to the Next Level

E-Commerce is one of the busiest markets online, there is so much competition that you need to do things to help your clients’ stores stand out. Tied in with this is fact to convince customers that the products on display are must-have and of great value.

One of the best ways to get this result is to work on the sophistication of e-Commerce websites and enhance their aesthetics in general. 2013 has seen new trends in e-Commerce which have resulted in a much higher quality appearance for many online stores. When designing for customers, working in some of these new trends will be a positive step towards increasing the perceived value that customers have for your website and therefore your products. Below is a closer look at these key trends.

Web Panels

Sliding web panels are hugely popular and can be seen across hundreds of e-Commerce websites. They allow the site owner to showcase their products or advertisements in an eye-catching and attractive way.  They aren’t a huge step up from the traditional page market but consumers view them more positively and place higher value upon them. The customer’s viewing experience is enhanced.

Continuous Browsing

The continuous browsing experience is now a must-have. It started with Pinterest and once the trend started it has never stopped. Continuous browsing means customers are hooked, there’s nothing to distract them and they don’t even need to click the ‘Next’ button. This continuous experience increases the chance of impulse spending and gives the illusion of a higher quality site as it stands out from the crowd.

Toggle Interfaces

The option to toggle the web interface was developed for mobile devices so more room could be left for the viewing window.  The option to toggle the web interface is now being incorporated in traditional web design and plenty of e-Commerce websites are taking up the opportunity to utilise this feature. Toggling the web interface basically means that customers can choose to remove elements of the page including options and menu with a single click. It’s a highly effective tool when paired with continuous browsing. The visual experience is very simple and focuses solely on your products and their great value.

Flat Colour Schemes

As with many design concepts this one is nabbed from the development of responsive design. Mobile web design trends are prevalent across e-Commerce websites as a high percentage of all purchases made are now via a mobile device. With this high level mobile customers it’s clear that mobile-friendly design is necessary and this is why more mobile concepts are finding their way into traditional web design.

Flat colour schemes began as a way of saving space for the mobile user and to speed up load time. However, following trends set by Apple flat colours schemes are now everywhere we look. Flat colour schemes are all about creating sleek, clean interfaces. They ignore concepts or depth, variance and hue. They are extremely simple and rely on a palette of four colours as the absolute maximum. Many designers even choose to add a single colour in addition to black and white for contrast.

There are many big brands who haven’t cottoned on to some of the key trends in the industry so this could be your chance to help your clients stand out from the crowd and get noticed whilst their competitors are still utilising out of date methods that the end user is bored of.