How to Improve Your Online Store (Low-Cost Ideas and Tips) (2021) 

Online shopping can be compared to the universe – it’s too large for the brain to comprehend and is constantly expanding. In the future, shopping will become entirely digital; as people exclusively buy products on their phones, tablets, and smart watches. 

If you’re a business with an online store (or you have one, but you don’t use it to its full potential), now is the time to change and take advantage of the exciting e-commerce market – the opportunities for success are endless. Through having a high-quality online store, you’re going to strengthen your brand and create a positive rapport with consumers – which is the dream for any modern business. 

Here are some low-cost ideas and tips to help your online store. 

Consumers want simplicity – from the browsing experience to payment

When visiting your online store, consumers all want the same thing: simplicity. In their eyes, there is nothing more frustrating than an online store that is clunky, difficult to navigate, and makes information unclear – from pricing to shipping costs. Even big platforms that offer coupons and codes on sites like Raise make it super-easy for the customer to enter the coupon or code (if necessary) during the buying process in order to unlock a great deal. Simplicity is dependent on design. To give your online store the design and feel that it needs, use Smartboost – they’ll make a creative and memorable consumer experience for you.  

Provide the options to shop as a guest or create an account 

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the number of people doing online shopping – America’s e-commerce sales in 2020 amounted to $792 billion (which is a crazy statistic). With this number of consumers comes different preferences – some will want to shop with you as a guest; while others will prefer to make an account with you. Make sure that you provide both options. It’s important to take into consideration that a lot of online stores require you to make an account, these days – and some consumers simply don’t want to go through the effort of doing this (as it usually results in them being bombarded with marketing emails, after). 

So, make sure you provide your audience with the two options opposed to just one. 

Enable customization of your webpage and app 

Your online store needs to be available on both your website and a mobile app for iPhone and Android. Following the latest eCommerce statistics, it’s a fact that more people than ever use their mobiles to shop online rather than a laptop or desktop, which is why it’s so important to have up to date apps. Then, customization options need to be made possible – such as browsing in dark or light mode. Additionally, consumers want easy-to-select filters when browsing your products, like prices and sizes. Make sure that you tell your web developer exactly what you want – with customization capability being one key feature. 

Focus on response times

Here’s a fact about consumers (particularly younger generations) today: they have no patience and expect everything now. Slow response times are going to seriously impact your brand name – and not in a good way. You’ll risk upsetting consumers and they won’t hesitate to hop onto social media and publicly blast your business – the power is truly in their hands. 

So, how can you speed-up response times? One of the best ways is through chatbots – which are automated response systems that take the place of physical employees. Chatbots are available 24/7 and can interact with consumers; answering their queries while guiding them accordingly. They’re a must-have have feature for every online store.