This type of commerce is called e-commerce, and it has been quite popular for the last decade. Thinking of starting selling items online? First, you need to choose an e-commerce platform. This guide can help to decide on this matter.

E-commerce platform definition

An e-commerce platform is a crucial part when starting an online business that includes selling products. Simply put, it is a platform that allows you to create an online store – upload and manage items, process payments, etc. The platform usually has a variety of tools that help you to monitor and operate e-commerce easily. It includes such features as product management tools, shopping carts, payment and shipping options, analyzing the store’s activity, and others.

Is it easy to build an e-commerce store? It depends on a variety of factors, such as technical skills, the complexity of the store, integrations, and customization. For example, if you use pre-build themes and basic customization, it can be relatively easy.

Probably the most important thing is an e-commerce platform, which comes with its own advantages and disadvantages. In short, it greatly influences the ease of building and maintaining the store.  So we are going to discuss the most popular ones.

WooComerce

WooCommerce is an integral part of WordPress. It means Woocommerce cannot stand on its own – it can be considered both an advantage and disadvantage. WooCommerce allows you to add e-commerce activity to your WordPress website without creating a new store, offers flexibility, and is familiar with WordPress, but it may take some time to build the store. WooCommerce is suitable for both domestic and international trade.

Also, the big advantage is that the platform is free. However, if you want additional benefits, you can purchase a plan. Our verdict is that the WooCommerce platform is a great choice for businesses of all sizes that use WordPress, and with pre-designed templates for WooCommerce, the store is easy to build.

Shopify

Shopify is a popular platform for e-commerce. The platform is known for its simplicity and easy usage. Shopify is suitable for international trade as it allows one to ship abroad and use such sales models as dropshipping. Currently, the platform is available in over 175 counties. There is a possibility to integrate social media channels, such as Facebook, and sales channels, such as Amazon.

Unfortunately, Shopify is paid. However, it means that it comes with a lot of benefits, such as built-in marketing tools, SEO features, and a variety of payment methods and shipping options. Our verdict is that Shopify is worth choosing for businesses that are willing to invest in order to get more benefits and simple usage. Also, you can use pre-designed templates for Shopify that will make the process of building the store even simpler.

Why e-commerce website theme is important?

A website theme for an e-commerce store is a crucial thing that needs to be taken with a lot of consideration. As a foundation of the whole website’s design, it affects the user experience. User experience is the ultimate point that encourages people to buy goods from you. A good theme can positively affect the user experience which will lead to sales.

In fact, a lot of e-commerce websites can fail because they do not have the right theme. And we are talking not only about aesthetics and easy usage – the right theme can help to avoid poor loading time, and duplicate content, minimize bounce rates, and increase conversation rates. These are technical aspects that also affect user experience and SEO.

It is important to mention that all these things are interconnected. Professional themes can offer some technical features that also contribute to sales. For example, if the loading speed is slow, the customer will likely leave your website.

Tips on choosing an e-commerce theme

There is no doubt that a good e-commerce theme offers a lot of benefits. However, choosing the right one can be challenging as the theme has to be both aesthetical and smoothly integrate all the online shopping features. Here are some tips on choosing e-commerce themes:

• Choose a theme that fits your business and stands out. E-commerce websites can vary. This means that one theme can fit for women’s clothes stores, while another – for interior design and furniture shops. So, you have to do some research on what themes your competitors are using. This helps you to decide on a suitable and original theme;
• Be aware of technical aspects. Mobile-responsive design, fast loading speed, SEO-friendly design, easy navigation, and check out – these are details that greatly affect user experience. Most people are shopping using phones nowadays;
• Check how products and other elements look on the website. Different themes might have different templates (a single-page layout). You should check how content (products, logos, colors, buttons) looks on each template since there can be errors;
• Choose a theme with customer support. Free themes may seem like a good option, but they also do not have customer support. Customer support helps to ensure that everything goes well.

Pre-design themes and templates from Adveits

Choosing a pre-designed theme and template may be an affordable option since developing it costs a lot of money and time. If you are looking for an e-commerce theme or template for your website, Adverts can offer some good options specifically for e-commerce.

For example, over 70 percent of people consider a website as a credible site if it has a modern and innovative design.  Modern and innovative design delivers a positive user experience, and this leads to their decision to purchase from you, not your competitors. This article is dedicated to the topic of web design improvements to increase sales.

6 ways to level up your web design for more sales

People are visual creatures. Most of the perceived information comes from the eyesight. It is not surprising that over 30 percent of people stop browsing a website if it is not visually appealing and comfortable.  So, here are some tips on how to transform your website into a more modern space:

• Make a site mobile responsive. Mobile responsiveness refers to a website’s ability to adapt to different screens, such as mobile phone screens. And, since a lot of people tend to buy goods from their smartphones, mobile responsive designs should be taken seriously. They contribute to a positive user experience;
• Make your CTA stand out. CTA is a call to action. Examples are such buttons as buy now and add to cart. Make sure these buttons are noticeable, and customers can easily spot them. Use different fonts or colors;
• Use high-quality visual content. All websites should include some textual content, but visual content is very important as well. Not only great web designs attract customers, but also high-quality photos, banners, and others. Make sure that you use your own original content with your logo;
• Create comfortable navigation. Navigation is a highly important aspect of any website. If your navigation is well-structured and easy to use, customers will be satisfied and will likely buy from you. No one wants to spend a lot of time searching for goods, right?;
• Balance your design. You have to balance your web design – this means, not too much visual content. Too much visual content can lead to distraction and an unprofessional look. The good trick is to add white spaces in order to highlight your product;
• Optimize load speed. Slow-loading websites are challenging for customers’ patience. If a website does not load fast, the customers will likely leave the site. Good web design can improve load speed, which contributes to more sales.

Creating a good web design can be expensive and take a lot of time. Therefore, we offer to purchase our themes, templates, and UI design, which have all the features for boosting sales.