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Every eCommerce business, small or big has a website. In the entire eCommerce web page design, the homepage design is the most crucial element. A digital storefront is their bread and butter. However, not all are equally successful. There can be two primary reasons for this:
- The products and services are not as per the expectations of customers.
- The eCommerce page design lacks appeal and is not interactive.
If the first reason is not applicable to your business, then it is the eCommerce layout design that you really need to pay attention to. A study revealed that engagement (as measured by bounce rates) is more on home pages (which get a lot of marketing attention) than all other pages.
Key Takeaways:
- A clear homepage structure guides users toward primary actions such as browsing categories or requesting quotes.
- Strong hero messagingestablishesvalue quickly and reduces bounce rates.
- Visual hierarchy ensures key content like promotions and best sellers is easily discoverable.
- High-quality imagery and consistent branding enhance buyer trust.
- Simplified navigation improves engagement in large product catalogs.
A homepage is where you welcome your visitors, display your products, tell them about your company, its vision and mission and how it started. Statistics show that once visitors are on the homepage, 86% of them want to see information about the company’s products and services, 64% of them want to see the company’s contact information and 52% of them want to see ‘About Us’ information. Basically, the eCommerce website homepage design matters a great deal.
Unfortunately, the eCommerce homepage design is often overlooked in lieu of landing pages or product pages. What businesses don’t realize is that a well-designed and attractive home page which is also easy to navigate, and enhances customer experiences (called website UX) also leads to conversion rate optimization.
Here are some useful eCommerce website homepage design tips that can boost engagement and conversion rate for your business too.
Dig out the Data first
Before taking the dive into eCommerce website design ideas, you first need to understand customer behaviour. Use Google Analytics data, evaluate all website metrics such as conversion rate, bounce rate, etc. This will give you a fair insight into what customers are doing on the home page, how long they stick there, what they click, etc. Based on this insight, you can think of a clear value proposition and Call to Action (CTA) that will appeal to the psychology of customers and make them buy from you.
Pro Tip:
Conduct heatmap and scroll-depth analysis to optimize placement of high-impact homepage elements.
Keep it Simple
A cluttered eCommerce homepage design with too many messages and links competing with each other will leave the visitors confused. The customers wouldn’t know where to head next on the website. If they don’t find what they are looking for, they will leave. This will only increase the bounce rate of your website. A homepage shouldn’t present an overload of information; rather urge them to take specific actions.
Airbnb believes in simplicity! Its home page says it all.
Show the Search Box and Organize the Navigation Bar
The Search Box is your visitors’ mini-Google for your website. Place it prominently on the top as a part of your eCommerce website homepage design. Similarly, the navigation bar should also be organized into specific categories. This way your customers won’t have to scroll up and down, right and left and in between pages to find the information they are looking for.
Take a look at the search box and navigation bar of Amazon. It is easy to search for anything from their huge product catalog!
Give Direct Links to Pages That Matter
Now, the whole purpose of the homepage is conversion rate optimization. This can happen only when the home page displays the product catalog in a manner that it doesn’t overlap the overall value proposition. Your home page should have direct links to only the following pages so that customers find these pages quicker and move further into the sales funnel:
- Bestselling products
- Most viewed products
- New arrival products
- Most popular and/or top level category pages
- Featured products
- Customer Testimonials
Take inspiration for creative ecommerce website designs from Zappos. Its homepage showcases the latest products and trends. If you scroll towards the bottom of its homepage, you will even find a section called ‘what customers say’.
Display the Shopping Cart Icon
One of the eCommerce homepage design best practices is to show the shopping cart icon on the top right hand of the home page. This will serve as a gentle reminder to the visitors to buy something while browsing the eCommerce store. Similarly, if the customers leave their items in the cart without completing the purchase, this cart will appear with these items next time they visit again. It will urge them to act upon their intention to purchase.
Take a look at how eBay has positioned its shopping cart icon.
Offer Live Chat Support
What if the customers have a query while navigating your e-store? If you ask them to shoot an email, there is a high possibility that they wouldn’t do so. They will leave the page and move out of the sales funnel. A 24/7 live chat support on the home page can ensure that customer queries are addressed promptly so that they can make their purchase decisions faster. Now, whether you want to offer chat services via a human customer executive, a virtual assistant or a chatbot, is up to you! Also, make sure that live chat can integrate with your eCommerce software appropriately.
It’s always nice to chat with someone to seek shopping advice. Wine.com takes it seriously. Take a look.
Don’t Ignore A/B Testing
If there is one thing certainly common in some of the top eCommerce designs, it is that they tested their home page design well. It is always advisable to create multiple versions of the home page design and A/B test them to find out which works really well.
Pro Tip:
Test homepage variants with A/B experiments to validate which designs generate higher conversions.
Make a Mobile-Responsive Home Page
Did you know that 60% of internet access occurs on mobile handsets? If your website pops up in a search engine query, and it isn’t mobile friendly, 40% of users will go back and examine a different result. 38% of people will stop engaging with a website if the content/layout is unattractive. This means that your home page should be designed to be mobile-responsive as well. By not doing so, you may lose a large target audience and thereby, potential revenues.
Flipkart doesn’t take any chances. Its mobile-friendly homepage reaches out to smart phone owners too
Use these tips to rock your homepage and create a website that wins! VARStreet’s eCommerce platform is super easy to use and you can choose from various templates. We will set up your store and even customise it for you if you do not have the expertise or time.
Do you have any ideas that have worked for you? Anything we may have missed? Tell us in the comments below.
