Ecommerce University > Ecommerce Design > Design Tips for Online Stores, Part 2
Design Tips for Online Stores, Part 2

This is part two of a two-part series on eCommerce design best practices.

Design plays a crucial role in how customers view your online store. You may be tempted to get artistic and add unique elements like flash animation and off-beat colors—but flash animation can slow down your shopper’s browser, and some colors can send the wrong signals.

When in doubt, the tried and true elements of eCommerce design represent best practices for your eCommerce store. Here are five more tips for following best practices in eCommerce design.

06: Customization options help personalize the shopping experience.
Not everyone has the same online shopping habits, so it’s important to provide options that help shoppers customize their experience. The best way to accomplish this is offering several filtering options, like by price, bestsellers, reviews and release date. More granular filters for product features also encourage a simpler, happier shopping experience.
07: Product variations should be clearly identified.
Do any of your products include customization elements? Size or color selection should be prominently featured on your product pages, and pictures of the product with each variation should be clearly displayed.
08: Structure product pages correctly.
Pictures of your product should without fail be the first element on your product page. After all, the shopper’s eye will naturally be drawn to a graphical element. If applicable, showing the product in action is a great way to engage the shopper.

The product’s name, description and price should appear next to the image. While important to have, customer reviews and links to similar products should be found closer to the bottom of the product page.
09: Display product availability.
As a shopper, you wouldn’t want to call a store beforehand to check if a product is in stock, head down to buy it and find out that they just sold the last one, would you? Maybe that comparison’s a bit of a stretch, but you’re going to find equally frustrated customers when they go through the checkout process only to find that an item is out of stock. Therefore, it’s important to clearly mark how many items are in stock for each product.
10: Allow customers to preview products.
Quick previews of your products help save customer time for more productive shopping. Consider adding a hover over pop-up that includes all the most important details of the purchasing process. It’s a great way to add another level of engagement to your online store.
by Gonzalo Gil Google