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It was the design of the pen. Yes, the design which I still have in my memory. People might forget the words you had on your website, and people might even forget the images they saw, but one thing they won’t forget is the experience they had on your website. Once upon a time, when I was little. I used to admire this one pen. I cannot point out what exactly I love about the pen. Was it the flow of the writing? Was it the grip of the pen? But now I know what was it. Certainly, some things keep people engaged with your website. Most of the professional website design agencies have cracked the code for this. And now it is time for you to do the same. Let us first consider some basic tips.

What Makes Are E-commerce Website Designs Engaging?

1. Quality Product Photos:

Product photography is one thing that can help you engage more users than the design layout. Avoid using stock photos. Use real-life photos that are either actual humans or photos that are taken by professional photographers.

2. Easy Navigation:

It is not just about organizing the photos and text, a great website is a combination of photos, text, and how it is organized on the website. How customers feel while visiting your website. Can we find what they’re looking for? Are they facing issues while browsing the website?

Also Read: 7 Tips to Multiply Your eCommerce Sales

3. Promotional Messages:

Nothing strikes a user more than a persuasive text. An email, a greeting message, or a pop-up sign. Try out anything that resonates with your user. Check the response of each action item and see how customers are taking everything.

4. Killer Content:

You can persuade the user by the design, and you can even persuade the user by product photos, but one thing you must do is use killer content to grab the attention of the user. Using engaging taglines and cutting-edge vocabulary can take your website to the next level.

Captivating Demos

One of the ways to improve the usability of the website is to use product photos that can help the visitors relate their problems with their problems You can even use videos or 360-degree views & image zoom that put users in charge of the interface of the website. The aim of the store should be to create an experience. For instance, in a store, users can pick up the item and feel it in their hands. Providing images of every side of the product as well as a close-up view helps to provide a more tangible experience. Customers can view the product up close and personal.

Use Emotions to Force Action

The logo, the color, the image, and all the pieces of content of your website will evoke an emotion among the visitor. What you need is, to use that spike to force an action for the user. Remember, humans, want an emotionally authentic experience online. So (just as on Bold and Noble in the section above), set the mood of your brand with a unique style and match it with your tone, which can be conversational, humorous, cheeky, or whatever will further create that emotional connection between you and your customers. And, this is a good place to remind you that you must really know your audience to know how to create authentic emotions. As a shoe retailer, this brand sets itself apart by using a bold tone of voice. They aren’t shy in making sure their customers know that their shoes are made by renowned craftsmen, but they also keep it short simple, and conversational. This tone of cool confidence provides its customers with a base of trust, especially with the human-like voice. And they keep the same tone of voice with every aspect of the site: feedback, suggestions, explanations, and more.

Create a Seamless Experience

When I was starting out my venture for an ecommerce website, I visited around 300+ websites. Tried and tested every single one of them. What was I looking for? A seamless experience. Finally, I got one from a website. And next, I went to an ecommerce website design agency to create my website. Why is it important for the developers or the owners to create a seamless experience? Because the users are fed up with the conventional ways of browsing the website. Now the customer's trust is established upon the retailer experience that is given to the customers. If the customers see the same look, again and again, they will lose track of attention and nothing will be the same. You need to create an experience that will force the user to stick to the design. Make the user fall in love with the experience.  Don’t try to make a complex design, just make a simple one that can catch the attention of the user. One prime example is Zappos. What I love about Zappos is the possibilities for fine-tuning the experience to my own preferences, so that I can shop on mobile, the website, or in the store exactly how I want.

Social Sharing Options

One of the best ways to provide a powerful human experience through online retail shopping is to include a social feed that creates a bandwagon effect. Everyone is talking about your online store, so it must be great – an experience that we just can’t miss! Social media has become a huge part of our daily lives and is ingrained in the human experience for a great many people. Those sponsored Facebook ads, sponsored Tweets, promoted Pinterest pins, and even YouTube video ads are all an important part of making a connection with customers, promoting expression, and providing that human experience. Making that connection between the website and social media can be further enhanced with some simple design tweaks. The Eden website places social media icons in the header of their website for easy access. This not only gives customers more than one option for staying in touch but also reinforces the legitimacy of the brand in the minds of new customers.

Instagram is the most popular and effective social media platform, especially for ecommerce businesses. According to Track Maven, Instagram is a social media platform where brands get the highest average engagement. This makes this platform a basic necessity for most of the brands that want to increase their brand reach and connect with an active and engaged customer base.

Top 5 Instagram Tools For Your Ecommerce Business

Here are the top 5 Instagram tools for your ecommerce business to increase customer engagement and boost sales with this platform.

1. “Scoutsee” For Your Shoppable Posts

Instagram can be an amazing platform for engaging a large audience. But when it comes to ecommerce stores, you can only add one link to your profile, as you can clearly see in the Zappos bio below. Instagram doesn’t allow more than one link in the posts either. This means that users can only see one link at a time. If users like a product on your Instagram and want to purchase it, they can’t click a link to purchase it. They have to choose the long route. First, they need to visit your website and then they need to look for that particular product in your product catalog.   If they successfully find the desired item they liked on Instagram, only then they can make a purchase. This can be a big hassle for users and may cost your ecommerce businesses a lot of potential leads. Thanks to Scoutsee, it solves this problem of ecommerce businesses by allowing them to create shoppable posts. By using this tool, you can easily create your storefront and then add a link to it in your bio section. You can easily share images of your products, and create catchy captions that users can click on the link mentioned in your bio. When users click on the link, they will easily go to your personal storefront and if they want to buy a particular product, they can easily click on the product and will be taken to the product page.

2. “Iconosquare” For Comprehensive Analytics

Perhaps you are thinking that your Instagram posts are performing better, but how do you compare your posts to your competitors? And how do you know whether your latest Instagram posts are performing better than the previous ones? Here is a tool that lets you track and measure your Instagram posts’ metrics. Iconosquare is an Instagram tool that has an analytics feature that allows you to measure your followers’ growth, find the location of your followers, and evaluate the performance of your Instagram posts in real time. Moreover, it also helps you measure the engagement your posts are getting. It helps you figure out the best times to post on Instagram so you can easily change your posting schedule to get the most out of your Instagram posts. One best things about this Instagram app is that you can determine how each hashtag and filter you use impact your engagement rate. This will help ecommerce brands to understand which filter performs well to generate customer engagement and which hashtag performs better and which you should use in the future to improve your brand’s visibility. Furthermore, Iconosquare is an amazing tool that helps you keep track of your competitors’ activities. You can compare the engagement rate, follower growth, and number of likes against your competitors.

3. “Wishpond” To Create and Manage Engaging Contests

Instagram contests are an engaging way to capture the attention of your existing and potential customers and grow your fan base. But sometimes Instagram contests can be time-consuming because it is hard to analyze every single photo submitted by a user. The Wishpond hashtag contest app allows you to create and manage Instagram contests. All you need to do is assign a specific hashtag to monitor, and it will gather all the relevant data using that specific hashtag. You can use the app to set your own rules. For instance, you can make it mandatory for users to mention your Instagram handle every time they post an entry. To increase your brand’s following, you can make it compulsory to follow your Instagram to qualify for the contest. Wishpond comes has a real-time analytics feature that helps you track the performance of your contests in real time. In fact, it is an amazing way to learn from your current campaign to monitor if there is any other way to make changes for your future campaigns.

4. “Later” To Manage Your Posting Schedule

If you want to boost user engagement on your Instagram account, you need to post frequently. The content you post on Instagram must be engaging and tell an interesting story to capture the love and interest of users. Perhaps you have named a certain day as a special day for your business like, “Monday Deals”, “Amazing Wednesday”, or “Saturday Surprises”. And you want to regularly post related content every week. But chances are you won’t maintain consistency and to maintain it you need a visual hart of your posting schedule to keep track of every single post you plan to post and when. Thanks to Later that makes it easier for you to create a content calendar and keep track of what you post and when. It also allows you to see the preview image of your Instagram feed, which will make it easier to create a schedule that makes your Instagram feed aesthetically appealing.  

5. “Taggd” to Get the Most Out of User-Generated Content

People usually trust other consumers’ reviews more than any promotional content or branded stuff. A study suggests that 51% of Americans trust UGC more present on a brand’s website than any other type of content. So, if you really want to drive more conversions and sales for your ecommerce business, all you need to do is build your brand’s credibility and earn your audience’s trust with UGC. As user-generated content, such as images, videos, and reviews created by customers, can act as social proof to your prospects. It can persuade them to trust your brand and take the desired action. Taggd is an Instagram tool that allows you to promote your ecommerce business by displaying user-submitted images of your products tagged with a particular hashtag on product pages.

Conclusion

So, these are some of the best Instagram tools for your ecommerce business that can definitely boost sales and increase conversions. There are some other ways ecommerce brands can get targeted traffic from Instagram to their business websites. You should improve your Instagram marketing strategy by using these Instagram apps, and you will surely improve your business's bottom line in no time.

Over the past two years, eCommerce took a mammoth turn. With eCommerce sales rising to $300 billion, we are on the verge of eCommerce evolution. By the year 2020, it is estimated that eCommerce sales will rise to $12 trillion, according to Frost & Sullivan. It is important to mention here that the volume of transactions will vary between B2B and B2C. If you are an Entrepreneur and willing to start your eCommerce store, now is the best time to do so. If you have the next big idea, now is the time to turn it into gold. “You could be the next person to succeed if you choose to learn from successful people instead of being envious of them. Moreover, aren't they successful because they learned and continue to learn from others?”  ~ Edmond Mbiaka Here at Branex, we have compiled a checklist that can be a guideline for you to start your business from scratch.

Tips By Gary Vaynerchuk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoydAQlZlHY

Start with a Business Plan

Researchers say that “Business planning is positively related to business success. Entrepreneurs who start with a business plan are more likely to succeed in the real world. I still remember my last lecture on MBA. My professor came next to me and cursed me for not making a business plan for my first start. Which I later realized was the first step I missed. When you create a business plan, you give the impression that you are serious about your venture. You mean business. Yes, for some, this is a tedious job. Well, who is asking to go for complex novel-based documents? Your business plan can be as simple as a one-pager, which you and your stakeholders need to understand.

Pick a Catchy Domain Name

With over $1.17 billion people using Google to search and learn every day, it is nearly impossible for Entrepreneurs to pick a memorable domain name which then can later be optimized for search engines too. So, despite giving some thought to the domain name. Young Entrepreneurs make a very silly mistake. For instance, if you are willing to sell custom shoes, you will surely not find customshoes.com or custommadeshoes.com (which is quite long btw), so Entrepreneurs go with coolcustommadeshoes.com (Which is quite long and not cool at all). Got it, what do I mean? For domain names, do some research on the Internet. See what custom shoes translate to in different languages and pick that. Study the culture of your target market and pick some slang from the local market. There are tons of ideas you can use to pick a domain name, but just keep in mind that it should be short, easy to remember, easy to spell, and doesn’t sound awkward when translated into a different language.

Go for a Reliable Web Hosting Service

Your web host will be the nucleus of your business. I remember the first time my website went down and it took three business days for the web hosting company to get back up. While hosting companies charge a hefty fee for their services, make sure to run by all the services they are offering. Cheap hosting doesn’t really mean a reliable one. Read reviews, ask friends, and go for someone who is working for them. This is usually a one-time deal. You will choose a web hosting that will cater for a one-year or three-year period of time, so make sure to choose wisely.

Spend Time and Resources on Content Marketing

Words are our most inexhaustible source of magic. They are capable of both inflicting injury and remedying it at the same time. For most people, content marketing is just like putting words on the internet to support your SEO. Well, sorry to disappoint you guys. Content marketing is the modern-day golden chicken & egg. If you use it wisely, you can harness the power of lead generation & multiply your sales in no time. It is often good to invest in content marketing for some quality content. This will not just help bring some leads, it will also help you in your SEO.

Pick a Passionate Web Designer

I always respect people who do work just for the sake of work. Yes, go to Freelancer and you will find thousands of web designers who can make cheap web mock-ups for you. But, ask yourself this: will these designs catch the eye of your visitor? The survey suggests that a visitor takes only 5 seconds to judge your website. So, is it worth it to go for a designer who just works for money? I would suggest going for someone who is passionate about their work. Set a meeting with the designer and look into his eyes. Eyes are reflections of our souls. If he is thrilled about the design & feels excited about your project hire him on the spot.

Time to Pick an eCommerce CMS

An eCommerce CMS is the backbone of your ideas. It will display your dreams and manage the inventory of your products. Selecting the right eCommerce CMS is one hell of a job. In this, you need to take care of both the aspects, the developer and the customer side. Will the backhand be easy enough that your team can get along with the interface & will the customers find it easy to browse & search for their desired products? An ounce of research goes a long way. Google some eCommerce CMS and read what people are saying about them. Take notes of the pros and cons and go for that which is good for you.

Use a Secure Credit Card Merchant

While most of the customers will be paying via PayPal, still it is your responsibility to cater to all the visitors who drop to your website. Normally, Entrepreneurs run away from credit card merchant accounts because at the start it might seem pricey. Typically banks charge a set-up fee, a monthly fee, and a percentage of each transaction.

What About Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?

What is the purpose of your website if it doesn’t show up on the first page of Google? Nowadays, people hire SEO gurus to fine-tune their websites to attain a high ranking in Google. If you do not know how to set up your SEO, you can always Google some articles and learn before you hire a specialist.

Shipping Rate Structure

Before you even step into your first order, ensure what you will charge for normal shipping, one-day shipping, and date-specific delivery. Even at first, if you lose some money to make some customers, it is quite a good deal. And also, even providing free shipping on certain items is a great way to attract some genuine customers.

To Conclude It All

A simple checklist is often good to keep in hand; this will protect you & your team from a massive amount of misery & slip-ups down the line, & will enable you to hit the ground running with your efforts to drive actual sales.

In eCommerce, the idea is the easy part, even starting a business is not that hard, and the hardest part is maintaining that business. Keep the numbers coming & make it relevant to your audience. B2C worldwide sales will surpass $1.5 trillion in 2017 (Research and Markets) “It is the mark of a truly intelligent person to be moved by statistics” - George Bernard Shaw. Globally, eCommerce sales soared in 2015, benchmarking $839.8 billion. By 2018, Statista is predicting that B2C eCommerce will balloon to a staggering $1.5 trillion in annual sales. However, as the market catches up to demand, growth will level out, ultimately hovering at the $2.5 trillion marker. For 2017, B2C is projected to rake in about $1.92 trillion worldwide. Think tanks estimate that around 42% of consumers worldwide make online purchases, a number that will progressively climb to 50% by 2020. Also Read: BigCommerce vs WooCommerce: Which is the Best for eCommerce Website? Most businesses focus on generating more leads, regardless of the size of the business they are in. Big-commerce giants like Google are also boosting sales via online channels – for some, it looks easy but for most it is hard.

Marketing is like an airplane. Yes, it takes planning to get the aircraft off the ground, but that's just the beginning of the journey. To safely arrive at the planned destination, the pilot has to constantly maneuver the aircraft based on the information reported by the flight instruments. The same holds true for any ecommerce marketing campaign. Although plenty of tips for online ecommerce businesses can help you grow. But here I would like to share my pinch of wisdom, which delivered results.

Treat Your Visitors as Guests

Every visitor is like a guest. How do you treat a guest? Yes, with uttermost care, importance, and understanding. Before enticing your customers there are a few questions you need to ask yourself. Is there any particular demographic you want to attract? What qualities does your product have & how those qualities can land on the sweet spot where you & your customer can chine in? Furthermore, when your customer lands on the website, do not give them the chance to think about what to do next. Your website needs to be self-explanatory. From landing to placing the order, make sure your ecommerce website passes the usability test with flying colors. Moreover, be in front of your customers. Use a chat messenger that is both simple and intuitive. And most importantly, keep your chat messenger in front so users can access it in a few clicks. Make it easy for customers to connect with you.

Write Content For Readers

Instead of buying ads on Google, hire a professional content writer & make him put your ideas in text form. Why does your company exist in the first place? (Refer to Simon Sinek’s TED talk), What are your aspirations & what value are you willing to give to your customer? Previously content was only used as a medium to list your website on Google search pages, but now, it is the hottest medium to generate leads. Furthermore, it is more important to connect with users on a personal level. Let me relate their personality to your brand. Once, that is done, you can easily build trust & sell them your product.

Be Proactive in Social Media

Make a proactive social media strategy. No matter if you have written the best product description, if it doesn’t resonate with your target audience, it will not attract the relevant traffic. Focus on one or two social media platforms & go for that. It is not necessary to jump into every platform just because your competitor is also doing it. Pick one channel and go with it. Master it from all angles. Do one thing, but make sure to do that thing better than your competitor.

SEO is Still Relevant

No matter how many friends you have on Facebook or followers on Twitter, if your website doesn’t appear on the first page of Google, you will be doomed. A sound social media strategy is very important, but Google remains one of the biggest tools which new customers can use to discover your business. For that reason, it is important to have a good SEO strategy. Remember that Google tracks and ranks websites by how many other pages are linking to them. This means that you want to link to other pages so that those websites may link back to you. You also need to update your content regularly. If you do, then others will link to the new articles and videos you produce, getting your website higher in search rankings. Dieter Hsiao, CEO of Mezzologic, believes that companies must take a holistic approach to link building, which means collecting links from multiple channels. “It’s maximizing a company’s web presence, ensuring that customers can easily find and obtain the information and resources they need – and making it simple and enjoyable to research and buy the company’s products,” says Hsiao. While there are small tricks you can use to improve your SEO rating like links and consistently using major keywords, understand that the best way to get high on a Google search is to come out with consistent, quality content. I cannot emphasize enough how important content and content marketing can be for any online strategy.

Mobile Websites are the New Win

We know that people are using mobile phones to access data & make purchases. In a survey, it was concluded that mobile app purchases rose up to 68% in the previous year. Consequently, any business must have a mobile strategy. This means that it is necessary to design your website so that it is easily navigable by mobile users. It may be a good idea to create a separate website for mobile users, especially if your small business is a retailer or restaurant. Also, look at getting less information on every web page – while people may be spending more time on mobile compared to desktops, they still spend less time per page compared to desktops. At a bare minimum, creating a website which is difficult to access and navigate with a mobile will slow traffic down to your website. Make sure that the potential problem is fixed. A great website design is as easy to navigate with a mobile as it is with the actual website. The necessity is not to put all the content in the mobile app, it is to put the minimum content which can make a maximum impact.

According to marketing research, a majority of customers (around 84%) abandon their shopping carts just before the purchase. This is not because the product is not worth it, it's because there are mistakes in the ecommerce shopping cart that are killing your conversion. There are some key factors to which you need to pay attention. This includes having a persuasive landing page, and a compelling story for your sales page. A creative web design agency that will create a smooth, frictionless, usability website, but one of the least processes which is overlooked by every business owner is the checkout process. Your ecommerce shopping cart surely needs more attention than just any other section on your website. Abandoning ecommerce shopping carts is not unique to online shopping. Retail customers also do so, especially when lines are too long. However, if you want actually to sell goods online, you have to read this blog till the end. I will not be the first informer to you that designing a streamlined checkout process is not easy. It requires a lot of clever coding, integration, and forethought. However, it is necessary if you want to boost sales and reduce shopping cart abandonment. You need to optimize your checkout process for conversions. If you are still wondering why your sales are not improving, it is high time for you to have a look at your ecommerce shopping cart. In this article, Branex will focus on 6 mistakes made by eCommerce site developers that can be disastrous for that brand.

Starting an eCommerce website is easy, but staying above the sea is hard. Here are some tips which will be beneficial to you if you’re planning to start an eCommerce website.

What Problem Are You Willing to Solve?

Start with the solution in mind and work your way up. What problem are you willing to solve? And how can you solve it better than your competitors? This simple tip can skyrocket your sales right from day one. Find ways in which you can solve the problem in simplest of the simplest way and put that solution on your website.

What is Your Target Market Personality?

Take out a sheet of paper and jot down the traits of personality you are willing to target. Now align these values with your product offerings. How can you add these characters to your brand personality, with which customers can relate and feel important? Use the 80/20 rule to target your best customers first. I might sound a little rude but leave the energy drainers as they are. No matter how hard you try you cannot entertain all the customers from your target market. So best is to target the ones who will love your brand for who you are.

What Price Are You Offering?

No matter what they say in your business school, trust me, customers will leave you for the high price even if you are offering a solid product. So, your goal is to price your item just enough to get into the league with your competitors. Once customers start trusting you with your product quality, they will be willing to pay whatever you ask them. But keep in mind that your product/service is worth remembering.

What Hosting Service Are You Using?

At an average customer only spend 10-20 seconds on a new website. And in that period if the client doesn't get what he is looking for, you are doomed. The speed of your website depends on what digital marketing company you use or if you are hosting it yourself, what hosting service are you using? Many digital marketing services these days are doing well. Google our digital marketing company, and you'll check the best-rated websites. Before going with the service do read reviews, of what people are saying about that particular digital agency.

Who Will Handle the Customer Service?

Research shows that 78% of consumers have bailed on a transaction or not made an intended purchase because of a poor service experience. Customer service is the most vital step when going online. If your customer doesn’t get instant replay, he will move on to the other dozen websites who are giving good customer service. One of the best things I admire about customer service is that customers provide real-time feedback. And this feedback sets the tone for your business. Firstly, appreciate the client who is giving the feedback; secondly, resolve the issue on the spot or give them a time frame in which the problem will be resolved.

Don’t Force Your Users To Create an Account Before They Can Buy

Don't get in the rush to collect email addresses from your customers. Ask only when they are willing to buy from you. First, let them experience your site. Let them explore the products you are offering, and let them get a taste of the service you're offering. And then let them choose to buy from you. Just like Amazon, you can pop up perks for placing an order with your website. Give them the instant gratification to buy from you. Finally, monitor from Google Analytics what made them tick. And for your future reference go for the offering they desire.

Don’t Miss Out on Accepting Payments

Payment is one of the most critical factors when it comes to e-commerce buying. Most of the customer leave just because they didn't find their desired payment option on your website. As mentioned above when you go to your target market, do some research on what modes of payment your customers prefer. For payment methods look for a secure way in which customers feel safe to pay online. PayPal is no doubt the most secure payment gateway. 2Checkout is also a good option.

Make Your Checkout Experience Foolproof

No matter what your competitors are doing make sure you use a foolproof check-out experience. As shown by funnels in Google Analytics, the majority of customers leave the site if the check-out system is not working in proper order. Witness the one-step check-out system developed by Amazon, and experience the smooth flow. The best is to develop your cart system which is easy to use and does the job well. Built a shopping cart which can easily be used from the smartphone too.

Running a website teaches you many things, and a few of them are what not to do while starting an eCommerce website. Research is one of the most important aspects when it comes to running a website. You have to follow the crowd to kick-start your business. To open a shop is easy; to keep it open is an art. ~Chinese Proverb Here are a few trends which you can follow while you develop your first website:

Responsive Website Design

Gone are the times when users spend hours browsing a website for their desired products. Now users are equipped with Google, and they have websites which are easy to navigate. In the past two years, there has been so much buzz about responsive website design. What exactly is a responsive website that engages a user so much? The answer is a website which operates on your smartphone with the same efficiency as on your laptop. There are companies doing wonders in developing a responsive website. And Branex is surely one of them.

Clutter-free Website

As the famous notation goes “Keep It Simple” This statement applies to eCommerce websites too. No matter how many products you’re offering, make sure your site is organized in a clutter-free manner. Consumers nowadays are smart enough to abandon the slow website and shift to any other website which saves them time. So, as a company, it’s your duty to get the bugs fixed in your website and make it simpler, yet user-friendly. Yes, user-friendliness is one of the trends which is making so much buzz these days. In the last few years, Amazon has made so much effort in user-friendliness, and their sale are skyrocketing with an hourly rate.

Food Delivery on the Go

In the last two years, online food delivery services have leaped in the Pakistani market. With the emergence of FoodPanda and EatOye, dozens of companies followed the trend. But as they say, if you don't have something good to offer, don't start it. But if you have that passion or if you're a foodie, then just go for it. Start with a blog and turn it into a full-time website. Share your favorite dishes, share funny experiences, or follow the trend and start delivering food right from your kitchen.

Easy Cart System

Amazon has introduced a one-step check which created waves in the eCommerce industry. And smartly, Amazon made it a patent; this turned out to be a very genius step by Jeff Bezos. Now you can see others following the trend of making their checkout page easy. Shopify is evident by its popularity and the importance of the simple checkout system. So, make sure you test your checkout for both speed and simplicity.