Engaging in e-commerce or selling online offers you a chance to get a slice of a pie expected to grow to $8 trillion by 2027. You can increase your chances of success by understanding the basic principles of e-commerce and using best practices to optimize your online store.
Key Principles of E-Commerce
Some of the principles of ecommerce are similar to running a brick-and-mortar business.
- Build trust: One of the most basic ecommerce principles is building trust. Position yourself as someone who can be trusted. One way to do that is to make sure you have an SSL certificate that lets visitors know you take security seriously.
- Consistency: This goes along with building trust, but you should have a consistent brand identity. Use similar images and information across social media channels as well as with your website and ecommerce store.
- Use high-quality images and clear descriptions: Take high-quality images of your products. Create clear descriptions of products and services so that visitors know what to expect. A majority of online shoppers say that images are more important even than reviews. By being clear about benefits and sharing high-quality pictures, you’re more likely to get buyers.
- Simple navigation: There’s no need to be fancy with your navigation. Make it clear how to buy, where to check out and how easy it is to pay. A less cluttered ecommerce site is one that’s easy to navigate and people are more likely to buy from.
5 Best E-Commerce Practices to Follow in 2025
As we move into 2025, it’s a good idea to think about best e-commerce practices and make a point to tweak your approach if you’re not aligned with them.
Provide a Preview
When deciding between multiple products, it can be frustrating for users to open multiple tabs or click away to a different page to look at each product. You can alleviate this by offering a preview. The preview feature allows users to stay on the main search page, but hovering will allow them to see a preview of the item.
This practice offers a better user experience and can cement your business as a website that’s easy to use and that visitors want to return to. Neiman Marcus is a good example of providing a preview without taking customers out of their search results.
Hover Drop-Down Menus
Help users navigate your ecommerce site by providing hover drop-down menus. When the drop-down appears, they can narrow down their search easily. It also gives you a chance to highlight special pricing. This example from Casper shows how you can quickly and easily get to what you’re looking for and even what sales are promoted.
Add a Search Bar
If you don’t have a search bar, you need to change that up. Not only should you have a search bar, but it should also be very prominent to make it easy for visitors to find what they’re looking for quickly and easily. Amazon provides a search bar that’s very prominent and easy to see, along with suggestions and countdowns designed to prompt a scarcity mindset. Navigation is easy, and you can quickly find what you need through search.
Use a Prominent Image on the Home Page
While you want to share the benefits of your product or service, that should take a backseat to a large, high-quality and attractive image. When people come to your ecommerce site, they should be able to instantly see what you offer. Visitors will be drawn not only to the product picture, but also the lifestyle it evokes. Crio Bru offers high-quality product imagery that also offers an aspirational message of what your morning could be like.
Simple Checkout Form
Your checkout form should be easy to navigate and only collect necessary information. It can be frustrating to be stuck with field after field. On top of that, consider not requiring an account to check out. For example, FTD offers a simple form that shows you the process and doesn’t require you to create an account to check out. You can choose to create an account, but it’s not required.
The only information required from you is your email address for confirmation, where you want the item delivered, and your payment information. This makes the process quick and relatively painless, and it ensures an easy way for someone to pay for the product or service.
Latest E-Commerce Trends You Must Know
Once you have a handle on best practices, it’s important to understand some of the latest ecommerce trends to stay abreast of the best optimization practices.
Minimalism
Like so much online, ecommerce trends are leaning toward minimalism. When creating a website, think about how to keep it simple and lose the clutter. You don’t need a lot of bells and whistles. Instead, consider how to make things simple for visitors.
Pay attention to your UX and UI design and streamline it so that it’s easy on the eyes and simple for visitors to find their way around.
On-Page SEO
Don’t just rely on outside sources to help you get traffic. On-page search engine optimization (SEO) is still important. You can do this while still maintaining a minimalistic feel. Look for internal linking opportunities, keywords and other SEO best practices to increase the chances of customers finding you.
Valuable Content
It’s not just about providing a product image and a good description. These days, many users also want valuable content that allows them to see how the product or service fits into their lives. Content like how-to videos to show you how to set up a product or use it in day-to-day life can be helpful.
Allowing satisfied customers to become involved in the storytelling can also be valuable. By posting reviews, pictures customers take using the product or even video reviews, you can offer context to visitors.
Retargeting
Don’t let a potential customer go just because they left your website. If they abandon their cart but you have their email, send an email encouraging them to finish checking out. You can even target them with a special coupon or discount.
You can also retarget with personalized ads to get them to return. There’s a lot of data available that can help you retarget someone who leaves without making a purchase.
Common Mistakes to Avoid in E-Commerce
Watch out for these common ecommerce mistakes.
- Not optimizing for speed: Your ecommerce site needs to load quickly. Make sure you pay attention to how to optimize your ecommerce site for speed so you don’t lose people to frustration with slow loading.
- Requiring an account for checkout: It should be easy for people to give you their money. While you can encourage customers to create an account, try to move that step to the end of the process. Make it simple, and more people are likely to complete it.
- Lack of payment options: This is similar to a simple checkout process. Provide a range of options, including PayPal, credit card and other payment choices that your audience prefers. You want as many people as possible to be able to pay for your products and services.
- Ignoring mobile optimization: Don’t forget to optimize your ecommerce site for mobile. Increasingly, people shop using a mobile device like a phone or tablet. You want your site to be easily navigable on those devices.
Key Takeaways
Best practices for your ecommerce site involve carefully researching what makes choosing items and checking out as frictionless as possible. Build trust with your audience and keep your site simple. When you take the time to make the experience easy for visitors, they’re more likely to buy.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What Are the Best eCommerce Marketing Channels?
The best ecommerce marketing channels depend on your audience and where they’re likely to find you. Consider social media platforms, buying ads and other strategies that allow you to get in front of your target customer.
What Are the Key Success Factors for eCommerce Businesses?
Some of the key factors for a successful ecommerce business include paying attention to your site so it’s easy to navigate, marketing your business and providing great customer service.
What Are the Best eCommerce Platforms?
Several ecommerce platforms are available, including Squarespace, Shopify, WooCommerce and Wix. Compare platforms to find one that matches your needs and budget.
How Long Does It Take to Build an eCommerce Website?
How long it takes to build an ecommerce website depends on how you proceed. Some platforms, like Squarespace, Wix and Shopify, make creating a website easy in less than an hour. If you want more custom options and design, it can take weeks.
What Are the Costs Associated with eCommerce?
The costs to starting an ecommerce website include paying for hosting, website design, buying a domain name and other items, depending on the type of items you sell and your approach.
