Since the last decade, the internet has taken the world by storm.
These days, anyone can find almost anything on the internet. And this has simplified a lot of aspects of our lives.
For example, the majority of shoppers are now shifting towards online shopping for the sake of convenience and for saving time as well as money.
While this is good news for eCommerce store owners, but at the same time, online shoppers also often have very high expectations.
So, it is critical to make sure that your online store is fully-equipped to fulfill all expectations of online shoppers.
Here’s a list of 7 things that online shoppers expect from an eCommerce store.
1 – Fast Page Load Speed
Many eCommerce store owners think that one or two seconds delay in page load does not really matter.
But the truth is, nobody likes to wait nowadays. And slow loading time leads to poor customer service, which ultimately puts potential customers off.
So, page loading speed is an extremely crucial factor in online stores.
In fact, research has also proved that 53% of mobile shoppers abandon a website if it takes more than 3 seconds to load.
Another study by Kissmetrics also revealed that a 4-second page load time can increase cart abandonments by 25% and reduce conversion 7%.
So, take some action to improve the page loading speed of your eCommerce store.
You can instantly check the current page loading speed of your eCommerce store using Google PageSpeed Insights tool.
2 – Mobile Responsive Design
In 2015, mobile traffic surpassed desktop traffic for the very first time in history. And since then, mobile device usage has skyrocketed.
Today, people have already shifted from desktops to mobile for browsing the internet as well as shopping online.
So, it is of utmost importance to ensure that your eCommerce store is mobile responsive and all features & functionalities work flawlessly on any device, screen size, and platform.
3 – Advanced Navigation & Search Functionality
Having advanced navigation and search functionality is crucial for eCommerce stores.
For instance, the Search function on your eCommerce website must cater to all kinds of search queries and return accurate results. And not only that but the search functionality should also be able to cater to customers who do not know the actual name of products.
Now, if you’re looking for the simplest method to integrate these features to your Search functionality, then you should definitely consider integrating Magento 2 Elasticsearch extension.
Navigation, on the other hand, is also an equally important feature.
Online shoppers often get disappointed when they’re unable to navigate through the large selection of products on an eCommerce store.
Hence, it is critically necessary to design your navigation system in a way that allows your customers to easily find what they’re looking for.
One of the best and proven ways to simplify navigation is to integrate the Advanced Layered Navigation extension in your Magento 2 store. It will immediately enhance the customer experience and even help to boost your SEO.
4 – Free or Competitive Shipping Options
The eCommerce industry has witnessed tremendous growth in recent years.
However, shipping fees still remain one of the biggest reasons for cart abandonment.
The majority of the shopping carts are abandoned because of unexpected and high shipping costs.
In fact, UPS recently conducted a major study called Pulse of the Online Shopper and revealed that for 81% of online shoppers, FREE SHIPPING is one of the key aspects when shopping online.
Another study also found that “free shipping” is most likely to convince online shoppers to buy from your eCommerce store.
Not only that but the same study also reported that 58% of online shoppers are willing to add more things to their carts to qualify for free shipping.
The point is, offering free or competitive shipping options can drastically increase your sales.
All you need to figure out is the right formula to attract online shoppers to increase their cart total in order to avail free shipping.
5 – Authentic Customer Reviews
The eCommerce market is suffering quite a lot from online fraud these days.
This has ultimately forced online shoppers to look for things that offer assurance whether a particular online store is trustworthy, real, and secure or not.
And it’s for this reason it is vital for eCommerce store owners to have online accreditation certificates from various authorities.
In simple words, customers nowadays are more likely to read reviews of a product before making a purchase. So, it’s highly important to show real and authentic customer reviews on your product pages.
A recent study by BrightLocal also revealed that 88% of online shoppers trust online reviews as much as they trust personal recommendations and these online reviews ultimately decide their buying decision.
And the good news is, there are many different ways to showcase customer testimonials or reviews on your eCommerce website. The easiest way, however, is to integrate the Magento 2 testimonial slider extension, which takes care of everything for you.
6 – Fast Guest Checkout Option
One of the reasons why shoppers nowadays avoid shopping from brick-and-mortar retail stores is because they often always have to wait in line at the cashiers.
And during peak hours, the line is so long that they end up spending lots of time there.
This is mainly why shoppers have started avoiding going to real shops and going online to buy things they need.
So, when online shoppers arrive on your online store, it’s your responsibility to make sure that they don’t have to wait during the checkout process, and more importantly, they’re not required to fill long nd boring registration forms.
In simple words, your online store must offer a fast and efficient checkout that does not require registration.
The good news is, you can easily provide such facilities to your customers by simply integrating the One Step Checkout extension.
The extension helps you to facilitate a smart and simplified checkout that accelerates the whole shopping experience on your Magento 2 store, which ultimately leads to improved customer satisfaction and increased sales.
7 – Social Media Connectivity
Having social media pages is no longer an option anymore. – It’s a necessity.
And if you think about it, social media pages can not only help you with free promotions, but it can also actually bring you more traffic and sales.
All you need to do is make sure that your social media pages are regularly updated with interesting content so that it attracts potential customers.
Although, apart from content, you also need to add links to your social media pages to let customers share products they like on social media networks.
Studies have also proved that when a product is shared by a relative, colleague, or friend, it is highly likely to get seen and purchased as it’s based on personal recommendation.
So, if you haven’t added links to your social media pages on your eCommerce store, we highly recommend getting it done as soon as possible.
It will most certainly make an impact on your brand value as well as sales.
Final Words…
Online shoppers are quite demanding and they always make instantaneous decisions whether to shop or leave your online store.
But if you fulfill these 7 requirements and provide a seamless shopping experience, you will most definitely succeed in keeping online shoppers happy on your store and increase your sales.
