We all know that after Covid-19, the eCommerce business is on a boom more than ever because people are restricted from visiting physical stores and purchasing products. Online Shopping is now the biggest trend and each and every customer looks for a better shopping experience while buying from any eCommerce online store.

Building a profitable eCommerce business is challenging. You have to be unique in every other way ranging from infrastructure, functionalities, an aesthetic front-end, advanced features, pre, and post-sales services, etc.

When it comes to developing eCommerce websites, it's all about features, functionality, and the look & feel of your website. But what makes a good eCommerce website and which eCommerce website features are most important for your success?

In this article, we will discuss 15 must-have eCommerce website features and the characteristics of a good eCommerce website.

Let’s explore !!

The 15 Essential eCommerce Website Features Include:

• Knowledge-Based
• Mobile Friendly
• Fast Speed
• Simple Checkout Process
• Product Review
• Security
• Social Media Integration
• Powerful Search
• Recommended Products
• Analytics and Reporting
• Chatbot
• Frequently Asked Question (FAQ)
• High-quality Photos and Videos
• Excellent Customer Care
• Different Payment Methods

Keep reading to know more about these 15 best features of e-commerce

1. Knowledge-Based

A knowledgeable website enhances the efficiency of customer service significantly. Customers can willingly resolve their issues by themselves with the help of comprehensive knowledge and clear guidelines. The quantity of customer queries diminishes with continuous updates of knowledge on the website. Of course, this task is time-consuming but it is worth all the effort.

2. Mobile Friendly

Most online shopping is done through mobile devices. 72% of the market share is accountable for mobile commerce. 61% of consumers that they prefer to buy from mobile-optimized sites. So your website needs to be mobile responsive and make sure it works perfectly on every device. All the processes like mobile-friendly shopping carts, mobile payments, and order placement will work perfectly on mobile devices. This ensures that the user gets the optimal experience regardless of whether a customer chooses to shop from a smartphone, tablet, or any other device.

3. Fast Speed

Do you have an idea that nowadays customers evaluate your brand and business based on your website performance and speed? Loading Time Affects Your Bottom Line.

We all understand the value of strong design, awesome landing pages, ad targeting, or the benefits of conversion optimization. But all these are of no worth if you haven’t considered website page speed. When it comes to search engine rankings, page loading time is one of the key factors to consider.

Go through the below statistics, conversion rates, and on-page speed so that you come to know about the slow website negative impacts.

Faster page speed increases conversion rates and also helps in boosting sales. To improve the customer experience and also increase the chances of customers coming back in the future. Let’s not forget SEO!

Speed is one of the most important factors for both visitors and Google. Google never ranks a low-speed website. Nobody would like to waste time there where the speed of the website is low. To optimize your website and use the best hosting ideally within your surroundings.

Also Read:- Magento 2 speed optimization tips

4. Simple Checkout Process

Did you know that the average online shopping cart abandonment rate is 69.89%? This rate is enough to damage your online business, especially when you know that it's difficult to gain visitors to your online eCommerce store and convert them from visitors to potential customers, only to have their head elsewhere at the very last moment.

The easy, simple, and efficient eCommerce checkout flow is one of the features that help to reduce the cart abandonment rate, increase sales and conversion rates too. This also helps to get your customers to come back to your online website in the future.

5. Product Review

Source: amazon.in

It is one of the product marketing tools you can easily attach to your website and make available to customers. It gives you a sense of credibility and it also makes your website vivid. Publishing reviews on websites also creates trust among the customers. You can always even check and moderate reviews before you publish them.

Buyers always read reviews, about 92% of customers read the reviews before they buy any product. Your website must have both positive and negative reviews to win the trust of customers. It will look more genuine and believable. Having only positive reviews gives an impression that it might be an insider's job.

Get More details: Advance Product Reviews for Magento 2

6. Security

An eCommerce portal should be safe and secure to ensure the trust of the customers. Many eCommerce vendors underestimate security, which is not good. Security should be a priority for every kind of business. Payments done by the customer should be done through a secure payment gateway.

List of things which you can do to make your website safe & secure:-⁣

1. Use HTTPS:⁣

An SSL certificate is a must because it helps store owners to ensure that the data transfer such as personal data, credit cards, and contact details, etc between the website & the server is secure.⁣

2. Take Backups:⁣

Backup your site regularly. You must keep and manage backups of all the website files so in case of data loss or if your site becomes inaccessible, at least you have a backup of your data in hand.⁣

3. Secure Host:⁣

It’s very important to choose and hire a leading and web hosting agency for your website security. Make sure the host you choose is aware of threats & devoted to keeping your website secure.⁣

4. Use CAPTCHA:⁣

Have you been receiving weird spam & comments from strange sources that have nothing to do with your website? Then you must include CAPTCHA or if your website uses a form to take user’s information like username, email then you should include a CAPTCHA.⁣

5. Strong Password:⁣

A strong and secure password is a must. Try to make it lengthy using a mix of letters, numbers & special characters.

6. Security Plugin:⁣

Enhance your website with security plugins, if you are using a CMS platform. They actively prevent website hacking attempts.⁣

So is your website safe & protected?⁣

7. Social Integration

Social Media plays a very important role in a big way for online shopping. Customers are discussing their experience with products through social media. Ecommerce websites must join the game! Real-life product reviews and product-centered discussions help store owners promote brand awareness and increase the visibility of products.

8. Powerful Search

Source: myntra.com

Today's customers are important and they cannot be bothered to click through the site directory to search for what they want. A search box is one of the must-have features for eCommerce sites with predictive search functionality so that customers can navigate your website easily when they actually find difficulty in searching the products and items they are looking for.

9. Recommended Products

Source: flipkart.com

Personalization and the curated shopping experience is one of the most trending things in the eCommerce industry and there is no doubt that eCommerce giants like Myntra, Amazon, Flipkart, etc have already executed this very well by displaying “Recommended Products” or “Frequently Bought” products to help buyers finding out the suggested or complementary products.

This feature will not only help you to engage more customers but also increase the average order size and provide a pleasant shopping experience to your customers which leads to getting repeated customers in the future.

Recommended Products functionality not only helps store owners to sell more but let your customers know that you know what they need and you want to offer a better shopping experience for them.

10. Analytics and Reporting

To demonstrate real-time site and search ranking data, you need to integrate your website with Google Analytics. Lots of eCommerce businesses do not monitor the specificity of their website traffic.

Get More details: Google Analytics for Magento 2

11. Chatbot

Do you know the Benefits of chatbot in ecommerce? The chatbot instantly resolves customer's inquiries and enhance customer satisfaction.

Online shopping replaces physical stores and real-time sales people also. Still, people need to speak to a real person in case they want to clear any doubt. 24*7 live chats and customer support must be there to add value to the company's customer service.

12. Frequently Asked Question

Source: flipkart.com

FAQ is one of the must-have features in the e-commerce functionality checklist. It helps to improve your customer’s experience and answer each and every question/ query of your customers. By providing all the detailed information on the FAQ page of your website, you help your customers to make quick buying decisions.

13. High-quality Photos and Videos

We all know the fact that Images and Visuals speak louder than words. It is all about giving the look and feel of products through high-resolution images and products videos these days. 85% of customers are more likely to buy products having product videos. Store Owners who put efforts to provide high-quality images and videos on their website and product pages win over customers. Make sure that there are multiple images for each product and some have videos too. So that they will help in boosting sales, engaging more customers, and showcasing the brand’s personality.

14. Excellent Customer Care

About 70% of the buying experience depends on how you treat your customer. This part of the website is of prime importance. If your customer is not satisfied with their queries, it won't take much time for them to switch to somewhere else. Make sure you offer all the help and customers will leave with a smile on their faces.

15. Different Payment Methods

Source: myntra.com

After a customer found their favorite product but got disappointed in the end after finding they don't accept the payment method that customer wants to make payment with. Never disappoint your customers with such things as good eCommerce.

Final Words

No matter what business category you are in, the above-listed features of eCommerce website development must be added if you own an eCommerce online store. The advanced and best eCommerce features are not limited to the above-mentioned feature list, you can add other features too based on your business need, budget, and scope. Still, these must-have yet innovative features help you to offer fantastic and unforgettable shopping experiences to your customers. MageAnts team would help you to make your eCommerce website unique with all these features and functionality to achieve your business goals.