Estimated read time: ~4 minutes
It’s easy to get distracted by shiny features when you’re planning an online store: loyalty programs, gamification, personalisation, AI recommendations.
Those can all be useful, but most stores see bigger gains by getting the basics absolutely solid. Here are five areas that matter more than any gimmick.
1. Make it stupidly easy to find things
If visitors can’t find what they want quickly, nothing else matters.
Give them:
- Clear categories that make sense to a customer, not just to your inventory system.
- A search box that actually works.
- Filters that feel helpful more than overwhelming.
Then watch actual customers use the site. Where do they hesitate? Where do they back out? Fix those spots first.
2. Treat product pages like your sales team
Your product page has to do the job of a good salesperson: show, explain, reassure.
That usually means:
- Clean, high-quality photos (ideally multiple angles and context)
- Plain-English descriptions that focus on outcomes, not just specs
- The essentials: price, options, shipping and returns info
If you sell something tactile – food, clothing, homewares – invest in good imagery. It’s often a better use of budget than another homepage redesign.
3. Don’t punish mobile users
Most stores see a big chunk of traffic on phones. Some see the majority. If your site is painful on mobile, you’re simply leaking money.
On a small screen:
- Menus need to be obvious.
- Buttons need to be large enough to tap quickly.
- Forms need to be as short as you can get away with.
Load time matters too. A beautiful site that takes 8 seconds to appear is a beautifully crafted exit page.
4. Strip friction out of checkout
Checkout is not the place to get clever.
The basics:
- Let people check out as guests.
- Ask for only the information you truly need.
- Show clear totals (including shipping) before they reach the final step.
- Offer the payment methods your customers actually use.
If you want accounts, invite people to create one after they’ve bought, when they’re already feeling good about you.
5. Borrow trust wherever you can
If someone has never heard of your brand, they’re taking a small leap of faith pulling out their card.
You can make that easier by:
- Showing honest reviews and ratings
- Making your returns and contact details easy to find
- Using HTTPS everywhere and showing basic security/trust marks
- Making sure your design, spelling and content sound like a real, competent business
None of these things are hard in isolation. Together, they’re the difference between “Looks a bit dodgy” and “Yep, this seems fine”.
