In the year 2020, the ecommerce sector spiked as consumers turned to their smartphones for grocery, home needs, and other shopping requirements. The pandemic and the resulting digital-first shift yielded strong demand for online shopping for the last couple of years. It's expected that the ecommerce industry will touch $5 trillion in 2022 and grow to $6 trillion by 2024. 

Online store sales are expected to constitute 22% of global retail sales by 2023, so if you're a business owner, it's imperative to build an ecommerce website to sustain itself in the fiercely competitive market.

However, a poorly designed and executed ecommerce website will do more harm than good in the long run. While ecommerce websites are rapidly becoming the face of businesses irrespective of the industry, not all websites become successful. If you try to build an ecommerce website on your own from scratch, you might end up with a website that's poorly executed and has design shortcomings.

It's possible to build an ecommerce website with the help of domain providers and website builders, and to do it well, you need to know the most common flaws and mistakes. Here's a detailed guide on the crucial design shortcomings that negatively impact ecommerce stores.

Not Implementing a Mobile-Friendly Design

According to reports, over 50 percent of total internet traffic comes from mobile devices. As such, it's extremely important to have an ecommerce website that has been optimized for mobile viewing. Considering there are thousands of Android devices with different screen sizes and resolutions along with an overwhelming lineup of iPhones and iPads, there is a huge variety of devices across the two OS platforms.

The interface and user experience of the ecommerce website should be fully compatible and optimized to all of these devices' screens, from the homepage all the way down to the product pages and checkout screens. If your mobile site looks perfect on compact and medium-sized displays but gets stretched or pixelated on bigger devices, it's a critical design flaw that requires immediate attention.

Using the Wrong Theme

Don't make the mistake of choosing a theme to make your website look pretty. A beautiful theme does not necessarily translate to an efficient theme. There's a reason why websites like Amazon have a straightforward and minimal design. Think from the POV of the customer and figure out the expected user experience from the ecommerce store.

Go to the drawing board, list out the features of your website, and plan a prototype design that will showcase all features, buttons, and layout options in the best possible manner. Once you have an idea of what you want the website to look like while still fitting the user experience, picking a perfect theme gets a whole lot easier. You can even design a custom theme if you don't find a suitable theme.

Over-Complicated Checkout

One of the biggest turn-offs for customers on ecommerce websites has to be a complex checkout process that takes too much effort. If you can, try implementing one-click checkout on the website, which was the main reason behind Amazon's success. 

In case it's not possible to implement the same, make sure that the checkout process remains extremely simple. There should not be more than one or two steps involved in purchasing the product on your website. Besides this, ensure that all relevant information like taxes and shipping charges are mentioned on the checkout page.

Incomplete Product Detail Pages

One of the key deciding factors for conversion is to have a perfect PDP or product detail page. A majority of online shoppers make the final purchase decision after reading the product description and checking product images from all angles. Therefore, it's a must to have accurate text descriptions and high-resolution shots of the product on the PDP.

Keep the PDP minimal with lots of negative white space and minimal clutter to display relevant information on the fore. Ensure that the description covers everything that a consumer would like to know and is accurate. Keep the text jargon-free and precise to convey exactly what the customer is looking for.

Inefficient Search and Filter

As mentioned before, more than 50 percent of online shoppers do so from their mobile phones. It's not possible to scroll long lists and catalogs on the tiny screen to look for the desired product. Therefore, most customers prefer to use the search option to find the product they are looking for.

Ensure that the search option on your website is efficient and accurate. Make it further convenient for the customer by adding filters related to niches covering each specification. Moreover, introduce a comparison model where customers can compare similar products in detail along with prices. Also, ensure that the search option is present above the fold on every page in a prominent position.

Complicated Navigation

Lastly, one of the most common design flaws that force customers to leave new ecommerce websites is complex navigation. It can be frustrating when browning products and making purchases is harder than it should be. Ensure that the products on your website are neatly categorized based on recently added, last viewed, most viewed, price, and more.

Additionally, ensure that the web store buttons and clickable elements are big enough for finger tapping even on compact mobile phones. Lastly, place the menu option and navigation buttons in prominent spaces on the screen. The easier it's for customers to navigate the website, the longer they will stay on it and explore further.

These are the most common design flaws that ruin the customer experience on an ecommerce platform. There are more obvious and all of them require equal attention. When designing the UI for an ecommerce website, you should prioritize customer experience over everything else.