The features you’ll need to add to your ecommerce site will vary depending on the type of site you operate. Some of the recommendations presented here relate to any ecommerce page, while others are more specific to certain markets or types of site. This checklist offers the more common elements that customers tend to be looking for on an ecommerce product page. It’s broken up into essentials, which every page should have, and more peripheral things intended to produce a richer experience for the user.

It’s important to bear in mind, though, that the elements that add up to a richer experience might result in that page being more popular than a bare-bones but functional one; in that respect, they are essential. If your page works in that it’s possible to buy things from it, but not in the sense that people want to, it’s as bad as if it didn’t work at all. And in a marketplace as crowded as ecommerce, customer’s perceptions of the quality and approachability of your site can make all the difference.

 

Product Page Essentials:

These elements are a requirement for any product page. They provide the basic information that shoppers want to see before making purchase decisions.

#1. Product Page Copy
Simply using the manufacturer’s information will result in a product description that no-one will ever read, even if it is only ten words long. Sell the product in product page copy by couching the information in terms that make it sound attractive and that are interesting enough to read that customers want to find out.
There are also SEO benefits to be gained from using unique copy. Your competitors are supplied the same information from the manufacturers as you. If your copy is well designed it can net your page better Google ranking than theirs. Customised product information also allows for more text for search engines to index.

#2. Product Detail
If a customer wants to buy a product from you, but when it comes it won’t fit in the space provided – say, a washing machine that’s too big for his kitchen – he’s had a negative experience, you’ve had a headache and he might not come back. Product details might be dry as dust but they’re vitally important. Make sure they’re on the page and easy to find.

#3. Payment Methods
Your customer wants to buy. But how? Make it as obvious as possible which payment methods you accept, prominently displaying logos where possible. While they shouldn’t be allowed to clutter up the screen they should catch the eye of customers looking for them.

#4. Images
Good product images are vitally important. They provide the customer’s first impression and influence the emotions customers approach purchase with. They make a massive contribution to how customers perceive the site; dull, blurry product images make everything else on the site look cheap, and not in a good way.

#5. Availability
Availability should be displayed prominently too. No-one wants to figure prices and postage, decide to buy and find they can’t, so display availability. It can be a sales driver too; the knowledge that there are only a few of a given item left can spur customers to make purchases they might otherwise have put off, so include numbers if possible.

#6. Shipping
You’ll need to cover where you deliver, carrier options and fees and any offers you’re making as well as timescale estimates. Customers used to buying things online add shipping into prices automatically, and getting things delivered at an affordable price is a key component of any customer’s purchase decision.
#7. Product Title
Use the H1 tag for the product title; this will help search engines index your product pages.

#8. Returns Policy
If a customer is unsure about a purchase, that decision can be influenced by a clear and flexible returns policy. Even if there are cases where all sales are final, customers need to know this clearly.

#9. Add to Cart Button
The Add-to-Cart button is the most important action your customers make, and the siting and design of the button should reflect that. Don’t let it be hard to find or look like other things; make it easily accessible. Design should make it stand out without being unnecessarily intrusive.

#10. Prices
Prices should be clearly displayed. Remember to strikethrough (not delete) old prices when genuine discounts have apply.

#11. Colour / Sizing Options
Show the range of colour options, preferably with an image of each shot under the same conditions and with the same model.

User Generated Content Features
While this doesn’t quite make it into the essentials list, for many sites reviews and ratings make a huge difference to perception and credibility. The following methods allow users to interact with the site, letting you and prospective customers know what they think.

#12. Display 1-5 Star Product Ratings
The simplest form of customer interaction is for them to simply leave a rating for an item. This allows shoppers to make a quick judgement and lets reviews function as additional, more in-depth information.

#13. Detailed Reviews and/or Comments
Customers will want to see the detail. Showing reviews in full further down the product page, in a box or linked is the best way to do this.

#14. Profile Reviewers
Include additional fields to profile reviewers as some reviews may apply to my needs, whilst others may not. Sorting and profiling reviews means I can select those that do – for instance, shoppers can view a review by a professional chef for a cooking knife set you are selling to be more valuable than one from Joe Public. Beginning sportsmen or hobbyists will have different requirements to pros, and they can pick out the reviews that are relevant to them.

#15. ‘Save for Later’ OR ‘Add to Wishlist’
Wishlists allow shoppers bookmark items for future purchase, and offer retailer the chance to learn more about what their customers want. Retailers can then remind their customers with a message when they return to the site.

Features for a Richer Shopping Experience
The features listed here can make pages more attractive to customers, showing customers products in the best possible light and building the brand’s positive identity.

#16. Zoom-in and 360° View Tools
Zooming into a product to examine details is an important option, allowing customers to check on welting or stitching on clothes and garments, or on details of other products.
Views of a product from all angles and preferably from above and below as well allows prospects to examine products from the angle they think best.

#17. Video
Video works great on product descriptions. Catwalk videos can work well on clothes sites, and guided tours of interiors sell everything from homes to appliances. Fashion retailers - ASOS.com have video footage accompanying all clothing they stock. Online footwear retailers – Zappos.com who also have video footage for all shoes they stock claim that product videos boosted sales by 6-30%.

#18. Product Codes
Retailers producing both a paper catalogue and a website can link the two via product codes. Coding products in the catalogue makes the website more searchable, if all customers need to is enter the product code in the search box.

#19. Highlight Special Offers
Discounts like reduced shipping over a certain purchase amount or discounts on certain product lines can nudge sales. Make them prominent. Consider building a corner tab into every page advertising them, or find other ways to make them known to every visitor.

#20. eCommerce Trustmarks and Badges
Trustmarks are displays that show that the site is secure. There is some debate concerning the efficacy of trustmarks, and many well-known retailers including Amazon and Macy’s don’t use them. But trustmarks may help less well-established retailers gain trust.

#21. Live Chat – or a Prominent Contact Number
Customers may have questions about a product or about part of the purchase process; no matter how comprehensive the information you display, you can’t cover everything. Offering live chat or a prominent contact number can save a number of sales by answering these questions. Statistics indicate that customers like live chat, and for high-cost items the cost will definitely be worth it though for smaller items it may not be.

#22. Social Sharing Buttons
Even if shoppers aren’t going to buy your product, making it easy for them to share the product across social media means they can advertise it for you for free instead. Your product reaches a wider audience and becomes a topic of conversation on social media. Pinterest, for instance, has a ‘rich-pin’ button showing the product along with price and other details.

#23. Social Proof & Viewable Statistics
Social proof means showing how many people are looking at or buying services. Post statistics – the number of fans, views, sales, or other relevant figures. Showing the number of people who like a site or a product enhances its image. I love how Booking.com publicly displays live information on recent views and bookings by region and location of their visitors.

#24. International Pricing
Built-in currency converters allows customers to check on prices in the currency they’ll be paying in, which is often the currency they think in too. Useful for sites that sell overseas, the best method is an option to display all prices throughout the site in a range of currencies.

#25. Cross-Selling and Up-Selling
If a customer is viewing a product, provide details of items that would go with that product. A customer viewing a laptop, for instance, might also need a laptop sleeve – but he’s more likely also need software, a laptop bag and anti-virus, so offer them.


Upselling on the other-hand, means offering customers the chance to buy the product they’re already planning to buy along with another and save money on the total. They’re getting a good deal, but they’re still spending more than before. As an example, a laptop seller may bundle up a laptop sleeve, bag and anti-virus package. In some cases these offers don’t actually result in a saving for the customer!

 

By Kunle Campbell, digital marketing eCommerce specialist and founder of Fuzz One Media, an Oxford, based agency that offers integrated digital marketing and specialist SEO, social media, pay-per-click, online PR, and content marketing services to eCommerce businesses.

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