As everyone hopes to turn the corner in 2022, companies are becoming bolder and more innovative in their strategies. You can get in touch with Ecommerce Soultions Agency in London To help you stay competitive in e-commerce, we present a list of e-commerce design trends to watch closely in 2022.
1. Vertically aligned menus
For decades, everyone has defaulted to a horizontal menu on their website. After all, e-commerce platforms were once only meant for large screens. like those on desktops and laptops. This situation is rapidly changing, with 68% of users visiting websites on their mobile phones . Now, e-commerce platforms must also be mobile-friendly.
As companies started creating responsive websites that adapt to different screen sizes, it quickly became apparent that some horizontal menus don’t work well on narrow mobile screens. This is why you may have noticed an increasing number of e-commerce sites with vertically aligned menus.
Since a vertical menu can be placed on either side of the page. It doesn’t take up much space and is easier to scale. When viewed on a desktop computer. A vertical menu allows you to add navigation links without the drop-down menu obstructing the body of your page. And since it looks like a list, a vertical menu serves as an effective guide for users on how you want them to explore your page for a smooth experience.
Simply put, vertically aligned menus are intuitive and convenient. Websites are even starting to combine horizontal menus for primary navigational links and vertical menus for secondary links. This approach helps maximize space while providing a memorable alternative to the standard navigation displays we’re used to.
2.Original layouts
A layout is used to structure the information of a website in an attractive and functional way. Many businesses rely on e-commerce platforms for this, like Shopify. These tend to offer a range of standard design templates that follow a small number of defined structures, such as single column layout or F-layout. The problem with these templates is that although they are easy to set up, they have become so common that they no longer offer the element of surprise to users.
With unconventional layouts, some businesses break the mold and thrive on quirkiness. Their websites, apps, and online pages incorporate themes into their layout, like a sophisticated and well-organized art gallery with infinite scrolling. Some also combine multiple elements, like interactive videos and animated photos, resulting in an engaging experience. The likely results? Longer user engagement, better brand retention and increased conversion rate.
3. Physical versus digital?
With the pandemic having confined many people indoors, businesses have relied on e-commerce platforms to pick up consumers transacting in physical stores. And with the slow return to normal, the demand for platforms that enable digital and physical interaction is here to stay.
Apart from online stores or e-commerce sites, applications of all kinds have developed to meet user demands for convenience and excellence in digital customer services. These platforms remove a few extra steps in the journey of a customer who would shop in-store. For example, in a physical store, one would have to walk into the store, shop in the crowd, and stand in line to pay for their items.
With this new trend in e-commerce design, businesses are enabling consumers to check what products are in stock at nearby stores, schedule appointments, and pay bills digitally. They can also integrate customer service through live support via chat or video calls. With a market dependent on smartphones, apps can do wonders for a business and its end users.
4. Sophisticated voice interfaces
Do you want to bring a new level of comfort? Harness the power of Artificial Intelligence technology.
Businesses are now realizing the benefits of integrating AI technology into their e-commerce platforms through a voice-enabled user interface. Giving users someone they can chat with and be assisted with creates a personalized and highly effective user experience: think of it like having a personal store clerk or home secretary.
To achieve this, you can start by integrating voice UI into your UX design and invest in voice search optimization for your e-commerce site. Text searches are usually done by phrases, while people who use voice search tend to ask questions in full sentences.
Similar to search engine optimization, you need to incorporate keywords and content that are “verbally” visible. With this in mind, you can add keywords in the form of questions or leverage keywords that appear in snippets on Google – sometimes called position zero or information that appears above the first search result – to to name just a few.
5. Holistic e-commerce experience
With over 500,000 brandsand billions of e-commerce platforms worldwide, capturing the market with varying needs is a challenge. This means that to remain competitive, large companies must become one-stop-shops by developing their offer.
Big e-commerce brands can take inspiration from Facebook. After acquiring several social media platforms in addition to Facebook, the company is now expanding into social technologies. Hence the rebranding to Meta. With their expansion, more and more users are likely to use Meta for their social media and social technology needs.
