Shoppers are increasingly shopping online to make purchases they would not have made in person. To take advantage of this trend, businesses that used to have a brick-and mortar store are also moving online.

Wix currently supports 700K+ eCommerce stores in 190 different countries.

Wix eCommerce makes it easy to set up an online shop. But, it is important to pay attention to details when setting up your online store. This can make the difference between success or failure.

A well-designed online store can optimize your customers’ journey and drive sales.

You will find best practices and tips to help you set up your online shop from launch. This will allow you to create a solid structure that can grow with your business.

01. Your online storefront

A website designed well can make or break an online business.

Good design is at the intersection between form and function in eCommerce. It’s the combination of design elements and structure that helps shoppers move through the buying process as smoothly and as enjoyable as possible.

Choosing an eCommerce Template

Start by deciding which eCommerce website template best suits your needs. First, consider the size of your product catalogue.

A large product catalogue:A template with multiple product categories, deep searches, and store navigation functions is recommended. This will allow customers to shop easily and organize your catalog.

Ruby Love is an example of a woman who has made a fortune selling swimwear and period-proof underwear. The store has 500+ products and is user-friendly with drop-down menus, search, and grouping of products into easy to find collections.

A small product catalogue: Choose a template that places your products in the center of your page and displays your entire catalog.

Velocirax, a family-owned business, sells six models of self-lowering bicycle racks and a few accessories. All racks are available on the homepage. This makes it easy for customers to search and choose the model and size they desire.

Only one product: Select a template that emphasizes a quick buyer experience by placing your product in the center.

Example: DIVINIA water’s revenue has surpassed $1.5 million from just one product: glass bottles of impurity-free water. Every fold of their website highlights a clear CTA that makes it easy to buy.

Are you ready to get started?

Wix offers hundreds of professional online shop templates that are already optimized to suit the needs of many store types. You can browse designs by industry such as beauty, electronics and food. You can also view this collection of 15 high-converting eCommerce site templates and our Wix Tutorials to get your store up and running.

 

Personalize your store

After you have selected the eCommerce template that best suits your store’s needs, customize the template to fit your brand identity. You can change colors, fonts and insert photos. Strong brand identities are what set your business apart online, and build trust with potential customers.

Your design elements should be viewed in the same way as lighting, music, layout, and layout in brick-and-mortar businesses. You want your brand to feel distinct and immediately perceivable.

You can find a professional designer on the Wix Marketplace if you are interested in professional assistance for your website’s design.

Design that is

Above all, make your online store sell more. These features will increase your conversions.

• Clear navigation The best eCommerce websites help customers navigate their stores. Organize your online shop with categories, menus and filters. Add a search box to make it easy for shoppers to find what they are looking for.
• Help customers navigate their shopping experience with bold call-to-action buttons (CTA). Keep your CTA text short and simple, from “Buy Now” through “Learn More”. Use eye-catching colors and sizes to make each button stand out.
• Show customers that the shopping cart was registered when they add items to their cart. Use colors that contrast with your background to make your cart icon standout in the header.
• Turbo site speedWix websites are optimized to load quicker than ever. You can also place larger files such as videos lower on your pages.
• Optimize your website for mobile: The majority of your customers will visit you site via mobile. Even with high-end products, however, many customers will continue to shop on their desktops. Wix sites are automatically optimized for mobile. However, you might need to make adjustments to the mobile version if you have made any changes to the desktop site. Ensure that you review both the desktop and mobile layouts during the design process.

 

02. Add your products

Now you can build the core of your online shop: add the products that you intend to sell.

 

Product pages are your sales pages. The content you provide is what your customers will use to decide whether or not they want to buy.

Wix eCommerce creates individual product pages automatically when you add inventory to your shopfront. Upload your products to your store individually if you are creating a product catalog from scratch. To upload all of your products at once, export your inventory to a CSV file or use Car2Cart, which will transfer your existing products to your new store.

An online store template will have strong CTAs and a layout that sells. However, the content you add to these pages is crucial to your online store’s success.

Create product webpages that convert

Product images

If customers don’t feel confident about what your product looks like, they won’t purchase it. Professional product images can create excitement about your product and give potential customers a clear understanding of what you are selling. How to take your own product photos? Learn Product Photography 101.

These are some things to remember when adding product images

• JPGs – In most cases you will want to use JPGs that are high quality and won’t slow down your pages. The integrated Wix Photo Editor allows you to edit, resize and add filters to any image.
• There are two types of photos for each product: High quality photos of your product against a background of solid colors and Active product photo. This is a lifestyle picture that shows your product and gives you an idea of its size, fit or use.
• Different perspectives Show products from multiple angles and enable the zoom feature for customers to see more detail.
• Show product variations: Include a photo that shows each product variation (fabric, color or pattern).
• Product videos Videos are an effective tool to help sway customers. They are particularly useful if your product needs assembly. With Wix Video Maker, you can create and upload product videos.
• Keep it consistent. By default, the image thumbnails in your product gallery are square. You can adjust the image ratio to suit your needs. No matter what image dimension you choose, ensure they are consistent across product pages.

Product titles & descriptions

It is crucial to build trust with customers by providing informative product descriptions. A good product description increases credibility and leads to more conversions.

These are the best practices to follow when writing product descriptions and titles.

• Clear product titles: Your product title should contain at least one simple descriptor. You might choose “Blue Power Headphones” over “Blue Power Ear Listeners”.
• Keywords Using keywords in product names and descriptions to help you get your product pages on search engines like Google, as well as your website search, will make them more visible.
• Relevant information Give your customers the information they need to make informed purchasing decisions. This space can be used to answer any questions your customers might have.
• You customer: Create descriptions that put your customer in the center of attention. Help them visualize themselves using your product. Tone is important. What tone do you want your customers to use? What do you want your customers to feel about your product?
• Include or link to your shipping, return, and refund policies within the description. Customers can then make a purchase without leaving the product page.

Store features to increase sales

Strong product descriptions and images are a great start for optimizing product pages. But remember: this is your chance to sell. Create built-in customer support and cross-selling functions and add social proof to help you pave the way to purchase.

Similar items

To enhance your shopping experience and increase sales, add a related products gallery for each product.

Displaying related products on Wix store pages results in an average 43% increase in sales transactions.

Customer reviews

Customers’ reviews are a powerful way to show social proof about your product and give shoppers more confidence in making a purchase. Your SEO will benefit from reviews, which can make it easier for customers to find your products through search engines. It is evident that customer reviews have a direct impact on revenue.

Wix stores who add third party review apps to their site see an average 10% increase in overall sales and in average order value in the first 60 days.

You can use to review features:

• Wix forms: Create a form for customers to give feedback about your website and products. You can ask them to leave detailed comments or star ratings.
• Kudobuzz Review app: Collect feedback and post it on your product pages. After a customer has purchased, send automated emails asking for reviews.
• Customer Review app: Collect ratings, testimonials, and reviews. You can choose which feedback you wish to publish on product pages.
• Comments app : Respond to customer questions and feedback. Enable comment responses to create a community for customers.
• Velo from Wix: Use your Products database to add your code and create a custom review page.

 

Wix Chat

Visitors can contact you via an online chatbox. Customers prefer live chat to email and phone support. This gives shoppers the opportunity to ask any questions they may have before buying.

Wix stores offering live chat have an average revenue of 8-12x higher and customers who are able to recommend products via live chat make an average of 71% less sales.

 

Clear policies

When they shop at your store, they need to know what they are getting into. Trust online is built by transparent, open, and easily accessible shipping/return policies. To reflect your terms and condition, edit the policy section of your store template.

With Wix FAQ, you can add additional information to your store.

Are you looking for high-converting product pages that convert well? These product page examples can be a great source of inspiration.

 

03. Accept online payments

The fun part is over–getting paid.

You must connect at least one payment gateway (a provider of payment) to your website in order to accept online payment. However, it can have a significant impact on your overall revenue by offering multiple payment options at checkout.

Wix stores that accept 3 or more payment options have an average 39% higher revenue.

Payment options for Wix

• Wix payments. Without the need to set up a third party payment gateway, our native payment provider makes it easy to accept debit and credit card payments on your behalf. Wix Payments allows you to offer subscriptions, recurring payments and other payment options, all while managing your business and payments from the Wix dashboard. Wix Merchants based in the United States can sell online or in person with our provider for Wix Point of Sale.
• PayPal. Accept PayPal at checkout to open your store up to their large network of users. PayPal can be added to your payment options. It works with debit and credit cards (read Wix Payments). Customers who choose PayPal when they check out will be taken to PayPal’s website where they can quickly make their purchase. After they have paid, they will be sent back to you online store.
• Stripe. You can choose Stripe to make debit/credit card payment if Wix Payments is not your preferred method. Stripe accepts 135+ currencies, and supports recurring payment.
• Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL). You get paid in full, but your customers can still buy now and make affordable payments. You can also add popular BNPL options like Afterpay, Sezzle, and Affirm.
• Wix Point-of-Sale (POS). Wix POS enables you to unify your online and in-person sales. Customers can pay in person at your store, online, or at the counter. You can also accept payments when you sell on-the-go, such as at festivals, markets, or pop ups. Wix POS is available for select Wix Stores users in the United States and comes with a dedicated POS solution to Wix Events.

Wix offers a wide range of payment providers.

Go to your dashboard and click Settings. Select Accept Payments. You can choose from more than 50 top online payment options for your business or location. You can view all payments from Wix, regardless of how they are paid.

 

Set shipping prices

You can calculate shipping costs for your online store by specifying your shipping areas and rates. To encourage purchases, you can create custom rules such as free shipping for orders over $100. Customers can request expedited shipping.

There are many options for how to determine shipping rates and methods. Although free shipping is not always possible for all online shops, it can be a powerful incentive for shoppers.

Wix eCommerce stores offering free shipping average 18% higher average order values.

Offering local pickup and delivery to customers in your brick-and-mortar store can help you build loyalty.

Wix stores offering in-store pickup generate an average 10% more revenue.

 

Calculating tax

You can manually set tax rates to include store tax at checkout.

Important to remember, however, is that tax rules can be complex depending on where you live, where your customers reside, and what you sell.

source https://www.wix.com/blog/ecommerce/2020/01/how-to-set-up-and-manage-your-online-store-with-wix