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6 Dos & Don'ts for E-commerce Design
Discover the essential dos and don’ts that help you create shopping experiences that feel intuitive, trustworthy, and built for sales.
In today’s digital-first world, an e-commerce website isn’t just a storefront, it’s your brand’s most important sales channel. A thoughtfully designed shopping experience can drive conversions, build trust, and turn casual visitors into loyal customers. A poorly designed one can do the exact opposite.
Here are six essential dos and don’ts to keep in mind when designing high-performing e-commerce experiences.
1. Navigation
Don’t: Create Complex Navigation
Complicated menus and poorly structured categories frustrate shoppers. When users can’t find what they’re looking for quickly, they abandon their carts and move on often to a competitor that makes browsing easier. Confusing navigation is one of the fastest ways to lose sales.
Do: Keep Navigation Simple and Intuitive
Use clear labels, organize categories logically, and provide drop-downs only when necessary. Good navigation helps customers understand your catalog instantly and encourages seamless exploration. The easier it is for shoppers to find products, the more likely they are to buy.
2. Layout
Don’t: Use Cluttered or Overwhelming Layouts
Pages filled with too many elements, banners, or competing visuals create cognitive overload. Customers become distracted, confused, and unsure where to focus, which leads to fewer conversions. Clutter kills clarity, and clarity is essential in e-commerce.
Do: Use a Clean, Simple, Product-First Layout
Let your products be the hero. Use white space to reduce visual noise, maintain consistency across all pages, and ensure that information is easy to scan. A clean layout guides the customer naturally through the buying journey. Always test layouts with real users to identify friction before launch.
3. Product Images
Don’t: Use Low-Quality or Inconsistent Photos
In e-commerce, customers can’t touch your products, they rely entirely on images. Blurry, pixelated, or inconsistent photos instantly reduce trust and make your products appear low quality, regardless of their actual value.
Do: Invest in High-Quality, Consistent Photography
Show products from multiple angles, include zoom functionality, and maintain consistent lighting, styling, and sizing across all images. Great visuals build confidence, help customers imagine the product in their lives, and significantly increase conversions.
4. Checkout Flow
Don’t: Create a Long or Complicated Checkout Process
A complicated checkout is one of the most common causes of cart abandonment. When customers encounter too many steps, irrelevant form fields, or unexpected friction, they lose momentum and often the desire to finish the purchase.
Do: Make Checkout Fast and Effortless
Reduce the process to the essentials. Offer guest checkout, autofill, clear progress indicators, and minimal fields. A smooth, intuitive checkout experience keeps customers focused and increases your overall conversion rate.
5. Responsiveness
Don’t: Ignore Mobile Optimization
With a significant portion of online purchases happening on mobile devices, neglecting mobile responsiveness is a costly mistake. A site that looks great on desktop but breaks on mobile sends users straight to competitors.
Do: Prioritize a Seamless Mobile Experience
Use responsive layouts, large touch-friendly buttons, readable text, and mobile-optimized product pages. Test your site across a variety of devices and operating systems. Enhance the experience with mobile-specific features like click-to-call, store locators, or mobile wallets.
A strong mobile experience expands your audience and boosts conversions.
6. Load Times
Don’t: Allow Slow Page Speeds
Few things destroy conversions faster than a slow website. Users expect pages to load in seconds, anything longer leads to frustration and abandonment. Slow sites also perform poorly in search rankings.
Do: Optimize for Speed
Compress images, remove unnecessary scripts, minimize HTTP requests, and use caching wherever possible. A CDN can significantly reduce loading times and improve performance globally. Fast sites create confident customers and higher conversion rates.
Final Thoughts
Great e-commerce design is a strategic blend of usability, clarity, and trust. By following these dos and don’ts, you create a shopping experience that feels effortless, reliable, and enjoyable, the kind of experience that turns visitors into loyal customers.
A well-designed e-commerce site doesn’t just look good.
It works beautifully, performs consistently, and sells confidently.
Trusted design and development for teams who value clarity, quality and long-term growth.
Engagement
Conversions
6 Dos & Don'ts for E-commerce Design
Discover the essential dos and don’ts that help you create shopping experiences that feel intuitive, trustworthy, and built for sales.
In today’s digital-first world, an e-commerce website isn’t just a storefront, it’s your brand’s most important sales channel. A thoughtfully designed shopping experience can drive conversions, build trust, and turn casual visitors into loyal customers. A poorly designed one can do the exact opposite.
Here are six essential dos and don’ts to keep in mind when designing high-performing e-commerce experiences.
1. Navigation
Don’t: Create Complex Navigation
Complicated menus and poorly structured categories frustrate shoppers. When users can’t find what they’re looking for quickly, they abandon their carts and move on often to a competitor that makes browsing easier. Confusing navigation is one of the fastest ways to lose sales.
Do: Keep Navigation Simple and Intuitive
Use clear labels, organize categories logically, and provide drop-downs only when necessary. Good navigation helps customers understand your catalog instantly and encourages seamless exploration. The easier it is for shoppers to find products, the more likely they are to buy.
2. Layout
Don’t: Use Cluttered or Overwhelming Layouts
Pages filled with too many elements, banners, or competing visuals create cognitive overload. Customers become distracted, confused, and unsure where to focus, which leads to fewer conversions. Clutter kills clarity, and clarity is essential in e-commerce.
Do: Use a Clean, Simple, Product-First Layout
Let your products be the hero. Use white space to reduce visual noise, maintain consistency across all pages, and ensure that information is easy to scan. A clean layout guides the customer naturally through the buying journey. Always test layouts with real users to identify friction before launch.
3. Product Images
Don’t: Use Low-Quality or Inconsistent Photos
In e-commerce, customers can’t touch your products, they rely entirely on images. Blurry, pixelated, or inconsistent photos instantly reduce trust and make your products appear low quality, regardless of their actual value.
Do: Invest in High-Quality, Consistent Photography
Show products from multiple angles, include zoom functionality, and maintain consistent lighting, styling, and sizing across all images. Great visuals build confidence, help customers imagine the product in their lives, and significantly increase conversions.
4. Checkout Flow
Don’t: Create a Long or Complicated Checkout Process
A complicated checkout is one of the most common causes of cart abandonment. When customers encounter too many steps, irrelevant form fields, or unexpected friction, they lose momentum and often the desire to finish the purchase.
Do: Make Checkout Fast and Effortless
Reduce the process to the essentials. Offer guest checkout, autofill, clear progress indicators, and minimal fields. A smooth, intuitive checkout experience keeps customers focused and increases your overall conversion rate.
5. Responsiveness
Don’t: Ignore Mobile Optimization
With a significant portion of online purchases happening on mobile devices, neglecting mobile responsiveness is a costly mistake. A site that looks great on desktop but breaks on mobile sends users straight to competitors.
Do: Prioritize a Seamless Mobile Experience
Use responsive layouts, large touch-friendly buttons, readable text, and mobile-optimized product pages. Test your site across a variety of devices and operating systems. Enhance the experience with mobile-specific features like click-to-call, store locators, or mobile wallets.
A strong mobile experience expands your audience and boosts conversions.
6. Load Times
Don’t: Allow Slow Page Speeds
Few things destroy conversions faster than a slow website. Users expect pages to load in seconds, anything longer leads to frustration and abandonment. Slow sites also perform poorly in search rankings.
Do: Optimize for Speed
Compress images, remove unnecessary scripts, minimize HTTP requests, and use caching wherever possible. A CDN can significantly reduce loading times and improve performance globally. Fast sites create confident customers and higher conversion rates.
Final Thoughts
Great e-commerce design is a strategic blend of usability, clarity, and trust. By following these dos and don’ts, you create a shopping experience that feels effortless, reliable, and enjoyable, the kind of experience that turns visitors into loyal customers.
A well-designed e-commerce site doesn’t just look good.
It works beautifully, performs consistently, and sells confidently.
Trusted design and development for teams who value clarity, quality and growth.
Featured projects
Engagement
Conversions
6 Dos & Don'ts for E-commerce Design
Discover the essential dos and don’ts that help you create shopping experiences that feel intuitive, trustworthy, and built for sales.
In today’s digital-first world, an e-commerce website isn’t just a storefront, it’s your brand’s most important sales channel. A thoughtfully designed shopping experience can drive conversions, build trust, and turn casual visitors into loyal customers. A poorly designed one can do the exact opposite.
Here are six essential dos and don’ts to keep in mind when designing high-performing e-commerce experiences.
1. Navigation
Don’t: Create Complex Navigation
Complicated menus and poorly structured categories frustrate shoppers. When users can’t find what they’re looking for quickly, they abandon their carts and move on often to a competitor that makes browsing easier. Confusing navigation is one of the fastest ways to lose sales.
Do: Keep Navigation Simple and Intuitive
Use clear labels, organize categories logically, and provide drop-downs only when necessary. Good navigation helps customers understand your catalog instantly and encourages seamless exploration. The easier it is for shoppers to find products, the more likely they are to buy.
2. Layout
Don’t: Use Cluttered or Overwhelming Layouts
Pages filled with too many elements, banners, or competing visuals create cognitive overload. Customers become distracted, confused, and unsure where to focus, which leads to fewer conversions. Clutter kills clarity, and clarity is essential in e-commerce.
Do: Use a Clean, Simple, Product-First Layout
Let your products be the hero. Use white space to reduce visual noise, maintain consistency across all pages, and ensure that information is easy to scan. A clean layout guides the customer naturally through the buying journey. Always test layouts with real users to identify friction before launch.
3. Product Images
Don’t: Use Low-Quality or Inconsistent Photos
In e-commerce, customers can’t touch your products, they rely entirely on images. Blurry, pixelated, or inconsistent photos instantly reduce trust and make your products appear low quality, regardless of their actual value.
Do: Invest in High-Quality, Consistent Photography
Show products from multiple angles, include zoom functionality, and maintain consistent lighting, styling, and sizing across all images. Great visuals build confidence, help customers imagine the product in their lives, and significantly increase conversions.
4. Checkout Flow
Don’t: Create a Long or Complicated Checkout Process
A complicated checkout is one of the most common causes of cart abandonment. When customers encounter too many steps, irrelevant form fields, or unexpected friction, they lose momentum and often the desire to finish the purchase.
Do: Make Checkout Fast and Effortless
Reduce the process to the essentials. Offer guest checkout, autofill, clear progress indicators, and minimal fields. A smooth, intuitive checkout experience keeps customers focused and increases your overall conversion rate.
5. Responsiveness
Don’t: Ignore Mobile Optimization
With a significant portion of online purchases happening on mobile devices, neglecting mobile responsiveness is a costly mistake. A site that looks great on desktop but breaks on mobile sends users straight to competitors.
Do: Prioritize a Seamless Mobile Experience
Use responsive layouts, large touch-friendly buttons, readable text, and mobile-optimized product pages. Test your site across a variety of devices and operating systems. Enhance the experience with mobile-specific features like click-to-call, store locators, or mobile wallets.
A strong mobile experience expands your audience and boosts conversions.
6. Load Times
Don’t: Allow Slow Page Speeds
Few things destroy conversions faster than a slow website. Users expect pages to load in seconds, anything longer leads to frustration and abandonment. Slow sites also perform poorly in search rankings.
Do: Optimize for Speed
Compress images, remove unnecessary scripts, minimize HTTP requests, and use caching wherever possible. A CDN can significantly reduce loading times and improve performance globally. Fast sites create confident customers and higher conversion rates.
Final Thoughts
Great e-commerce design is a strategic blend of usability, clarity, and trust. By following these dos and don’ts, you create a shopping experience that feels effortless, reliable, and enjoyable, the kind of experience that turns visitors into loyal customers.
A well-designed e-commerce site doesn’t just look good.
It works beautifully, performs consistently, and sells confidently.
Trusted design and development for teams who value clarity, quality and long-term growth.