Web Design Trends for 2014
Single Page Design, Flat Design, Photo Navigation and Responsive Design
The average person determines in the first 10-20 seconds whether staying on a webpage is worth their time or not. The web design and layout of an eCommerce site directly impacts sales, and more importantly, the lasting impressions of your company. Even so, simply having a well-designed eCommerce storefront is not enough; the consumer expects at the bare minimum of easy site navigation and a clear understanding of what’s being offered. The following eCommerce web design trends for 2014 have increasingly been preferred by consumers and UI/UX professionals, offering one, if not all, of the necessities that define an outstanding eCommerce website.
The success of eCommerce site is based on the mutual trust. A poorly designed website or an eCommerce checkout system that requires excessive clicking and multiple steps in due course can lead to consumers' abandoned shopping carts. It has been concluded that 73% of people stopped an online order because too much personal information was being asked from them. The solution to this problem? –A single page design that requires the bare minimum of information, cutting out all of the fluff.
The minimalist approach called flat design takes on the foundational components that can include color, shape, and typography to project a meaning. This approach gives the web designer the freedom to add more functionality to an eCommerce site without the extraneous design elements. Flat design also benefits the consumer with quick viewing and a clear call to action. Although flat design provides a very aesthetically pleasing look, it can easily cause frustration in users who are not familiar with the changes which, if not carefully tested, can quickly lead to shopping cart abandonment.
With the exponential success of Pinterest in the last year, we’re seeing a greater preference for a visual shopping experience. Photo navigation offers products to be displayed in a grid-like feed that incorporates the ease of online shopping, without sacrificing the fun of window shopping. This eCommerce web design trend for 2014 is being seen everywhere. Online shoppers are noting their preference of text being displayed as a feed, while pictures and videos are best presented as a grid. In this past year alone, several dozen online shops have integrated the photo navigation design trend into their eCommerce website, if not completely.
We live in a multiscreen world. Responsive web design allows for such changes in technology, allowing content to adapt to whatever size screen is being used by the viewer. The more accessible an eCommerce storefront is for the consumer, the more relevant traffic it will receive, which ultimately can increase online sales. For more information on responsive web design, download our responsivce web design white paper on the subject.
