Lots of product marketers feel that their hands are tied when it comes to selling a product. There is probably already a visual style defined for the product itself and for the online shop website, which makes you think the idea that there’s no additional effort required for an online product presentation.
Wrong! First impressions are everything when it comes to content. Content must be seen as a strong symbiosis between design and information. These two foundations need each other: the perfect eCommerce website or app should be visually attractive and, at the same time, it must show all the key information in a balanced, precise, up-to-date and error-free way.
What is the magical combination if you want to merge design and content to get the perfect eCommerce product pages?
Information + Clarity + Fun + Personalization
A product page design should give everything to users and, at the same time, keep something from them with a bit of interactivity and with some options, just like the traditional experience attached to searching and buying products in a physical store.
A product page only has a few seconds to convince or frighten off a visitor. We’re talking about very few seconds, maybe 5… or even 3!
What are you going to do with those precious 3 seconds?
Content & Design: The Twins of eCommerce
"The best way to keep the user’s attention starting from the first millisecond is spending time, effort and lots of care when creating your eCommerce product pages."
Your first step is the product information, which must be well coordinated inside your company and across all the channels that distribute and display the data. For this purpose, it’s vital for any eCommerce to use specialized software such as a PIM or Product Information Management. If you are truly in charge of your products’ information status, then you should do your utmost when preparing the design for each channel. When you have all your information ready it’s easier to know where to put it and how to create a rich and complete
design.
These are the fundamental guides you should follow to achieve a perfect eCommerce product page design:
- Clarity and sharpness: The design should be created for sight and touch, with easy-to distinguish elements that are easy to interact with on mobile screens.
- Wallpapers: The most effective ones in eCommerce are generally neutral or pure white.
- Key colors: You can follow a corporate palette, but the colors must always be uniform and eye-catching, without being garish, and used in key visual zones.
- Elements disposition: The most important content elements for the user should always be located at the top of the page: the title, the highlighted image, the price, the ‘Buy’ button, shipping costs and delivery times.
- Data classification: You have to separate the general descriptions from the pure technical specifications (more suitable in bullets). This task is very easy if product content management has already been carried out previously. In addition, it is important to highlight different information according to the product: for example, it’s very important that you include size charts for clothes, assembly instructions for pieces of furniture or video tutorials for cosmetics.
- Harmony between product pages: Both the product information and the design elements must be uniform among different pages and channels — that’s why the synchronization and automation of content management is vital for eCommerce design.
- Photo gallery: Image galleries must have high quality and standardized pics, with the same image formats and aesthetic line used in all product pages. A really attractive trend consists in integrating the main product’s photograph with the background — it would look like if the product is floating on the page.
- Interactive elements: Visual support is essential to present and explain products through animations, unique comparisons, an inspiring banner or by giving the user the option to play with the product, such as changing the color of a car, the strap of a watch, the floor of a room...
- Zero distractions: Make sure that pop-up windows with promotions, requests or announcements do not appear on the product pages, since they can distract from the main focus of getting the sale of that product.
- Secondary buttons: Options to add the product to a wish list and share it on social media are not that important, but they can be useful. Try to encourage its use through original strategies, such as proposing a specific hashtag for your product.
- Simple reviews: It is better to let users score your products with stars and brief opinions than long texts that usually turn to be rants. Your product pages will gain in visual uniformity and users will have to be more concise.
- Seasonal design: Take advantage of any occasion to give a boost of personality to your product pages. Christmas, Halloween, Easter, Summer Sales... Any occasion is a unique opportunity to readapt your design, show that you pay attention and make constant updates, and include promotions that encourage visits and purchases.
Wrap up
Content and design should always go hand in hand in any eCommerce product page. The type of information highlighted and the resources used may vary according to your product niche, but the fundamental pieces should never be overlooked.
"Design never goes to sleep: be innovative and don’t be afraid of being bold or of the latest technical innovations."
And remember that design never goes to sleep: be innovative and don’t be afraid of being bold or of the latest technical innovations. That is the correct attitude if you want to keep your product pages in a constant state of revision and improvement that convinces a spectrum of users that’s becoming more and more demanding every day.
