Website Design a Top Concern of Online Retailers

Not surprisingly, website design is a top priority for web retailers, 60.3 percent of which have redesigned their e-commerce sites in the past year, including 20.1 percent in the past three months and 14.3 percent within six months, according to Internet Retailer’s survey on website design, content and rich media, writes MarketingCharts.

Of those planning to overhaul the look of their websites, 74.7 percent expect to do so within 12 months and 28.6 percent within 90 days, the study found.

Other findings from the survey:

• Better product and page organization is a top design goal for 68.9 percent of all companies, followed by smoother navigation, 67.3 percent; faster and more intuitive site search, 53.9 percent; and more product reviews and ratings, 40.9 percent.
• 70.2 percent of respondents have websites that allow shoppers to create a personal account and view and update their information
• 52.6 percent offer advanced site search tools that shoppers can use to search by product type, size, color, material and price.
• 57 percent of retailers’ sites allow customers to track their individual orders.
• Other popular features include “email a friend” at 54.9 percent, advanced site search at 47.2 percent, alternative payments at 43 percent, and digital coupons or rebates at 40.4 percent.

• 50.8 percent of respondents say they will rely on internal staff to complete the next site redesign; 13.8 percent say they will use their current design firm; 15.3 percent say they will use a combination of employees and their design company.
• Only 35.1 percent of merchants use rich media: Among them, 20.7 percent are using videos, 16.6 percent offer zooming in on images; 10.4 percent, interactive catalogs; 9.8 percent, dynamic imaging; and 7.8 percent color swatching.

• 56.3 percent of web retailers solicit customer feedback before a web design project or study customers’ reaction after the work is completed.
• Once the new design is in place, only 23.3 percent of web retailers conduct A/B or multivariate tests.