This is not going to be the article where we discuss which eCommerce platform is right for your business. Also, I’m not going to convince you to choose BigCommerce over other platforms (which I usually do.)
I’m simply going to assume, you have decided to develop your eCommerce store in BigCommerce from the pool of eCommerce platforms and all set to choose a well-functioning theme. This article is purely for the entrepreneurs who are looking forward to purchasing a theme for their online store.
I have narrowed down 5 basics, yet very crucial elements that add value to a common eCommerce theme, and help you run your online store more effectively. We will give our best efforts on understanding the importance of these elements and help you pick the right theme for your future or existing store.
So, here are the 5 elements that play a tremendous role in conversion, UX, UI, and somehow in terms of SEO as well.
- Carousel & Category Banners
- Advanced Product Search
- Various Product Highlighting Sections
- Product Card Shortcuts
- Ample Content Space
Let’s understand the importance of each element in detail.
1. Carousel & Category Banners
Carousel banner is the easiest way to showcase the latest products, offers, deals, discounts, even notices to increase the product sales. In every major eCommerce store, you’ll find these banners displaying their latest offerings.
When visitors land on your homepage, they will see these sliding banners. This directly increases the number of visits on a particular product or category page. It gives direct exposure to new products or even low selling products to meet your sales target.
Many eCommerce stores use such banners in category pages where they specifically emphasize a particular product (usually the highest margin product) over other products. Here’s a good sample of category banner where you can display any product:
2. Advanced Product Search
Advanced search filters help users to find the right products with fewer efforts. Let’s quickly understand this by an example:
Usually, when customers search for products using specific keywords, eCommerce sites will find that keyword in all product titles and descriptions and try to display the relevant results. This often leads to confusion when two products with entirely different categories share the same keywords in their titles. Let’s say, Apple.
Apple Inc. has a wide range of electronics products, and the same title can be used in fruits and vegetables as well. When advanced search filters are offered to customers, they can select the right category to save time and see the most relevant results.
3. Various Product Highlighting Sections
In almost every eCommerce store, you will find various sections that display the latest or the most trending products on the homepage. Such sections directly increase the sales as they are emphasized in special sections. Like this:
It’s an essential factor to consider while you’re checking out various BigCommerce Themes. There are multiple ways you can display your products like new products, products of the month, new arrivals, most popular products, featured products, etc.
4. Product Card Shortcuts
Product card shortcuts are not the most crucial factor in your theme, but it gives a great user experience. Various shortcuts like Quick View, Product Compare, and Add To Cart can save the user some time and help them pick the right product quickly.
Here is an excellent example of a product card for BigCommerce theme:
5. Ample Content Space
Content can help any product page rank higher in search engines. We don’t have to discuss the importance of ranking high on search engines as it is quite self-explanatory. Various sections or tabs in product pages allow you to add more meaningful content to educate the audience, and help you rank higher.
You can use content in various forms when it comes to a product page. Here are some of the ways:
- Reviews
- Products features & specifications
- Product user manual
- Manufacturer details
- Product images & videos
- FAQs
- Products comparisons
Amazon is a classic example when it comes to content in product pages. You’ll find every tiny detail about the product starting from specification to user reviews, and that surely helps them rank higher on search engines.
When you’re adding such content to product pages, make sure to cover relevant keywords in various combinations so that search engines can display your results in more than one query.
BigCommerce themes usually offer ample space for content, but you can add multiple tabs using the custom product tab add-on as well.
Bottomline
All BigCommerce themes are user-centric and deliver a great user experience. However, these are the five factors you can keep in the back of your mind to pick an excellent theme for your online store.
Cheers!
Kashyap Trivedi is Digital Marketing Executive at PSDCenter – A BigCommerce Developer community from Charlotte. He likes to learn all the aspects of digital marketing like SEO, PPC, SMO, and content marketing. When he’s not working, you’ll find him reading a good book or meditating.
Picking the best theme for a BigCommerce Store is very crucial. Thanks for posting.