Marketing Tips, Insights, and Trends
The Latest Ecommerce Web Design Trends
Author: Rachel Durkan Category: Web Design Date: June 24, 2021
The global pandemic of 2020 changed life in many ways, particularly in terms of consumer buying habits. Consumers are shopping online more than ever, making your ecommerce website design layout more important than ever before. We’ve compiled some of the hottest ecommerce web design trends of 2021 to help your business stand out among the competition.
What’s trending in ecommerce?
Innovative layouts – Gone are the days of scrolling through cluttered vertical product galleries. Some of the most effective ecommerce web design layouts at the moment are unconventional in nature. Current ecommerce web design trends include multidirectional layouts, where consumers don’t just scroll up and down, but also left, right, and diagonally. Another one of this year’s ecommerce trends is using asymmetric layouts. They can help attract your buyers’ attention; but don’t overdo it, or it could have the opposite effect.
Focus on navigation – Traditionally, ecommerce trends included keeping your navigation tools easily accessible, but mostly out of the way. But now we’re starting to see menus take center stage, placing them in the middle of a landing page and adding images, animation, branding and eye-catching fonts. This trend makes a lot of sense, especially since using navigation tools are often the first step many website visitors take.
Transitions with animation – As technology improves, so do visual effects, and we are excited about the ecommerce trends that are focusing more on animation. Animation is visually engaging, but it also presents an opportunity for consumers to virtually connect with your business, zoom in for more details, and interact with your products.
Dynamic product features – Your products are the star of your business, so make sure they are the star of your ecommerce site as well. Infuse your best-selling and most recognizable products throughout your site, and use them in background and banner images. Really good, professional ecommerce website design has always featured high-quality images, but current ecommerce trends are taking it even a step further with movement, videos, animation, and 3D models to help buyers fully experience your product. And then there’s the use of augmented reality – an interactive virtual experience using real-world items and environments enhanced with computer generation – as a way to help consumers virtually try on or try out your product.
Neutral backgrounds with pops of color – Just as “what goes around comes around” in life, so it goes with the best consumer website design. We are seeing that neutral color palettes – like cool grey, taupe, soft blue, cream, or light yellow – in backgrounds are making a comeback. One advantage of using neutral background colors is that it allows for using a bolder palette in other visual elements to help them stand out more.
Capitalizing on advancing technologies – Other ecommerce web design trends that are constantly evolving center on the use of cutting-edge technologies to enhance consumer experience. This includes incorporating flexible filters, categories and product tags on your Shopify or WordPress site, giving your visitors the freedom to search in a way that works best for them. Ecommerce trends also include advancing technology in chat bots, which nowadays can help guide visitors through their shopping experience, offer discounts or alternate buying options, and provide shipping information. They also have the added bonus of reducing costs on customer service. The best consumer website design still features cookie targeting to help personalize your buyers’ experience and optimize your site’s functionality on mobile devices. And finally, there is an increasing trend for users to utilize their smart phone’s “dark mode” feature, where the device defaults to darker colors to soften eye strain. The best consumer website design keeps all of these ecommerce trends in mind.
As online buying continues its upward trajectory, there’s no doubt that what’s trending in ecommerce is going to continue to evolve and change at a rapid pace. But we are here to help. Contact us today, and one of our Paradigm team members will be in touch.