An online store website is a website where you can buy products and services.
In other words, an online store is also a type of website.
If you are unsure whether you need simple website or online stores, ask yourself: do you want your website visitors to be able to order and pay for the products/services displayed on the website?
E-commerce is indeed a major component of business websites – especially those that offer physical products that can be easily shipped to the clients.
Let’s find out the differences between online stores and websites!
Online stores enable your target audience to purchase products and services directly from your business.
This can save a lot of expenses and provide convenience for your audience.
Through carefully designed and developed online stores web application, your customers can use your products almost anytime and anywhere.
1. Content
An E-commerce website sells products online.
It has a lot of actionable control for the visitors, like the creation of user account, browsing of products, adding/removing them to/from the cart, checkout, payment etc.
The aforementioned are interrelated and it is quite complex to develop such a website.
A basic business website is usually an informative website about the business and the solutions offered by the business, which may help generate inquiries but do not sell any products through the website.
Visitors have less actionable control, hence the easiness when developing such a website.
2. Security
SSL is the de facto standard for ensuring the security of online transactions.
SSL certificates verify the identity of users and encrypt data during storage and transmission.
Implementing SSL is essential for E-commerce websites to establish a secure connection between the end-user system and your website.
For technology-savvy buyers, a padlock icon with HTTPS in the address bar is a necessary prerequisite for providing their personal details and credit card information.
If consumers believe that an E-commerce seller is doing everything possible to ensure the safety of their transactions, then they are more likely to buy from the seller.
Whether it is an online store or basic website, implementation of an SSL certificate is essential in order to ensure that the website is encrypted, more reliable and secure.
Moreover, an SSL certificate ensures data privacy of the customer, including that users’ information is not easily accessible or hacked.
3. Website Interface
Whether you operate a basic website or an E-commerce website, it is important to provide users with a frictionless browsing experience.
E-commerce sites need to pay special attention to this aspect so that buyers will not leave without completing the expected purchase.
Fortunately, if you pay attention to several aspects, it is easy to ensure that people who visit your site have no problems with navigation.
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Product Page
Good website navigation should provide your users with clear indications of the categories provided.
Divide similar products and services into related categories and subcategories.
Try to stick to a single word as a category label, as this provides consumers with a quick and easy way to scan your products.
It is a good idea for users to test website navigation because it can provide valuable insights on all important aspects.
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Product Search Bar
The search function provided by your E-commerce store should make finding products quick and easy.
The search box should appear at a suitable location on each page so that it’s easy to find.
It should support searching across various parameters, such as product name, brand name and category.
The auto-complete feature simplifies the search process and allows visitors to sort and filter the results.
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Quick View/Shopping Cart
You can reduce the time visitors spend looking for what they want by letting them get a “quick view”, which makes it unnecessary for them to load a new page to view different content.
Usually, this is done by providing basic details/information about the product in the mode window that appears above the page the visitors are viewing.
You can also benefit by including “Add to Cart” and “Save to Wish List” buttons here.
Moreover, most of the e-commerce websites are dynamic websites; users can access the E-commerce website using their mobile devices as the E-commerce website is mobile responsive.
It is important to have a mobile-friendly website because:
- A responsive website offers a good user experience
- Improve SEO ranking in Google
- Improve loading time
- Use of content is more effective
- Good for social media engagement
Most E-commerce websites is a web application, while a regular website is a static page (maybe with the dynamic feature).
4. Website Builder
When it comes to website builder, either a basic website or an E-commerce website has a website builder tool for it.
The major difference is the functionality.
For example, an E-commerce store tends to integrate payment gateway, login, contact form, a testimonial to your E-commerce website.
You can find a variety of E-commerce website builders with thousands of theme templates for users to choose from.
For example, one of the famous E-commerce website builder tools in Malaysia is EasyStore.
However, when it comes to building a basic or professional website, there are multiple ways you can adopt to achieve that.
One of the easier ways is to find a reliable web design service that builds a functional professional website for you.
In Exabytes, we do provide professional web design at a reasonable price.
5. Target Audience
E-commerce websites enable your target audience to purchase products and services directly from your business.
This can save a lot of expenses and provide convenience for your audience.
Through carefully designed and developed e-commerce websites, your customers can use your products almost anytime and anywhere.
On the other hand, basic websites are used by people or businesses to display their work/company information and descriptions of their products and services.
In this scenario, actual transactions and service delivery take place offline.
The main purpose of such a website is to allow your target audience to learn more about you and your business.
This is because In most cases, people like carrying out their own research before contacting you or your business.
In Exabytes, we provide web design services and online E-commerce store creation services that are reliable and affordable, and we can help you deliver your products to your customers nationwide and worldwide.
The best part? Your online store will be ready in 3 days!
For more info, please feel free to get in touch with our friendly staff at [email protected]
