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How to Build an Ecommerce Product Page That Converts

An ecommerce product page can be the difference between a semi-interested shopper and an engaged customer who "adds to cart".

morgan early swanson texas
By Morgan Early

As an online retailer, you probably spend a great deal of time optimizing and refining your homepage. You likely dedicate resources to get products displayed on category pages just right. You test and review the checkout process regularly. But what about the ecommerce product page? 

An ecommerce product page is often the difference between a semi-interested shopper that browses and leaves and an engaged customer who can’t resist “add to cart.” 

6 Features of a Great Ecommerce Product Page

Certain elements of an ecommerce product page are non-negotiable. Follow these best practices to deliver the best shopper experience. 

1. Use High-Quality Images and Video

The first point of focus on a product page is imagery. High-quality photography to clearly show products from all angles is essential. Shoppers should be able to zoom in on images on all screen sizes – desktop, laptop, tablets, and mobile.

Video footage makes details easier to spot, like how an item moves or what the material looks like under different lighting. Rather than focus on products in isolation, give them some context. For example, if you sell homewares, show table lamps in a living room to show shoppers how it would look in their own home (and cross-sell other products).

Pro tip: Make sure images and videos are optimized and compressed for minimal page load times.

2. The More Detail the Better

The more detail included on an ecommerce product page, the better. Customers should be able to locate any important info about a product right away. Feature dimensions, materials, care instructions, sustainability, and any other important points that apply to the item.

The last thing you want is a shopper to leave your site to Google details they can’t find and find what they’re looking for on a competitor’s site. The key is to make content easy to navigate. Give shoppers the ability to expand and collapse different sections of copy rather than overpowering the page with long text blocks. 

3. Display Reviews and User-Generated Content 

Reviews and user-generate content (UGC) provide a sense of realness to the ecommerce product page. They can also be a deciding factor in a purchase. Today’s customers seek out opinions from other shoppers to help decide what to buy. It’s a tale as old as time set in the digital world: Word of mouth. 95% of shoppers say they consult customer reviews. 72% won’t take any buying action until they have read other shoppers’ feedback.

Go one step further than text and invite customers to upload photos of their purchased products to give other shoppers more power in their decision. Struggling to collect user-generated content for your product pages? Reward customers with discounts or loyalty perks in exchange for reviews. 

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4. Merchandise for Urgency

While many online retailers focus merchandising efforts on category-level pages, it’s worth spending time optimizing ecommerce product pages too. Include merchandising badges to highlight bestsellers, new items, and items that sell fast. Bring attention to a product’s popularity creates a sense of urgency and compels shoppers to add it to their cart before it sells out.

Like product reviews, these badges reinforce that other customers are buying the same items and validates the decision to purchase. Badges that display sale messaging or price discounts are another effective way to communicate value and encourage shoppers to buy.

5. Clear CTAs

When a shopper is ready to add a product to their cart, make it easy and intuitive. The design and user experience of the ecommerce product page plays a major role in conversion rates. Shoppers should never have to scroll or backtrack to locate the “add to cart” button. Shoppers have expectations for where particular features exist on an ecommerce site. They should not have to work to find the most important link on the page. The design of the add to cart button should be clear and contrast with the page background. Try A/B testing variations of color and wording to see what resonates best with your customer base. 

6. Cross and Upsell Other Products

If a shopper doesn’t find exactly what they’re looking for on the first ecommerce product page they open, give them other options. Instead of forcing them to return to the category page to keep browsing, display recommendations for other similar results right there on the product page. This can aid product discovery and help narrow down the shopper’s search to the exact style they’re looking for. Then, when the customer does land on the product they want, cross-sell other items they may be looking for by showing complementary or compatible accessories.

 

Ecommerce Product Page Design Directly Impacts Conversions

Small adjustments to an ecommerce product pages can have a significant impact on conversion rates. By providing shoppers with all visual and product information they need, encouraging them to buy with reviews and merchandising, and making it as easy as possible for them to find the right product and add it to their cart, your product page will convert passive browsers into engaged customers with ease.Â