There’s no doubt about it — we are living in the digital age, and we aren’t going back. Truth be told, you’re living decades in the past if your business doesn’t have a solid online presence, particularly if you’re a retail-based brand.
However, you likely do, and probably utilize those tried-and-true website design techniques — it should be responsive and optimized for mobile. It should be modern, have some negative space and organized intuitively. There’s some less-obvious care and consideration that goes into a website design, though, that could help you boost your online sales.
I looked at the three largest ecommerce retailers by sales according to eMarketer — Walmart, Apple and Amazon — to determine what it is they do that boosts their businesses into a league of their own, and what you can learn from them.
The supermarket behemoth that was once known for Midwestern storefronts and smiley-faced rollbacks has transitioned quite comfortably into an ecommerce destination for all. Beginning in 2014, Walmart.com started updating its website to boost its online presence, likely in a successful challenge to Amazon (more on that later).
Much like its softer, more modern logo redesign, Walmart.com’s new website is accented by a milder blue hue and plenty of negative space that allows each product to shine. However, the most important feature of Walmart’s ecommerce destination is its consistency on all platforms. Whether you’re shopping from your smartphone’s browser, your tablet of choice or a desktop computer, everything from search to checkout is easy, intuitive and dependable on every platform.
So, how do these small changes spell big payoff for Walmart’s bottom line? Well, first of all, that stellar mobile user experience reaps some positive reinforcement from Google, which has factored mobile friendliness into its rankings since 2015. Plus, the smartphone ecommerce features a prominent search bar and cart, and intuitive clicking throughout the screen, which makes shopping for steals even more of a breeze.
Walmart’s overall muscle behind its online shopping destination is paying off, too. In fact, Walmart recently copped to hosting higher prices online than it does in stores, proving that consumers really will pay a higher price for a greater convenience. And it’s working, too. Last year, the retailer’s online sales increased…
