eCommerce is getting more and more popular among modern-day buyers, as most of them prefer shopping from their comfort zones and on the go. The more people make purchases online, the more merchants move their products to the web, the severer competition they withstand there. The driving force of cyber success is design that is compliant with modern trends. An outdated store interface will never bring you desirable outcomes, so make sure you go trendy online.
As trends spring up as quickly as they fade away in the rapidly evolving field of eCommerce, it may be challenging to keep pace with them. In this post, we outlined 7 major design trends that successful online retailers follow nowadays. Each of them serves its own purpose, from product showcase and storytelling to easier search and mobile commerce. Read on to find out what trends can help you deliver a seamless experience to shoppers and get ahead of competitors.
For better understanding, all the trends are illustrated with designs of both sites of the world’s leading retailers and ready-made eCommerce themes by well-known, reliable providers like BELVG and TemplateMonster. Use them to design your store, and it will be in line with the current trends for sure.
Parallax Scroll
Brought into web design half a decade ago, the effect of parallax scrolling has eventually found its way to eCommerce. This nifty storytelling technique makes different layout layers move at different paces, thus adding a faux sense of depth to the actually 2D environment. More and more online merchants are taking advantage of parallax to engage buyers and call them to action without pushy tactics of selling.
To illustrate this trend, let’s check out the design of a fashion store PrestaShop theme, Styler. It features a parallax block that informs customers of a discount. With large typography and motion of layers, the message stands out in the rest of the layout area, feeling dynamic and calling to action.
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Page-Wide Image Backgrounds
No copy can engage shoppers like large, absorbing product images. For that reason, a lot of modern stores incorporate them into the background besides traditional sliders. Not only do page-wide backgrounds amplify the main content, but also serve as extra instruments to make buyers stop and stare at your merchandise.
To get a better idea of this trend, take a look at a free fitness Magento theme. Page-wide backgrounds are skillfully implemented in blocks with a hot offering, info about the store, and previews of the latest posts. The images show sports equipment in use, giving prospects a feeling that they’ve already tested its usability. In this design, image backgrounds also play the role of content separators that make each block stand out and provide a pleasant visual experience.
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Hover Effects
In web design, hover effects are mainly used to accentuate the key page elements and enhance its visual appeal. However, a lot of online merchants use these effective CSS tricks for a functional rather than aesthetic purpose. Implemented in product blocks, hover effects give an access to more details and CTA buttons only when buyers need them. Such a technique provides a cleaner look and improves the store usability in general.
Explore this trend in the design of a free book store PrestaShop theme. On hover, buyers can access multiple product options such as quick view, wish list, comparison, and add-to-cart button. They can also see more product images, which means there’s no need to enter a new page each time they want to check a certain item from different angles.
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Card-Based Layouts
The trend that’s been growing fast in eCommerce lately is a card-based structure of the layout. With its help, you can arrange products in an aesthetically pleasing and easy-to-browse way. This web design pattern is especially effective when you need to spotlight new arrivals, discounts or any other special offers with style.
You can observe this trend on the site of Tiffany & Co, one of the world’s top jewelry retailers. Different collections are neatly arranged as cards across the layout in a way making each of them prominent among others. The division of the homepage layout into cards is perfect for both product showcase and navigation.
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One of the main goals online merchants pursue is to provide maximum comfort for buyers. That’s when flat design comes in handy. This trend is all about keeping the store interface minimalist, clutter-free and product-centric. Instead of drop shadows, gradient colors and other stylistic effects, it makes use of bold colors, large CTA buttons, and sans serif fonts, all surrounded by plenty white space. Flat layouts load faster and get higher SEO rankings, as a rule.
Designed in the flat style, the underlying PrestaShop theme features a grid-based layout with large titles, blue and yellow accents, and light background. Not only does s bring merchandise to the forefront, but also facilitates onsite navigation.
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Mobile Commerce
Since a lot of shoppers buy items or simply browse inventories on the go, your store must be fully responsive to function well on mobile devices. With the help of responsive design, the layout and its elements can automatically scale to the dimensions of virtually any viewport used today. In fact, this web design technique has become a must-have condition after Google’s announcement about prioritizing mobile-friendly sites. As more and more people browse the web via high-resolution displays like smart TVs, your store must also adjust to them the same well as to narrow screens.
Here’s a responsive Magento theme scalable to both retina and mobile displays. When viewed via smartphones, its menu items hide under a burger icon, and such elements as banners, products, post previews, and manufacturers, are shown one by one across the layout. Footer elements are also transformed into an accordion on a mobile screen.
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Live Search
Last but not least, the trend gaining momentum today is integration of live search. This Ajax-based technology delivers immediate results while buyers are typing in their queries. With each new letter added to the search box, the results narrow down. Such a technique allows for more relevant and much faster search, removing the need to load every results page separately.
Look how skillfully Adidas, the top sportswear manufacturer, makes use of live search in its marketplace. Search results are shown in two columns on the dropdown panel. In the left column, customers can read suggestions based on the word typed in, while the right one displays relevant items with image thumbnails, prices, names and categories.
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Running a trendy store is a must to boost its selling power, so redesign yours in line with modern trends. We wish you good luck and, what’s more important, growth of sales. Do you know any other eCommerce design trends to follow? Share them with us in the section of comments to this article.
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