Designing an online store presents a different type of challenge, particularly if you are fond of thinking outside of the box while creating new and exciting user experiences. In the eCommerce world, a radical new design approach may not work as well for you as you might expect; so keep the following in mind:
Familiarity is Best:
Don’t take shoppers out of their comfort zone. The instant they click on to your site, they should have a pretty good idea of what to do next. Follow Krug’s first law of usability: “Don’t Make Me Think”. Place elements where users will usually look for them. Don’t make them to go on a scavenger hunt to place an order.
Take Your Resources into Account:
ynamic visuals attract users, but they can also be expensive, and, they can be overdone. It’s fine if you find a visual that you believe will work – but “conventional” storefronts usually suffice.
Think of Your Product Line:
It may be tempting to replace demo product images with your own; but make sure it’s a good fit. The background, grid system, use of white space, etc., must support your product images (which should be kept small if they are not of the best quality).
Think Mobile:
Don’t just think mobile – think mobile first. 50% or more of your potential customer will base likely be shopping with mobile devices.
Look for Lightweight, Fast Themes:
Your best chance of building a fast-response website is to use a lightweight and fast theme – like any of these:
XStore – Responsive WooCommerce Theme
XStore not only has the capability to get your eCommerce project of to a fast start, but it is one of the easiest themes to work with for this particular website niche. A quick glance at the 25 demos should convince you that XStore does an excellent job of following Krug’s first law of usability.
That doesn’t mean the demos are not modern, or trendy – they are. While they have a familiar look, they have definitely been designed with quality in mind – and that is true for homepages, specialty pages, and inner pages alike.
The key factor to consider is that XStore is 100% compatible with the WooCommerce plugin. It is fully compatible with the popular Visual Composer plugin as well, and users really enjoy working with the Theme Options feature that offers so much in the way of flexibility. Another neat feature is that it is RTL ready.
With XStore, you can experience eCommerce design as it should be, while on your way to creating a professional-looking online shop that users can trust.
Installing it is easy as well, especially after watching the installation tutorials.
Merchandiser
The creators of Merchandiser must have regarded simplicity as being the ultimate in sophistication, since this minimalist eCommerce theme is indeed highly sophisticated. Nevertheless, it is packed with everything you need to build an awesome online store. Like other minimalist website-building products, it is not burdened with features or functions you do not need.
Minimalist themes have a reputation for providing lightning-fast performance, and also for giving web designers the capability to design websites known for fast page loading times. Fast page loading is crucial for an eCommerce site, since web users can be an impatient lot, and online shoppers are no exception.
Merchandiser is powered by WooCommerce, it has an easy to use interface, and it has been built to WordPress best practices. In short, it would be an excellent choice.
Wootique
Wootique is not simply a theme that happens to be WooCommerce compatible. This eCommerce theme is actually a WooCommerce product. As such, it makes full use of WooCommerce’s singular features.
The theme and the plugin have been merged to give the web designer a seamless front-end experience.
Widgets supporting product categories, product descriptions, shopping cart, checkout, and user account sections are all there, making this a great solution for the creation of any online store. The Theme Options feature allows you to adjust various design elements and stamp your brand’s unique style throughout.
KLEO – Pro Community Focused, Multipurpose Theme
KLEO, the #1 selling BuddyPress theme for 2016, is an ideal solution if you are planning on building a community website, a professional blog, or an awesome shop. There is even a layout you can use, with help from the Sensei plugin, to sell e-books; or, you can use the Geo Directory feature to create and use your own business directory.
KLEO’s 24 plugins (at last count) enable you do all of these things, and more. And, you needn’t worry about coding; those skills are not required.
Uncode – Creative Multiuse WordPress Theme
Uncode calls them concepts, and not pre-made designs or layouts. Once you’ve seen them, you’ll understand why. Each of the five concept categories and especially the Shop one, when put into play, can take building your eCommerce store to a whole new level.
Uncode’s hierarchical options system leaves nothing behind. Its innovative grid system pushes layout design to the cutting edge. The adaptive images system detects your user’s screen sizes and automatically delivers the appropriate re-scaled versions. And that’s just the start.
Uncode is pixel perfect, flexible, and boasts a support team as good as you’ll find anywhere. With it, you can create amazing commerce homepage, landing page and layouts.
Divi
Discussions relating to Divi don’t get far before the subject of the Divi Builder comes up. This drag and drop page builder was created with the idea of providing an excellent user experience being the top priority.
As a Divi user, the Builder’s ability to transform your design elements into visual building blocks lets you edit the structure and content of a page without touching a single line of code.
Divi’s 46 contend modules include every element or feature you might wish to incorporate into your online store. The modules are editable, giving you all the flexibility you will ever need.
Merchant WordPress Theme
Some web designers simply describe this beautifully advanced eCommerce theme as “hip”. Merchant is super responsive, so you needn’t be concerned about how your pages will look on any screen size or shape. You’ll find a nice selection of high-impact, full-screen layouts to choose from.
The Easy Layout Generator makes fast and flexible builds commonplace, and you’ll love how Merchant makes building of dazzling product catalogs and portfolios a piece of cake. There are plenty of color options, Google Maps, a dedicated theme support forum, a mega-menu, and Merchant is of course, 100% WooCommerce compatible.
Summing it up
You can probably, with a little added research, pick out the eCommerce theme that suits your needs best. You don’t have to worry about making a poor choice either. Poor choices weren’t included in this list.
It might simply boil down to whether you feel you will be better off with a multipurpose theme, or one that was created specifically for the eCommerce niche. Once you’re ready to start your eCommerce project, don’t forget to keep our tips in mind. You don’t want your users to have to think their way through your website.
The post Designing an Online Store? 7 Useful WordPress Themes to Consider appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.
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