3 Mistakes to Avoid When Displaying Products on Your E-commerce Site
You will often see shop assistants in a supermarket rearranging products on the shelves. That is because how those products are arranged, and therefore how they are presented, can determine how well they sell.
You should think about the products in your online shop the same way, and avoid the common mistakes described below:
#1. There is too much choice on screen
Having as many products as possible is certainly good for any online shop, because more products bring more visits. What matters, though, is how those products are presented to a visitor. Research shows that when people face too much choice they frequently make none at all, because they tire and cannot decide.
How to avoid this mistake: Group your products into categories and let visitors move easily around your site, so that clicking a category shows them only the products belonging to it. That reduces the number of products on screen at any moment and makes choosing easier for the visitor.
#2. The balance between images and text is wrong
We all know how important the quality of product photography is to a buying decision. Photographs alone are often not enough, though, and people want to read more before they decide. You need to find the right balance between the number of images you have for a product and the amount of text explaining what it does. There should be as little text as possible, but enough for a visitor to judge whether the product is worth buying.
How to avoid this mistake: Provide enough images for each product to move the buyer closer to a purchase. As for the text, use headings and subheadings, and structure it in items so that it is easy to scan and read.
#3. Horizontal and vertical product layout is not used well
When people look at products arranged along a horizontal line, they tend to see them as similar and are more likely to buy several different ones. Products arranged in a vertical line, on the other hand, are usually read as different types of product, and people tend to make just one choice — buying only one item from that column. This is why it is worth thinking about how the products on your site are arranged.
How to avoid this mistake: Arrange products of the same type, or category, along a horizontal line, then place another horizontal line of products underneath it — this time from a different category.