It’s been a strong start to the year!
We’ve seen some great website designs in ecommerce being launched so far this year and we’re eager to see what else creatives are bringing to the table to help create more experience led ecommerce.
This year will undoubtedly bring some exciting website designs and new development features like ChatBots and conversational commerce, but already we’re starting to see some trends that are dominating some of the websites in 2017.
Let’s take a look at five ecommerce design trends we’ve seen so far:
MORE GIF STYLE AND ANIMATIONS
GIFS have always been popular, the majority of us have got the GIF keyboard on our phones as well, but they’re also making waves in website design. They’re a great way of showing how a product looks, feels and moves; it’s a much more emotional contact point for consumers online.
GIFS can negatively impact website speed though! As a result, the industry has adapted and we’re seeing more sophisticated animations in SVG and CSS achieving pretty unique website interactions. Short video loops or ‘cinemagraphs’ are definitely overtaking the GIF file as well – showing movement of products effectively without straining the user experience. Either options can often be a more lightweight option in comparison to large full bleed imagery files too when done right.
Our Designer Fran, said: “2017 is definitely the year where GIF styles and animation have become much more prevalent in web design. Not only because it makes for a nicer aesthetic, but a mix of content types helps to better communicate brand stories and products easier, and quicker.”
Two of our clients, Varley and lala Berlin use both cinemagraphs and video mixed together on their home pages to boost interaction and engagement.
MICRO-INTERACTIONS IN UX
Continuing on the same vein of interactions….micro-interactions / micro-UX is certainly a powerful way of connecting a website with customers. We’ve always had hovers, click animations, loading states, scroll effects etc but now Designers are becoming more involved in the process, ensure user experience in ecommerce from concept to build.
Considerations of how these different states function across all devices is also becoming more popular as the mobile society network of 3G/4G (5G?) consumption continues to grow.
ECOMMERCE NAVIGATION DIET
A mobile focussed society and a mobile first approach to Design has meant that navigation trends in some ecommerce sectors, are leaning towards minimal and refined navigation styles. Some websites we’ve seen are cutting down to 4-5 items allowing consumers to focus on the true intent of their visit; shopping funnel done well! This approach doesn’t work for all merchant sectors and completely depends on your SKU number, but it’s certainly a trend we’re seeing on more sites in 2017.
A great example comes from our favourite stripy go to needs, NYC based La Ligne!
HAND DRAWN ICONOGRAPHY
Ranging from bespoke fonts to graphic icons and buttons, all of which bring a more ‘human’ touch to the user experience; a nice change from the usual standard design elements.
We’ve worked with Eastpak to produce new icons for their website mega menu on desktop to help consumers visualise the category they need to visit before they even get there. The click through rate in the mega menu, once the icons had been introduced, increased by 33.06% (comparing Jan-March 2016 vs the previous period).
Stage one of production:
Final results live:
CONTENT FOCUS
Moving back to basics is happening for content in ecommerce. Content is king is true for SEO, but we’re also seeing a deeper focus at the heart of Designs. We’re not talking about cluttering up Design with calls to action, pop-ups, comments, social media buttons etc, we’re talking about stand out and clean copy presentation.
Mango’s latest SS17 campaign is a good point of reference here!
