14 examples of the best eCommerce website designs
This post was last updated on June 9, 2022.
Good eCommerce website design is the marriage of form and function that serves the ultimate goal of any online store: to sell.
While good eCommerce websites come in many different forms, what they all have in common is visual design that creates a strong brand experience, content that builds trust, and a user experience that aids the customer in their buying journey.
In this blog we’ll take a look at the specific eCommerce website design elements and features that can help you up your design game, as well as 14 of the best eCommerce website examples for inspiration.
Looking to get started on your online store right away? Get started with one of these eCommerce website templates.
What makes good eCommerce website design?
It’s visually appealing
Just as lighting, music, and decorations create ambiance in a brick-and-mortar store, every design element of your website influences how your brand is perceived. Shoppers will evaluate your store in seconds—making it especially important for your branding to be polished, professional, and consistent.
Photography
Quality product photography is essential in helping shoppers understand and trust your products. Make sure that each product is accompanied by at least one minimalist photo that shows your item against a white or plain background. Include additional photos that show your product at various angles and/or close up so that shoppers can see the finer details. Aside from your product photos, remember that imagery plays a big role throughout your site. Weave lifestyle photographs throughout your pages and focus on creating a visual story about your brand.
Multimedia
Between video and 360° images, user-generated content and size charts—adding a variety of media can elevate the shopping experience on your site. Aside from offering an engaging experience, each of these elements can help your shoppers to visualize various things about your product: size, use, texture, color, and more.
Strong copy
Incorporating strong copy and engaging content into your eCommerce design helps to build your brand voice, create trust, and increase the professionalism of your brand. Every piece of text your shoppers encounter in their buying journey is an opportunity for creating a personal connection, so you’ll want to be thoughtful with your copywriting.
It fosters trust and loyalty
Even for the savviest of online shoppers, purchasing goods online requires a leap of faith. Design elements can be instrumental in building trust and influencing a sale.
Product reviews
We don’t need to reiterate the importance of social proof in creating a high-converting product page. But note that it’s your responsibility to make sure that customer reviews are easy to find. Additionally, keep in mind that customer reviews can help with SEO by adding depth to your product pages and touching on long-tail keywords.
About Us page
Invest in creating an About Us page where customers can connect with the human side of your brand. A good About Us page outlines your company values, communicates your commitment to your brand, and spotlights the people behind your products.
Return policy
Creating and posting clear policies regarding returns and exchanges helps create transparency. Customers want to know what to expect from you before they make a purchase. Moreover, most expect returns to be easy; in fact, a whopping 92% of consumers say they would buy from a company again if it offers an easy return process.
It offers a clear path to purchase
Site design should never be the reason customers get frustrated and avoid making a purchase. Consider these several features that can help inspire, incentivize, and increase sales.
Navigation
It’s hard to overstate the importance of a good user interface (UX) when it comes to eCommerce website design. Put simply, it should be easy for shoppers to browse and filter through all of their options. Features like your header, navigation menu, breadcrumbs, filters, on-site search, and footer can contribute to a good UI. As a general rule of thumb, all of your products should be accessible within three or less clicks.
Related products
Suggesting products that your customers might be interested in is a great way to enhance the shopping experience, increase AOV, and combat choice paralysis. Pro-tip: use product galleries to suggest related products instead of similar products so that your shoppers don’t second guess their choices.
Multiple payment options
Offering multiple payment options creates a customer-centric checkout process, which in turn maximizes sales. By allowing customers to pay with their preferred method (whether they prefer Apple Pay, BNPL, or traditional credit card), you eliminate friction during the final, most important step of the buying process.
01. Copper & Brass
Copper & Brass Paper Goods launched in October 2018 with an important purpose: representation. Copper & Brass sells paper goods featuring beautiful illustrations of Black people and characters, such as their famous Black Santa wrapping paper. The designs on their products shine through to their eCommerce store. This site serves as an example of how strong branding as part of your eCommerce website design can help relay a company’s values and create a compelling reason to buy.
02. Sticky Lemon
Sticky Lemon sells adorable accessories “for little and bigger kids with an outspoken taste in the way they look.” Their motto—“quirky, colourful, bold and sunny”—is reflected in their site’s design, which artfully uses color blocking, patterns, and illustrations. Sticky Lemon’s site design is curated, high-quality, and cute—paying tribute to the charming children’s products in their catalog.
03. Vivi et Margot
French homeware brand Vivi et Margot’s aesthetic is a shining example of the power of photography. The site is rich with lifestyle photos set in the French countryside depicting “la vie en rose.” Their impressive following on social media (more than 20,000 followers to date) speaks to the persuasive power of photography in creating a strong brand experience as well.
04. Izzy Wheels
Izzy Wheels’ emphasis on inclusivity and bold self-expression is at the heart of their colorful online store. Irish sisters Ailbhe and Izzy Keane have collaborated with some of the world's biggest brands—including Barbie, Disney, and Hello Kitty—in creating bright, beautiful wheel covers for wheelchairs. By highlighting these brand names and press mentions on their homepage, Izzy Wheels creates buzz and increases trust among potential shoppers.
We love how Izzy Wheels' store name stands out, while clearly indicating what their brand offers. If you're just starting a business of your own, use our store name generator to craft an equally catchy title for your brand.
05. Celebs on Sandwiches
Have you ever wondered what your favorite celebrity would look like on a sandwich? Take a peek at Celebs on Sandwiches, which sells hilarious and tasteful (tasty?) prints that are certain to please both celebrity and sandwich enthusiasts alike. The key behind the success of its eCommerce design: simplicity and ease of navigation. Note the handy search function and the simple, scrolling homepage that puts the product front and center of this niche online store.
06. Gay’s The Word
Gay’s The Word has done an admirable job designing an online extension of their iconic London-based LGBTQ+ bookstore. Photos of its brick-and-mortar shop, coupled with vibrant pictures of its books, give shoppers the cozy feeling of being in a bookstore. The site includes Community and Events pages that keep online shoppers connected to the community that has surrounded this business since its inception.
07. Indian Summer
Sustainability is central to Indian Summer’s mission. The dedication to upcycling swimwear and accessories is made evident to shoppers throughout its online store. Indian Summer’s About Us page details their business mission. An “Eco Alliance” badge on the Home, Store, and About Us pages indicates that even their product packaging is certified eco-friendly and biodegradable. For the eco-conscious shopper, outlining the brand mission and values helps to create compelling reasons to buy from this beautiful, earth-friendly brand.
08. Melissa Mitchell
Artist Melissa Mitchell began her booming online business by making and selling prints of her bold, colorful art. Mitchell has since expanded her offerings to include clothing, head wraps, and swimwear, collaborating with global brands such as Spanx. While Melissa’s art is awash with bold colors and patterns, her eCommerce site stands out because of its simplicity. The white background of her homepage is a perfect contrast to her wild prints, playful fonts and creative copy.
09. Coal and Canary
Coal and Canary’s juicy color scheme, coupled with their use of bright imagery, make their site fun and evocative of their motto: “Cheeky Candles for Playful Personalities.” And while fun is central to the Coal and Canary brand, they’re not playing around with one thing: building a loyal customer base. Coal and Canary’s site features several entry points to sign up for their loyalty program and VIP email list, as well as a page dedicated to outlining their “Burn + Return” program. Their efforts to nurture loyalty have paid off—founder Amanda Buhse estimates that an impressive 50% of their sales come from return customers.
10. Ultasmile
Ultasmile, the brand behind the three-sided toothbrush, faces a unique challenge in building trust: their product is new to many users. Ultasmile has done a great job incorporating trust-building elements into their eCommerce design. For example, by showing customer reviews on their product page and testimonials on their homepage, they’re able to highlight authentic user experiences. The site also features videos that showcase the merits of their one-of-a-kind product. Ultasmile’s success in building trust with its customers is evident in the company’s growth—this quirky three-sided toothbrush has grown into a business with six-figure revenue.
11. Evolve Clothing Gallery
Like the clothes that founder RanD carefully curates for his collection, Evolve’s online storefront stands out. Its product images and galleries pop against a black background. The site has a slick, sophisticated experience that feels as stylish as the Evolve brick-and-mortar store in New Jersey. Visitors can use detailed dropdown menus to choose their own adventure in terms of what product categories they’d like to browse. Evolve’s sleek design, combined with the easy navigation and smooth checkout process, creates an experience that is both fluid and fashion-forward.
12. The Spice Suite
Looking at The Spice Suite, one thing is immediately apparent: both the site and the store’s founder, Angel Gregorio, have flavor. The Spice Suite’s ‘About Us’ page outlines Angel's story, explaining her journey from vice principal to “SpiceGirl” and curator of the DC-based store which has sold over $2 million. The SpiceSuite’s site showcases Angel’s extraordinary commitment to her community, shouting out the 450+ black-owned pop-up shops she has hosted in her store.
13. Kaekoo
Site visitors get the feel of Kaekoo’s unique, cozy style immediately. The hand-lettered logo, the tasteful photography, and the consistent color palette deliver the clear message that this business understands branding. Having an attractive and consistent brand is especially important for a store of handcrafted items. Home decor shoppers want to understand and trust the creator’s vision and aesthetic. Kaekoo’s site is packed with images of their products in different settings to help customers choose the product that matches their own style.
14. CeliaB
Celia Bernardo, founder of the Spanish fashion brand CeliaB, creates clothing designs inspired by her travels across the globe, and her website encapsulates the unique patterns, textures, and bright colors of her couture clothing. Beyond being beautiful to behold, the CeliaB site does an excellent job of engaging visitors. CeliaB invites visitors to join its mailing list by offering 10% off their first order. CeliaB is then able to stay in touch with their customers through a newsletter and marketing emails.
Ready to get started designing your store?
As you begin the design process for your online store, consider the look and feel of your products, as well as your target audience. As part of your research, consider the eCommerce design trends that can help you create a high-converting online store.
Wix provides designer-made templates for all kinds of online stores. Each Wix store additionally comes with business management tools for building, managing, and scaling your business. Build your own Wix eCommerce website today.
Watch our video courses to learn more about eCommerce today!
Brielle Gordon
Marketing Writer, Wix eCommerce
Brielle is a Colorado native with a passion for innovation and helping to mobilize entrepreneurs. Brielle is a marketing writer for Wix eCommerce, which powers over 700k online stores worldwide.