Two years into the pandemic, the stats are clear – eCommerce wasn’t some sensational short-term response to the social distancing measures. Rather, online shopping has established itself as the backbone of the retail industry, whose popularity will remain even when Covid is gone.

The steep rise of eCommerce encouraged many to enter the game by setting up an online store, dropshipping business, marketplace, or simply creating an online presence for their existing physical shop.

Starting an eCommerce business on a reliable, fast, and economical platform meant many business owners turned to Shopify. Let’s see why:

What Is Shopify?

To date, nearly 500 million websites, or almost 5%, use this CMS platform to run their eCommerce business. In 2020 alone, over 58 million users visited a Shopify store, with 44 million making a purchase.

So, if you want to set up a new or revamp your existing eCommerce business, Shopify is definitely the platform to consider.

Yet, the eCommerce CMS offers a variety of options when creating a website, from pre-made themes (a.k.a. templates) and marketplaces full of apps and widgets, to hiring expert designers who will create your site custom.

The abundance of choice can be daunting for business owners who aim to create an attractive, attention-grabbing, and optimized online store. To help you get the most of your online store, in this guide, we’re discussing the Shopify web design trends for 2022.

1. Choose a Shopify Theme That Meets Your Needs

Shopify’s Theme Store offers hundreds of free and premium themes to download and customize for your website. The majority of them come with multiple styles to choose from, besides beingcustomizable in terms of colors, fonts, and features, to help you create a design that matches your brand.

Yet, the myriad of pre-made website looks proves to be the primary pitfall for many businesses. While some seek to spend less, others build their website on a completely inadequate theme for their business.

So, what to consider when choosing a Shopify theme?

Well, there are two things to have in mind:

  • your industry
  • your product catalog size

Your industry should be the starting point when deciding on a theme. For example, a photography business requires large images, whereas a tech gadget store needs a well-organized product description feature.

The quantity of your products is also pivotal to picking the right Shopify theme. For example, businesses with extensive catalogs should consider a theme with infinite scrolling and grid layout features.

2. Customize The Theme To Match Your Brand’s Visual Identity

Luckily for not-so-tech-savvy users, Shopify offers a number of coding-free customization options to help you create a unique, branded website.

In the left-side panel, you can tweak the theme’s colors, typography, social media options, favicon (the browser tab icon), and checkout.

If you have a predefined brand style guide, stick to the visual elements outlined there to create a coherent feel of the website. On the other hand, if you’re building a website without prior branding, make sure the site’s design matchesyour business’s other marketing materials and online profiles.

3. Create a Simple and Intuitive Menu Structure

The bulk of Shopify themes come with a predesigned menu; however, you can always tweak the structure further to create an even better user experience.

Maintain simplicity, categorize your products in a dropdown menu, and minimize the number of clicks shoppers require to reach the desired page.

When designing your footer, make it unique and valuable by adding links to pages about shipping, returns and exchanges, site privacy, and more. In addition, include contact buttons and social media icons to allow your shoppers to reach out to you seamlessly.

Also Read: Index and Traffic: 3 Major Advantages of Working with an SEO Company

4. Design a Header That Converts

“You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” – it is often said.

Research suggests that it takes about 50 milliseconds, i.e., 0.05 seconds, for users to form an opinion about a website, thus deciding whether to stay or leave.

Designing an eye-catching, informative header will help shoppers better understand what you offer and why they should purchase from you.

The header section is also a great opportunity to showcase your products, promotions, special offers, or brand values.

5. Optimize And Test Every Website Element

A stunning website is nothing without proper SEO. If it’s not optimized for search engines, it has slim to no chances of ranking for your target keywords and attracting audiences that are looking for your offering via Google.

The first step to SEO? Make sure your website is lightweight, fast, and responsive across devices.

Besides SEO, be sure to A/B test your design.

Another advantage of building an eCommerce on Shopify is that A/B testing your design is so simple that you must leverage it.

From design features to website structure, you should A/B test each site element.

Once you’ve determined what works best, integrate the findings into your site’s appearance to improve the user experience, and therefore, your website’s conversion rate.