When creating your first eCommerce store, following these tips we've put together to ensure your success:

Tip #1. Make a good first impression

The visitors to your store will decide if they like your site or not within the first 2 seconds. Your e-commerce store is the representation of your business. It's critical you create a store that is visually appealing. Luckily, Monster Reach has got your back with hundreds of proven templates to start with. You can customize these templates to suit your brand.

Tip #2. Have great photos

Half of the consumers prefer physical stores to online shopping because they can “see, touch, feel, and try out items.” You need to be able to communicate the same value and experience as touching, feeling and experience the product in a physical store. In e-commerce, images are everything. They will make or break your conversions. Your photos need to communicate value and showcase how and why the product is going to work for the consumer. They should also evoke emotion and promote the brand mission. Make sure your photos are professional, clear and visually striking. 90% of online buyers say that photo quality is the most important factor in an online sale!

Tip #3. Show your product in use

Many consumers won't buy a product just because it looks nice. They need to envision using the products in their real lives as well as understand how the product will improve their life. So, to make it easy for consumers to envision those scenarios, take photos of your product in use. Try to inspire style ideas in potential buyers and showcase what outfits and lifestyles match up well with that specific product. Add people to your photos. Online shoppers will be able to see themselves in these kind of images.

Tip #4. Add 360° product views

People are looking for stimulating interactive shopping experiences. Having simple product photography is not enough. Adding 360° product photos is a great way to “recreate the offline experience online” and give the viewer the additional confidence needed to buy your products.

Tip #5. Have a photo for each color or style you offer for the product

Don’t just tell them “also available in red, blue, and green,” give them a photo of the item in each color. There’s nothing worse than having a product with 3-4 color variations, but the product images are only showing one color.

Tip #6. Let the shoppers zoom in on any part of the product

Users will almost always mouse over a product image to see if they can get a more detailed view of it, and if you don’t offer that functionality, they’ll be left unsatisfied.

Tip #7. Write powerful product descriptions

Use short concise sentences under 20 words that clearly outline the benefits of owning the product. Where practical, use bullet points. You should write in the natural language your ideal buyer will understand. Avoid empty words and overly promotional language. If you use superlatives, you need to justify them. Don't be afraid to be technical your product description. Prove to your customer your brand’s expertise in the industry by providing all possible details and features they’d need to know –– before they ever even have to ask.

Tip #8. Optimise product descriptions for SEO

Make a list of the keywords people are using when searching for products like yours. Include at least one of these keywords in your product page’s URL, the product page title (H1), the meta description, product description title, the body copy, the image filenames as will as in the the alt image tag. Once you write your product descriptions, segment them into separate paragraphs. Segments titled “Features”, “Benefits” and “Specifications”. Create your features benefits as bullet points. If there are captions that appear below the images, be sure to include any related keywords.

Tip #9. Create an awesome 'About Us' page

If a visitor goes to your “About Us” page, that means they are already interested in you and are giving you a chance to prove that your product is the best. What you need to do is clearly spell out what you are, what you do, and, most importantly, what you offer to the clients. Include basic information about your business on the page, such as your contact information, address, email and and social media accounts. Place your ttestimonials, achievements, and any kind of social proof here. It's important to avoid cluttering the “About Us” page with too much information. Keep visitors engaged with a minimal design.

Tip #10. Offer excellent support

Buyers are two times more eager for sharing the negative responses as compared to the positive ones. A bad review on Google can kill your business. That's why you need to ensure the total satisfaction of your clients. Offer support at all stages of the shopping experience to encourage new buyers to make their first purchase and returning customers to continue making purchases. Make your customer support features, whether that’s a phone line or a chat box, visible from the homepage so that buyers are aware of those services. Respond to your clients' queries and comments as soon as possible. About 45% of the consumers quit the transaction process if their questions are not addressed quickly.

Tip #11. Use live chat

The live chat strategy makes your user feel like they're in a real store, having all their questions answered by a shop assistant. You should place your live chat button in the most visible spot, normally the bottom right corner of the page. Tip #12. Have a FAQs page You FAQ page is where you answer your most common customer questions such as shipping times and costs, refunds, sizing, and other product related questions. You’ll also reduce the number of support emails by having a page that answers their question.

Tip #12. Create product videos

Videos help boost conversions and increase sales for your store. Creating product videos to show different product angles or demonstrate how to use your product. Use the product video as a marketing tool for your social media ads. For SEO, your video title and description should include your main and at least one related keyword, with your filename having the main keyword, as well.

Tip #13. Pick the right payment gateway

Choose the most popular one for your region to make checkout easy for your customers. PayPal, Apple Pay, Stripe or 2-Checkout are popular in many countries.

Tip #14. Offer free shipping Free shipping is effective for shoppers who are in purchase mode. Set a minimum purchase threshold to qualify for free shipping. Offer free shipping during promotional sales periods, or for certain items only, or to customers that are members or are part of a loyalty program.

Tip #15. Create call-to-action and sign-up buttons

Buttons need to stand out of your website background. Think about the button size, color, font, and positioning.

Tip #16. Add a flash sale section

Urgency can help increase your store’s sales. In this section, all of your products should have a countdown timer on them. The products you add should be rotated once a week so that you always have a new selection of products to keep customers coming back for more deals. You can add a Flash Sale section to your top navigation so that people can easily find your sale products. Aim to make it the last category in your top navigation as the first and last categories get the highest number of clicks.

Tip #17. Provide all relevant information

Ensure customers have access to everything they need to make an informed purchase. Include shipping and return information so that customers are aware of the policies before their purchase. If visitors are getting to your products' page, but most of them are leaving without clicking on "add to cart" button, then you must focus on the details of the products. Use better images, rewrite the product descriptions, show the most useful and most important information including product specifications, options, delivery, price and any discounts.

Tip #18. Have a visible 'Contact Us' page

Let your visitors know you are a real business with people to gain their trust. You'll do this by having a visible contact page so that customers can easily contact you should an issue or question arise.

Tip #19. Make your product categories very specific

Be detailed when creating product categories. Build sub-categories to make it easier for a customer to find exactly what they’re looking for. This will make them more likely to buy from your store.

Tip #20. Improve your top navigation

The first and last items on your top navigation get the most click-through. Whichever product collection or page you want to draw more attention to you should put in first and last position. Customers love browsing sale items so having it in the last place also works well. You usually want to keep general categories in the header and having specific sub-categories. For example, you likely wouldn’t add ‘Dresses’ in your top navigation but might add ‘Women’ or ‘Fashion’ or ‘Clothing.’

Tip #21. Have discounts and offers

The word "free" can do just wonders for attracting new customers and increasing sales. It is because this word excites them and give rise to a positive feeling for making a purchase. So, offer your visitors special discounts and offers on the products they are interested in. Display the original price next to the discounted price so the visitor can understand the value.