The Covid-19 pandemic was just one of the many real-life tragedies that we all had to endure in 2020. Due to the unprecedented nature of this pandemic, many industries were affected, including e-commerce. Many businesses, both large and small, were closed down as a precaution, and many more had to adapt their business model to become more efficient and cost-effective.

During this time, the digital nomads across the world adapted to the new way of life and started a new business whilst self-isolating at home. As a result, many new businesses emerged in a relatively short amount of time, and many retailers found themselves struggling to keep up with the online marketplace. Whilst some businesses were able to ride the wave of the “new normal” and gain significant market share, many ultimately failed.

When you’re starting a new business, the last thing you want to do is run off to a place of worship to pray for guidance. With so much to think about and so many uncertainties, you need all the help you can get.

This is why we’ve compiled this guide; to give you an idea of what elements you might need to consider when creating the perfect display for your online store.

Product Display

The first thing you need to do is decide what type of products you’re going to sell. Are you an online store that sells wellness products or are you more of a fashion boutique? These are all important decisions, and it’s best to think of what works best for your business.

Some businesses operate on a “pay-what-you-want” model, so you don’t necessarily need to have items on display if you don’t want to. However, we recommend that you put items on display, as it gives the customer a sense of what’s available and entices them to make a purchase. Better to have a little bit of everything than to have nothing at all!

If you decide that you’re going to display products, whether online or in brick-and-mortar stores, make sure that your choice is suitable for both platforms. Think about the different screens and interfaces that your customers might be using, such as mobile phones, tablets, or laptops, and select a resolution that ensures that everything is displayed clearly and accurately.

Many e-commerce stores use responsive design, which means that the layout and display of products changes according to the screen size. To create the perfect display, you need to make sure that the product sizes and the placement of the items are optimized for every screen size.

Visual Merchandising

Once you’ve decided what products you’re going to sell, and whether you’re going to have a physical presence or just sell your products online, you need to start thinking about how you’re going to display these products. Are you going to use photographs or illustrations? How about video or 360-degree views?

The key is to think about what will make your products stand out among your competitors. Do some research on what materials similar businesses are using and what elements are attracting customers. This way, you’ll have an idea of what might work for your particular business. Keep in mind that whilst marketing materials such as flyers and business cards are important, you don’t necessarily need to have physical items to be able to promote your online store. Digital nomads are a creative bunch and will be more than happy to help you spread the word about your business.

Design

As we’ve established, designing a store is a bit of an art, and it can be difficult to find the right person to help you with this. If you’re doing this yourself, make sure that you have all the necessary software (e.g., Photoshop, Adobe InDesign, and Canva) and that you have the skills necessary to create the various layout, design, and page elements that you need. Don’t worry, there’s no limit to what you can do with a little bit of software and a little bit of creativity!

There are many free design platforms that you can use to build your store, such as Squarespace and Wix. Whilst these platforms have dozens of templates that you can use to build your store, don’t just take our word for it, try them out for yourself. You can find more information at the websites for these platforms, and if you have any questions, give us a call!

Content

If you decide to use videos to promote your store, make sure that you have the rights to use these videos, and that you’re using the correct metadata (i.e., titles, descriptions, and keywords). In most cases, you’ll need to create these videos yourself, from scratch, and upload them to YouTube, where you can then engage with your audience.

If you decide to use photographs instead of videos to promote your storefront, make sure that the images that you’re using are of good quality and that they’re relevant to what your customers will be purchasing. If you have any questions about image licensing, make sure to contact your local publisher (i.e., the company that owns the rights to the content that you’re using).

Once you have all of the above, it’s time to start marketing! We hope that this article has helped you understand what it takes to create the perfect display for your online store. If you have any further questions, feel free to give us a call!