7 eCommerce Design Trends That Will Reign In 2016

Everything in the eCommerce world changes at a rapid pace, thus it is difficult for many web designers to predict what’s going to happen in the future. You see, what’s considered new today may be outdated the next day! If you want to deliver a seamless shopping experience for your customers, you will always have to be one step ahead of the game.

Whether you are planning to redesign an existing online store or set up a new one, you should be aware of what’s hot in the eCommerce site design niche. Let’s take a look at some of the eCommerce design trends that will take center stage in 2016:

Concealed Menus

Hidden or concealed menus have become significantly popular as it has helped de-clutter many eCommerce sites. These menus were initially designed for use on mobile devices but they have managed to make their way into desktop website designs. Last year, a number of online retailers used concealed navigation menus on both large and small screen devices to save up on screen space. Guardian and Marketing Week are good examples of websites that use hidden menus.

Card-Like Layouts

In recent years, card designs have become extremely popular and a trend like this is expected to continue this year and beyond. Card layouts are one of the main components of Material Design and they work tremendously well with responsive web designs. They are also very user-friendly and allow users to organize their products in a way that enables more effective up-selling.

Material Design

The popularity of Material Design continues to grow and is now adopted by major eCommerce companies. This vibrant, content-focused style has been trending since 2004 and has a major ripple effect in the industry. The application of Material Design templates also offer a playful, tangible and unified experience across various platforms and devices so it’s an attractive option for developing eCommerce sites.

Effective Storytelling

Storytelling is a good way to make your brand stand out from the crowd, especially in the highly competitive eCommerce sphere. When you present your content in a compelling and unique way, you can establish an emotional connection between your customers and brand. Simply put, storytelling is a great way to increase sales!

Engaging Animations

It’s widely agreed that animations are a great way to connect with potential users. Many eCommerce sites have injected these elements into their designs to improve the overall online shopping experience much more enjoyable and playable. Your customers will feel like you really care when such animations are used at the right place and time. Loading bars, icon rotations and button spins are good examples of rich animation.

Full-Page Backgrounds

A good way to make your products appear more desirable is to use absorbing product shots for your website’s background. These types of backgrounds can give your online store a sexy, professional and clean look. Best of all, you’re not limited to still pictures and you can loop videos in the background as well! You should always use full-page backgrounds on the home page or product pages to make your visitors feel like they already own one of your products.

Responsive Designs

Designs that are upwardly responsive are an essential requirement for any website in 2016. While it’s important to design sites that fit large screen devices, the sites must still be optimized for tablet and mobile views too. We have observed that there’s a growing trend pertaining to shopping and browsing on high resolution devices such as smart TVs.