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What makes a good online store?

E-commerce attracts money now and in the future. Simply relying on brick-and-mortar is no longer sufficient, and running an online store has become essential for almost every business. At the same time, competition for revenue generated online is intensifying.

If your intention is to establish an online store or increase the sales of an existing store, it may not be the easiest thing to do at the moment. At least not when you don't know what you're doing. Nowadays, you have to seriously invest in an online store if you want to conduct successful business online. As an entrepreneur and online retailer, you therefore need to know or at least understand what makes a good online store and what factors contribute to the success of an online store.

In this article, we have listed the eight most important things that all good online stores have in common. If your online store handles each of these, we can guarantee that even your competitors' customers will start buying from your online store.

Let's move on to the checklist for a good online store without further ado!

1. The online store is designed from the customer's perspective

Even if your product range is of the highest quality, extremely extensive, or you offer a specific product almost exclusively in Finland, the customer still may not want to buy from you. If this is the case right now, the reason is likely that the online store has not been designed with the customer in mind.

In doing so, you transfer the potential cash flow that was at your fingertips to your competitor.

When an online store is poor, it gives potential customers only reasons not to buy. For example, if the information the customer is looking for is not easily found or if the online store is even slightly difficult or annoying to use, the customer is likely to decide that purchasing is not worth the effort.

Conversely, a good online store only gives reasons to buy. In a good online store, the customer's needs are considered on a broader level, obstacles to purchasing are removed, and the purchasing process is made smooth.

In other words, purchasing has been made as easy and fast as possible.

When completing a purchase, for example, requires a minimal number of clicks and the online store is clear for the customer to navigate, the implementation is already partially successful. Additionally, it is advisable to utilize the search tool to make finding products even easier for the customer.

Another important thing is the loading time of the online store.

If loading a page or individual content takes more than two seconds, this is likely to drive most people away from your online store, so it should be fixed immediately.

Sometimes, to speed up loading times, it is sufficient to switch to a faster hosting service. It is also advisable to ensure with the hosting service that there is no traffic cap in use.

However, to often achieve optimal speed from an online store, unnecessary items must be trimmed, for example, by tidying up the code, optimizing content, and removing unnecessary plugins.

2. Product images and product descriptions are of high quality

It is understandable that one might want to save on product images and texts by doing them oneself. There is nothing wrong with this if the online retailer is a skilled photographer and copywriter. If not, the task can be outsourced to a professional.

Low-quality images act as a barrier to purchasing and create an unprofessional image of your company. This does not send the desired message to the customer. The customer might very well think that if even the images have not been invested in, the product cannot be of high quality.

Product images and texts play a particularly important role in e-commerce, as the customer cannot test the product in advance, feel it and its material, or examine the product's quality as they can in a brick-and-mortar store. Sometimes, it can also be difficult to assess the product's color and size from behind the screen.

Therefore, in a good online store, the images and texts should convey all the information that the customer needs to make a purchase decision.

However, it is not advisable to start listing all possible product features or to write a novel that no one has the patience to read. Still, all the most important features and benefits must be highlighted in the images and texts.

In addition to using selling texts and high-quality images in online stores, it is advisable to optimize the former for search engines and discoverability. There are plenty of tips available online for those interested in this topic. Additionally, it is definitely worth utilizing videos and customer reviews in product listings.

Images, texts, and videos can be produced by the online retailer themselves, an advertising agency, or a freelancer in the field. Hiring an employee is, of course, also an option if there are many products or if the matter is timely.

It doesn't matter who creates the content, as long as the end result is of high quality.

3. Progressing with Kassalla is easy and fast

In a good online store, the customer's journey from the shopping cart to payment proceeds without unnecessary complications. If an unusually high number of shopping carts are abandoned in your online store, the reason is often a too complicated checkout process.

The following measures can help ensure that the purchase transaction is more likely to be completed:

  • A simple checkout makes payment easy and fast. The checkout process should be limited to a single page, which is streamlined to be as simple as possible. Even headings and menus might be reasonable to remove from the checkout to prevent wandering away. The customer should also not be exhausted or frightened by requesting additional information that is not usually required to complete the order.

  • Removing mandatory registration. If ordering requires creating an account, it is an extra step for the customer and invariably an obstacle to completing the purchase. It is definitely worth lowering the threshold to buy by removing the registration requirement from the online store. You can always provide the option to register for those who wish to do so.

  • Clearly stating delivery charges. All charges deducted from the customer's pocket, whether they are shipping costs, taxes, or any other fees, should always be disclosed in the shopping cart before proceeding to checkout. Surprise costs that appear only after entering information are a sure way to make the customer abandon the cart, even in situations where the order value is greater than the costs in question.

  • The right payment options. Finns overwhelmingly prefer to use online banking, debit cards, and credit cards for payments, so merchants operating in the domestic market should offer these payment methods. Additionally, you might consider offering invoice and installment options, MobilePay, PayPal, Apple Pay, etc.

4. The online store is easily found in search engines

A good online store is optimized for search engines at least at a basic level, so that potential customers can find it easily.

In principle, a well-executed online store is already partially search engine optimized because the technology is already functioning well. If high-quality content has also been produced there, visibility in search engines can be at a good level, even if no separate effort has been made to optimize the online store.

A poor online store is not optimal for people or search engines. Typically, such an online store relies on advertisements for visibility, which is not profitable in the long or even short term, as advertising costs money and no one buys from a poor online store.

A search engine optimized online store does not need to be advertised at all if one does not wish to, because it appears with the right terms and in the first search results.

Search engine optimization includes three different areas. Internal optimization covers the content of the online store (keywords, metadata, URLs, and internal linking), external optimization involves backlinks (links leading to your online store from elsewhere), and technical optimization addresses technical aspects such as speed, usability, responsiveness, and code. In a well-designed online store, the latter is therefore already fine-tuned and ready.

If this is not the case, the online retailer has a lot to do. If the technology allows and there is enough time and interest, you can learn to do everything yourself. There are instructions available online for this as well, especially for those who can learn the subject in English.

However, it is often more sensible to outsource optimization to a specialist company that can deliver results quickly and reliably.

Experts also follow industry best practices and know how to avoid so-called black-hat techniques, which can quickly get an online store on Google's blacklist. If you still intend to do or are doing optimization yourself, it is advisable to seek more detailed information on the matter.

Maintaining good visibility also requires actions from the online store, as search engines constantly change their algorithms and the terms used by customers evolve over time. Therefore, the things that work today may not necessarily work in two years or even two months.

However, providing the best possible user experience and high-quality, useful content are things that cannot go wrong.

5. Emphasis has been placed on user and customer experience

Let's talk about user experience. A good product alone does not guarantee sales if the experience the customer receives from the online store is not good.

As we discussed earlier, the user experience should be seamless, meaning as easy and fast as possible for the customer. It is also worth personalizing the experience, because the more you show you care about your customer by offering individualized service, the more positive it naturally is for your customer.

When the entire purchase journey is tailored to the needs of the target customer, a positive experience is created, leading to a purchase and likely a return to the online store, as well as recommendations to others. Investing in the best possible user and customer experience in e-commerce and elsewhere in business is, in the long run, the factor that builds trust in your company and creates long-lasting customer relationships.

In a good online store, the user and customer experience is likely considered already in the design phase, when it is easiest to implement.

Customer experience can also be improved with automation. Automated communication is an effective way to connect with the customer and remind them of the online store's existence. However, it should not be relied upon alone; the customer experience should be refined from within the online store.

In campaigns, focus on engaging content and offers, as well as a headline that entices the customer to open the message. It is also worthwhile to test different sending times. Customers may also appreciate being remembered on special occasions with a greeting and, for example, a discount code.

For some, reminders about an abandoned shopping cart work well, for others less so. It's advisable to include a link in such an email that takes the recipient directly back to the shopping cart.

Additionally, collecting reviews should definitely be automated, as there is no better sales method than recommendations from other people.

However, remember to ensure that the customer is not contacted too frequently or without permission. On the other hand, the interval between messages should not be too long, as the matter is often not relevant to the customer months or weeks later.

6. The online store functions flawlessly on mobile

A good online store is always ready to serve the customer, regardless of the device they use to access it.

It is estimated that over 70 percent of customers use a phone or tablet when shopping online or researching and comparing products before making a purchase. Often, the same person also visits from multiple different devices. According to statistics, e-commerce cannot afford to be anything but mobile-friendly.

It is therefore advisable to ensure that the appearance of your online store is responsive, meaning it adapts to all devices. This should happen without the customer having to do anything about it. Additionally, the store should operate quickly on mobile.

This way, you won't lose any sales because the customer is using the wrong device and cannot get the online store to function properly.

Nowadays, Google and other search engines highly value mobile responsiveness, meaning that a responsive online store is also more easily found in search results.

7. The online store's customer service is in order

Increasing contact volumes can be surprising during peak seasons and when online store sales unexpectedly take off. The same can happen if multiple mishaps accidentally occur.

The best way to keep customers satisfied is, of course, to prevent damages and the need to contact. However, the possibility to contact should always be available.

Many damages, such as selling out-of-stock or incorrect products to customers, can best be prevented by implementing an ERP system (even in a small online store) and integrating it into the online store.

A good online store also has effective customer support, which can be easily and promptly contacted when necessary.

Sometimes the customer service of an online store is the online retailer themselves. During the busiest seasons, one can prepare by hiring help, ensuring that delivery and response times do not become unreasonably delayed and no customer is left without service.

Additionally, you can effectively prevent so-called unnecessary contacts and returns by answering the customer's questions on the website.

The customer should be able to easily find essential information related to products, delivery, and returns, as well as other details crucial to your operations. By providing these, you save both your own and your customers' time.

You can provide even more information in the form of downloadable user manuals or a blog, which is also an excellent way to increase search engine visibility.

However, the most important things should be summarized in such a way that they become clear to the customer by browsing the online store.

8. Bots as Support for Customer Service and Sales

Not everyone has the opportunity to hire staff, and not everyone wants to do so. In such cases and in other situations, it is advisable to use interactive bots to assist with e-commerce, as they are available to help customers 24/7.

Unfortunately, the chat bot does not currently handle customer service entirely on your behalf, but it can answer the most critical questions, reducing the need for the online retailer's active involvement. Of course, the retailer or customer service representative can also personally respond to the customer through the bot.

However, the advantage of the bot is that the customer can easily leave a message directly on the website even outside of normal business hours.

This may even increase the likelihood that a potential problem situation is reported while the matter is still current and the customer relationship can be saved. The more often people report their problem and other concerns directly to your company, the more often you can, of course, react to the situation and restore trust in your online store. This way, you keep customers satisfied and avoid negative reviews that hinder future transactions.

All these eight features can be found in good online stores. So, it's not an easy task, but it's not impossible either. However, with the help of a professional, the process goes much more quickly and smoothly.

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