10 best features for eCommerce which make ASOS a successful webshop

Today’s customers are looking for the easiest way to buy, and because of this, they are raising their expectations every day.

They prefer to have a vast array of options when searching for a product and they often seek to enjoy some of the best eCommerce features.

If you’re looking to create such a business and provide your customers with great features, we’re happy to help.

We’re experts in building integrated eCommerce solutions, with a focus on using the latest technologies and best development practices.

ASOS, a European eCommerce giant, has successfully implemented some of the best eCommerce features while relying on the use of the latest technologies.

And in this article, we’ll show you which eCommerce features helped ASOS rise to where it is now.

So, let’s not keep you waiting and dive in.

The beauty is in clear and easy navigation

One of the most noted eCommerce features ASOS can boast is clear and easy navigation.

The webshop should not only be visually appealing to visitors. It should also be easy to navigate and use. 

A simple navigation menu is a decisive factor for larger purchases. Also, the drop-down menu is one of the most valuable assets when it comes to navigation.

Filtering can certainly increase your business, as it gives customers a shortcut to their desired product. 

When you select a category, you can filter your choice by type, range, brand, color, price, and much more.

It’s all about finding a product as soon as possible.

Don’t forget to turn on the search button on the site. ASOS has done something very different that attracts a lot of customers and separates them from their competitors.

They’ve included a style matching tool in the search bar.

How does it work? Let’s take a look.

When you enter the keyword “Style match”, at the bottom appears a camera or photos button. 

When choosing one of your images, you will get filtered products based on it. An incredible feature!

Based on the image, ASOS is able to show a similar style, color, and texture of the product.

ASOS webshop is designed to help shoppers quickly navigate the buying process.

Every customer wants a smooth shopping experience – and ASOS delivers. 

A picture is worth 1000 words

Top-quality images are of the essence for customers, and if you’re running an eCommerce website – keep that in mind.

A set of top-quality images almost always displays your offerings better than a great product description.

Think about having at least 3 images per product, showing your product from different angles.

There are 2 main reasons for that:

• An image gives a lot of information – people prefer visuals over text. A high-quality image can provide more than text describing the product. So, the image in a much more natural way evokes the product.
• Images can be shared – customers often share pictures of the products they have purchased, which certainly increases the visibility of your product.

ASOS provides its customers with a structured product description, without missing any bit of important information.

The video made the product page even more attractive

Nowadays video stands as one of the best features for eCommerce. We have to be honest: at this time, just images are not enough.

Consumers expect a product on the webshop to display the same characteristics as the one in-store. So, you’ll want to offer them a video of the product.

In this way, customers will become more aware of your product and have more confidence to buy it. 

Here are some tips for a high-quality video ASOS has successfully applied to their webshop:

1. To keep your video from shaking, you should have a stand on which to place the camera.
2. Take the video from different angles so that the whole product can be seen. 
3. When making a video of your product, place it on a background that will not distract the consumer from the product. ASOS used a white-colored background and made no mistake.

Just one more thing…

Avoid downloading and using YouTube videos for your products.

Invest in your original video and show the customer the quality and credibility of your product.

It’s useful to have a FAQ section

Despite the great product images and the detailed product descriptions, the customers still may have some questions.

Create a page that answers the most common customer questions – the FAQ page.

It’s often considered to be one of the best features of eCommerce – as it resolves many of your customers’ objections from the start.

There are some concrete benefits to having an FAQ page:

1. Your FAQ helps you address your users’ needs
2. Establish yourself as an expert in your field
3. Improve your SEO ranking
4. Indirectly increase your sales revenue

Provide quality content and answer to frequently asked questions.

Your answers should be clear and concise so that the customers can effortlessly find an answer to their questions.

Try avoiding the use of industry-specific terms and don’t go into unnecessary details.

Check out how ASOS addresses their users’ needs through an FAQ page.

Also, they have made another small section that contains the most popular questions.

Of course, having an FAQ isn’t a prerequisite for success in eCommerce – but it may certainly help in achieving your goals. 

Display your webshop well across devices and screens

Recently, customers have been doing more and more activities through mobile devices.

According to Oberlo, mobile users are taking the stage. Mobile commerce is expected to grow to $3.56 trillion by 2021.

Optimizing your webshop for mobile devices will avert users from exiting your webshop and will make it more likely for them to become your new customers!

For this reason, it is very important to make sure that your webshop is adapted to all types of displays.

At first, it may seem like a challenge, but worry not! We’ve already done an article on how to support different screen sizes.

ASOS has proven to be very successful in this area as well. With big differences in screen size, evident is consistency and fit for any device.

And they even created an eCommerce mobile app!

It’s a great addition for every eCommerce business, especially if your customers prefer to rely on their mobile devices when shopping for new products.

Providing different payment options

Every consumer has a different understanding of which form of payment is best and safest.

In order not to lose potential customers, you need to give everyone a choice. Most people prefer integrated payment solutions – Paypal, Visa, American Express, or Mastercard.  

And don’t forget that some people prefer paying by cash on delivery. ASOS does not provide this option, but it does offer something similar.

At ASOS, you can pay via Klarna, a payment service that offers you the possibility of buying now – and paying later. 

This type of payment is currently available in: 

• Sweden
• Norway
• Finland
• Denmark
• Germany
• Austria
• The Netherlands
• Great Britain

ASOS works to provide each customer with the most commonly used payment method in that country.

So, do your research first and find out what payment methods your customers prefer to use and you’ll already be in an advantage.

Let your customers track the orders

Often do the customers want to know where their order is at any given moment.

According to Youstice, 79% of online shoppers desire a tracking option with their delivery.

By giving your customers an option to track their orders, you’ll give them a sense of security and directly impact their loyalty to your business.

We’ll feel free to call order tracking as one of the best features you can implement in your eCommerce business.

Just imagine the situation where you’ve ordered a product and after 5 weeks – there’s still no delivery!

Your first instinct would be to track down your order or to contact the webshop you bought it from.

And be sure to communicate that you offer order tracking for all your customers.

ASOS has done so and mentions it in their footer.

Communicate with your customers

Having great customer support plays a big role in customer satisfaction.

Although you have a FAQ section, customers may still have some additional questions. 

Therefore, you need to help them and resolve their concerns. It’s not necessary to display a contact number, but you have to address their concerns, at least via email.

ASOS communicates with its customers via email, Twitter, and Facebook Messenger.

They’ve also featured a live chat option on their website, but for some reason, it’s inactive now.

To sum it up, you need to establish a positive relationship between your business and your customers in order to get the most out of your webshop.

Be quick to respond, write concisely, and most importantly – be helpful.

Can customers add products to the wishlist?

You could consider a wishlist to be one of those nice-to-have features. But still, ASOS uses the wishlist incredibly well and successfully pumps its sales numbers.

Following is a rather common situation your customers may face:

They’re scrolling through your webshop and checking out some products either for themselves or as a gift of someone. They would really want to buy your product, but at the moment, they can’t afford it.

In that case, customers are more inclined to add those products in their wishlist so they can order them as soon as they’re able to afford it.

Or maybe, if the product isn’t one of their “high priority” ones, they may still add it to a wishlist, just in case they feel like buying it.

And with this – you can do wonders.

Let’s see how ASOS handles this.

They’ve added a heart icon on every product page or product image (when displaying the whole catalog), making it incredibly easy to add a product to the wishlist.

Moreover, when you add a product to your wishlist, after some time ASOS will contact you by mail.

And in that mail, they’ll offer you to continue with your purchase from the wishlist and even give you some recommendations to complete the whole outfit!

Besides just reminding customers of their wishlist products, they’re able to upsell them.

Leverage social media to increase your eCommerce sales

We can agree that social networks today stand as extraordinary platforms for eCommerce business.

You can leverage them to increase your brand awareness, your sales, and so much more.

Also, you can use social media to get in contact with your customers. Establish authentic relationships with your customers and provide them with a feeling of community on your social media.

Here’s a few examples that show how ASOS tries to establish relationships with their customers on their Facebook profile.

Besides Facebook, ASOS is present on both Instagram and Snapchat, as they’ve realized that the majority of their target audience uses these social networks on a daily basis.

Analytics will help you better understand your customers

Measuring eCommerce analytics can give you a lot of information about consumer behavior. 

You will have a better understanding of where your customers come from and what are they doing when they visit your eCommerce website.

If you’re by any chance already a customer of ASOS, you’ve certainly noticed some changes in their features.

They’ve been constantly leveraging insights gathered from their eCommerce analysis to improve the shopping experience.

If you’d like to know more about how to use eCommerce analysis to gain more quality insights – check out the article we linked at the beginning of this chapter!

Here is one great example of ASOS testing out a new tool!

As Bustle reports, ASOS is testing the “See my fit” tool. With this tool, they can display over 40 dresses on 16 different body types.

So, a customer can find a model that has a similar body structure and see how the dress will fit them, without even trying it out in-store.

It’s safe to say that ASOS has some innovative eCommerce features, separating them from the rest of the market.

To keep your store on a very high level, remember this…

We have given you an overview of some of the best features for eCommerce that you may want to implement on your eCommerce website.

For every feature that you plan to implement in your eCommerce website, you’ll want to take a look at it from the customer’s perspective. 

Conducting thorough market research will certainly help you in doing this effectively, so feel free to take your time to find out who your customers really are! 

And if you’re looking for a guide on creating your own eCommerce business, we’ve got you!

Check out our article where we outlined 8 concrete steps – from conducting market research to launching and growing your business.

Now, let’s recap what we’ve talked about today:

• Make it easy for customers to find their desired product through simple navigation
• Use only top-quality images
• Feel free to use videos for your products whenever you can. And remember – no YouTube videos!
• Assess your customers’ issues through an FAQ page
• Make sure that your mobile users have a great shopping experience
• Implement the payment methods that your customers trust and prefer
• Enable your customers to track their orders at any given time
• Establish a high-quality customer service
• Make sure that your customers can add the products to the wishlist
• Leverage social media to establish real connections with your customers
• Take time to analyze your eCommerce metrics and make data-driven decisions

That’s it for today’s read! If you’re looking for more eCommerce features you can use, check out this article we refer to as an ultimate list of eCommerce features!

If you’re looking for a reliable partner that will help you build all of those features and create a successful eCommerce website, reach out to us!

We’re specialized in building eCommerce businesses using the latest technologies and the best development practices.

Feel free to contact us and we’ll do what it takes to make your next integrated eCommerce solution successful!