The emergence of e-commerce platforms has completely transformed the shopping experience for consumers and how sellers conduct their business. Almost all consumer segments are shifting toward online shopping on such platforms. This shift has also opened a lot of opportunities for new business owners who wish to launch their online stores. Before doing that, business owners need to understand some key features of e-commerce platforms that make them so convenient for customers.

1. User-friendly interface and navigation
The main objective of an e-commerce platform is to make the shopping experience easy for customers. Apps and websites must have user-friendly interfaces and intuitive designs. This means the site or the app must be easy for novice users. If the platform is particularly difficult for customers to use, it may ruin their experience and cause them to not return to it. Search bars, faceted navigation, and clearly listed category pages and tabs are a few things that make an e-commerce interface user-friendly.

2. Seamless product and order management system
When running an online store via an e-commerce platform, sellers must also focus on the basic store management functions. This includes both product management and order management. A product management system allows sellers to upload their new listings on the platform and categorize them. This means that, in addition to adding new products, sellers can sort each product into appropriate price, size, and similar categories.

On the other hand, an order management system is a feature that processes a customer’s order and allows them to keep track of it. It also includes functions such as sending notifications to customers regarding their orders. With the order management system, sellers must also focus on the return management system. This feature enables them to list return policies and manage return and exchange requests from customers.

3. Secure payment processing
Payment processing is one of the most important features of any e-commerce platform. It redirects customers to a payment gateway and allows them to make secure online payments for their purchases. The main function of this feature is to safely and swiftly transfer the money from the customer’s account to the business account. The payment processing feature also manages different currencies, which customers from various countries can use to make payments.

4. Compatible with mobiles
Most customers are shifting to online shopping, and a huge fraction use smartphones. This is why business owners must focus on mobile optimization for their e-commerce platforms. This feature ensures that the website page is fully visible on a smartphone screen and functions properly. Without this, businesses can risk losing a significant portion of their customers.

5. Dedicated section for customer reviews
Among the many reasons customers prefer online shopping is reading reviews and ratings from other customers. This allows them to get key insights into a the functionality, design, quality, shelf life, etc. of the product, and make a purchase decision based on these factors. So, it is essential for business owners to include a section for customer reviews and ratings on their product pages.