E-commerce platforms offer an efficient way for business owners to establish their online stores from the ground up. With online shopping becoming increasingly popular, businesses worldwide have adopted e-commerce platforms to sell their products online. With these platforms, businesses can also create a strong online presence, which further allows them to expand their customer base. For this venture to succeed, the e-commerce platform a business owner chooses must have certain important features.

1. Intuitive user interface
One of the main reasons customers worldwide have been switching to online shopping is convenience. The e-commerce platforms of popular online stores and businesses have one key feature that adds to customers’ convenience – an intuitive user interface. This means these platforms are easy for customers to use, whether for browsing products or placing an order. So when choosing an e-commerce platform, business owners must ensure that it has an easy-to-use interface. Whether experienced with or new to the platform, customers must not struggle with its functionalities. From making an account to browsing products and placing an order, every function should be easy to understand.

2. Internal site search and navigation
Another key feature that an e-commerce platform—whether website or app—must have is internal site search. This means that the platform must have a search bar that allows customers to perform a text search for products. This makes it extremely easy for customers to find and locate desired products, improving their shopping experience. Without a dedicated search bar, customers will have to navigate a sea of products they do not desire. This would eventually lead to a bad customer experience and the business losing its sales and clientele.

3. CMS
When operating an online store, it is not enough for businesses to just post product pictures with labels. They also need to add a considerable amount of content, including product descriptions, buyer guides, comparison articles, etc. Besides this, it can also include user-generated content, such as product FAQs. If a business plans to update this content regularly, it should consider an e-commerce platform with a content management system or CMS. This system offers a single platform for the user to make new content and edit existing content.

4. Product management tools
With an e-commerce platform, businesses must regularly upload new product listings onto the online store and update their current listings. So, it is important for the e-commerce platform to have product management tools that allow them to perform these functions seamlessly. A product management system or tool also enables categorizing and listing products under the right tabs and filters.

5. Order management tools
Besides a product management system, it is also important for the e-commerce platform to have an order management system or tools. This system allows businesses to process their customers’ orders and their shipments. It also includes order tracking and notification features that allow customers to track their order deliveries. Besides, businesses must also be mindful of the order return process when operating an online store. An order management system also makes this process seamless, allowing businesses to manage product returns.

6. Shopping cart
When shopping online, customers also prefer to make an organized list of their desired products before placing the final order. This is why e-commerce platforms need to have a shopping cart feature, which allows customers to save their desired products. It also offers them the convenience of saving the products until they are ready to order them.

7. Payment processing
Accepting payments from customers is quite straightforward in brick-and-mortar stores. But when operating online stores, the process is not as direct or simple. To receive online payments from customers, e-commerce platforms need to have a payment processing feature. This feature would redirect customers to a secure payment gateway, where they can make payments via cards or mobile wallets. The payment processing feature would then immediately transfer the amount sent by customers to the business’ account. The payment processing feature would also be required to manage currency conversions if the business operates in multiple countries.

8. A section for discount codes
Besides convenience, a key factor that draws customers to online shopping is the availability of offers and discounts. Offering these discounts to customers via special codes is a common technique online businesses use. For this purpose, businesses must ensure that the e-commerce platform features a section for entering coupon codes at the time of checkout.

9. Reviews section
One of the biggest advantages of online shopping is the access to reviews and ratings from other customers. These reviews offer buyers key insights into the quality of the product and provide a way for them to confirm that the product matches the description and functions exactly as promised. So, having access to customer reviews basically improves buyers’ trust in the platform. For that reason, business owners must ensure that the e-commerce platform includes a section for customer reviews.