The Features Every Ecommerce Business Needs To Appeal To More Customers

Establishing yourself as an ecommerce business means you already appeal to a mass section of the consumer market. Most people will make online purchases as opposed to walking to a shop and buying things in person. It doesn’t take a genius to work out why: ecommerce is simply the most convenient way to buy products. 

The fact you’ve got an online business is great - but how do you go the extra mile and broaden your appeal to a wider customer base? 

In practice this is difficult, though the theory behind it is rather easy. Here are some key features every ecommerce business needs to get the attention of more customers: 

A Simple Returns Process

It’s strange to think of customer appeal from the perspective of customers returning your goods. Shouldn’t the goal be to prevent people from sending stuff back? The reality of modern ecommerce means consumers love buying lots of products and then sending a few back. This is especially true for online retail companies; customers buy clothes in different sizes to try on, and then they return the ones that don’t fit. 

More often than not your customers will retain at least one thing from an order like this, but the presence of a simple returns system encourages them to choose your ecommerce business over others. 

You need to make it easy for a customer to create and submit a return. Systems like NetSuite SuiteCommerce are great for this because they let you establish an order and returns system via the same platform, which basically means customers can return goods at the click of a button. Some NetSuite SuiteCommerce services will help you fine-tune your system so you end up with the best order, delivery, and returns process out there. 

Ecommerce businesses with fast and free returns will always appeal to more customers than those without this feature. It may sound counterproductive to begin with, but establishing convenient return practices will help you make more money. 

Free Delivery

While we’re on the topic of returns and product deliveries, you should try your hardest to allow free deliveries in some capacity. There’s an unbelievable stat from KPMG that explains 42% of consumers stopped an online purchase because they didn’t receive free delivery. 

Theoretically that means you’re losing out on over two-fifths of your sales by not having this option. 

Customers hate spending money on delivery fees, so there are a couple of ways you can implement free shipping without eating into your bottom line: 

• Offer an annual subscription that unlocks unlimited free delivery - Brands like Asos and Amazon do this to great effect. Consumers are willing to pay $20-$30 for a yearly subscription if it means they avoid paying for delivery every time. 

• Offer free delivery for orders above a certain amount - Another excellent option that many companies use well. If a customer has $45 of products in their basket, but you offer free delivery on all orders over $50, they’re extremely likely to add something else to avoid paying for shipping costs. A consumer would much rather spend $10 on another product than $5 on delivery fees. 

Make “free delivery” a big thing on your website to draw in more customers and appeal to their tastes. It’s one of those things that tips the scales in your favor when you’re up against other businesses.

A Mobile-Friendly Website

Did you know that smartphones have accounted for almost 80% of all ecommerce visits globally in 2025 so far? It speaks volumes about consumers’ buying habits and outlines the drastic importance of a mobile-friendly website. 

Your ecommerce store must be accessible on mobile or you’ll miss out on all of this traffic. 

Search engines punish websites without mobile responsive features, which makes it harder for mobile users to find your business online. And even if someone does land on your site, they won’t buy anything because it’s too hard for them to use. 

Mobile-friendly ecommerce web design should be a given, but double-check that your site runs smoothly on all mobile devices to appeal to as many customers as possible. 

Good Reviews & Trust Scores

There are some really important facts about online reviews and ecommerce businesses that are worthing knowing: 

• 66% of consumers trust brands more when they have online reviews

• 15% of consumers don’t trust a brand at all if it doesn’t have reviews

• 93% of customers read online reviews before buying products

• 72% of customers won’t take any action until they’ve read your reviews

In other words, reviews help you build trust with customers and can convince them to buy things from your online store instead of going elsewhere. 

However, you need to have honest reviews, or it looks suspicious. 95% of consumers will think your reviews are fake if you don’t have any negative ones at all. You need to encourage customers to create truly impartial reviews for your business - and don’t be afraid to display negative ones. 

Hopefully you won’t have any one-star reviews, but a couple of three-star ones make the entire review catalogue more believable. Work on ways to encourage customers to leave reviews so you can build more trust with consumers. 

Fast & Secure Checkout Processes

We started this post talking about returns and deliveries, now we’ll end it with the stage before that: checkouts. 

A long-winded and complicated checkout process can easily let down online stores. Yes, you want to obtain email addresses and other contact info to add to various marketing lists, but don’t force people to fill in massive online forms in order to check out for the first time. 

Implement guest checkouts - or even better, use PayPal or Apple Pay checkout options. These two options let customers use existing accounts to buy things without filling in forms or uploading their card details. The security and convenience appeal to them and can mean they choose you over a rival company. 

The bottom line is that your ecommerce business needs all of these features if it stands a chance of competing with other brands. It’s all about broadening your appeal and making more customers see you as a viable option.