Why You Should Embrace Minimalism in Your eCommerce Business
“Less is more” is one of the mantras for minimalism, a trend that’s being currently being embraced by many. Being minimal doesn’t mean having the bare bones, however; it’s about having the right amount, whatever that amount is – it’s dependent on the person, or in this case, business!
So much of achieving e-Commerce success relies on the right message about the right product delivered at the right time to the right customer. When talking about e-Commerce solutions and minimalism, it’s really about a streamlined approach to business and making use of what you have. Elegant is a word that is used with minimalism because it’s simple but not bare or basic. It’s not clunky. In e-Commerce, it can mean an all-in-one integrated approach to the solution and in-NAV management of all website components. The result is a fresh feel and improved business agility that flows while providing an engaging experience for customers. For a business, it leaves more time and a better foundation for growing the business.
Here are some ways your business can achieve and benefit from a minimalistic approach to e-Commerce:
Organization – Your Website, NAV, and Your e-Commerce Solution
How do you know what you need and what you don’t? Where do you start streamlining so you can get to what you want quicker? It takes some effort into getting organized first. This is the required foundation – for your website and how your ERP is managed and how the two can be integrated. Here are some ways you can tackle organization in your e-Commerce website while managing everything in NAV:
- Unlimited categories and subcategories. Items can be listed under multiple categories as well. This makes organization easy and flexible. Frame your products in a way that will resonate with your customers instead of being limited to one way. For example: customers can shop by skin care concern, product line, or product type.
- Multi-dimensional product variants – Proper product presentation is key to keeping your website clean and easy to navigate. Especially when there are multiple attributes to consider, such as size and colour, this feature is particularly useful. Learn more here.
- Effective Content Management – All content of your website is managed in Nav-to-Net with the Multi-Line Text Box (MLTB) Tool and WYSIWYG editing. The way it’s set up allows you to know exactly where to go in Nav-to-Net to edit specific content and know how it’s going to look and publish it immediately.
Minimalism Helps You Do More
When you want to move and respond quickly, organization is even more important. This is especially true when you sell plenty of items with different attributes and features, and if you add new items consistently added to your catalogue. Changing your catalog and website frequently can give your store some freshness and make people come back but the process can be confusing.
With tight NAV integration with Nav-to-Net, your solution fits into a familiar environment of your NAV and your existing customizations. This makes it easy to manage the business aspect of things, including finances, sales promotions, discounts, pricing levels, and item availability. Look for reports that are readily available, helping you to make informed decisions and get the bigger picture of how your website and overall business is doing.
Balance – Lots of Features vs. Customized, Tailored Solutions
Minimalism might seem at odds with “feature-rich” solutions but we must factor in flexibility and the value and purpose of certain features. It’s not a pure numbers game when it’s overwhelming, but it’s about providing multiple options and solutions blended in a way that is seamless and smooth without seeming extraneous. It means the solution is comprehensive and more “full” instead of cluttered.
No business is the same and that’s why our Nav-to-Net solutions are built the way they are. It’s entirely possible to customize and configure the features with little effort and without extra accommodations. Nav-to-Net helps you by working with what you have and maximizing your business potential, catering to business needs as well as customers.
Decluttering Your Website and e-Commerce Solution
Design is a huge part of minimalism. It needs to thoughtfully support your vision and how you want to customers to navigate the site. This, of course, applies to e-Commerce, both in the look and feel of your website, and how your system is managed in the back-end. Learn to embrace white space. Use high quality and relevant images and thoughtful and concise content. This instantly reduces clutter without making your website sparse and like it’s missing something. Clutter is confusing and overwhelming leading to a less than positive experience for customers, but so is too little information and non-conventional design. Another way to help declutter is to create product lists that serve as a go-to, or bestseller list, or starter kits and various packages. When prominently displayed on your homepage, they act as a jumping off point in guiding customers around your site.
Sparking Joy = Is it Worth It?
Marie Kondo did not come up with the idea of minimalism but her books are a huge influencer in this movement. Kondo specifically promotes the idea of “sparking joy” , a method in deciding which things you should keep or toss. Is it useful? Beautiful? Does it make you happy? If yes, keep it. If not, toss it!
Translating that to an e-Commerce perspective, it’s about making all your decisions worth it. Do things on purpose and not just because everyone is doing it. This kind of focus and vision drives the message home and makes a bigger impact on customers. This means making sure there’s a place for everything and everything is in its place. Content should be well-thought out and presented effectively, and business processes should also be seamlessly intertwined and integrated, ensuring the smoothest performance and reliability throughout the site and your NAV.
Find Out More
Let us be part of your epic journey. If you want to see more click here for a 4 Minute Demo video. To learn more about how we can help your e-Commerce business thrive, talk to us or request a demo.
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