Keeping your website up-to-date is easy if you know what trends to follow. Today we want to introduce you to our vision of the most effective design techniques of 2016. By implementing them you will enlarge your customer base, increase conversion rates of your store, and build a professional image for your business.

1. 10 Ecommerce Web Design Trends to
Consider in 2016
Do you want to stand out from your competitors in the eCommerce market? Then make sure your
store looks cutting-edge and crisp. By doing so you let your visitors know that their convenience is
your primary concern.
Keeping your website up-to-date is easy if you know what trends to follow. Today we want to
introduce you to our vision of the most effective design techniques of 2016. By implementing
them you will enlarge your customer base, increase conversion rates of your store, and build a
professional image for your business.

2. 1. Progressive Navigation
Navigation, along with the
checkout process, is the most
essential element of eCommerce
UX. By providing informative
menus and flexible blocks with
featured and similar products you
will improve the shopping
experience and make it more
streamlined. Among the most
progressive menu types we
should mention mega menus,
hidden menus opened with a
hamburger button, and sticky
sidebars. These types can be
combined, resulting in absolutely
unique site navigation systems.
This responsive Magento 2.0
theme by TemplateMonster is a
great example of well
implemented navigation.
Live Demo More Info

3. 2. Modern Layouts
There are lots of different
modern-looking layout
designs available for
eCommerce websites:
grid, masonry, full-width,
etc. In order to choose the
right design you should be
clear about the inventory of
your future store. For
example, if it is focused on
selling a single exclusive
product, pick a template
with the image-first layout
and simple navigation; to
build a large store with lots
of categories opt for a
template with grid or
masonry layout.
Live Demo More Info

4. 3. Product-First Approach
The main purpose of online
stores is to sell goods. That’s
why you should discard all the
unneeded functionality, and
bring your products to the
forefront. In other words, every
page of your online store is a
landing page, and it should be
treated as such. Many ready-
made templates follow this
principle, so using them you can
be sure that your store is
conversion-optimized and
effective.
Live Demo More Info

5. 4. CSS Based Effects
Instead of GIF animations
and image-based
decorations you can use
various visual effects
created with CSS 3 –
shadows, transitions and
animations. They are
faster, less resource-
consuming, scalable and,
therefore, look more
professional. This
approach requires a
certain level of coding
skills, but you can
overcome this problem by
picking a ready-made
template, where all such
effects are already
included and available
out of the box.
Live Demo More Info

6. 5. Creative Typography
Web 2.0 allows for the use of an
incredible number of creative fonts in
your website designs. Apart from the
impressive collection of free Google fonts
you can also apply font icons and custom
web-friendly typefaces. Typography
greatly affects the way your website is
perceived by your customers, and that’s
why it would be wise to choose a time-
tested font combination approved by
professional designers. Developers of
premium eCommerce website templates
often pay special attention to this aspect
of design.
Live Demo More Info

7. 6. Large Enhanced Images
Heavy usage of large images can
easily make your website more
visually appealing, even if its basic
design is minimalist and discrete.
What’s more, these images can
be further improved with such
effects as parallax scrolling,
zoom-in and various filters and
overlays. To add some dynamism,
try incorporating large photos into
sliders or other moving elements.
The website below is one of the
most amazing implementations of
the parallax effect I’ve ever seen;
scroll the page to the bottom to
see it.
View the Website

8. 7. Active Marketing Elements
Don’t limit your on-site
marketing to static banners.
Pop-up newsletter subscription
windows, slide-in sharing
widgets, sticky top bars (like
Hello Bar), even welcome mats
for with subscription forms
drastically boost the
effectiveness of your social
and email marketing. But keep
in mind that overusing such
elements (e.g. displaying more
than two of them on one page)
may have the opposite effect.
The Magento theme shown
below comes with a
customizable newsletter
subscription window, so you
won’t have to install any
additional plugins to enable
this functionality.
Live Demo More Info

9. 8. Flat and Material Design Trends
The trendiest options
nowadays are the two
global design styles – flat
and its spiritual successor,
Material design. These
trends have become
popular because of their
neutral multipurpose
nature, which makes them
appropriate for most
website topics. This
doesn’t mean that you
should necessarily use flat
design for your future
online store – just
remember that this option
is always viable, in case
you run out of ideas. A
vivid example is this free
OpenCart template, which
combines simplicity and
convenience.
Live Demo More Info

10. 9. Dynamic Functionality
One of the most
significant advantages
of modern eCommerce
platforms is the support
of dynamic Ajax-
powered design
elements – search
forms, filters, pop-up
quick previews, etc.
They allow your visitors
to use the extended
functionality of your
website without leaving
the page they are
currently on. This saves
them a lot of time,
especially if they are
using mobile devices
with a slower Internet
connection speed.
Live Demo More Info

11. 10. Integrated Videos
Another great innovation
available for every online
seller nowadays is the use
of background and
embedded videos. Most of
the readymade premium
templates support
effortless one-click
implementation of
YouTube videos on their
product pages, plus some
enable you to place
looped videos directly on
the homepage. Just a few
years ago you wouldn’t
have been able to
accomplish this trick that
easily, but now it’s a
matter of less than $150
(the price of a decent
premium template).
View the Website