Top E-commerce Website Design Tips for UK Brands
- Häkan Fidan
- 24 hours ago
- 4 min read
Hakan Fidan, Head of Design
TL;DR
Creating a better e-commerce design lies in a few points: Make your value clear in seconds, place trust signals where decisions happen, and design each step to feel simple on mobile, fast to load, and friction-free at checkout. This is also where a strong e-commerce agency helps: they turn these principles into a prioritised roadmap and deliver the work.
Why is E-Commerce Website Design Important in the UK
UK shoppers move fast, compare faster, and abandon carts much faster than any of us would like to admit. Your e-commerce website design has to earn trust in seconds, guide decisions in minutes, and make checkout feel effortless.. That matters even more when online sales sit at 28.1% of total retail sales in Great Britain (1).
Below are eight practical, high-impact improvements you can make to strengthen e-commerce website design for UK audiences.
1) Lead with a clear promise above the fold
The first screen should clearly communicate what you sell, who it is for, and why a shopper should buy from you.
In e-commerce designs, this reduces bounce rates and supports faster decision-making. Place key reassurance points like delivery, returns, warranty, or price positioning near the primary call to action so customers do not need to search for them.
Use this simple formula: Product + outcome + reassurance.Example: “Everyday trainers that last. Free UK delivery over £X. Free returns.”
2) Make navigation match how people shop
Strong website design for e-commerce relies on predictable information architecture.
Use straightforward category labels, keep top-level navigation concise, and group products in ways that reflect customer intent (by use case, by category type, by size, or by compatibility).
A well-implemented on-site search experience also matters because it helps high-intent shoppers find what they want without friction.
3) Turn category pages into decision pages
Category pages should help shoppers narrow options quickly. Effective e-commerce design typically includes prominent filtering and sorting, clear product cards with essential information, and supporting guidance where needed.
For UK brands, it also helps to surface delivery thresholds and returns information close to the product grid, especially on mobile, where users are less likely to explore multiple pages.
4) Build product pages that remove doubt
Product pages convert when they answer questions before the customer asks them.
Research into checkout and purchase behaviour shows that uncertainty contributes significantly to abandonment, with average cart abandonment commonly reported around 70%. (2)
Add the essentials (high up the page):
Delivery dates and thresholds (UK-specific)
Returns window and conditions
Reviews with filters
Size guides, fit notes, or compatibility help
Clear imagery that shows scale, texture, and real-world use
5) Put trust signals next to buying actions
Trust signals work best when they appear at the moment a shopper is deciding. In your e-commerce website design, place reassurance close to the “Add to basket” and checkout actions.
This can include :
Payment method icons
Security messaging
Review summaries
Delivery commitments
Clear returns language
This strengthens e-commerce website design because it reduces hesitation at the exact moment it appears.
6) Design mobile like a thumb runs the show
Mobile e-commerce design should prioritise readability, tap-friendly spacing, and efficient interactions.
Focus on making key actions easy to complete (searching, filtering, viewing images, selecting variants, and adding to basket).
Keep navigation consistent and avoid interruptions that prevent users from continuing their journey, particularly during product selection and checkout.
7) Make checkout short, calm, and surprise-free
Checkout design has a direct impact on conversion.
Reduce form fields, enable guest checkout, provide address lookup where possible, and make errors easy to understand and fix.
Ensure total cost transparency early in the process (including delivery costs), as unexpected costs can undermine trust and lead to abandonment. This is particularly important given consistently high reported abandonment rates.
8) Prioritise speed, Core Web Vitals, and accessibility
Speed and usability shape both conversion and visibility.
If you run shopify design projects, Shopify’s theme requirements offer a blunt benchmark: themes need an average Lighthouse performance score of 60 to enter the Shopify Theme Store.(5)
How Can an Agency Help
Many UK brands know what they want to improve, but struggle to prioritise work, align stakeholders, and ship changes without compromising performance or brand consistency. An agency experienced in e-commerce website design can help by converting the eight areas above into a clear roadmap, then delivering improvements in a structured way.
An agency typically supports by:
Auditing UX, analytics, and customer journeys to identify the highest-impact opportunities
Redesigning templates (home, category, product, cart, checkout) with conversion and clarity in mind
Improving performance by reducing page weight, simplifying scripts, and managing Shopify app bloat
Supporting SEO through cleaner architecture, internal linking, and indexable collection structures
Aligning creative, content, and marketing so paid and organic traffic lands on pages designed to convert
Contact us to learn how we can help shape your brand's strategy that drives growth, strengthens loyalty, and keeps your brand consistent across every channel.
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