2020 witnessed a sudden acceleration and online shopping due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It also increased the competition for online stores and e-commerce businesses.
Web design trends have become all the more essential for them to impress existing and potential customers. Following the latest designs portrays that the brand keeps up with the modern cutting edge technology and sets them apart from their competitors.
So if you have been wondering how to make your e-commerce website look up-to-date in the new year, you have come to the right place. We spoke with some expert web designers at to get updates on the latest trends for e-commerce stores.
Lounge Lizard is one of the leading web designing firms in the US, with offices in New York, Long Island, Washington DC, and Nashville. According to them, these are some of the latest web design trends that you should use for your e-commerce website in 2021.
Multidirectional Layouts
Last year we saw a lot of unconventional grid layouts for websites. This year, the trend is to experiment more freely with the grids that showcase your products. Visitors can interact with the webpage grid by going up or down as well as left or right. Some of the designs also allow diagonal movements.
We even saw webpage grids not go forward and backward, creating a 3D effect. This unique approach to will allow your users to move in any direction they want. It is also perfect for website designs for smartphones.
It gives you an edge over your competitors because e-commerce visits from mobile phones have surpassed desktop usage. We have also noticed that multidirectional grids are often combined with animated page transitions. These trends are proof that users want an interactive shopping experience even when they are browsing your website from their homes.
Vaporwave Influence
The Vaporwave influence started showing up on website designs in 2017. Gradually, the trend has transformed from a cultural design into an element of modern mainstream pop culture. Vaporwave was originally a result of the anti-consumerist music movement in early 2010.
It has slowly evolved into visual arts that can invoke feelings of futurism and surrealism. In the world of graphic design, includes several elements of pop culture between the 60s to 90s. Some of the common characteristics of Vaporwave are:
- An unworldly atmosphere that depicts the electronic music scene
- Psychedelic typography with hints of Japanese textual influence
- Neon pastel colors with bubblegum pink hues
- Gradient color blending
- Abstract shapes
- Glitch art
- Grainy and low-resolution visuals
- Splashes of classic Roman sculptures
If you feel that all this is a bit too much for you, don’t fret. You can always select certain elements and customize the style to suit your brand. You can see plenty of examples that use the Vaporwave influence intelligently to create sheer richness.
The Navigation Menu at the Center
The traditional way to include a navigational menu on the website was to make it easy to find and yet keep them away from the view. But lately, a new trend is gaining steam among a that lets the menu take the center stage. It is a user-friendly trend because most visitors go to the menu as soon as they arrive at a website.
So many e-commerce website designers are making the menu visually attractive using branding elements like color schemes and trendy fonts. You can include a clear and visually interesting menu design on your homepage to offer a memorable first impression for visitors.
Product Features Injected in the Design
We must be already promoting your best-selling products through various platforms. But in 2021, there is a rising e-commerce design trend that involves creating artistic images of your primary products with backgrounds to embody them.
The idea is to identify the recognizable elements of your best-selling products and inject them into the overall design of your e-commerce website. For example, you can use an isolated product photograph and merge it with a background.
You can also design the background to highlight the color scheme and brand of the product. Or you can use the product’s key features to influence the color palette and typography of your entire website.
Interactive Filter Functions
Users always feel confused or challenged when it comes to filtering product searches. It is especially applicable for fashion and apparel selling websites. For example, if a man is looking for a pair of shoes for himself online, does he look into the men’s section of the shoe section? Many of your visitors may feel stumped by the conundrum of categorization.
However, we understand your convenience of letting your customers make choices like these. It eventually enables them to find what they might be looking for on your website. That is why often at several filter functions to optimize practicality and efficiency. Adding fun and interactive elements can enhance the overall experience.
In 2021, you need to think beyond search filters, product categories, and tags for your e-commerce website design. You have to imbibe an intuitive and memorable element to the visual display. While generic drop-down menus may serve the purpose, they will not impress your consumers and 2021. So make your filters effective and entertaining to ensure that your customers do not wander off to your competitors.
Several trends have continued from 2020, such as neutral background colors, pastel colors, oval shapes, etc. But 2021 has opened the doors for several new styles and ideas. Most of these trends seem to be breaking the traditional ways of the past and experimenting further. It gives you the chance to show your brand’s creativity and personalized elements to improve your customer’s shopping experience.