E-commerce website design checklist

18 August 2026

Product discovery

• Collections that match how people shop (not your internal stock codes)
• Filters that work on a 320px screen
• Search that understands UK spelling
• Product titles with the words people type, not only the brand nickname
• Images under ~100KB where possible, with zoom for detail goods

Trust on the product page

UK shoppers look for price including VAT or a clear VAT note, delivery times to London vs the rest of the UK, returns, and a company that looks real. Show Companies House identity in the footer. Put delivery and returns in plain English above the fold on mobile, not in a PDF.

Checkout

Guest checkout. Apple Pay / Google Pay where the platform allows. Address lookup. No surprise postage at the last step. If you must use apps, measure INP after each install. This is where Shopify usually beats WooCommerce for SMEs.

SEO and AEO for products

Unique descriptions — not manufacturer blobs copied by every retailer. FAQ schema on complex products. Canonicals to stop variant duplicate issues. Fast LCP on collection pages; they are often the landing page from Google.

Launch QA

1. Buy a real item on a phone on 4G
2. Test a failed card and a refund path
3. Check emails (order, shipping) on Gmail and Outlook
4. Confirm analytics purchase events
5. Submit the sitemap in Search Console

We design and build this as part of Growth packages — see e-commerce design and get a quote.