Subpages that every e-commerce website needs: Does your store have all 12?

Everyone knows that an online shop needs a homepage as well as category and product pages. We have taken a look around and collected 12 other pages that should not be missing from your online shop. Among them are 4 pages that should be especially interesting for large shops: the "About Us" page, the dealer search, the press page and the career section. Divided into the categories Service, Check-Out-Flow, Customer Area and Legal, we take a closer look at each subpage, explain its purpose, give tips on implementation and show practical examples.

Service comes first

The first 7 of the pages presented are solely for customer service. These e-commerce sub-pages are not technically or legally necessary, but they build trust in a brand and thus strengthen customer loyalty. This is where you inform your customers about the company and its products. Even if these areas are not absolutely necessary, they contribute an important part to your web presence: They convey a certain image that creates recognition value and helps build customer loyalty.

About us

Nothing shapes a company's image better than an "About Us" page. This is where you introduce your brand and show personality. Tell about your vision and mission: why does the company exist in the first place and what do you create solutions for? An "About Us" page is a fabulous place to show your customers that you are authentic and completely behind what you do. It gives your customers the chance to remember your company and build a connection with you.

Testimonials

Genuine feedback from your customers can not only help improve your products, service and therefore your business, but can also encourage other customers to buy. Have you already received positive feedback several times or can you compile a decent list of references? Then you should definitely present them online. A large proportion of online buyers read other people's reviews before making their final purchase decision and attach great importance to them.

The company ooia has its own subpage for references. Testimonials, customer reviews from Trust Pilot and customer testimonials from social media are collected there. Reviews via social networks can have a particularly authentic effect, as potential buyers experience a real person behind the review and, in the best case, even the product in action. Anyone can write a review, but not every one of them can be traced back to a genuine source. Therefore, encourage your customers - for example in return for a small thank you - to provide feedback on your website or via a review portal.

Blog

A blog is not a sub-page in the true sense of the word, but a whole collection of entries - in some cases even a separate website linked to your online shop. A blog can be the biggest and at the same time the cheapest online marketing tool. It supports with:

• Search engine optimisation: Each post offers the opportunity to focus on a new search term and use it to bring new customers to your website.

• Product introduction: A blog can be used as an extension of the product description and focus on specific features or usage.

• Suspense building: Blog posts can be used to announce new products or upcoming promotions, provide more information about them and thus create excitement for the release or promotion day.

• Customer persuasion: You can also have satisfied customers talk about testimonials in your blog. Or show the diversity of your offer with helpful tutorials.

Before you start blogging, you should think about who you want to target and what you want to communicate. A monthly editorial plan makes planning easier and helps to publish posts on a regular basis.

Shape Republic, for example, sells fitness food and advocates sustainable and healthy nutrition for women. In the blog, readers can find helpful tips on muscle building and are given further information on healthy nutrition. The online shop is not only a pure sales channel, but also conveys an entire lifestyle, among other things with the help of the blog.

Helpcenter

It's natural for questions to arise before or after a purchase. Provide your customers with a central place to contact customer service, be it via an email address, phone number, form or live chat. Many companies combine such a contact page with FAQs to anticipate frequently asked questions and save time. If you receive a particularly large number of questions about a particular product, you should also answer them directly on the product page.

Asphaltgold uses its own FAQ portal. It fits seamlessly into the brand's corporate design and has a search function that can be used to enter specific questions. For those who are undecided, all questions can be found in six categories. Customers also have the option of submitting their own query.

Retailer search

For companies with their own shops or companies whose goods are sold through other retailers, an overview page of these locations is interesting. Potential customers who prefer to look at products directly or do not like to shop online can find out about the nearest shop in the Shop Finder. Here you will find information such as address, opening hours and a description of the shop or the partner retailer.

Coeur de Lion does not have its own shops, but its jewellery is sold through various other retailers such as Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof. In the retailer search, customers can search for a specific location and receive a list of the nearest locations in the vicinity. These are marked on a map so that the shortest route can be easily queried.

Press

A press release page is useful if you are targeting media houses or want to build additional credibility with your visitors. This area can also be used to present new products or news about the company. Before creating the page, you should define a contact person for press issues so that all enquiries reach the same destination and do not have to go through all instances in the company first.

Career section

In contrast to the previous subpages of an e-commerce website, the job page is not used for sales. Nevertheless, it should not be underestimated. Especially for up-and-coming companies with a regular increase in employees or large companies with a frequently changing workforce, a job page offers a quick and free way to post job advertisements.

The Female Company has opted for its own job portal, which is linked to the store. Here, potential employees can search for specific keywords or view all available job advertisements. They also get an initial insight into the look and feel of the company.

Welcome to the check-out flow

The check-out area is a must-have in e-commerce, because it is here that visitors become buyers. Do not neglect these pages under any circumstances, because if a customer has not yet sent the order, you have not yet generated a sale. On average, 70 % to 80 % of purchases are abandoned in the shopping basket before they reach the checkout. Starting with the shopping cart, through the entry of personal data, to the order and order confirmation, the customer must be convinced of your products in order to complete the purchase.

Shopping cart

It should be obvious that a shop needs a shopping cart. However, not all shopping baskets are the same. Here you will find several possibilities to pick up the customer and convince him to buy more products.

These elements are ideal for increasing the average order value and encouraging the customer to complete the order:

• Countdown to reservation of the shopping basket

• Offer gimmicks above a certain order value e.g. free product, discount or free shipping

• Recommendation of matching or popular products

In addition, you should consider a mini shopping basket like the one Kess Berlin uses. This refers to a smaller, flexible version of the shopping basket that can be displayed on all pages. In this way, your customers can keep an overview of the items they have placed in their shopping cart at all times. For example, they don't have to leave the current page to see which value they are missing until free shipping. One less page turn to the desired information is always a plus for user-friendliness.

(Guest) Check-Out

The next step in the check-out flow is the checkout or the actual check-out area. Here, personal customer data is requested, payment and shipping methods are clarified and a final order overview is provided. Since not every user wants to save their data, a so-called guest check-out should not be missing. In this case, your customer does not need an account in your online shop, but can complete the purchase simply by entering their data.

Once customers have gained trust in a company and are sure that they will order there more often, creating a user account becomes more and more attractive. Right at the beginning of the check-out is therefore a good place to offer registration or login. In Room in A Box's check-out, this option is offered very subtly together with the entry of personal data. Thus, both new and existing customers are addressed via the first check-out page.

Order confirmation and thank you page

After all the data has been entered, the order checked and sent, the order confirmation follows in the form of a thank you page. If the customer goes straight back to the shop after placing the order, this tends to cause uncertainty as to whether the order has really been received. In contrast, a page that confirms receipt of the order creates trust. You can still use this page to show your appreciation and gratitude for the purchase. Involve the customer in the process and let them know what it does and what the next steps are.

A thank you page can incentivise further purchases in the shop, for example by giving product recommendations on what was purchased or by using a thank you promotion in the form of a discount code for the next purchase. At this point you can also refer to other product-relevant parts of your shop, such as an interesting blog article that goes into more detail about the use of the product.

Here are more ways to grab the customer's attention at this point:

• Prompt to rate the purchase or product

• Ability to create an account to facilitate further purchases

• Share buttons for recommendation via social networks

• Display of additional product information

The (regular) customer is king

In the best case, your customer has just completed his order and created an account in your shop. We are now in the customer's domain: the user account. This includes the login page and one for registering new customers, overview and detail pages for orders placed as well as the account settings. For returning customers, a user account makes the ordering process much easier. The account is also a good way to manage rewards and loyalty points, but we would particularly like to highlight wish lists and watch lists. Especially if you offer products that are suitable as gifts, you should consider such a function.

Wish lists

A wish list is not necessarily a separate subpage of an e-commerce shop. With RIAB, the overview opens in a pop-up and is thus accessible on every page without leaving it. With a wish list, customers can keep an eye on products and see at a glance when they are on offer or soon no longer available.

For you as a retailer, this is an opportunity to present your shop to a new group: Friends and family of existing customers. This is when your existing customers forward their list for an upcoming birthday or holiday. Friends and family become aware of the online shop themselves, get to know the products a little better and perhaps become customers themselves in this way.

Last but not least: Legal matters

Admittedly, our 12th page comprises not just one but several pages. However, we value the "Legal" section just as much as the home page, product page and category page - pretty much everyone knows that these pages are necessary for an online shop and what they are there for. At this point, however, we would like to briefly summarise these pages.

While the pages mentioned in the previous sections are not mandatory for every online shop, every e-commerce website must definitely have the following sub-pages. There is no way around it. These pages include:

• Imprint

• Data protection

• AGB

• Cancellation and return policy

• Payment and shipping

Other must-haves for your own website

• Responsive design: A website that adapts to different screen sizes and devices to provide an optimal user experience.

• Clear navigation: An intuitive menu structure and easy-to-understand navigation so that visitors can quickly find what they are looking for.

• Customer reviews and testimonials: Real customer reviews and testimonials to boost visitors' confidence and help them make a purchase decision.

• Social media integration: Links to your social media profiles and the ability for visitors to share your content on social networks to increase reach and build a community.

• Search function: A search function that allows visitors to search for specific content or products.

• Call-to-action: Clear calls-to-action that encourage visitors to perform certain actions, such as subscribing to a newsletter, filling out a contact form or adding a product to their shopping cart.

Conclusion: Your shop really needs these subpages

Think of your online shop as a retail shop that a potential customer strolls through. Draw attention to the parts that are necessary to convince the customer and make a purchase. The above list will help you find important sub-pages for your e-commerce website, which may be more or less relevant depending on your goal. So don't panic because your online shop is missing one or the other area. First check if one of the presented pages supports your goal and then start planning the new section.