25 Must-Have Pages for Your Ecommerce Website

What pages make up an ecommerce website?

The most essential ones that come to mind are home page, product page, shopping cart, and checkout.

But there’s more to an ecommerce website than these.

Over the years of designing ecommerce websites, we put together a master site map of every must-have page that should be included in an ecommerce website. We identified 25 pages that we believe are very important for any ecommerce website to include.

Here are the 25 most important pages for your ecommerce website:

The master site map of the must-have pages in an ecommerce site

General Ecommerce Pages

1. Homepage

The homepage is important, no question about that. It’s often the first impression a brand gets to make, and usually the first page to tackle in an ecommerce design.

The homepage can include promotions, branded lifestyle imagery, and featured products or categories. Value propositions should be clear, like what makes the brand or products unique, and any brand guarantees such as free shipping should be highlighted.

While the homepage is regarded as the front door of the site, keep in mind that people don’t always enter through the homepage and may arrive via direct links to other pages.

Everlane introduces their products in the context of the customer’s lifestyle, and provides access to categories organized by season, product, and product category.

GAP’s homepage, like many fashion ecommerce stores, promotes their latest looks and specific product categories, keeping it highly visual. They also include personalized modules based on your browsing behavior.

2. Category Overview

This refers to the landing page for a top level category, such as Women or Electronics, which displays an overview of what’s within that category rather than list all the products.

Multiple Category Overview pages may be used if there are more than two levels, such as Women's > Tops > Sweaters.

However, if your categories are only one level deep, you can skip the Category Overview page and go straight to the Category page.

Patagonia’s Category Overview page for Women’s guides customers to the product subcategory that they are looking for, such as Used Gear, Women’s Fleece, or Women’s Sweaters.

Urban Outfitters’ Category Overview for Home promotes different product lines with branded lifestyle imagery. The sub navigation across the top allows you to get to what you’re looking for since not every section is represented with promotional graphics on this landing page.

3. Category Page

The Category page is the list view of products for a specific category or subcategory, usually displayed in a grid layout. It often includes filters so the user can drill down and find what they are looking for.

The focus of this page is for the user to browse and see a lot of products at once, compared to the Category Overview which focuses on promotion and wayfinding.

Zappos’ large product selection in their Women Shoes category requires a full column of filters to aid the user in shopping.

‍Sorel’s category page for boots provides a quick shop for customers to add directly to the cart from the PLP. When users hover over an item on the Category page the image changes to show the product in use to encourage a more confident purchase if the user does not visit the Product Detail Page.

4. Product Page

Sometimes referred to as the Product Detail Page, this is the individual view of a product with the full product details and pricing. The main call to action is the add-to-cart button.

Adding reviews, related products, and user-generated content from social media to this page can help drive customers to add-to-cart.

Brooks Running’s product page for this shoe is well structured through the use of multiple product images, videos of the product in use, quick access to stores nearby, and a callout to their money back guarantee.

Nike’s product page includes a call out to their “design your own” feature, a favoriting feature for customers that are browsing, and a badge to indicate that the product is highly rated.

5. Search and Search Results

Ecommerce sites should have search functionality, especially for sites with a wide range of products. The search field is usually located in the navigation menu.

Make sure to consider how the Results page displays the results. This page often follows the Category Page template, or it could have its own unique design. Implementing ‘suggested search’ surfaces products while the customer is typing to remove the need to go to a dedicated search results page.

Warby Parker shows the top results in the search results bar as you type, getting customers to the products faster. They unpack the variants within the glasses style so that customers can see all options for the glasses they are looking for.

Zara’s search field autocompletes and displays the results as you type. They also offer filtering options within the expanded search modal to get customers to the products that are most relevant to them.

6. Login/Create Account

Ecommerce sites with account functionality allow customers to save data such as order history and payment information and can enable other interactions such as wish list management, the accrual of rewards/loyalty points, and special access to deals.

The login/create account form can live on its own page or be treated as a modal or dropdown. Make sure creating an account is accessible from the login fields (and vice versa), so when a user realizes they don’t have a login they can easily get to Create Account.

Login fields as a modal from American Eagle allow customers quick access to create an account or sign into an existing account.

Herschel Supply incentivizes customers to sign up for an account to save their wishlist items.

7. Mini Cart

The ‘mini cart’ is technically not a page, but it’s a must-have view to include in your ecommerce site. It’s important to provide visual feedback when the user adds an item to their cart, and the mini cart does just that.

The mini cart is often in the form of a dropdown or flyout coming from the cart icon in the nav, or a modal on the page. Keep it informative by recapping what was added and update the cart subtotal.

This is also a great opportunity to get the user to keep shopping by showing how close they are to free shipping and presenting related products.

Everlane’s add-to-cart confirmation uses a mini cart that provides shipping status, an upsell, an option for gift messaging, and an immediate way to check out.

Girlfriend Collective adds a subtle upsell in their cart encouraging customers to ‘Get The Set’ that matches the item in their cart.

Versed Skincare offers samples to customers who have added a certain amount to their cart as an incentive to buy as well as an upsell to add in a bestseller.

8. Cart Page

The shopping cart needs to list everything the user has added and have the ability for the user to make changes.

It’s good practice to show estimated shipping cost and the promo code field at this point so the user can get a good idea of their final cost without going too deep into the checkout process (for shipping estimates to work, the user may have to input their zip code in advance).

You don’t want abandonments to happen on the last step of the checkout when customers discover the cost of taxes and shipping, and that their promo code doesn’t work–it’s frustrating for both the store and the customer.

The cart page can also be an opportunity to upsell related products.

Reebok’s cart shows many helpful elements such as the ability to enter a promo code, clear information about getting help and free shipping, and additional ways to shop.

Harry’s is a cleaner, more straightforward cart, while also presenting product suggestions.

The Checkout Flow:

The following pages for the checkout flow are some of the most critical must-haves in an ecommerce site, as these pages are where the conversion (the sale!) happens.

9. Log In/Guest Checkout

After a user reviews their cart is the perfect moment to prompt the user to log in (if not already logged in) for a quicker checkout experience by using saved information.

The user may not want to deal with creating an account or remembering their password, so provide the ability to checkout as a guest, which will require them to fill out all their information.

H&M shows a page that encourages new and returning customers to either check out, create an account or check out as a guest to get them to check out faster.

RVCA includes a note about their membership program to encourage customers to create an account before checkout.

10. Shipping

The shipping page within the checkout should include the form fields needed to gather shipping address. There’s often a checkbox to use the same shipping address for the billing address.

Target breaks their checkout process into steps, starting with the shipping step. When a customer is already signed into their account, all of the fields are pre-populated for an easy checkout.

GAP surfaces saved addresses when a user is selecting their shipping options. Later steps are collapsed so the page isn’t overwhelming with a large number of fields.

11. Payment

The payment step includes form fields to input payment information. This may include fields to enter a billing address, especially if it’s different from the shipping address.

This step can also include the option to enter gift cards, rewards points, or promo codes, or pay with rewards points or store credit.

Versed’s Payment step is designed for their diverse range of payment options, including afterpay if the customer would prefer to break up the payments into installments versus paying at once.

12. Checkout Review

This is an important step to review all items being purchased, the shipping info, payment method, discounts, and extra costs like taxes or express shipping.

Make sure it’s clear that this is a review step and that the main call to action is to submit the order.

Everlane gives a clear, simple review step, with the header “Your order is ready to be placed”

13. Order Confirmation

Once the customer submits the order, give them a nice thank you message and confirm that they submitted their order successfully. It’s helpful to display the order details and info on how to modify the order if the user catches a mistake after submission.

If this was a guest checkout, take the opportunity to prompt the user to create an account to save all the information that they just submitted.

Confirmation pages may be used to display a message other than a thank you. As the system processes the order, something could go wrong and the site will need to return an error page instead of a confirmation to explain that an item sold out by the time the order was submitted.

The confirmation page on Asos features a survey to get immediate feedback on the customer experience.

Account Pages:

14. My Orders / Order History

The Orders page lists any current orders as well as all past orders so the user can reference previous purchases.

Zappos’s Order History is a straightforward list, with easy to understand statuses like “Delivered”. They also provide a quick way to write a review for the order and return items.

Old Navy displays the order history in a more visual way, showing thumbnails of what was in each order so you can identify the order at a glance. They also surface a link for tracking your package.

15. Individual Order View

This page is like the receipt for a given order. It should include full details for that order – from what they bought to where it got shipped to. Depending on the sophistication of the ecommerce platform and its integration with shipping/fulfillment software, a tracking number may also be included with each order.

Target goes beyond the order details and includes useful actions you can take such as tracking, report/fix an issue, or return it.

16. My Profile / Account Settings

Whether it’s labeled as “My Profile,” “My Settings,” “Account Information,” and so forth, this page includes all the basic account fields, such as name, email, and change password details. It’s common to include any additional information that’s collected from the user, such as demographic information.

The customer’s account is also a great place to offer them access to their saved Wishlist items. Most companies incentivize account sign ups by only allowing a customer to save an item to a wishlist if they have an account.

Rewards and loyalty program details can also live within the profile page, allowing customers to see their rewards balance, learn how to earn, and apply their rewards to their order.

Sephora, a beauty products store, includes beauty-specific profile fields alongside the standard account fields in their Account Information page.

17. Payment Settings

The Payment Settings (or Manage Payment) page lists saved payment info (gathered from previous orders), and gives customers the ability to update or delete that information.

Asos’s account dashboard allows for a variety of payment methods. Their Payment Settings page makes it easy to manage them all.

Urban Outfitters opts to show the Add New Card fields on the page.

18. Addresses

The Addresses page lists saved shipping addresses (also gathered from previous orders), with the ability to update or delete.

Etsy’s Addresses page makes it easy to see which one is the default shipping address.

Footer and Content Pages:

19. Email & SMS Sign up

Email and SMS are critical lifelines of ecommerce. It’s a sure way to guarantee return customers and market to interested prospective customers.

Ecommerce sites should make it easy for interested visitors to sign up. This doesn’t have to be a dedicated page – you can opt for a simple field in the footer or a pop-up modal. Provide an incentive for signing up, like a free shipping discount, and give a short overview of what type of emails they’ll be getting.

Don’t forget to consider the confirmation message that comes after submission. This, too, can be its own page or load into the modal/footer area.

This example from Allbirds includes a sentence about what type of emails you can expect. These fields live above the footer of the site.

Buffy uses a modal that appears when visiting the site. They offer an incentive to sign up, like $10 off your first purchase.

20. Returns

Returns are an important part of shopping online, which is why there should always be a clear link to the returns page in the footer. This page should also be accessible during the checkout flow, as cart abandonment may happen when a user is unsure about the return policy and can’t confidently complete their purchase.

The best return pages lay out the return/exchange process in an easy-to-understand way while addressing common questions and concerns.

Nike’s Returns & Exchanges page shares FAQs about the return policy, unpacks the search if customers didn’t quite find what they were looking for, and highlights ways to contact the brand.

21. Shipping

A big question on online shoppers’ minds is the shipping time and cost, so an easy-to-find shipping information page (often in the footer, like returns) is essential. Include information about international shipping policies and any special holiday shipping schedules.

Uniqlo’s Shipping page shows a handy chart for the different shipping options while emphasizing how to get free shipping at the top.

22. Help / Contact Us

Give your customers a centralized place to find ways to get in touch with customer support whether with an email address, phone number, form, or live chat with a Help or Contact Us page. Many sites combine FAQs with Contact Us to provide answers to questions that may have come up many times in the past (and also to save time).

Don’t underestimate the importance of the Contact Us page – customer service is a huge driver for business growth, and making customer service accessible and easy will provide a superior experience to users and get people to spread the word about the store and brand.

Allbirds page leads with the customer service hours and a get in touch form at the top with a friendly message to contact at any time, followed by FAQs.

AirBnb’s Help page puts a greater hierarchy on booking and hosting since those are the most common inquiries.They also surface common topics, popular articles, and have a unique logged in experience, separate from the logged out experience.

23. Store Locator / Where to Buy

When you have physical store locations, some visitors will come to the site for the sole purpose of finding a store near them. Likewise, if your brand doesn’t have its own physical store but its products are sold by other retailers, it’s important to provide a page for users to find who stocks the brand and where they can go buy it.

Patagonia’s map on their Locations page gives a good overview of their stores and authorized dealers, like REI. They also surface store hours and distance right on the landing page which is the most important considerations when considering visiting a location.

Bonobos’ locations aren’t your typical retail store, so they use their locations page to explain how it works in addition to listing out all the locations.

24. Store Details page

As you drill down from the Store Locator page, provide full details about a particular store, like a map and business hours.

Madewell’s Store Details page has all the right elements – a mini map, hours and contact info, with bonus sections for nearby stores and in-store events.

25. Terms and Conditions, Privacy Policy, and Web Accessibility Policy

As with all sites, don’t forget to include the legalese.

Columbia offers a helpful sidebar to more easily navigate their Privacy Policy

If your site is compliant, it is important to include an accessibility statement, which services as an acknowledgement and commitment of accessibility, provides customers information about the accessibility of the company’s content, and shows customers that your business cards about them.

American Eagle’s site has an ‘enable accessibility’ link in the top corner, allowing customers to switch to a more accessible mode. As a result they also have a web accessibility statement on their site.

The above list covers everything that’s needed on a core level, but an ecommerce site may need much more based on the type of products it sells and the unique goals of the brand and the store.

Consider other pages and features like the About page, Blog, Wish Lists, Careers page, and more.