How Website Design Quality Affects Customers' Purchase Intention

E-commerce is rapidly growing in today’s technology-driven world. In order to increase purchase intention in new online visitors and retain current customers, companies must ensure their e-commerce website is designed to maximize customer satisfaction and trust. However, there are several elements of website design quality that influence purchase intentions more strongly than others. This research attempts to synthesize the recent literature on the main determinants of website design quality that increase purchase intention. Consequently, the most significant determinants are transaction ease, visual design, information quality, social-cue, ease of navigation, service quality and security; their importance varying across industries. Among research conducted on e-commerce websites selling products, visual design has a more significant effect on customer satisfaction than information quality and service quality. The opposite is found to be true among empirical studies of e-commerce websites selling services. Transaction ease, social-cue, ease of navigation and security have a substantial impact on customer satisfaction and trust, regardless of whether the e-commerce website is offering products or services.