E-Commerce and Retail Web Design That Drives Sales

Selling online isn’t just about having a shop on the internet. It’s about building something that makes people want to buy. A fast site with clear product pages, a checkout that doesn’t make people second-guess their purchase, and a design that builds trust from the first click. That’s what separates online stores that grow from ones that just sit there.

At Lakeside Web Design, we build e-commerce websites for retail businesses in Milwaukee, Chicago, and beyond. Whether you’re a brick-and-mortar shop adding an online store, a local brand going nationwide, or a new business launching straight to e-commerce, we’ve done it before and we know what works.

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What Makes an Online Store Actually Convert

There’s a reason some online stores have 3% conversion rates while others sit at 0.5%. It’s not luck. It’s design, speed, and trust. Here’s what we focus on:

• Product pages that sell: Good photos, clear descriptions, visible pricing, and trust signals like reviews and guarantees. Every product page should answer the question: “Why should I buy this?”
• A checkout that doesn’t lose people: Every extra step in your checkout process costs you sales. We build simple, fast checkout flows with multiple payment options (credit card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, buy-now-pay-later) so nothing gets in the way of a completed purchase.
• Mobile shopping that works: Over half of all e-commerce traffic comes from phones. If your mobile experience is clunky, you’re losing more than half your potential revenue. We design mobile-first, always.
• Smart search and filtering: If someone can’t find what they’re looking for in 10 seconds, they’ll leave. We build intuitive search, category navigation, and product filters that help shoppers find exactly what they want.
• Speed that keeps people on the page: Slow sites kill sales. According to Cloudflare, a 1-second delay in page load time can reduce conversions by 7%. We build fast sites from the ground up.

Platforms We Work With

We’re not tied to one platform. We recommend what’s right for your business and your budget:

• WooCommerce: Perfect for businesses that want full control over their store. Runs on WordPress, which means you own everything and can customize anything. Best for businesses that want flexibility and plan to grow.
• Shopify: Great for businesses that want a simpler setup with less maintenance. Handles hosting, security, and payments out of the box. We build custom Shopify themes that don’t look like every other Shopify store.
• Custom solutions: For businesses with unique needs (custom product configurators, B2B pricing, complex inventory), we build from scratch using modern tools that scale.

SEO for E-Commerce: Getting Found by Buyers

Traffic without sales is just expensive entertainment. We focus on getting the RIGHT traffic to your store, people who are actively looking to buy what you sell.

Every e-commerce site we build includes search engine optimization from day one:

• Product page optimization with the keywords your customers actually search for
• Category page structure that helps Google understand and rank your product catalog
• Schema markup so your products show prices, ratings, and availability right in search results
• Local SEO for stores that serve a specific area (so “gifts Milwaukee” or “jewelry store near me” drives foot traffic too)

From Local Shop to Online Success

Some of our favorite projects have been helping Milwaukee businesses make the jump from in-store only to selling online. See how we helped Prairie Jewelers expand from a local storefront into new online markets with a custom e-commerce build and SEO strategy.

The retail world is changing. Customers expect to browse, compare, and buy online. The businesses that meet them there are the ones that grow. The ones that don’t? They get left behind.

Let’s Build a Store That Sells

Whether you’re launching your first online store or upgrading an existing one, we’ll build you something fast, clean, and designed to convert. No cookie-cutter templates. No bloated platforms. Just a store that works for your business and your customers.