Typography plays a vital role in ecommerce website design. Everything from the fonts and sizes selected to the spacing and styling of text impacts how shoppers interact with and perceive an online store. Ecommerce sites live or die based on their ability to communicate and convert, so typography design choices carry tremendous weight.

Effective use of fonts, text layouts and textual elements can vastly improve the customer experience and the bottom line. Poor typography does the opposite, creating a negative impression and hurting sales. That is why typography should be a top priority for any ecommerce business looking to succeed online.

Typography Affects First Impressions

Typography design is one of the very first things visitors notice when landing on an ecommerce site. The fonts and text layout make an immediate impression, and that impression colours the rest of the shopping experience. If the typography is messy, cluttered or hard to read, visitors will be turned off right from the start. Clean, elegant typography makes a great first impression.

Some typography tips for making a good first impression:

• Use minimal fonts. Too many different fonts looks unprofessional. Stick to one or two complementary fonts.
• Make sure text is large enough to read easily. Don’t sacrifice legibility to fit more text in a small space.
• Use ample line spacing and whitespace to avoid a cluttered look.
• Keep font colours high contrast against the background. Don’t use light grey text on a white background, for example.

Typography Should Enhance Readability

On an ecommerce site, customers need to be able to quickly read and comprehend text in order to find products, view details, and complete purchases. Typography choices directly impact readability.

Some tips for maximising readability:

• Use simple, familiar fonts. Avoid ornamental display fonts for paragraphs of text.
• Keep body text left-aligned for easy scanning. Centre aligned or justified text is harder to read in blocks.
• Limit line length to improve readability. Around 50-60 characters per line is ideal.
• Use ample line height so lines don’t crowd each other. At least 1.5x the font size is good.
• Watch line breaks and avoid widows/orphans for a clean look.

Typography Should Suit the Brand Personality

Fonts carry a subtle emotional tone that impacts how people perceive a brand. Ecommerce sites should choose typography that reinforces their desired brand personality.

For example, playful handwritten fonts might suit a children’s store but undermine a luxury fashion brand. A financial services site would avoid overly casual scripts in favour of traditional serif fonts that convey trust and professionalism.

It’s fine to use fonts expressively in headings, but body text should employ neutral easy-to-read fonts that don’t detract from the content.

Consistent Typography Builds Trust

Shoppers expect ecommerce sites to adhere to certain conventions. When a site’s typography is inconsistent from page to page, it can undermine trust and credibility.

Keeping typography cleanly consistent promotes professionalism. For example:

• Use the same fonts across all site pages and sections
• Maintain a steady scale and hierarchy for headings vs body text
• Keep line spacing, sizes, and alignment consistent
• Follow the same link formatting rules throughout

These practices reassure visitors that the site is competently designed.

Typography Should Optimise Scannability

Online reading behaviour tends toward rapid skimming and scanning, not slow studious absorption. Ecommerce sites should optimise text for quick scanning.

Some tips include:

• Highlight important text with size, colour, or style variations
• Use bullet points and numbered lists for easy scanning
• Break content into short paragraphs and sections
• Use descriptive subheadings and spacing to define sections
• Put important info like prices in hard-to-miss places

Scannable typography allows customers to extract information efficiently.

Typography Aids Navigation

Along with visual elements like buttons and menus, typography helps guide visitors to important navigation options.

For example:

• Menu and category names are formatted for quick identification
• Active or hovered menu items change style as a visual cue
• Page titles and headings orient users within the site structure
• Link text is descriptive and instructive

These typographic cues aid navigation so customers don’t get lost.

Typography Can Optimise Conversion Rates

Certain typographic best practices have been shown to improve conversion rates on ecommerce sites. For example:

• Prominent calls-to-action in bold fonts or contrasting colours convert better than plain text links
• Consistently highlighting prices improves add-to-cart rates
• Using bullets or numbered steps for checkout boosts completion rates
• Simplified minimal typography reduces distractions from converting

By optimising typography for conversion, sites can expect more sales.

Ecommerce sites rely heavily on effective communication, and typography defines that communication. From first impressions to final conversions, thoughtful typography design improves the customer experience and the business performance. Typography plays a central role in crafting a site’s look, feel, usability and conversion ability – which shows why it’s so important to get it right.