Web Development for E- Commerce
A. The Keys to Building A Successful Ecommerce Website
An ecommerce website is fast becoming an essential piece of the modern business' success with the gradual shift in business environment to the online landscape. For the website to make any type of substantial contribution however, the business needs to have a complete understanding of its customers wants and needs. This is perhaps the toughest aspect of the online business model
Tools such as web analytic software can provide early guidance on how to proceed into the online business world. Designed testing to gain insight into visitor traffic patterns enables the user to monitor the site traffic in order to study the general market issues, number of visitors clicking into the pages of the sites etc. A business can use this information to design and develop the optimal solution to address these visitors/potential customers.
From the small out-of-the-basement business to the giant entities, regardless of business mode (B2B or B2C), building an ecommerce site has a terrific significance in today's market. The subject of building an ecommerce site involves certain pivotal steps that the web site developer is required to take for planning, developing and putting it into action by using applications such as Microsoft studio NET
One can find tons of detailed information regarding the choices of the designs the developer needs for building an ecommerce site. In this issue, it is important to discuss about the term Handel since it is very much a related topic. A Handel is basically a set of technical modules that are used to perform certain repetitive usual actions such as adding and removing items to and from the shopping cart and other usual tasks which are related to making ecommerce software.
Building the best solution involves solving for the endgame. What is the end goal the site should accomplish? With this In mind, build the site mechanics using reverse engineering, always keeping the end result in mind. It is best to always strive to build efficiencies and ease-of-use so that the visitor avoids any type of confusion in navigation. Build it and they will come!
There are certain criterions that must be met to build up a better ecommerce site. A better ecommerce site must give a clear view of the company s actual status and should be comprehensive and substantial. It is very important to create an ecommerce site in such a way that it becomes capable to deliver within a very short window of time. If you continue to focus on the question, "why should a customer buy from me?" then your project will experience the greatest end success.
Another pivotal point regarding building a better ecommerce site is fewer the number of pages, better it is for the external world. The site should display the points of guarantee or warrantee for the products and should be built in such a way so as to assure the customer that you will always be there to help the customer if anything goes wrong
B. 8 Rules for a Successful Ecommerce Website
Successful ecommerce website design starts with applying the basics of retail success. To run a successful ecommerce website, you need to do what successful bricks-and-mortar retailers do. Follow these rules to get your ecommerce site visitors actually shopping online.
1) The retaller has a product or products that she wants to sell
Everyone in ecommerce or thinking of getting into ecommerce has this one figured out. Want a new car? Fresh spinach? A replacement part for your ancient typewriter? You'll find it on the 'Net. But a product, no matter how superior or well-priced, does not a successful ecommerce site make.
2) The retailer needs a place to showcase his product. Traditionally, this is a building of some kind.
Online, it's an ecommerce website. But think about the traditional retail store. There are products in the window to entice the customer inside. There are aisles leading to shelves of more products, all conveniently arranged for the customer.
Navigation is critical to ecommerce website design; visitors to your online store need the same kind of visible, easy-to-follow pathways. They need to be able to examine your products and compare them with other products easily.
And visitors to your online store need to be able to access your products easily. They can't just pick them off the shelf and carry them to the till as they would in the bricks-and-mortar store. The back end of your ecommerce site is just as Important as your front end in terms of ecommerce website design. You need to arrange the supply and distribution of your product before your ecommerce site goes "live". You must be able to deliver on your promise to the customer.
Too many ecommerce ventures collapse because the people involved didn't bother to secure the supply and distribution of their product ahead of time. What happens when people shopping online don't get the product they ordered in a reasonable amount of time or don't get it at all? They get angry, and chances are good, no matter how nicely you apologize to them, they'll never buy anything from you again. And they'll tell all their friends how unhappy they are with your crummy customer service!
3) The retailer chooses a building for his store that is in good repair, and has all the facilities such as electricity and heat that are necessary to make his customers comfortable. If the building isn't in good repair, he fixes the problems.
Too many ecommerce entrepreneurs don't bother to do this. They throw up websites that have large sections under construction, or have their sites hosted by providers that provide erratic or slow service. If a potential customer tries to access your website and it's down, what does she do? She clicks through to another website where she can view the products she's interested in. Will she be back? Probably not.
You must have consistent, 24x7 hosting if you want to operate a successful ecommerce website. You must present a fully functional, complete store to get visitors shopping online.
No 'Under Construction' or 'Coming Soon' banners.
Usability is another important component of website design. For instance, if potential customers can't navigate your site easily, they won't bother, Pay special attention to the ease of the buying process. Your competition is always only a click away.
And you must maintain your website regularly and often. An ecommerce site that's littered with dead links kills online shopping. An ecommerce website that never offers any new content will bore visitors. If you can't afford to maintain your site, you can't afford to have one.
But even if you have excellent website design, site visitors still may not shop from you. The next page of this article discusses how to get visitors to your online store to trast you enough to become shoppers
Having a professional-looking, fully functional ecommerce website is one way you build credibility with potential online shoppers. Just as in the bricles-and-mortar store, you must win your customers' trust before they'll shop online. You need to let your site visitors get to know you and your company as well as learn about your products before they'll start shopping online. How does a bricks-and-mortar retaller build credibility with their customers and how can we do it on the Net?
4) The traditional retailer makes her store as attractive as possible, and displays the product to best advantage
People shopping online need to see the product before they'll purchase it, too; incorporating an online catalogue into your ecommerce website design can really help build credibility. But don't make the mistake of loading many pictures onto too few pages, resulting in pages that load too slowly and don't provide enough information. A good online catalogue will use a lot of web pages, it will be organized into categories, searchable, use thumbnails to give faster load times, and provide detailed information on each product. An excellent catalogue also provides stock information and makes it easy for the online shopper to purchase the product.
5) The retailer (or members of her staff) la physically present in the store to welcome, communicate with, and serve the customers that come into the store
Too many ecommerce websites are anonymous and provide very limited contact opportunities for people thinking of shopping online, a real blow to their credibility. If I'm thinking of buying your product, I want to know who you are.
Successful ecommerce sites provide real names as contacts, not pseudonyms such as 'webmaster' or worse, names that look like passwords, such as 'King1724" They supply information about their staff and their company that the online shopper can access easily. Build credibility by putting a picture of yourself and/or your staff on your site. Customers need to have the feeling that they know you, or at least that they know something about you, before they'll do any online shopping
Successful ecommerce websites also provide information about customer service and contact information that is clear and accessible. Having to drill down through 50 pages to find an email address printed in a tiny font on the bottom of a page will give your potential customer queasy feelings, not good feelings. Most won't even bother to search. They'll just assume that you're not the sort of person they want to do business with.
Build credibility with potential customers by making your customer service information a prominent feature of your site: Put an 'About Us' and a 'Contact Us' or 'Customer Service link on your ecommerce website's navigation menu and make sure it's on every page.
And write those pages; if someone bothers to click on 'Customer Service' and all they see is a single email address, your credibility will plummet. Shoppers need to see a fully developed customer service policy to feel comfortable about online shopping. Many online stores use FAQs which provides answers to common questions, such as how to order, shipping charges, and return policies.
And no matter how small your ecommerce website is, you can now provide customer service in real time.
HumanClick and LiveHelper, for example, are both Internet based customer service applications that let your ecommerce website visitors get immediate, on-demand help. Now there's a way to entice ecommerce visitors!
Lastly, if you want to get visitors to your online store shopping online, you need to make it easy and safe for them to pay for their purchases online. Continue on to the next page to read more about ecommerce payment processing
Online shoppers want the same things from your ecommerce website that they demand from bricle-and-mortar retailers. You have to make them feel safe and comfortable before they'll start shopping online.
Online payment systems and credit card processing are a case in point, Compare what happens online to paying for a purchase at an offline retailer
6) The traditional retailer ensures that customers feel secure in his store.
You need to do the same to get people shopping online. Site security is a prime concern of potential online shoppers. You have to work especially hard at this, because you have to deal with both the reality and the perception of online credit card processing. The reality is that on a secured site, transmitting personal information such as credit card numbers is less dangerous than using a credit card in a real world' retail situation, where someone might look over someone else's shoulder and steal the number, or pick the credit card slip out of the trash afterwards.
This is practically true that there is more risk in handing your credit card to a stranger serving your dinner than in shopping online. But the perception of credit card processing is that transmitting personal information such as credit card numbers over the Web is much more dangerous and that hackers lurk everywhere.
You must have SSL (Secure Socket Layering) on your online payment pages, so you have the ability to handle encrypted transactions. You must visibly show your potential online shopper that your site is secure and that your online payment systems, such as credit card processing, are safe to use.
7) The traditional retailer makes it easy for customers to purchase products. She or a member of her staff is there to take your money, whether it be cash, cheque, credit or debit card.
Too many ecommerce websites make online shopping difficult. My personal pet peeve is websites that only offer an order form that the customer has to print off, fill out, and mail in. Why would I bother to do that when I can just go to a bricks-and-mortar store and hand someone my cash, credit or debit card? If you have an online store, you must offer online payment, such as credit card processing.
To accept payment online, you can use an online payment system, such as PayPal, or set up a merchant account for credit card processing. Online payment systems such as Beanstream (a Canadian company) allow you to set up merchant accounts and online payment processing for both debit and credit cards. You'll find more information on online payment systems in the Payment Processing section of this website.
Many ecommerce solutions providers include credit card processing with their ecommerce packages. Easy Ways to Get Your Small Business Into Ecommerce presents a selection of inexpensive turnkey ecommerce packages for small businesses.
8) The traditional retailer closes the sale with a "Thank you, please come again.
You need to do this on your ecommerce website, too. Whether it's a simple screen that comes up after the transaction thanking your customer, a follow-up thank-you email, or a thank you card that you ship with the completed order (or all three!), you need to let your ecommerce customer know that you appreciate her business.
Blank screens, screens that automatically return to the home page, or screens that just repeat the order form after the transaction do nothing to give people shopping online warm, fuzzy feelings that may translate into future sales.
ENCOURAGE ONLINE SHOPPING
Having a quality product is only one piece of the ecommerce website puzzle. Another is getting potential shoppers to visit your ecommerce.site.
But even after you've put those pieces in place, you have to entice them to do their online shopping on your site by treating them as well as or better than they'd be treated in a bricks-and-mortar store.
These eight rules of successful ecommerce websites can help persuade potential online shoppers to make the click that matters.
C. The Essential Elements of Building an E-Commerce Website
If you plan to sell anything online, having an e-commerce plan is as important as your original business plan.
The first step in writing an e-business plan is to decide what kind of experience you want your online customers to have. Think not only about today but also two and five years down the road.
Your e-commerce plans starts with website goals. Who are your target customers? What do they need? Are they getting information only, or can they buy products at your site? These key questions, asked and answered early, will determine how much time and money you'll need to develop and maintain an online presence.
Second, decide what products or services you will offer. How will you position and display them? Will you offer both online and offline purchasing? How will you handle shipping and returns?
Additionally, don't overlook the customer's need to reach a live person. A toll-free phone number should be prominently displayed that customers can call anytime to get their questions answered by a live person.
If you decide to sell online, you'll need a shopping cart component, which is a means of handling credit card processing. and an organized order fulfilment process.
Finally, even if you build an amazing website, don't assume people will find you on their own. If you want to develop a consistent flow of traffic to your site, it's essential that you plan and maintain an ongoing and multifaceted promotional strategy that's carefully targeted to your audience.
Once you've decided to have a website, one of your first to-do items is to make a list of possible website names or URL
Then run, don't walk, to the nearest computer, log on to the internet, go to your favorite search engine, and type in "domain registration. You will find a list of companies, such as networksolutions.com, godaddy.com and register. com, that will guide you through the simple domain registration process
For a modest fee, you can register a domain name for one or more years.
From the available names, choose one that's easy to spell and nemember, and describes what your company does. Make sure, however, you're not imposing on someone else's trademark or copyrighted name. In many cases, the name of your your company, with the addition of dot-com (www.[YourCompanyName].com) is a suitable domain name that you should definitely register.
Once you've registered your domain name and have a plan in place for what you want to offer prospective and existing customers online, the next major challenge is designing and building your actual website and online presence.
What makes a good website? Before getting enmeshed in design details get the big picture by writing a site outline. The content you develop and publish should directly relate to and help you achieve the goals and objectives you've set for the website.
A well-thought-out site outline includes
Content
The key to a successful site is content. Give site visitors lots of interesting information, incentives to visit and buy, and ways to contact you. Once your site is up and running, continually update and add fresh content to keep people coming back
Structure
Decide how many pages to have and how they'll be linked to each other. Choose graphics and icons that enhance the content.
Design
With the content and structure in place, site design comes next. Whether you're using an outside designer or doing it yourself, concentrate on simplicity, readability and consistency, Remember to focus on what you want to accomplish
Navigation
Make it easy and enjoyable for visitors to browse the site. For example, use no more than two or three links to major areas and never leave visitors at a dead end.
Credibility
This is an issue that shouldn't be lost in the bells and whistles of establishing a website. Your site should reach out to every visitor, telling that person why he or she should buy your product or your service. It should look very professional, and give potential customers the same feeling of confi-dence they would get with a phone call or face-to-face visit with you. Remind visitors that you don't exist only in cyberspace. Your company's full contact information company name, complete ad-dress, telephone, fax and e-mail-should appear on all or most of your individual web pages and be displayed prominently on your site's home page.
An outline helps you get the most out of your website design/e-commerce budget. It will also help you determine whether you, or someone in your company, can design portions of the website, or if you need to solicit outside help. That way, when you hire someone, it will be for only the parts of the job that you'll need to have outsourced.
D. PLAN FOR YOUR WEBSITE
Four things to do before you build your business website
Before you create your business site, it's important to do some planning up front. Here are four steps to take that will make your decisions much easier, and help you avoid costly mistakes.
1. DO SOME RESEARCH
What do you want from your website? What are your competitors doing? Most importantly, what do your customers really want? Now's the time to find the answers.
What do my customers want?
People become customers if they see a benefit in what you offer. So it pays to spend some time talking to your target audience to find out what will make them want to buy your products and/or services, and use your website. Could it be:
Lower prices, lots of details, photos, recommendations from others, etc?
A service no-one offers e.g. same day delivery, a free inclusion?
Being able to pay by credit card or in other currencies?
Something else?
What do I want from my website?
Once you have a better understanding of your audience needs, wants and problems, think about the specific things you need your website to do, such as
Actions from customers
Make it easy for shoppers to buy through the site.
Get people emailing and calling you.
Bring more customers into your shop/office
Ensure they understand your products or services.
Messages about the business
Make your business look more professional
Be seen as an innovator in your Industry.
Online shopping options
A simple checkout for buying one item/service at a time.
A sophisticated shopping cart for buying many products in one go.
Payment tools eg, accept credit card payments online, by phone, etc.
What are my competitors doing?
Studying your competitor's websites and strategies helps you understand where your business is or will be when you launch your website, and opportunities for the future:
Who's online and who's not?
How professional looking are their websites?
What are they doing well and not so well?
What do they offer that you can't match?
How are they using thing like social media, email newsletters, etc?
What could you do better than them?
2. SEO PLANNING TO GET FOUND ON SEARCH ENGINES
It's vital that people looking online for the products and services you offer can find your web pages on Google and other search engines. Improving your position on search engines is called Search Engine Optimisation (SEO).
While SEO is something you'll need to continually work on, before you create your website you should:
find keywords used to search for your business, products and services
see what words your competition focus on
make sure the web developer knows how to built a search engine friendly website.
3. TECHNICAL STUFF
If you don't have a technical bone in your body, don't worry. That's what IT gurus were created for. Even though they can look after everything in that department, you do need to think about:
your domain name or website address
who's going to host your website
what sort of online shopping cart to use.
4. WORK OUT A BUDGET
These days, it doesn't cost a lot to get a professional looking business website up and running. However, the amount you can afford to spend on creating and maintaining your website will ultimately determine how advanced and tailored you can make it.
Things you need to cost
Before you choose a website option, do a proper budget and include all the costs involved, such as:
domain name registration
monthly web hosting
web design and development
creating content (a web writer, photos, etc)
maintenance
marketing/SEO
logistics
online shopping carts and checkouts
fees for taking credit card payments online, etc.
If it sounds a little daunting, remember that some website options include a number of these services for free, or at very competitive prices.
Doing business online is a constant learning experience. However, taking these steps will give you the knowledge to get started on your new business website with confidence.
E. SET UP A BASIC WEBSITE
Create a simple business website and start selling today
The web is the first place most Australians go to find products and services. You can be waiting for them with a basic business website that tells people what you do and sell-and lets then buy from you online.
What can I do with a basic business website?
You can quickly and easily do things like:
create a homepage that includes your logo or banner
promote and sell your products and/or services
take payments for bills, accept donations for charities and more
tell people about you and your company
add photos or samples of your work
let customers know how to contact you.
What can't I do with a basic business website?
People can't pay for more than one thing at a time.
You can't do a lot to tailor how your site looks or works.
4 great reasons to use this type of website for your business
You don't need IT skills to start or maintain the website.
It's easy for existing and potential customers to find you on the web.
You can let people know all the reasons they should use your business.
Customers can shop and pay online 24 hours a day.
What do I do to get a business website like this?
There are a number of options, but the fastest, easiest and cheapest way to get a basic business website up and running is to use:
MYOB Atlas
If you have an ABN number and a phone number, MYOB, Google and PayPal have come together to offer a business website that:
is free for the first year ($5 per month thereafter)
includes a free domain name (web address) for 2 years
can be set up in just 15 minutes
is really easy to use and maintain
comes with web business tips and support
lets you get found on Google search
lets you take payments online through PayPal
Even better, you can get your website up and running today and you don't need any web skills to do it.
F. CREATE AN EBAY STORE
Put your business and products on eBay
Did you know that thousands of Australian businesses, big and small, use eBay as their official "business website to sell online?
In fact, some of the most successful ecommerce companies in Australia started out on eBay. And while most now have their own websites, many still use it as an additional sales channel.
The world's biggest shopping mall
Being on eBay is a bit like setting up your business inside the busiest and biggest shopping mall on the planet. eBay: is Australia's most popular online marketplace with 5.6 million unique visitors
has more than 94 million active users in 39 countries.
Should I use eBay as my business website?
If you want to sell products online, but don't want to invest in your own website, an eBay store makes a lot of sense because you:
get instant access to millions of potential customers
can take payments without needing to invest in a shopping cart
have control of your stock and pricing
enjoy the SEO benefits of eBay's ranking on Google
are able to re-design and brand some of your pages
can be up and running on the web today.
Can I use eBay if I already have my own website?
If you are about to create your own business website, or already have one, a complimentary eBay store can:
get your products seen by many new potential customers
be a channel for trialling new or exclusive offers
act as the 'online sales arm of your business
often rank higher on search results than your own website.
Head to the eBay website to learn more about the different eBay stores you can set up.
G. ONLINE SHOPPING CARTS
SELL AND GROW WITH A PROFESSIONAL ONLINE STORE
To run a successful online retail store, you need to make it easy for your shoppers to buy lots of different products in one go. This is where a good online shopping cart is so vital
There are lots of great shopping carts out there, some even come with a new website. You could choose a simple option that's easy to install and manage, or get someone to help you tailor every step of the experience just for your customers. It all depends on your budget and needs.
6 BENEFITS OF HAVING AN ONLINE SHOPPING CART
1. Customers keep track of their Items
As people explore your website they can easily add things they might want to buy to the cart.
2. People tend to buy more
It's as quick and easy to add several items to a cart and pay for them all in one go is it is to buy one.
3. Buying on your site is just better
You make shopping online a breeze, so customers come back and tell their friends about you too
4. No nasty surprises at checkout
Your customers know the total price at every step
5. Can save you time and money
As everything is automatic-checkout, payments, sending confirmation emails, etc.
6. It's easy for people to buy wherever they are
The number of Australians searching and shopping online through their mobile phones and iPads is growing rapidly.
The trouble is, standard websites. are built for people using personal computers
don't look or work as they should on mobile devices.
Plus, millions of people spend as much if not more time on Facebook than surfing the web.
If you make your site easy to visit and buy on using mobile phones, Facebook and iPads you open your doors to many more customers
THINGS TO LOOK FOR WHEN SHOPPING FOR SHOPPING CARTS
Depending on your needs now, and your plans for the future, here are some things you may want to consider when choosing an online shopping cart:
Does it allow you to sell through the major online shopping channels Facebook, eBay and Google?
Will it allow customers to buy from you on their mobiles and tablets?
Can you cross sell Le. show related products to people who buy and browse?
Does it come with a blog - so you can showcase your knowledge and expertise?
Does it offer other marketing tools such as email newsletters and comparison site listings?
Does it include inventory management-to keep stock of your products?
Does it include secure payment provider eg. PayPal?
If a website is included, is it optimised for search engines - to help you get found on Google?
SHOPPING CART PROVIDERS
Below are four online shopping cart providers that each offler many - if not all of the features above, and can help you grow your online sales.
Bigcommerce
Shopify.com
Shoppingcart2012
Ezimerchant
ashop
H. BUILD A CUSTOMISED WEBSITE
BUILD YOUR ONE-OF-A-KIND BUSINESS WEBSITE
Many of the websites we use everyday-bank sites, government sites, well known retailers and thousands of small business sites-are all advanced websites created from scratch.
While these one-of-a-kind websites require more time, money and expertise to build than the other type of websites, they offer some unique benefits too.
What can I do with an advanced business website?
The sky's the limit! You can:
design your site to look and work exactly the way you want promote and sell all your products and services
add as many pages as you want, whenever you want
accept all kinds of payments
Include blogs, social media, videos, customer ratings and more.
What can't I do with an advanced website?
The only limit is your budget and the skills of the people building your site.
What are the benefits of an advanced website?
With a tailored website you:
really stand out from your competitors and other sites
can make it as easy to shop and pay online as possible
boost your opportunities to rank highly on search engines
look extremely professional.
How do I build an advanced website?
Unless you're an expert in website development and design, you should get help from someone who is.
The internet's not just a great place to sell your own products and services. You can also find and hire professionals to build your one-of-a-kind website a lot cheaper than many web development companies might charge.
Freelancer.com - outsourcing for small business
A great place to start is freelancer.com.au where you can:
advertise your website project
compare experts, bids, skills and past work
pay them only when you are happy with the work.
1. The 5 Biggest Mistakes Small Businesses Make When Starting an Ecommerce Website
After lengthy discussions with my support team, who work actively with over 500 new ecommerce businesses, we have unanimously agreed that these are the 5 biggest mistakes individuals and small businesses make when opening an ecommerce store.
More importantly though, I am including here how to avoid these pitfalls so you can learn from everyone else's mistakes
1. UNDERESTIMATING THE WORK INVOLVED
A lot of people enter into the ecommerce field with the intention of easy or fast money, and the idea that all you will have to do is take orders and ship product. While ecommerce businesses do live in the etheric world of cyber space, they still require a significant amount of attention, learning and physical effort to execute, grow and maintain.
You may consider outsourcing certain elements of the business, however being able to have as much control and visibility as possible in-house is often the most cost-effective solution, especially in the early stages. You need to understand and get into the mindset that you are setting up a business just like any other, and this one just happens to be online. Your chances of success are going to be much greater if you, or a key member of your team, are intimately involved. For a more detailed account of what is involved in setting up an online store this ecommerce website checklist is a great resource.
2. NO BUSINESS PLAN
I am not talking about one of those detailed 54-page documents here that tries to preempt and solve every possible issue before it happens. I am simply talking about contemplating and addressing the following issues.
Know what you're selling and the market you're selling to.
Know your target customer.
Know what their problem is and know how your offering is a solution.
Understand who your key competitors are. What are their strengths and weaknesses?
Can you capitalize on your competitors weaknesses?
Are you going to be competitive based on price or position?
Ensure that your online presence emphasizes your point of difference.
Addressing these key questions can help form the foundation and initial strategy for any new business venture.
3. NO MARKETING STRATEGY
Unfortunately the "build it and they will come" idea doesn't apply to ecommerce. Getting an ecommerce website live is only the beginning. You need to ensure you have a plan in place for how you will actually get website visitors and generate ongoing traffic
Here are a few broad strokes to consider as you venture into the online marketing:
You need to put in place at the very least a basic ecommerce analytics/tracking system, such as Google Analytics.
You need to know the difference between SEO and PPC
You must understand the importance of social media
You should research affiliate marketing and selling through established, third-party platforms such as eBay.
While overwhelming at first, online marketing strategies are well-documented online take advantage of others' research and learn what works, (and doesn't work) for your business and industry. There is a lot to online marketing and it is important that you have a good understanding of it all; however there are areas that you will want to outsource to experienced professionals, especially in the areas of SEO and PPC
4. CHOOSING THE WRONG ECOMMERCE PLATFORM
When it comes to successfully running your online business the ecommerce software that your website is built on can either be a supportive ally or a tormenting obstacle. If you make the wrong choice it can make the whole experience incredibly frustrating.
Generally, a wrong choice would be an ecommerce platform that is unsuitable for your needs, outdated, underdeveloped, unnecessarily customized, not professionally supported, or put together by a-friend-of-your cousin's-boyfriend.
You need to establish what functionality you will require, both for the visitor and for the back-end management area, and what resources you will have on-hand to support the ongoing management of the website. This will help you to determine what solution is right for you.
There are two primary solutions you will likely be choosing between:
A hosted ecommerce solution like Shopify.com or Esty.com
Or a custom installation of a popular ecommerce software program like Magento, WooCommerce or Cs-cart
Popularity and reputability usually indicate that a platform has been well-tested and is regularly updated.
Also, be aware of your own technical ability when considering the scope of support that is available for the platform. It is often worth paying a higher ongoing fee to have prompt support when you need it.
Also, ensure that your website will be able to provide an optimal user experience from the home page right through to checkout. This user path is one of the most important aspects of your website.
5. POORLY SHOWCASING PRODUCTS
Ecommerce businesses often don't objectively put themselves in the shoes of their website visitors, and perceiving how your products or services are presented to the visitor is a critical area that is often neglected.
You need to understand that your website is your only storefront and salesperson. Make sure you include high-quality, good-sized photos for all the products you stock, and you must include good, if not excellent, product descriptions that include essential information such as measurements, size, colour and anything else that may help a potential customer to make a purchase. Engaging product information heightens the experience of shoppers and strongly increases your chances of a sale.
You get one chance to present your product to the visitor, take the time to create stunning and inviting product pages. Once they are setup the page will keep selling for you over and over again. This is the place to put in the sweat equity.
Ecommerce is a great way for bricks and mortar stores to expand their customer base, as well as a great platform for dreamers to start great businesses, after all Amazon.com was a little ecommerce store once.
So it is definitely worth the time to setup an online store methodically, do your research and be prepared to build it deliberately and effectively
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