The Complete Ecommerce Website Development Guide
Developing an Ecommerce website is a common investment decision among the majority of business owners, retailers, entrepreneurs, and most of the commercial enterprises in order to transform the competitive advantages of online shopping into a consistent revenue source through a professional Ecommerce online store.
Ecommerce websites “online
stores” enable consumers to discover, compare and purchase desired products or
services online conveniently from home in few minutes with few clicks using
their smartphones, tablets, and PCs which make the decision to invest time,
efforts & money in Ecommerce website development process a rational decision
regarding increasing your business growth with more sales and higher revenues.
In addition to the
convenient online shopping experience, there are many other competitive
advantages offered by Ecommerce websites which are including but not limited
to:
·
Increasing
your business reach through targeting different local & international
markets
·
Attracting
more potential clients & increasing the sales volume with professional
online Ecommerce store available 24/7
·
Reducing
operational and marketing costs required to run and promote a physical store
·
Tracking
and analyzing consumers behavior “your Ecommerce website visitors interests” to
customize your products & marketing campaigns
·
Generating
more upselling & cross-selling opportunities with remarketing campaigns
When it comes to the
benefits of an Ecommerce website development, there’re endless business
opportunities generated daily once you have a professional online store
customized to suit your business needs and goals.
Types of Ecommerce Websites
Before discussing the
process of an Ecommerce website design and development, we will discuss
first the main types of Ecommerce websites to define the most suitable type for
your needs and goals before starting the development process.
The main types of Ecommerce
websites are:
B2C Online Stores: The common type of
Ecommerce businesses with an Ecommerce website dedicate to display and promote
products to final consumers like clothes and tech products including mobiles
and PCs or furniture.
B2B Ecommerce Platforms: Enterprises develop online
Ecommerce Platforms to promote their products and services to other businesses
while increasing their reach and targeting international markets.
C2C Ecommerce Stores: Third-party stores like
eBay enable regular individuals and retailers to promote and sell their
products online to final consumers.
There’re other types of
online platforms where individuals and specialists offer their services to
businesses like freelance platforms which are not typically fit the Ecommerce
website criteria discussed in this article.
Starting an Ecommerce
business is a choice suitable for
different types of commercial, technological and industrial projects as you’ll
be able to promote and sell physical products and also digital products like online
courses or eBooks or exclusive digital content like stock images through your
e-commerce website or innovated products as when we helped our client “Boxture
Egypt” with an online store to sell smart furniture products.
Main Ecommerce Website
Development Steps
Once you have defined the
suitable type “model” of an Ecommerce website for your business whether it’s a
dedicated online store to promote your products or a marketplace for
individuals and retailers to promote their products, the next step is to start
the Ecommerce website development process.
The main steps of the
Ecommerce website development process are:
#1. Choosing the best
suitable Ecommerce solutions
The first step in your Ecommerce
website development process is choosing the best suitable Ecommerce solutions to transform the website into a fully-functional online store with
the required and desired features integrated efficiently.
The main Ecommerce solutions
that require careful selection before starting the Ecommerce website design
phase are:
·
CMS
Ecommerce platform (ex: WooCommerce – Magento – Drupal) suitable for your
Ecommerce business regarding the nature of your products and desired integrated
features
·
Ecommerce
website hosting plan suitable regarding the
price, performance and expected visits volume to your online store
·
The
suitable theme “template” for your Ecommerce platform regarding the Home page
appearance and mobile-friendliness level
·
Convenient
online payment options for your potential customers
·
Custom
features and extensions “ex: accounting extensions” to provide full control of
your Ecommerce platform
All Ecommerce websites are
expected to have a flawless performance by the website visitors “potential
buyers” which can be guaranteed by choosing the best Ecommerce solutions
suitable for online store nature, needs, and the desired goals.
#2. Creating a
user-friendly Ecommerce website design
Once you have decided which
Ecommerce solutions are suitable for your Ecommerce online store, the following
phase of your Ecommerce website development is creating professional
user-friendly Ecommerce website design to take huge steps further towards
owning a successful Ecommerce business.
Your Ecommerce website
design will create a competitive advantage for your online store when you keep
the user experience in mind to ease the website
navigation experience through:
·
Creating
a responsive mobile-friendly Ecommerce website design with scalable content, images,
elements & buttons on all devices for “mobile / tablet / desktop” users
·
Creating
a branded web design for all of your e-commerce
website pages with clear branding elements “ex: official logo / colors schema”
·
Simplifying
your e-commerce website design by removing unnecessary items
·
Using
drop-down categorized navigations menu to ease access to product categories and
subcategories
·
Displaying
your products in use “ex: clothes” with high-quality images and 360° panoramic images &
videos
·
Using
a brief short copy for each product description
·
Eliminating
users distraction with avoiding displaying popups
#3. Providing the best
online shopping experience
The increasing competition
among Ecommerce businesses requires providing the best online shopping experience
to avoid losing potential and current buyers to your competitors.
The process of providing
the best online shopping experience through your Ecommerce website can be done
through:
·
Increasing
the online store pages loading
speed “not more than 4 seconds”
·
Efficient
products categorization “main categories – subcategories – tags”
·
Applying
advanced search and products filtering options
·
Displaying
all details for each product (stock status – shipping cost & duration – professional product photos – customers’ reviews &
testimonials – related products)
·
Using
a “Thank You” page for confirming completed purchases
·
Offering
efficient multiple customer support options “ex: live chat / email” and
accessible contact information
·
Creating
an easy registering process and supporting guest checkouts
·
Multiple
convenient secured online payment options integrated
·
Securing
visitors personal information & financial transactions with SSL certificate
encryption
·
Supporting
many languages and ensuring compatibility with different browsers
·
Declaring
a clear return and exchange policy for products with a FAQ page
·
Displaying
icons for official social media accounts to offer more communication options\
#3. Providing the best
online shopping experience
The increasing competition
among Ecommerce businesses requires providing the best online shopping
experience to avoid losing potential and current buyers to your competitors.
The process of providing
the best online shopping experience through your Ecommerce website can be done through:
·
Increasing
the online store pages loading
speed “not more than 4 seconds”
·
Efficient
products categorization “main categories – subcategories – tags”
·
Applying
advanced search and products filtering options
·
Displaying
all details for each product (stock status – shipping cost & duration – professional product photos – customers’ reviews &
testimonials – related products)
·
Using
a “Thank You” page for confirming completed purchases
·
Offering
efficient multiple customer support options “ex: live chat / email” and
accessible contact information
·
Creating
an easy registering process and supporting guest checkouts
·
Multiple
convenient secured online payment options integrated
·
Securing
visitors personal information & financial transactions with SSL certificate
encryption
·
Supporting
many languages and ensuring compatibility with different browsers
·
Declaring
a clear return and exchange policy for products with a FAQ page
·
Displaying
icons for official social media accounts to offer more communication options
#4. Testing &
launching your Ecommerce Platform
The next phase of your Ecommerce website development journey is testing all
components and features to ensure launching an efficient professional online
store including:
·
The
navigation experience (compatibility with browsers – mobile navigation –
support options)
·
The
checking out process for online purchases (ease of completion – integration of
online payment options)
·
The
security level of databases and financial transactions
·
The
functionality of tracking codes and discount coupons
·
The
integration level of custom extensions and features added
Once you’re satisfied with
everything related to your Ecommerce website, you can start the launching phase
to make your online store available and accessible for potential buyers to
discover and buy available products.
#5. Promoting your Online
Ecommerce Store
The Ecommerce website
development process will end after launching your online store with the
exception of future updates of your Ecommerce website structure & features
and another phase will take place which is the online Ecommerce store marketing process.
Integrated digital
marketing solutions are the most suitable
cost-effective choice for promoting your online store to generate more sales
and revenues including:
·
Customizing
an Ecommerce SEO strategy for
generating more free profitable traffic from search engines of potential buyers
·
Paid
search engine ads for attracting more
motivated buyers within your budget limits
·
Social
media marketing campaigns on suitable channels to
increase awareness and visits to your Ecommerce website
·
Email
newsletters and promotional sequenced campaigns for promoting related and new
products suitable for targeted users interests
·
Offering
sales discounts and coupons for loyal customers
Creating a professional
Ecommerce website and launching integrated customized marketing campaigns are
the main required steps to deliver consistent profits from your Ecommerce
business.
#6. Evaluating your
Ecommerce business performance
Owning an ongoing Ecommerce
business will require periodical evaluation for your Ecommerce website
performance to figure out the strengths and weaknesses of your online store for
generating a consistently high return on your investment.
Using tracking codes and accurate traffic reports
and behavior analysis will enable you to evaluate
your Ecommerce website performance efficiently using suitable metrics which
are:
·
Monthly
traffic volume & each source% (search engines – social channels – referral
websites – paid ads – returning visitors)
·
Conversion
rate (completed purchases / traffic volume)
·
Each
product sales volume
·
Each
product category sales volume
·
Average
order value
·
Return
on Advertising Spend (ROAS)
·
Session
average duration & average time on each page
·
Bounce
rate
·
Shopping
cart abandonment rate
The mentioned metrics will
help in providing a clear picture of your Ecommerce business performance and
which areas require improvement to ensure having a successful Ecommerce
website.
Conclusion
The journey of successful
professional Ecommerce website development process starts with
defining your business needs and desired goals to achieve with your online
store then cooperation with an experienced
Ecommerce solutions provider in
order to develop, launch, and promote a flawless online store that generates
endless business opportunities and the highest return on your investment.
Comments
Post a Comment