In 2021, people spent around 5.2 trillion U.S. dollars shopping online all over the world. And guess what? This is increasing day by day. Experts predict that global retail e-commerce sales to grow by 56 percent in the next few years, hitting about 8.1 trillion dollars by 2026.
Thus, no doubt, eCommerce is the best way businesses can make money online. But that’s not all. E-commerce also has other perks like low costs, affordable products, and the ability to reach lots of customers.
Even if you have a small budget, creating an eCommerce website is a smart way to start your online business.
You will need a few stuff like an e-commerce hosting solution, a domain name, and most importantly a user-friendly platform. Besides, there are even customizable themes or templates that can help you have a site in a short time.
But to get this all done in the right way, you need to hire an eCommerce website development company. When you partner with them, they definitely, guide you through the entire eCommerce website development process.
However, as a business owner, it’s incredibly valuable if you have a basic knowledge of the steps involved in it. After all, you have to communicate with your tech partner and make decisions. Therefore, before you directly jump into the developing process with your tech partner, here are some major factors you need to consider
Things To Consider Before Building an eCommerce Website
Building an e-commerce website from scratch involves careful considerations, so there are a few things you need to consider before you start.
1. Fix What to Sell
Choose a product or service you want your customer to purchase. Moving forward, consider factors like profit margins, sourcing, and product placement.
2. Decide On Whom to Sell to:
Now it’s time to decide on who your target audience is- are you trying to sell to adults or your product is for teens? Similarly, do you want to sell your product to a local market or to a global market?
3. Analyze Competitors:
Study your competitors to differentiate your business and understand market dynamics.
4. Decide Your Budget:
Plan your budget for domain names, hosting, marketing, and development of your eCommerce site. Account for expenses like themes, plug-ins, security, and hiring assistance.
5. Decide Your Development Partner:
The most important step- who will develop your site? Take your time to find a development partner with the experience. Now, jump to the next section –
What steps are involved in the eCommerce website development process?
Step 1: Pick The Right CRM (Content Management System)
Your eCommerce website’s foundation begins with the selection of the right content management system (CMS). There are options like WordPress, Shopify, Magento, and others. Though the purpose of all these CMS is somewhat similar, what makes them different is their features and usability. You need to be extra careful when you select one. A wrong choice will end up in a big mess.
Popular E-commerce CMS:
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WordPress: Highly customizable, the world’s top CMS.
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Shopify: Ideal for dropshipping businesses.
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BigCommerce: Enrich with functionalities like multi-channel selling, SEO tools, etc.
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Squarespace: Beginner-friendly, professional sites.
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Magento: Open source, reliable for large-scale businesses.
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Square Online: For in-person and online sales.
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Wix: Easy to use, fully customizable.
To pick the best CMS for your e-commerce needs, explore these popular e-commerce platforms.
Step 2: Select Web Hosting
For a full-stack e-commerce platform, hosting is included. Otherwise, you can consider checking out some providers like GoDaddy, Bluehost, SiteGround, or DreamHost. They offer various hosting types:
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Shared Web Hosting: Budget-friendly but with less performance.
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VPS Hosting: Improved performance and security.
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Dedicated Server: Ultimate performance, ideal for large enterprises.
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Cloud Hosting: Scalable and cost-efficient.
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Managed Hosting: Expert support for non-tech business owners.
Step 3: Get a Domain Name
Firstly, choose a domain registrar such as Namecheap, or Google Domains. Domain.com, or Hover. Besides, you may also have an option to register with your web host or e-commerce platform. Also, it’s crucial to look for free SSL and WHOIS privacy protection.
And, for the domain name, find a short, creative, and memorable name that fits your business without infringing copyrights or trademarks. If you need name suggestions, there are domain name generator tools to help you brainstorm.
Select a TLD like .com, .net, .store, or others based on your business focus and location. You should experiment with these to find the perfect match for your brand.
Step 4: Design Your eCommerce Website
You can either custom design your website with the help of an eCommerce software development or just go with templates and themes.
Talking about a website theme, it is a pre-built design blueprint, not a blank canvas. In a different way, it is a layout of your eCommerce website that you can customize as per your needs. Moreover, the best e-commerce platforms offer customizable website themes and templates, saving you from starting from scratch. So, pick the one that aligns with your business plan.
Step 5: Add Products & Optimize It Too
You have to add products to your online store so that your targeted audience can buy them. And since online customers can’t physically touch products, it’s very important to create a relatable experience through product listings. There is a need for a well-optimized product page.
How to do that? Consider the following tips:
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Use multiple high-quality images from different angles.
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Showcase product usage in context, helping customers visualize.
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Provide informative descriptions of product features and benefits.
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Conduct thorough SEO research to find the best keywords for your target market.
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Implement product schema markup for rich snippets without needing coding skills.
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Embed structured data for product details, reviews, shipping, ratings, and pricing.
Step 6: Set Payment Gateway
To run a proper e-commerce store, you must have a smooth system that handles digital transactions efficiently. For that, you need a payment gateway, which is a medium between the merchant and the bank to transfer money from one account to another.
However, choosing the right payment gateway for your store can be a daunting task. Take the help of an expert in picking the right one and ensure that it is compatible with the eCommerce platform you choose.
Here are some widely supported gateways:
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PayPal
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Stripe
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Braintree
Step 7: Test and Launch Your Ecommerce Website
The last step, test your eCommerce website for any bugs or errors, and when it is ready, launch it to the public.