Identify Your Specific Needs
Before starting the development process, you need to estimate your needs. The more specific the specifications, the better the final product. So, you need a E-Commerce Development Agency in UK to decide whether to create a true e-commerce website to sell your products or create a marketplace where other users can sell products on her website.
The main difference between having your own ecommerce website and owning a marketplace is where the products you sell come from. A marketplace is a common platform where all sellers can register to sell products and buy for everyone. An e-commerce site is a place that sells a particular brand of products or items, but is more of a marketplace. Only administrators can add and sell items here. No other seller can intervene.
Choose Your Ecommerce Platform Wisely
The content management system (e-commerce platform) you use to design your e-commerce website has a big impact on its success or failure. Considering the size of your website in terms of products and customers, you should choose a CMS or an e-commerce platform. There are various content management systems (CMS) on the market such as WooCommerce, Magento, PrestaShop, OpenCart and even Shopify. However, WooCommerce is basically a WordPress plugin that turns your website into an e-commerce site.
Design a Responsive Ecommerce Site
Smartphone usage is a major contributor to the growth of e-commerce. Your website should be compatible with all devices, large and small. Otherwise, traffic may be lost. Also, your website will not show up in mobile search results and Google will prioritize responsive websites, thus hurting the SEO of your online store.
Mobile apps for iOS and Android
Do not panic! This is just a suggestion and not a required aspect of developing an e-commerce website. If you want to drive more traffic to your website, you can create mobile apps specifically for iOS and Android users. By offering a dedicated app, you can deliver more authentic traffic and boost your business. Building an app may cost more, but trust me it’s worth it.
Choose a Hosting Server for Your Ecommerce Website
The hosting server you choose can have a big impact on your ecommerce. Site performance, efficiency, and accessibility are related to the hosting platform you choose. Depending on your needs, you should choose a hosting service after analyzing the traffic that may reach your website.
Analyzing traffic in advance can be difficult, but you should try to understand your traffic before purchasing a hosting plan.
There are different types of hosting such as VPS, dedicated hosting, cloud hosting and semi-dedicated hosting.
- A Virtual Private Server (VPS) is a virtualized server that provides dedicated resources on the server. A safe and stable solution. Perfect for moderate traffic.
- Dedicated hosting is a type of hosting where a server is assigned to a single customer. This ensures safety and high performance.
- Cloud hosting basically runs on another server in the chain. Data hosted in the cloud comes from various servers. The advantage of cloud hosting is that you only pay for what you use. Your server needs, including the price you pay for your server, may vary from business to business.
- You can find great ecommerce hosting services, but developing an ecommerce website requires paid services. There is a saying: Peanuts make monkeys.
Other Important Factors to Keep in Mind
Improved site search function
This isn’t really an implementation step, but it is an important factor to consider in the development cycle. This can help increase user engagement on your website. The better the search results on your site, the more user engagement.
A good site search system helps users to find the desired products on a particular website. If users can’t find what they’re looking for, higher bounce rates can occur. To keep users on your site and scale your ecommerce site easily, you need a fully functional site search.
Add related items
It is important that other products viewed are related to the product the visitor is currently viewing. Posting irrelevant articles can cause you to lose potential customers. Similarly, multi-product sites need to be very specific about the related products they show to potential customers. For example, you can show a visitor searching for a phone a phone case for a particular model.
Classification and use of labels
A perfectly ranked website is a feast for the eyes and ease of navigation is like a cake topper. When all products are categorized, users can quickly find what they need. Thus increasing traffic to your website. For multi-product websites, you need well-defined categories that showcase your products.
You can also use tags to link to products in your catalog. A tag is, in fact, a keyword that refers to a specific product so that it appears in search results. Once a product has been tagged, users can easily find that particular product by simply entering that tag into their search. Tags are therefore another very useful tool for organizing your store.
Test your site
After setting up your ecommerce site, you need to run some tests. This is probably one of the most important stages of developing a website.
Tested for:
- Bed bugs
- Comfortable use
- Connection broken
- Friendly
- Abandoned cart
- Shape
- Scenery
- Navigation
- Spell check
Both automated and manual testing should be done so that there is no room for error. However, it cannot be fully tested. An ecommerce site with bugs and other types of errors can leave visitors unsatisfied.
You need to perform various tests like browser compatibility checks, resolution tests, load tests, stress tests, integration tests, performance tests, security checks, functionality checks, cookies, database usage tests, etc.
Promote your ecommerce site
Congratulations. Your shop has been published. But don’t forget to promote your website. Digital marketing is actually the most important part of the ecommerce website lifecycle. To generate sales, you need to actively promote your website across various platforms. You should prepare your marketing strategy well in advance so that you can implement it as soon as your website is live. Your digital marketing strategy must be truly effective so that your website does not go unnoticed. With the right strategy at the right time and in the right way, you can be sure of attracting potential users.
Follow these common marketing techniques to promote your products, increase traffic and generate sales.
- Traditional methods start with ads in newspapers, magazines, brochures, etc.
- Social media marketing is the most popular digital marketing solution and helps marketers to market their products easily. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Linkedin and Pinterest are an integral part of almost every marketing strategy to promote your business.
- You can ask your visitors to leave their email addresses in exchange for interesting offers and promotions. Send regular (not very frequent) emails to your customers to inform them of new offers and releases. Get them interested in your store by sending them discount coupons.
- Content creation takes you to the next level. Content marketing is the only way for e-commerce development. Attract visitors to your store by generating authentic, unique and shareable information. To keep their interest, offer serious and entertaining reading materialbody.
- Use viral marketing. Viral marketing is creating quick and creative strategies to promote your website through mediums that people like.
Payment method
Of course, this is an important aspect of e-commerce. It is your responsibility to ensure that your customers feel safe when paying online. Therefore, convenient payment options such as cash on delivery, online banking, e-wallets, credit or debit card payments should be included. The best user experience always includes easy and secure payment methods. Supporting these payment options ensures your creditworthiness. If you want to serve clients from different countries, you need to integrate multiple currency payment options to make life easier for your foreign clients. I would like to mention how we can revolutionize the missing e-commerce ecosystems in emerging countries.
Valid Return Policy
Since you run an e-commerce site, you may face many returns and exchanges. In today’s competitive market, you need good business policies to stay ahead. You should use a simple exchange and return policy so that customers have no issues if they want to exchange or return an item. Give users peace of mind.
Offers Promotions and Coupons
Everyone loves deals, promotions and coupons. As an e-commerce website owner, with this in mind, you need to offer various promotional offers from time to time to arouse the interest of your customers. If you’re lucky enough to collect the email addresses of important customers, you can send them discount coupons. Promotions and offers can also help you attract more organic visitors. We constantly track browsing habits, shopping habits, and other user feedback to fine-tune our offers accordingly.