A Complete eCommerce Website Development Guide

According to the stock market index NASDAQ, transactions through the medium of eCommerce will have surpassed the 90% mark. Hence, for upcoming and present business owners, retailers, and entrepreneurs, the time is ripe to invest in reliable eCommerce website development services. 

Online shopping has evolved tremendously over the past years and will continue to do so for the modern customer. This is the reason that all business are now shifting their focus on selling online in China. The capabilities of an eCommerce website have expanded rapidly. It now effortlessly meets the dynamic needs of people. Be it customization, advanced return policies, or integration, eCommerce’s arena has witnessed revolutionizing changes in all these spheres, among others.

In the face of all these current advancements in the world of eCommerce, businesses having such online stores become the recipient of a competitive edge in their arena. eCommerce website development opens up a world of opportunities to enterprises in the form of:

• Defying geographical barriers and expanding your influence on international markets
• Enhancing sales through its round-the-clock availability
• Allowing a compelling analysis of consumer behavior through which the creation of robust marketing strategies becomes possible
• Minimizing all overhead expenses that come with running a brick-and-mortar store

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With more than 2.14 billion people expected to use online marketplaces in 2021, it is time for business owners to take up the idea of eCommerce website development. Here is how you can set up a successful eCommerce website from scratch and get the sales rolling.

eCommerce Website Development Guide

1. Determine the Ideal eCommerce Website Type

Based on whom you are catering to, it is essential to find out the type of eCommerce website for your business. They come mainly in three types:

• B2C online stores that are designed to meet the requirements of final customers. For example, Amazon, Flipkart, etc.
• B2B eCommerce platforms that enhance your influence and help you in selling your services to other businesses. For example, IndiaMart, Alibaba Wholesale, etc.
• C2C eCommerce stores allow both individuals and retailers to sell products to end customers. Example, eBay

2. Pick the Choicest eCommerce Building Solution

The best eCommerce building solution will help your website to become a feature-rich and responsive online platform. You need to carefully select the eCommerce solutions which include:

• CMS eCommerce platforms, for example, Magento, Shopify, WooCommerce, and Prestashop. It should be chosen according to your product type and store functionalities that you desire.
• A website hosting plan according to your budget and your online store traffic.
• An appropriate template or theme to enhance the look and feel of your home page and mobile compatibility.
• Payment options for customers as well as functionalities and extensions to help you take complete control of your eCommerce website development.
• The user and SEO-friendliness of your solution and its scalability capabilities.
• Powerful firewall for shielding your site against security vulnerabilities.

3. Elements to Offer Delightful Shopping Experiences

If you want your eCommerce website development to put you ahead of your rivals then you need to add those website elements that impart a fabulous shopping and user experience. Some of the crucial ones are:

• Product and services categorization, for quick and efficient searches
• Advanced site search, that enables your customers to browse through the product catalog and quickly decide about their purchases
• Rank optimization to make your store get discovered by search engines and enhance its ranking on Search Engine Results Pages (S.E.R.P.S)
• Searchable tags and keywords to the products which have a high search volume
• Application of eCommerce rich snippets that require the addition of some coding by which search engines can display your services and products readily
• Web page optimization, for quick purchases that contribute towards a hassle-free shopping experience.
• Presence of a clear product Return and Exchange policy on the FAQ page.
• Integration of various secure payment options 

4. Test to Ensure That Your Store Delivery Is Perfect

The cut-throat competition that characterizes the business world today has no place for services that are less than flawless. Your eCommerce website development is not complete without effective testing. It facilitates you to look at your website from the perspective of your customer and modify it accordingly. Before launching your store, ensure that the following functionalities are taken care of:

• Ease of checking out process
• A seamless cross-device compatible navigation experience
• Database and transaction security
• Custom extension and features integration level

Ensure that your store is customer-centric by testing the following:

• Proper functioning of all the links
• All website bugs are muted
• User-friendliness of your platform
• An error-free, grammatically correct website content

Your eCommerce website development company at this stage will require testers for test cases. It will ensure that your website performance is optimally checked.

5. Announce and Promote the Arrival of Your eCommerce Store

Congrats! Your eCommerce website development process draws to a close here. Now you need to promote it among your customers. You can do it effectively by the following techniques.

• Employ social media marketing and its analytics to garner rapid support for your online platform. Utilize paid social media ad tools like Linkedin, Instagram, and Facebook ads.
• Use the tactic of email marketing by which you can send your contact list customized content to boost your conversion rate
• Create engaging online content like blogs, videos, etc. to market your product. It is an effective tool of persuasion.
• Provide discount coupons to frequent customers

6. Assess Security Level

During website development, a developer should not miss the security aspect. As a basic parameter, an SSL certificate can play a significant role besides other security checklists. It is in the interest of an eCommerce website to have a cheap wildcard SSL as it can secure blog, payment, and mail subdomains that point to the main domain. Moreover, the certificate saves huge money to be spent on each subdomain. The other reason is simple certificate management of all subdomains.

7. Assess Store Performance

After a successful eCommerce website development, testing, and release, consistently assessing your store’s performance is vital. It helps you to get insights regarding your shortcomings and capitalize on the areas where you are making gains.

Certain site performance metrics you can utilize are:

• Every product and its category sales volume
• Website’s traffic volume on a monthly basis
• Average order value and bounce rate
• The rate of shopping cart abandonment
• The time spent by visitors on each page

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Making Your eCommerce Website Development a Success

To ensure that your store receives the attention it deserves, it is of utmost importance to analyze your specific goals and requirements before embarking on an eCommerce website design and development process. Every step of this process is vital in providing an unforgettable shopping experience to your users, so make sure that you nail it right.