Everything you need to know about your eCommerce website development process

You’re missing a lot of opportunities if you still haven’t launched your e-commerce website. Your small business has the potential to reach millions of consumers every day. Using smartphones, consumers can now purchase everything they want without leaving their homes. It’s the age of digital and whether your business is ready or not, consumers have already chosen convenience over anything else. 

Why do you need to invest in e-commerce? 

• Consumer behavior is shifting and so should your business 

Consumers’ shopping habits have changed since the pandemic started. People purchase everything from groceries to smartphones and electronics via digital stores. The need to visit a physical store has become less and less important since everything is available online and with great offers as well. This shift will not probably change as the world pos Covid-19 will continue to move faster toward digitalization. 

• Building an e-commerce platform is not as hard as you think 

Did you know that you can build e-commerce in as fast as 14 days? With the growth of the e-commerce market, there are a lot of ready-made templates that you can use to build e-commerce in a few days. In fact, it’s customization that takes time. Categorizing your products, creating a catalog, pricing, and integrating a payment gateway to your store. These are the fundamentals of your online store and thus, you might take some time to update the backend system with all these details. 

• Stay reachable 24/7 

One of the perks of having an online store is staying open 24/7. Consumers can purchase your products at any time of the day/week which as a result can boost your profit. 

• Use online advertisements to retarget potential customers 

You can simply retarget consumers who left their cart without purchasing with online advertisements on social media. You can also tailor your ad to consumers who spend plenty of time on your website without purchasing anything. The online advertising world has a lot of options to help you reach a wider pool of audiences and boost conversion rates. 

• Young generations account for 60% of online shoppers

Shopping online lets you compare product features, pricing, and reading reviews with just a click of a button. No wonder young generations have admitted that they prefer to shop online rather than going to a physical store. 

Building your website 

It’s time to connect with millions of potential customers that are waiting to buy your products online. Building a user-friendly website is crucial to ensure that consumers can easily navigate through the web pages. The first step is to sit down with your team and create a list of must-have features for your online store. 

Create a list of must-have features 

With hundreds of e-commerce websites launched every day, your website needs to stand out and provide the most seamless user experience in the market. There are certain must-have features that you need to have on your checklist. 

• Add an unlimited number of products 

You should be able to add an unlimited number of products/categories to your eCommerce store. The products in your inventory will grow along the way and you should be able to update your online store whenever you need to without the need to code.  

• Search bar 

The search bar allows your customers to type the product name and search for it directly. You can also allow it to auto-generate product suggestions based on the customers’ inquiry which in return will lead to higher conversion rates. 

• Social proof, testimonials, product tutorials  

Sharing users’ testimonials and reviews is normal but showing customers how to use your product is extra. Don’t just show how satisfied your previous customers are, go the extra mile and feature a 30-second product tutorial or how-tos. Teach your customers different ways to use your product and combine that with positive reviews from customers. 

• Call to action (CTA)

A well-written and clear call to action ensures customers are on their way to the next step of exploring your website. Avoid vague or unclear CTA text. For example, during the checkout process, instead of “next”, use “Proceed to payment” or “Review my order”. Make it clear to customers what the next step is all about. The call to action buttons should communicate exactly what the customers are heading to. 

Apply the rule of hierarchy by placing less important CTAs below the fold and making it with a neutral background color. You can also distinguish primary CTAs by applying a bold color to the button.

• Make your business contactable 

Nobody wants to buy from an anonymous website. Keep your business information and contact details visible in many places. The navigation menu bar should include a clear “Contact us” button where customers can get in touch with you. Provide a variety of ways for customers to communicate with you, be it a phone number, email address, office location, or even booking a meeting link. 

• Customizable dashboard 

Once you log in to the administrator dashboard, you should be able to monitor conversion rates and have an overview of the purchased products and acquisition channels. You should also be able to customize your dashboard to get a summary of the most important metrics. Provide your back-end developer with a list of features you need access to in order to have a convenient dashboard and store management. 

Hire e-commerce developers 

For such a huge project, you will need to hire multiple developers, particularly e-commerce developers who are well-versed in building an online e-commerce website. Your ideal team should consist of: 

UI/UX designer: The first step in creating a website is designing an interface which includes, identifying fonts, choosing colors, photos, and illustrations. The UI/UX designer is responsible for building a seamless yet enjoyable user experience from the moment a customer enters the website. 

Frontend developer: The frontend developer makes the design visible to the users. For this role, you will need a developer specialized in HTML, CSS, Javascript, and JQuery. 

Backend developer: You will ideally need 2 backend developers who are responsible for building the logic of the website. For this role, an ideal developer should be well-versed in Node.js, Laravel, .NET, and Ruby on rails. 

Promote it before it exists 

Now that your website is going through the development phase, it’s important that you focus on a pre-launching marketing strategy to create a buzz and spread the word about your brand. Here’s what you can do. 

• Use social media to create a buzz 

Entice your customers with sneak peeks of your products and make sure you don’t reveal everything at once. Slowly start introducing your audience to your brand and the products you sell. Use gamification, quizzes, and contests to increase engagement and create a buzz around your brand so that when your launch is ready you will have a solid base of the audience. 

• Partner with influencers and bloggers in your niche 

Influencer marketing is crucial to boosting awareness of your brand. Partner with bloggers you see relevant to your industry and let them promote you to their wide pool of audiences. You will be surprised by the increasing traffic and engagement on your channels after they spread the word.  

SDEX can help you launch your e-commerce website 

We have helped many companies like yours build their e-commerce products. Our e-commerce solution is 100% customizable and comes with a variety of features and long-term support provided by SDEX. The product helps you accelerate your digital transformation and increase sales by opening new online channels, enhancing the current platform from a generic platform to a dedicated professional platform. 

We also understand the importance of investing in a well-rounded marketing strategy. Our experts in digital marketing can help you promote your brand prior to the launch of the website and stay visible in the market along the way. If you think you need help building an e-commerce website, don’t hesitate to contact us or book a meeting with one of our consultants through this link. The meeting is non-committal as it’s designed to help you understand our process and how we can help your business grow.