Certainly, when building an online store, you need to know more than just the market you’re entering. You’d also need to understand branding, web design, and content strategy, which may not be particularly enjoyable for you.
We have divided this into 13 stages that will streamline the development of your own e-commerce business and help you achieve your business objectives.
1. Figure out what you’re going to sell through the e-commerce website
The most essential step in e-commerce website development is determining what products or services you will offer for sale.
Building an online store around your passions translates into a business you’ll enjoy running. However, many companies also launch for other reasons. Whatever your business goals, research about both the products you’re selling and the individuals you desire to offer them to should guide the e-commerce project. Be aware of what products succeed and the trends that have come and gone. Running an e-commerce website means not only knowing what potential customers need right now but also anticipating what they’ll want in the future.
2. Determine your e-commerce business model for your e-commerce website.
Several types of e-commerce business models exist, but the two primary classifications are business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C). Knowing the difference — and knowing where your e-commerce business falls — is significant.
Business-to-consumer (B2C)
The bulk of online shops we interact with are business-to-consumer (B2C). Whether it’s Amazon, Zappos, or Target, whenever we hit that checkout button, we’ve completed a transaction on a B2C website. Items or services on a B2C site are offered directly by businesses to the general public, with no intermediaries involved.
Business-to-business (B2B)
Business-to-business (B2B) refers to companies that sell products or services to other organizations. These are companies that manufacture products, act as wholesalers, or provide a range of services and assistance within a specific industry. ROOM is an extraordinary example of a B2B e-commerce business.
3. Know your audience
One benefit of starting an online business in a space you know well is that you have a clear understanding of your audience’s perspective, at least in part. However, regardless of whether you know your clients, taking a moment to understand them better is valuable for any online business.
Understanding who your potential customers may be touches every part of the e-commerce development process. Everything must relate to your potential customers, including the user experience and user interface, web design visuals, content, and more.
You should be familiar with the details about who your potential customers are. What’s their background? What’s their income range? How old are they? And what competitors’ websites are they likely to purchase from? All of this information will help you create an e-commerce business tailored to their tastes and needs, building a stronger connection with them and resulting in a better user experience.
4. Come up with a good business name
Avoid falling into clichés or naming your business something too similar to your competitors. You need to stand out. A unique name will distinguish you from everyone else inhabiting the same market space.
Make it succinct
Brevity makes for better business names. Can you think of any e-commerce sites or storefronts that go beyond one or two words? We’ll give you a minute. We didn’t think so. Short names facilitate better brand recognition — ask Apple, Etsy, or Google. People want something easy to remember and not convoluted.
Be original
A bland, uninspired name can diminish a brand no matter how great its products or services may be.
Think Mailchimp, Blue Apron, or even Sprouts, the grocery store. All stand out in their respective domains by having names that are unique and distinct from those of others sharing their space. Give your e-commerce website a name that will wow people by being so different.
And let’s not forget being able to snag a domain name — a unique brand name means you have a better shot at getting your ideal domain name. With just enough creativity and pleasantry, you might have the option to think of something very close if your perfect area name is, as of now, taken.
Granted, .com might be the go-to high-level domain. However, there are several alternatives you can use if you can’t find an available URL. You may find something available in .biz, .shop, .solutions, or .online, among many other domains.
5. Purchase a domain name
Okay, you have a business name and found an available URL. Before you start building the store, register the domain name. A lot can change quickly on the web, and some users might snatch up that perfect URL at later stages of your e-commerce website development. Purchase your domain name now to avoid any future concerns. Trust us.
6. Determine your branding
Brands like Coca-Cola, Starbucks, and Apple have become ingrained in our collective psyche. With iconic logos, visual identities, and way of speaking, these brands have a tighter connection with their consumers than companies whose identities are less defined. Branding gives businesses an emotional resonance, transforming them from anonymous entities into ones that evoke feelings. It’s what makes consumers have brand loyalty.
An e-commerce website also needs to have a memorable logo, a distinct color palette, and a unique voice. All of these different elements of web design come together to create a user experience driven by the brand’s personality. Another vital aspect of branding is telling the story of who you are. Your audience should understand why your e-commerce website exists and who is behind it. Without humanizing your brand, you’re just another anonymous digital portal. Ensure that it’s both consistent and unique.
7. Find the right e-commerce platform
You have several options when it comes to e-commerce platforms, such as Magento, Shopify, or a plugin like WooCommerce with WordPress, to run your e-commerce website. There are certainly benefits and disadvantages to the various e-commerce products available.
Responsive design:
Whether viewed on a desktop, mobile app, or other mobile devices, the e-commerce platform should offer a consistent user experience.
Product management:
Every aspect of the workflow, including adding, editing, and tracking inventory, should be straightforward to accomplish. You should also be able to offer multiple versions of a product, as well as promotional or sale pricing when needed.
Content management system (CMS):
You need a CMS for updating and editing dynamic content, such as blogs and news, as well as other recurring blocks of content within a design. Having a CMS can go a long way in keeping your website updated with new content that supports the products you sell. Shopping cart: Be able to customize and style a shopping cart so that it fits seamlessly into the shopping experience.
Checkout page:
Unlike the shopping cart, you should have a customized checkout page that you can modify.
Payment handling:
Have the ability to acknowledge payments from Mastercards as well as from electronic installments like Apple Pay, PayPal, Stripe, Google Pay, and other standard payment methods. Furthermore, at the beginning of the development process, it is helpful to have a well-defined content strategy. The strategy requires knowing which platforms your target customers use for making payments.
9. Do search engine optimization
Getting organic traffic depends on the relevance of your content in the eyes of web crawlers. Paying attention to SEO may help you rank higher and get more clicks. Some SEO best practices include:
- Using the terminology that people commonly use when talking about the products and areas of interest, your products fall into
- Doing keyword research via Google Keyword Planner and Google Trends
- Ensure that all headers (such as H1 and H2), the title, and the description contain relevant words and phrases. Taking a tasteful approach to incorporating SEO, never cramming your content with keywords or allowing optimization to decrease the content’s readability
- Of course, SEO extends far beyond these bullet points. Explore our comprehensive guide to help you optimize your website for Google SEO.
10. Determine product categories
On an e-commerce website, a section may be an assemblage of products related to their intended audience, purpose, and shared traits. The navigation, calls to action, and various ways of guiding people to your products in the fewest number of clicks depend on a well-defined set of product categories. Additionally, product categories need to be straightforward. Someone should be able to recognize and understand what they are. Customers want familiar guideposts showing them the way to what they’re looking for.
Zappos utilizes a clear organization of its products. There’s no mistaking what each of these sections on the top level of the navigation represents:
- Women
- Men
- Kids
- Departments
- Brands Sale