Whether you are a business owner with a physical store or not, the necessity of having a website cannot be overemphasized. The e-commerce website’s function of representing your brand online brings a plethora of benefits. Such benefits are mandatory in growing your business and upscaling operations. Not only does an e-commerce website increase your reach to more audiences, but it also facilities the conversion of your leads to customers. An increase in the number of targeted users you reach means an increase in the number of potential sales, leading to generating more revenue for the business. An e-commerce website grants you a 24/7 online presence with little or no hassle. Let’s look into what an e-commerce website is all about.
What is an E-commerce Website?
At its essence, e-commerce or Electronic Commerce refers to the transactions between sellers and buyers for goods and services, including making payments through the internet. Fundamentally, it is an online market that anyone can access regardless of location. An ecommerce website can be designed for business models such as business-to business(B2B), business-to consumer(B2C), consumer-to-consumer(C2C) and consumer to business(C2B).
Steps To Take For Building Your E-commerce Website
1. Get a domain name
A domain name tailored to your market or niche is essential for getting higher rankings in search engines. Higher rankings mean that business means your business is more visible to interested persons searching for what you have to offer. Your domain name must represent your brand correctly. You can purchase a domain name for your e-commerce website from sites like ODYS at affordable prices.
2. Hire a web developer
Although platforms enable you to build your e-commerce website using drag and drop features with premade templates (we’ll get to these soon), if you want the best quality, finding a web developer is the best choice. You should not skip this step because of how crucial it is. Ensure that you do not rush your decision when hiring a web developer. Look through the previous e-commerce websites the developer has worked on and if you are satisfied, go ahead. Set a timeline for how soon you want them to finish the project and confirm if they can deliver. Also, ensure they are skilled in graphics design to take care of the website’s aesthetics to welcome your audience. It will be an added advantage if the developer has experience with the e commerce platform you decide to use. The importance of doing proper research before choosing a web developer cannot be overstated. Not making the right decision can result in halting your progress.
3. Register your business legitimately
Ensure sure that you register your business, and all your legal documents are in place to avoid having legal issues later on. You can contact an attorney to help you out with the creation of your business and legal matters. Settling the legalities of your company earlier on will save you from any future stress.
4. Choose your e-commerce platform
You require the services of a website hosting platform to host your e-commerce website. Take a pick from the most popular ones such as Magento,Woocommerce, and Shopify. These platforms have a high familiarity with most web developers and make plugin integration and payment processing convenient. Before choosing a website hosting platform, ensure that you research its services. Choose the website hosting platform that is cost-effective to your budget and aligns with the ecommerce website you have in mind. Different website hosting platforms offer unique services, so select the one best for you.
Choose your preferred website hosting platform based on the needs of your e-commerce website. Consider features such as the management of day-to-day operations, the skill and knowledge required to build the platform, customization, and the complexity of your e-commerce website
5. Select the right theme
Like a physical store, the appearance and visuals of your e-commerce website are essential in welcoming your audience and driving their engagement. You can purchase an affordable theme that fits how you would want your e-commerce website to look. Download your preferred themes from sites Theme Forest. Purchasing a theme would save you more time than building something right from scratch. Customizing your e commerce website from the beginning is time consuming, so find a template you like and use it.
6. Launch your website
Once you have taken care of all the previous steps, do not hesitate to take your website live, even if you are not ready to list your products immediately. Ensure that your web developer creates an “About Us” page in addition to a page containing your contact information. It is more important for your e-commerce site to be functional than to be extravagant. Having an online presence gives you leverage to negotiate with vendors regarding your products. Rather than having only an idea, you will have something that is on the table. It also increases your credibility as partners will see that you have what to present. Having your website available will also serve as a place for sources to link to and increase your SEO.
7. Select a payment service
One of the lovely things about e-commerce websites is how you can make payments from your environment’s comfort, and the website processes the payment in almost no time. Of course, you would want to implement this in your e-commerce website to better customer experience. These credit card payments are possible through a payment gateway and a credit card processor. Although you are most familiar with payment platforms like PayPal, there is more. For your e-commerce website to process credit cards, bills, and mobile payments, you need payment gateways like 2Checkout.com.
Although this process is not easy, and you would need to carry out your research with due diligence, it is worth it. Ensure that you have a secure checkout procedure on your website, in addition to Privacy and Return policies. You will also need an available customer service email address and phone number. As for shipping and delivery methods, you will also have to figure this out.
8. Don't forget shipping and packaging options
Whether you want your e-commerce site to run locally or to scale globally, having a packaging and shipping process in place is necessary. Otherwise, how will your customers receive their goods? Consider how you will package your goods, where you will keep them before customers order for them, how much shipping them would cost, and restrictions on shipping. These details and other nitty-gritty information around storing your goods and delivering them are essential for your customers’ satisfaction.
Conclusion
An e-commerce website serves as a platform for the right people to discover your brand and the products you are offering. Building can take time; however, the benefits outweigh the cost by a large margin. So go ahead, follow these steps to build your dream e-commerce website.