Launching an eCommerce website has become a must-have for any business to survive in 2021. As the statistics show, the eCommerce revenues are projected to increase to $6.5 trillion in 2022. Creating your own platform may take much time and effort. This article will be helpful for those who want to create a successful eCommerce website.
7 Best Tips on Building an eCommerce Website
Here are our universal pieces of advice. Take them into account, and we guarantee they will boost your online store to a higher level. Let’s get started!
1. Define Your Aims
When you start building an eCommerce website, you should clearly realize the needs of your project. Conducting market research can help you define your brand strategy. You need to find out what makes your website outstanding among the numerous competitors. Then, create your brand image around these points. You need to define your values and priorities.
Stepping into such a cut-throat market as eCommerce without a definite idea of what you are going to do is quite risky. Analyze the competitors and find their weaknesses. Present your own innovative solutions and gain the customers’ trust.
2. Pick the Most Suitable Platform
Picking the most popular platform is not always the right choice. You need to decide whether you want a custom website built from scratch or a ready-to-use solution from a third-party platform. Each of these options has its benefits and disadvantages. Custom-made websites offer better functionality and user experience, but development can take much time and effort. Ready-made websites are best when you need to make your online store as quickly as possible.
When you ask, “How much does it cost to build an eCommerce website?” we can’t give you an exact answer. Everything depends on the development method and functionality you want for your project. Also, the costs may vary depending on the development team you hire.
3. Meet the Needs of Mobile Device Users
The number of online purchases made via mobile devices is increasing. According to the recent statistics, the share of purchases via mobile devices will comprise more than 70% of the whole market. So paying attention to your mobile app is also crucial.
We recommend creating a responsive native app for your business. It is not the most affordable solution, but an excellent customer experience and the resulting growing sales will soon cover all the expenses. Just make sure it corresponds to all the requirements of your mobile users. Make sure your application doesn’t have any bugs, errors, slow page loads, etc. The customers won’t give you a second chance.
4. Design Matters
This is a crucial point as design plays a significant role in eCommerce. Creating an ordinary design to save costs is not the best option. You don’t need to be an experienced designer. You just need to think like your target customers. Develop a website that makes purchasing an item or service as smooth and convenient as possible. Don’t overwhelm your interface with unnecessary elements. Be minimalistic and let your product be the highlight on your website. No bright fonts and background will encourage your customers to make a purchase immediately.
Here are a few tips for an eCommerce website or application design in 2021:
- make the purchase and cart button prominent and noticeable;
- set honest prices and make sure there are no hidden payments;
- nothing should distract the user from buying your product;
- use high-quality images;
- involve customer reviews and testimonials to get more trust;
- make sure you can easily navigate your website and app;
- a search bar is a must-have, include various filters;
- reduce the amount of text on the page to a minimum;
- create a logo and set it as an app icon;
- make sure your interface is intuitive and logical.
5. Personalized Approach to Customer Service
Customers have high requirements for the service of online shopping websites. No matter how great your interface and functionality are, customer service is the most significant point. The faster and more helpful it is, the better. Remember that customers who wait too long will be disappointed and won’t return to your website. Low-quality customer service can create a bad reputation. Utilize cutting edge technologies like Artificial Intelligence to enhance your customer experience. We suggest a couple of tips for improving your customer service:
- add push notifications to inform users immediately;
- always leave contact information;
- include links to your social media accounts;
- creating an account should be simple and fast – use login via social media;
- provide numerous payment and shipping (if needed) options;
- include a FAQ page;
- use chatbots to interact with your customers.
Be careful with the use of chatbots. They are great and helpful solutions for instant responses but not for all cases. Sometimes customers need a conversation with a real person.
6. Pay Attention to Marketing and Advertising
Even if you have an excellent eCommerce website, nobody will know about it if you don’t advertise it properly. The earlier you begin your advertising campaign, the better. You can even do it before launching the final product. Conduct market research and define your target audience. Then, depending on who your customers are, pick the most effective ways to let them know about your website.
Social media advertising and influencers are some of the most popular strategies. Always take into account the opinion of your users and make changes if necessary.
7. Never Stop Improving
Building a custom eCommerce website from scratch is full of pitfalls. Especially if you have been working on it for a long time, your opinion can be subjective. Your project can seem excellent to you, but not for your users. You shouldn’t stop working on it once it is launched.
The opinion of your customers is crucial for your success. Encourage them to give feedback by offering them bonuses or discounts. You can also apply various analytic tools to monitor user experience and define your eCommerce website’s weak points. Make regular checks of customer activity and make improvements. Remember that the market tendencies are changing rapidly, so keep up with them.
Concluding Note
Making an eCommerce website is not an easy process, even with all the technologies available in 2021. We hope our tips for creating your online shop gave you more insight into this process. Remember that you build your store for customers, so think and analyze your online store from their point of view. Their requirements should be the very first thing to take into account while developing or upgrading. We wish you good luck in your development project.
Shopping cart icon in hand -DepositPhotos
