E-commerce website

Creation
The Elements of E-commerce
Essential Elements That Help You Increase Your
Online Sales:-
 The world has witnessed a great deal of transformation in ways of
conducting business over the past two decades. Commercial
organizations have greatly evolved in terms of how they operate.
They have set up online websites where they build their brand
around their products and services and key customers. This is called
ecommerce. The world's largest retail chains like Walmart, eBay,
Amazon, Alibaba, etc. are focusing on how to build effective
ecommerce website design.
 The mode of business has reformed from being physical to internet-
based. Here are some of the elements of ecommerce website design
that are must-have for any progressive online business.
Bestseller Products On Homepage:

Just like normal shopping places, your customer

would first look for your bestseller products. They
would want to know straight away what you are
offering them, thus it is quite important to
showcase your top products on your front page. It
saves your customers' time, which is mostly why
they feel good about your service. It also definitely
helps them make the right choice, as they can get
what they actually came for instead of wasting time
on non-essentials.
Product Collections:
 You can bundle up similar kinds of products at one place; this
is called Product Collection. Products can be assembled on the
basis of season, festivals, new arrivals, sales discounts, or
anything like that. The most important upside of using
product collections is that they get ranked on search engines
very well. However, you will have to keep updating or
replacing your assemblages regularly. This would help in
retaining your new potential customers based on their
interests.
 You can also add a list of recommended products on your site
to make them more personal. People normally buy on the
basis of what the last customer had searched for. Therefore,
update your library on last customer search basis.
 Zoom Option For Pictures:
For most websites with displayed pictures and snaps,
the common mistake is not adding a zooming
possibility. Nobody buys a product without looking in
detail into it. Even at a physical retail outlet, people tend
to closely examine the item before purchasing it. This
increases the significance of adding a zoom option to
make customers comfortable with your offering. Only
when they see the product thoroughly they will be able
to make an informed decision and feel happy about it.
Also, pictures must be of a very high quality so that they
do not get blurred at the time of zooming in and out.
Shipping Details:

Normally, it is advisable to add a shipping or

delivery option at the top of your webpage; it is
most commonly pinned to the header of the
website. A special care must be taken to give full
information about varying shipping costs based on
geological locations. The best approach is to offer
a completely free delivery service in order to attract
more customers to your site.
Contact Info And Feedback:

 It is considered to be the best practice to add one's contact

information on your website. This will help you gain the trust of
your customers by knowing that they can reach you anytime they
want. In case something goes wrong, your customer will have the
option to let you know about it. This will, in turn, help you make
and sustain long-term relationships with your customers.
 Most of the successful ecommerce website development services
also call for adding a feedback option. This way, your customers
will be able to chat with you in case they have any queries. If you
are not able to chat with them, a simple feedback form would
probably be enough. Keep in mind that these feedback forms
should be regularly monitored and send satisfactory replies within
an optimal timeline.
Ratings And Reviews:

One of the most significant ecommerce website

solutions includes the addition of ratings and
reviews to your webpage. A successful ecommerce
website design is like a community where the
owners of the page, the ones who run it, and the
customers work in a cooperative manner.
Customers not only purchase products from your
website, but also recommend it to others. These
positive words of mouth can add a great deal of
value to your site.
Price Filters:
 eCommerce solutions emphasize on having price filters

embedded in your webpage. They are widely used in the

eCommerce website development services industry,
which is why they need special attention and care. You
have to make sure that you offer your customers the
ability to sort out your products based on their price.
You are required to add the relevant information in case
the price does not include the cost of shipping. The
overall details of the pricing should be transparent and
there should be no hidden charges. The idea is to make
your customers feel that they trust your brand in order
to retain them for a longer period of time.
Wishlists:
A wishlist is a feature recommended by most ecommerce
website solutions that allow your customers to save a
product for the future in case they do not have enough
money to buy it now. This way, you are giving your
customers a chance to keep an item aside for them for a
potential purchase. People often forget what they liked on a
website from their previous visit, but a wishlist definitely
helps them recall what they liked before. You may also go
one step further by sending your customers gentle
reminders about the decreased prices at your online store.
Don't forget to make your wishlist catchy and interesting so
that potential consumers can see it clearly on your webpage
and want to use it.
E-Commerce Website Creation
 The number of people shopping online is increasing day by
day as it is convenient to do so from anywhere. If you have a
physical store, you should consider building an online store
too, as it is a great way to make extra money.  Also, having
e-commerce solutions for your business is a smart and cheap
way to reach the global audience.
 The development process of an online/e-commerce store is
hard if you have no clue where to start. But the good news is
that to build a good custom e-commerce site doesn’t require
much money, time or technical knowledge. 
 Steps to develop E-commerce website

1. Find the website builder that fits your

needs:
There are numerous eCommerce platforms available in the
markets that are easy to use. Some of the tools are
expensive while others are affordable. So, let’s list some of
the best tools and their features for your online store
development. 
 Shopify
 The best E-Commerce development platform is Shopify. It
has tons of features that will help you develop a scalable
online store. It has the ability to sell products across many
social platforms like Facebook, Amazon and so on. 
 Wix
Wix is best suited for small businesses and startups. It has more
than 510 templates that suit all genres of business like sports,
beauty and so on. All the templates are optimized for mobile
use. Other features include adding product videos, editor and
easy user-interface.
 BigCommerce
Another great platform for your ECommerce site is
BigCommerce. It creates a scalable site and has great SEO tools
and has many more features than its competitors.
 Weebly
 With plenty of features with drag and drop being one of them, it
is the easiest platform. The best feature of Weebly is that it lets
you create dedicated pages for all your products.
 Magento
 The current favorite tool for developing online store is
Magento. All over the globe, the developer prefers it. It
integrates advertisement, analytics, and content creation and
so on to provide the best user experience.
 Some other E-Commerce website development platforms
are- WordPress, Big Cartel and so on.
 Why to use these tools for building your online site?

 A developer can make a website from scratch using coding and programming.
It will take time, but the end result is great. So, why use these tools?

 These website building tools host your site on the internet.

 It aids you in buying a domain name.

 They are secure and have certificates to prove that. It helps to keep the
payment getaway and customer details safe.

 It monitors your site continuously so that it runs smoothly.

 Now, you must be confused about choosing the right platform. Don’t, check
with your team and find out the purpose of your online store. Once you are
clear on that, the right platform will be easier to find.
 2. Test the tool

 Before you start with the development process, test the tool to find out any
discrepancies. For a successful online store, this step is crucial. To test the e-
commerce development platform, all you have to do is sign-up for the free
trial and start exploring.

 Here some things to check in the test which will help you find the right tool:

 How easy is it to customize the features or modify it? 

 Are the templates/theme provided suits your business? Also, check whether
it’s easy to choose them or not.
 How is the navigation feature and can you customize it to add sub-menus and
all?
 You can make a trial site and check out all these and other things that you
require for your business.
 3. Buy the right plan for your business
 Once you have finalized your e-commerce site development
platforms and tested it. It’s time to choose a plan for starting the
development process. All these tools come with many plans-
free, paid version for individual and paid version for companies.

 According to your need and size of the online store, you will
have to choose the plan. A free plan of all these platforms
supports minimum selling of products and runs up to 15 days.

 If you want to build an e-commerce store, you need more

features, and functionalities, which mean buying the full version.
If you want a small online store, maybe you can develop it using
the free version.
 4. Register for a domain name

 A domain name is the part of URL that has the name of your business. It
is crucial to have a good domain name as it builds trust and brand with
your consumer. With the help Shopify, Wix and BigCommerce platform,
you can buy a great domain name in around $10-$20 per year.

 Here are some tricks and tips to select a correct domain name for your
ECommerce solution:

 Country code: Picking a correct country code is crucial. If you plan to

sell your product to only international clients, use a dot com (.com)
domain. If selling to a specific county, then you can use their code. Like
Amazon has both .com for US and international consumers and .in for
selling just in India.
 No brand name: Avoid using brand or product name in the
URL as it can get you into legal troubles.

 Unique: The domain name should be unique, but not so

weird that people find it hard to look on a search engine.

 Integrate a keyword: In the domain name, add a term that

resonates with your business. The keyword will help you to
have a higher rank in search engines which will ultimately
get you more traffic and sales.

 If you already have a domain name, you can link it with your
online store or cancel that agreement.
 5. Pick template for your website

 Templates also known as themes make your site appealing.

Most e-commerce platform lets you design and develop your
own site too, but that requires coding. So, if you want to avoid
that, use these templates.

 Here are some tips for choosing the right template:

 Features you want in your store: Features are the key to a good
website. So, brainstorm and decide which feature is more
important for your store. It can be mapped, about us page and
so on. Make a list of features and use it narrow down the
template.
 Homepage style: Homepage is the first thing consumers will
notice about your e-commerce site. So, make sure that the
chosen template does justice to it. Based on your business
goals, decide what you want more videos, sliders, single image
and so on. 

 Smooth navigation: The navigation of the website should be

simple and helpful. A potential customer will surf through the
site for 10-20 seconds if the template’s navigation feature is
weak; it means that they won’t find what they are looking for
easily. It will amplify bounce rate of the website.

 Other than that, check out the font and color of the template. It
should go with your brand image and should not be offensive.
 6. Customizing the template

 After choosing the template, the e-commerce development

tools allow the user to customize it. For customization, you
will have to go to the store’s admin panel. You can modify
anything according to your will.

 Text Size, Color and Font 

 Color of the theme
 Use of images 
 Product’s position and so on.
 7. Time to add the products

 Once you have customized your template, it’s now time to add products to
your website. There is a button that will guide in adding your products. You
must add these details to your product to make it more alluring consumers
 : 
 Name of the product and name of the brand (If outsourcing)
 Price of the good
 Category 
 Weight for physical things 
 File (For eBooks and all)
 All the platforms have a different policy when it comes to a number of
products, product description and variation you can add.
 A product description is crucial to get the attention of the consumer along
with images and category.
 Check out these pro tips for the description:
 Don’t use a long sentence to describe the

product. No one has that much time.

 Don’t use cliques or technical jargon while

describing a product.
 The description should also be SEO optimized

as it will help you rank higher and get more

traffic and sales.
 For product image:
 The images used should be high in quality and
must not be blurry.
 The size of every image must be the same.
 The photos of the product should be taken with a
piece of good quality equipment.
 The image should be visible from every angle, so a
360-degree option is necessary.
 The image should have a zoom button.
 The images used should be optimized so that they
don’t slow down your website’s speed.
 For product category:
 Price range so that people pick products that

they can afford.

 Option to filter the product using price, size

and so on.

 8. Payment methods
 Online stores will be incomplete without
payment gateway. It is a crucial step in
converting a consumer into a buyer. E-
commerce development tool makes integrating
payment methods of all kinds into the site easy.
 They connect the user directly to PayPal, Apple
and Google Pay, Credit/Debit cards, Master or
Visa Cards for paying. The option to pay on
delivery is also available.
 Payment option:
 There are three popular payment options:
 Merchant account and payment gateway: In this option,
you partner up with a bank and they accept payment on
your behalf. After this, they transfer the amount to your
business account.
 Payment gateway packages: In this option, software
integrates all the option into one and processes your
card payments.
 Credit card payment: In this option, the payment method
is integrated with the store’s cart which means you don’t
have to leave the site to complete your payment.
 Tips to apply the best payment method for
your online store:
 To find out which payment methods work for
your site, keep these things in mind:
 Figure out the estimated number of total sales
 Customer details are also crucial. Find out,
where the customer is from so that you can
have a payment getaway preferred by everyone.
 The payment method should also go with your
store’s purpose and needs.
 Security measures:
 Customer worries most about security as they
share their private details online. So, making the
site secure should be your priority, and it’s also
easy to do so.
 The website building tools use SSL certificates to
secure the website. Secure Socket Layer encrypts
user data and optimizes user experience while
online shopping secure. 
 SSL is inbuilt in the tool. If not, it will be
available as an add-on.
 What is the cost of these Payment Options?
 All the different payment methods have different
charges. Since, it comes bundled with other
features, de-tangle them. Figure out how much
you are paying and for what? Keep the following
points in mind:
 You cannot avoid the credit card fee. The
provider sets the fee which is passed on by the
platform.
 The charge on using payment processors varies
from 1%+ 10p to 3% + 30p per transaction.
 9. Shipping settings
 The next step is to set up the shipping

settings so that you can deliver the products

on your website. 
 Different e-commerce platforms have
different options, but to set up this tab, you
will need these details.
 Address of the shipping office:
 Include the address of the shipping origin to calculate
taxes and all. It also makes printing labels and asking
for quotes easy.
 Address of shipping origin office is required when
products are not shipped from the main office.
 Shipping zones you want to cover:
 Shipping rates vary between countries and Zones. All
development tools allow the user to charge different
rates from consumers based on their zones. 
 The admin page shows your shipping zones and the
individual rate of shipping for each zone.
 Different shipping options are:
 Here is how you can ship products to different zones:
 Free shipping: If you sell a luxury product and can afford it, this is
the best option. Also, set the option of free shipping after a certain
value. If your online store sells products that are affordable, then
don’t pick this option as it won’t be profitable for you.
 Flat rate: In this option, you use the same amount for shipping any
product. It is a great marketing tactic, and you can cover the entire
country or some district in one price range. 
 Real-time price: The shipping charge depends on the product’s
weight, size and so on. It is good for products that are expensive
to ship for free. 
 Pickup by a customer: A great option is to ask the consumer if
they want to pick the parcel from a local store or the office.
 Different shipping services:
 The online store building tools allow you to

provide different shipping options to your

consumers. It includes paying more for a
one-day delivery and so on.
 10. Settings for the store

 Your online store needs to run properly every single minute and
this needs proper settings. You can do this by filling out your
preferences for each of the following in the store setting section
of the tool.
 Language: Select the language that the customer will see on the
website
 Currency: The currency you want to deal in
 Time zone: To track the orders, set up your time zone.
 Address: Contact information and address of the main and local
office.
 Store Name: Name of the store that you want on the title,
homepage and other pages and online searches. 
 Contact Details: A public phone number and
an email address
 Setting for the order: In this, you set the

option of adding tax to your product or not

 Product settings: In the product settings, you

can decide what details about the product

you want.
 You can take help from the tool’s support

team to figure out all this.

 11.  Test the whole site and then publish it
 The last step before publishing your site is to

test it. You need to make sure that every

section of the e-commerce site works
perfectly. Any issue can dampen the user
experience and sales of your site, so be
careful.
 Here are things that you should monitor while

testing your site:

 Checkout process
 Make sure that the checkout process works by
making sure:
 All payment methods work against an order
 Shipping charges, price and category, and other
details are visible.
 Discount and coupon codes are there or not.
 Whether the taxes on the product is visible or not.
 Refund policy on the product works or not.
 The best way to check all this is by ordering a
product and refunding it.
 Functionality:
 Make sure all the links and buttons like zoom in
button works or not. If any of the functionality of the
sites doesn’t work, it will make you lose customers.
 Content: 
 Whatever content you use on your online store,
should be free of errors and should be original. 
 Mobile optimized:
 Make sure that your website works on all mobile
devices as people prefer their Smartphone devices
more. 
 Different browser:
 Make sure that the website is easily
accessible on all web browsers. Check the
loading time and speed and fix any issue
before launching.
 Take some time to check these things before

launching the site as there is no room for

errors in this stiff competition.
 Conclusion
 The development process of an e-commerce

site takes some time and research, but the

end-result will be satisfying. With the help of
this guide, you can easily use any of the e-
commerce website development tools and
start creating your online store. Always
double check your work and make a detailed
plan before executing it.
Tips to build manage and profit from E-
Commerce site.
 Just because you've built your e-commerce website
doesn't mean the customers will begin to come. You
need to bring in the visitors, showcase your products,
convince them to buy, and bring them back yet again
to make any significant gains.
 The customers need to be wooed by the unique
customer experience that will bring them back, and
have them sing your praise to their friends, spreading
your name. This may seem like a tall order, but isn't.
Listed here are the top ten tips to build, manage and
profit from your e-commerce website. Follow them
and see the benefits for yourself.
1. Organize your Catalog around
Product Categories
 Many sites either provide a long list of products or
lump them behind a search button, making it difficult
to find them. Arrange your products into logical
categories and subcategories, but do not overdo it.
Research says it that most people get overwhelmed
with more than 7 categories. The customer must be
able to easily search any product without help.
 Your product should have a clear and high-quality
picture, short and detailed specifications. If necessary
add video or pictures of different view points (top
angle, side view) along with the product specification.
2. Provide Multiple Payment Options
 Keep all kinds of payment options available to your
customers. Not everyone feels comfortable buying
through a credit card, or has one. Allow for debit cards,
fax, telephone, snail mail, paper and electronic
cheques. And sign-up for fraud checking facility,
without which you could easily end up losing entire
day's sales within minutes. Provide a currency converter
if you offer products or payment in other currencies.
 Including a telephone number for customer support on
the order is a must. It gives the buyers some extra
feelings of security that they can always talk to a live
person if anything goes wrong in the buying process.
3. List out Clearly Outlined Policies
 Privacy:
 Make your privacy policy public. Keep it in a
prominent place, and link it to the home, products
and checkout pages, so that customers who are vary
of providing personal and credit card details feel
comforted. Tell them if you plan to share their email
address with others, or plan to send in promotional
mail or newsletters.
 Further, allow them to unsubscribe or opt-out of
such email if they think so. Never sell the customer's
personal particulars unless they have agreed, as this
is a sure way to lose credibility doubly fast.
 Security:
 If you plan to collect sensitive information from your
customers, you should use security systems like SSL
(Secure Socket Layer). This guarantees that the data
provided by your customer will not fall into the hand
of a malicious hacker while transferring from his
computer to the web server.
 This also will reassure your customers that you are
truly concerned about the security of their personal
information.
 Terms and Conditions:
 Write clearly and prominently all the sales and after sales
support terms so as to avoid confusion. The internet is
worldwide, and your customer can come from any country.
List your shipping and handling costs upfront, and be ready
to ship anywhere on the Earth. Publish your returns policy,
support hours, and even the approximate time taken to
deliver the goods.
 Send a confirmation note thanking the customer, and listing
all the products, prices and key terms of the purchase in an
email. Keep the customer updated of the order status at all
times by email or by providing a link in your shopping page
where they can check the status of their order anytime.
4. Build a Newsletter Around Your
Products
 To snag new customers and keep the old
ones remembering you vividly, seriously plan
to launch a newsletter, and send it to all
prospects and customers on a regular basis.
Apart from the credibility of being a serious
player in the market, you dazzle them with
your commitment by releasing the newsletter
on fixed days - like 15th of every month, or
every Monday.
 You can also show your expertise in your field
by writing regular, in-depth articles, covering
the latest trends in the industry, and reviews
of new products. Your customers, distributors,
and partners will start to eagerly await your
newsletter. Sprinkle your promotions and
products in between the contents of the
newsletter, and be ready to receive an increase
in web traffic and order bookings every time
you send out the newsletter.
5. Let Customers Gift Your Products
 Allow people to gift your products to their
friends and loved ones. Provide free gift
wrapping, a personalized message or a free gift
for the purchaser. Allow them to create Wish
Lists that they may use to buy later.
 These small things do matter and act as
freebies that your competitor may not have.
Although these are fast becoming standard
feature, make sure you don't end up with the
dumb ones who haven't figured this simple
technique out yet.
6. Promote your Site Every Day
 Strong marketing is the most important aspect
of having a successful website. The best of sites
won't make money if people don't come in
hordes. Launch promotions, and get the word to
everyone possible within your target audience.
 You can do promotions using direct mail to your
existing customer, in your newsletter, and fliers.
All the methods of traditional marketing apply
here. Don't leave any technique untried.
Remember the old adage - Market, market,
market.
7. Measure Results and Reorganize
 Measure the results you are getting from each
promotion religiously, and note what works and
what doesn't. Experiment. Study. Fine tune.
This is the only way to know how effective your
campaigns and promotions are.
 You can also bring in some external people to
visit your site and give you sincere feedback
about each page on your site. The more critical
they are, the more changes you will make, and
eventually it will benefit you and your
customers.
8. Keep a Simple yet Effective Web
Design
 There is intense competition on the web. Make a
compelling website that showcases your USP (unique
selling proposition) and brings the customer back to
your site. Differentiate from the rest by using your
imagination to make your site standout from the
rest. A cool, cathy, easy to remember name could
definitely help.
 Make a simple site, with plain HTML, and a
consistent look and feel on all pages. Use an easy to
read font, at least a 10 size font, preferably 11. Do
not load with graphics and huge pictures on every
page, which may slow down your page.
 Although this advice is becoming old fashioned
as most people are moving to broadband, it is
still a good practice, as you don't want to lose
the customers who use a low speed modem.
 Flexibility and ease of use are far more
important than flashy graphics or cool Java
applets. The objective is to keep the customer
looking at the products, and not keep them
waiting or lose them by slow loading graphics
or effects
 Keep the catalog simple, and with a
consistent design with links to Home,
Checkout page, Privacy Policy, Terms and
Conditions, Customer Profile pages handy
and at the same, consistent place on each
page. Make it easy to browse the store and
mark products for later purchase
9. Make the Login Process a Breeze
 The less clicks needed to order, the better. Amazon
patented their One-Click method that minimized the
clicks, making the checkout process simpler and easier.
Try to make the registration or login process minimal,
and only keep the most relevant fields mandatory.
 I was disgusted by the lengthy logon process which
forced me to enter my middle name, date of birth, and
mother's maiden name for just registering for an online
taxi booking service. I left it mid way, and went to
another taxi operator's site, which registered me within
a minute. A simple thing can result in a costly mistake
that loses the customer forever.
10. Reduce Popup Messages
 Too many popups distract and disgust the
customer. Especially after the visitor closes your
website window, if you start to popup other
windows with more promotions, it leaves a
feeling of being chased. It is also the signature
of most of the adult sites, so steer away from
such insensitive practices.
 Show your professionalism and respect the
customer's privacy and time. It will help to build
your image as a serious and professional site
and enhance your credibility.
11. Use a Reliable Hosting Service
 Use a service that is good, reliable, and can
provide you with customer support at all
hours. Web hosting is getting very cheap but
it is better to pay a little more and get a fast
and reliable web hosting. Nothing loses a
customer faster than a slow site or a site that
is down frequently. Compare a few hosting
services, and ask around before signing up
for one. You won't regret it.