Rapid sales growth, an increase in potential customer base, easy management of a large number of products, automated marketing activities (discounts, promotions), and income and expense calculation thanks to integrated e-commerce systems are just a few of the benefits you will enjoy when you have an online store.
Because setting up an online store is a major undertaking, we recommend that you become well acquainted with the stages, as well as the terms and scope of work to be completed.
Where should you begin when creating a website so that you don’t overlook anything crucial and, as a consequence, have a dependable working instrument for growing your business? Let’s see it in more detail.
Solutions of E-commerce Web Development
Before you go and order an e-commerce website, it is important to understand what a classic e-commerce resource looks like. Usually, such sites work according to a single scheme: A potential client selects a product in the catalog and adds it to their cart, makes an order, selects a delivery method and a suitable payment option. The store delivers the goods to the customer.
Therefore, it is important to take into account every feature of the business. This will allow you to determine whether the concept of an online store is suitable for them or not.
Even though many people think that an e-commerce store is only for shopping, there are, in fact, many more solutions that a business can use.
Business to Consumer (B2C)
B2C sites carry out direct sales of goods offered by manufacturers or sellers to buyers via the Internet. The development of this type of Internet site is beneficial for businesses, as it helps to increase the availability of the company’s products.
B2C e-commerce store development eliminates the need for multiple channels between a manufacturer or distributor and buyers. This model makes the price of the offered goods more competitive because the cost of paying for the services of intermediaries is eliminated, and it is more profitable for buyers to purchase goods at lower prices.
Despite the widespread use of the B2C model, the development of websites in this direction still requires great care and attention to detail. Rather, on the contrary, it is precisely such great popularity of B2C that necessitates compliance with the high requirements for sites of this model.
Business to Business (B2B)
The term B2B means a type of interaction where business cooperates with business. Cooperation may consist in the purchase or sale of goods, the provision of services aimed precisely at the interests of the business.
A B2B site is a web resource created by entrepreneurs to attract customers from the business environment. B2B sites have a more difficult task. They need to “calculate” from the entire mass of users those who represent the interests of a business. That is, the benefits of companies are involved here from two sides. B2B sites have a longer process of converting a lead into a buyer.
The goals of B2B sites are more complex and deeper than when creating other types of resources. Therefore, their development begins with a detailed study of the idea, strategy, and ways to promote the site.
B2B e-commerce website development requires complex multi-page projects that should solve a whole range of tasks. This includes ensuring high-quality communication between the two companies with managers, specialists, and accounting programs.
Custom Web Development
Custom e-commerce website development involves writing a unique program code, creating a design, working with layout, and other stages of work without using third-party services or systems. Such an online store will include only the necessary functions prescribed at the design stage.
In addition, such online stores are easier to optimize since all SEO features are implemented during development. However, the cost of developing such sites is much higher. If the aforementioned CMSs offer additional features in the form of inexpensive or completely free plugins, then creating each feature from scratch will cost serious money. You can save here on a developer by hiring a freelancer instead of an agency.
In this case, the risks increase since the responsibility and professionalism of such a specialist will be in question. In the minuses, you can write down the development time. Creating small online stores is unlikely to take much time, but large sites will require up to six months. In addition, the final product is highly dependent on the terms of reference.
Technologies for E-commerce Website Development
Content Management Systems
CMS is a great option for a tight budget and little experience. In most cases, CMS allows you to create a functioning website without any knowledge of programming, layout, or web design. In addition, most of these systems are free, so the entrepreneur will only need to pay for hosting, a domain, and some additional features if any were developed. At the same time, you can make an online store out of almost any CMS by adding a few plugins.
SaaS-platform
This type of e-commerce website involves renting a ready-made resource designed for the needs of an online store. Many platforms provide such services, so finding a suitable solution is not difficult. In addition, almost all such services offer a free trial period, which will allow you to test a ready-made site without any investment.
Steps Of Ecommerce Website Development
E-commerce website development begins with a detailed study of the site structure, its functionality, and its display on various devices. The better the prototype is made, the faster and better its implementation will be.
A group of designers thinks over the concept, taking into account modern development trends, the style of the project, corporate colors, and elements, which allows:
- clearly visualize the site structure for programmers;
- develop the navigation elements in detail, think over the display of the design on mobile devices;
- determine the interaction of the visitor with the online store.
Development of UX/UI design of the store includes thinking over the main page, internal pages of the site, and other elements. The next steps in creating a project are technical, allowing you to make a working website from a picture and a layout of the project.
Any site consists of user and server parts. You see text, buttons, panels, images, and videos on a web page, can navigate the site, and freely explore the content. Front-end development includes visualization, interactivity, and understandability of the interface. You see a beautiful design, highlighted buttons, interesting typography, and the site is easy to use. But what does it all look like from the inside?
The server part, which is also known as Backend hidden from the user, is responsible for the logic, performance, and proper functioning of the site. It is created by a backend developer, and only the site administrator can manage it through a special interface.
The developer is responsible for hosting the site. The customer himself can choose the hosting if there are specific wishes. But the company can help you choose reliable and proven hosting. Before unloading the site, a check is performed again, all temporary files are deleted, the database is cleared. It is checked whether site indexing is enabled, analytics systems are connected.
Any request the user makes is sent to the server. This is where everything happens: the request is processed, filtered, and the response is sent back. Backend development is responsible for the correct execution of this process.
The content manager and copywriter are responsible for the content in the development team. The copywriter creates the text material, and the content manager publishes it. In addition to texts, it can be images and videos.
QA-specialist draws up a test plan, and also uses checklists to clearly identify errors. It checks both the technical compliance and correctness of the site, as well as visual perception and compliance with the requirements of the terms of reference.
When the site is technically ready and has passed the testing stage, it should be uploaded to the main domain. Preliminary, the stage of preparation for the launch of the project is carried out, at which a group of people imitates the actions of real users. If everything suits, then the project is completely ready for launch.
After the launch of the project, cooperation with the developers does not end. The site is on the Internet, but no one knows about it yet. That’s what promotion is for. Promotion includes the following tasks:
- creating SEO optimized content for good indexing in search engines;
- setting up advertising campaigns in Google Adwords;
- brand promotion in SMM.
Thanks to the right promotion strategy, the company quickly enters the market and becomes famous. As a result, a new stream of customers.
Summing It Up
The development of an online store is a complex technical process that requires a special approach. Therefore, it should be completed by a team of specialists.
