Retail eCommerce sales are estimated to reach $7.39 billion by 2025 (SearchLogistics). About 32 countries have experienced double-digit growth in eCommerce sales since 2020.
If you want to build your eCommerce business, it is the right time to start. We saw the key features and trends to incorporate into your business.
However, the key to a successful eCommerce business is the process. A flawless process with all the right elements can get you started on the growth path. We had outlined the process in brief in the earlier article.
This guide will take you through an in-depth understanding of the essential steps. We will also discuss the importance of each step in your eCommerce website development.
We will be discussing the top 7 eCommerce development platforms that are popular among developers. Let’s discuss the top features that make these platforms better than others.
We have not considered the first two basic steps in our development process. We will take you through it in brief here.
Once you have done this, it is time to invest in the domain name. Most often, people would select to operate under their business name. It would help to look for a domain that can easily fit your business name. You can play around if it is unavailable to get the best-fit domain.
This is important as people online would know you by the domain name. Make sure to have a hosting solution in place. You can connect with the domain site to discuss the hosting possibilities.
Once you have identified the domain name, it's time to discuss the technology stack for your eCommerce website. It would be best to determine how you plan to build the solution. For example, can you use a website builder to develop the eCommerce web app?
Do you wish to create the platform from scratch with an open-source framework? The technology stack would also include the database systems and backend for the eCommerce website.
There are several things you can consider when planning your website. Ensure the platform or technology stack helps meet the crucial needs- responsive designs, immediate checkout, payment processes, and content management system.
Once you decide on the framework and frontend systems for developing the eCommerce website, you must plan the design. Design aesthetics, usability and accessibility, are pivotal in eCommerce website development.
It is important to choose a template that syncs with your business model. It should help represent the design elements essential for your eCommerce business. At the same time, it should offer extensive customization and responsiveness.
Choosing the right design and template solution is essential to create interactive interfaces and design for experience.
There are must-have features in a website that you cannot ignore. You must follow through the feature list to incorporate the most important functionality.
For example, the checkout system is essential to your eCommerce website. It would help if you planned for a quick checkout that can enhance the experience.
Similarly, you must add features that can communicate the most important aspects of your product. Product videos, full-page product displays and other essential elements can help focus on the product. You must also have the apt features to make in-app payments swift and easy. It can help extend secure transactions on the eCommerce website.
Once you are done adding the features and creating the design, you must begin adding the products. This is the most important part of your eCommerce website development. The products are your assets that the users will purchase.
When you are adding products, detailed descriptions are important too. You must let the user know the minute details they wish to understand. For example, a clothing brand must highlight the sizes of the clothes. They should also mention the colour, approximate length and other details. The fabric of the product is equally important.
Adding the products can take a while if you still need to create effective content for each. Make sure you plan how you represent each product with your marketing team. They can help plan the descriptions, the things to be added, and the most important questions to be answered.
Once you have added the products, you must start optimizing the website. Adding the keywords, improving the image for speed, alt+ text, and other SEO functions are important to ensure visibility.
Audit the website for the missing elements, and ensure they are added. Connect with an SEO specialist to determine all the factors that can help improve the product's discoverability.
Each part of the website should be thoroughly optimized for speed and performance. This would help accelerate the growth of your business.
The checkout on the website will determine the cart abandonments. If you have noticed an increase in abandonments, your checkout system may need to be fixed.
You must plan for a single page and easy checkout system to enhance experiences. You can also use the pre-filled content to reduce the inputs required by the user.
Eventually, you will notice a great increase in sales and an improvement in the customer experience.
Testing the entire website after you have completed developing it is very important. This would help you identify the issues that are present. It would help debug the whole website and identify the critical problem areas.
Make sure to conduct unit testing, accessibility and usability testing. You must also conduct the system and integration testing. Ultimately, you can determine the website's performance, load, speed and other abilities.
Detailed testing will help you fix the issues before deployment, thus reducing the churn rate.
It is important to deploy the application. Make sure you have a fully-planned deployment method that you wish to avail.
Once deployed, you must continuously listen to your customers using the product. You must understand the issues they face and what makes them stay away from your website.
Once you know the issues, you must fix them to enhance usage. Periodic maintenance is another important part of your after-sales support package. Make sure to include the updates and upgrades important to your eCommerce website.
Maintenance will also help you improve the uptime, product management and supply chain for better conversions.
The step-by-step eCommerce website development process will guide you through delivering a successful website solution. Determining the niche, preparing the domain, and building the right design approach is important.
Once you know your technology and design, you must work on the features, payments and other important aspects. Ensure you include all the elements that make your website usable and accessible.
Ensure periodic maintenance for better management and effective retention. Space Stem offers fully managed eCommerce website development services. We are a leading eCommerce development company in the UK with the right experience and expertise. Connect with us to translate your idea into a feasible solution.
