What it takes to build an ecommerce website from scratch? What are the things to consider while building an ecommerce website? So today I am going to guide you on how to build an ecommerce website from scratch.
In 2020, global ecommerce sales reached $4.28 trillion, and are expected to surpass $6.5 trillion in 2023. E-commerce sales in the US will reach as much as $794 billion in 2023
In the United States, ecommerce sales accounted for 11.9% of total retail sales in 2020, up from 9.8% in 2019.
Mobile commerce (m-commerce), or shopping via smartphone or other mobile device, has also seen significant growth in recent years. In 2020, m-commerce accounted for 53.9% of total ecommerce sales worldwide.
The use of social media for ecommerce has also increased in recent years. In 2020, around 33% of consumers in the United States reported purchasing a product through a social media platform.
The use of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning in ecommerce is also on the rise. In 2020, around 49% of retailers reported using AI in their ecommerce operations.
Ecommerce is a disruptive force that has forever changed the way we live and do business – Neil Ashe, CEO of Global eCommerce at Walmart
Before starting a website find the perfect niche for your eCommerce website
Creating an ecommerce website from scratch might be an easy task but new sellers fail to find the perfect niche and make the mistake of trying to sell popular and established products. That’s a bad idea because those types of products are extremely competitive.
So, how do you find a reliable eCommerce niche?
There are too many factors to consider. But here’s what we recommend.
Sell what you know. When you sell products that you are familiar with, you have a better chance of being successful. Why? Because you know a lot about those products, how to work, and the types of problems they solve.
Why Ecommerce is so important for your business?
From small businesses to big giant like Amazon, many companies can benefit from having their own e-commerce site. E-commerce can be used to sell digital products, consultations or appointments, or intangibles, making it a flexible solution for all kinds of businesses.
Do you have a choice to influence the purchase decisions of customers? Of course, when customers decide to purchase, they start looking online.
Suppose if you have a website customers can research your product and see all the reasons it is right for them. A well-designed e-commerce site can influence purchase decisions by showcasing your product at its best.
For any business persons having an e-commerce site is an added advantage which will boost up their business. This guide will give the exact roadmap to build an e-commerce website.
1. Determine the purpose and target audience of your website
Before you begin building your ecommerce website from scratch, it’s important to have a clear understanding of why you are creating the site and who your target audience is. This will help you determine the products or services you will be selling, as well as the design and functionality of your website.
For example, if you are a small business owner selling handmade crafts, your target audience may be people interested in unique and handmade items. You may want to focus on showcasing the quality and craftsmanship of your products and feature detailed product descriptions and high-quality photos.
On the other hand, if you are an entrepreneur looking to sell a new line of fitness supplements, your target audience may be people interested in health and wellness. You may want to focus on highlighting the benefits of your products and include information on ingredients and recommended usage.
2. Purchase a domain name
You require a website domain name in order to set up an e-commerce website. The domain name can help users to find your product online. The domain name can be anything as long it is available and relevant to your business.
It is better to use “.com” domain name extension rather than “.biz”, or “.net”. You also need a hosting provider for your domain name. Sending data back and forth from a website is done every time a customer visits your site – you need a hosting provider in order to make your website live.
3. Factors to consider for choosing the best CMS Platform for Your ecommerce website?
There are several options for creating an ecommerce website, including using a content management system (CMS) like WordPress or WooCommerce, or building a custom ecommerce website from scratch using a programming language like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
If you choose to use a CMS, you will have the benefit of a pre-designed platform that is easy to use and customize. Many CMS options also have built-in ecommerce functionality, making it easy to add products, manage orders, and process payments.
If you choose to build a custom website, you will have more control over the design and functionality of your site, but it will require more time and technical expertise. You may want to consider hiring a web developer or designer to help with the development process.
Business needs
There is a number of CMS platforms out there how do you choose the right one?
Identify if your website will be a simple brochure site, multiple, or inter-connected sites if you require third-party software integration, and so on.
Based on your priorities you can choose the cms platform. You can go for WordPress if your priority is easy to use or you would consider Joomla for managing Multilingual support(you can build a website in English, and create another version of the same site in other languages, such as French and/or Spanish) Joomla thus gives you access to a broader audience.
Budget
One of the reasons for choosing cms platforms is the budget. If you are a new business, chances are that you would want to spend more money on driving traffic to your website rather than spend money on hosting it.
If the CMS platform is the backbone of your business, then you might want to spend more on finding the best CMS platform for your needs.
Security
See what security features are in place. If your website were to get hacked, what would the CMS Company do?
Take some time to read up on online reviews. See what other, real users have to say about their experiences.
Suppose you want to upgrade often to install security patches, you may want to consider a different system.
Scalability
The CMS you decide on should have the flexibility to scale along with your business.
Scalability provides the option for adding necessary plugins and extensions to enhance the functionality and size of your website.
Support for the increased traffic will ensure that you are not required to move to an alternate CMS.
More data can be added in the form of images, videos, and content.
The best CMS platforms would be platforms like Magento, Sitecore or Drupal that provide good scalability.
Mobile Responsive
Most CMS platforms provide features to build responsive devices, WordPress is probably the best content management system that supports mobile responsive websites.
Whether if you choose the free version or the premium one, WordPress provides a host of responsive themes.
4. Select Your Best Platform for E-commerce
There are plenty of E-Commerce platforms out there. There are E-Commerce platforms out there like Shopify, woocommerce, Magento, PrestaShop.
Choosing an e-commerce platform is so difficult for many business owners. Figuring out what your store will need as you grow and keeping up with trends is a challenge, but it is well worth it in the end to create processes that work and will scale with your business.
E-Commerce Platforms to Consider
Shopify
This platform is specifically designed for this niche market. Not only it offers some great features, but it also offers top-notch themes. It is one of the most recommended platforms for anyone who wants to get started in the e-commerce sector. You can also deploy a chatbot to your store to handle customer queries
Pros of Using Shopify:
- This platform provides a good selection of professional themes.
- Shopify can be easily integrated with fulfillment centers, shipping carriers, and dropshipping companies
- This shopping platform comes with unlimited bandwidth and products.
- It provides a mobile app for both managing your store and accepting payments.
- The Shopify Experts tool can help you set up your store.
Cons:
- Shopify can delay managing your store and increase maintenance costs due to its unique and proprietary coding.
- Shopify costs money, in terms of individual transaction processing fees and s as a monthly subscription fee.
Magento
Magento is known for its reliability and scalability, many popular brands use Magento as the underlying technology for their online stores. Brands like Huawei, Pepe Jeans & Liverpool F.C. use Magento.
Pros:
- Good user experience
- Provides good customization options
- Extensive resource library for store management, growth, demos
- 9000+ plugins/extensions to improve your business
- Scalability
Cons:
- You require a host due to the complexity and scalable design
- The learning curve is time-intensive
- Requires Specific Development Skills
Woocommerce
Woocommerce is an open-source plugin for WordPress that allows a site to function similarly to an e-commerce service. It supports numerous payments and shipping methods, making coupons and taxes easy, and a robust reporting service.
There are more than 320 extensions available in a variety of categories depending on the industry and sections of the store.
Pros:
- Uses WordPress, the most powerful and ubiquitous website creation tool available
- Supports various channels of payment
- Expandable for many different functions with extensions
- The software is frequently updated for new features and functions.
- There are lots of WordPress themes available for building out the storefront
Cons:
- Plugins cost money and require an annual license purchase
- There are a lot of usage considerations, settings, and functionality decisions required for managing customers, orders, inventory, sales tax, and shipping
- If you don’t use WordPress, you need to learn two new platforms
Spree commerce
Ruby on Rails-based e-commerce solution which allows for rapid development. Spree allows you to design and develop a unique, beautiful front-end UX.
On the backend it combines API driven Omni-channel support with multiple stock location capability, enabling business scalability and flexibility.
Pros:
- Easy Payment Processor Integration
- Easy to set up this software
- Developers with a basic knowledge of coding can handle this software
- Spree is an open-source and largely maintained by the community
Cons:
- Lack of Customer Support
- A limited number of Extensions
- Core functionality may require custom development
5. Guidelines to be considered while developing your e-commerce website
Every website needs a well designed and user-friendly website. It is absolutely important to design or develop the website in accordance with the ease of consumers.
Factors like security, site layout, and presentation of products play an important role in the user’s point of view.
Site architecture
You need to create well-developed site navigation for your ecommerce website. Display a better image of your product with good navigation and user-friendly. Make sure your subcategories are arranged properly.
A separate section for best-selling products and discount products can grab the user’s attention.
Product details
Product details must be clearly specified. Use the best title to target and provide a brief description of each product in a simple way with proper price and discount tag.
The details you provide for a product affect the way the product appears to customers, make it easier for you to organize your products, and help customers find the product. You don’t have to provide every detail for each product.
Reviews and testimonials
Reviews about your products and business can give a good idea about your products. Many research groups like Forrester research, .com sites
Research shows that ratings and reviews influence consumer shopping behavior and boost their motive for purchase.
Trustmarks
Always display Trustmark logos on the website. Trustmark logos are identified by the customers and build faith.
Payment options
The mode of payment options must be flexible. Payment options such as cash on delivery, credit/debit cards are preferred. Secure payment is the key factor.
Building an ecommerce website from scratch might seem easy but there is no one universal gateway which is the best and easy to get, but there is for sure one gateway which for your particular business model, your location or incorporation, product or your general processing needs may be the best for you. Some of the best payment gateway services are:-
- Authorize.Net.
- PayPal.
- SecurePay.com.
- 2Checkout.com, Inc.
- First Data Corporation.
- BluePay Processing LLC.
- PaySimple.
- Fastcharge.com.
Website speed
Performance plays a major role in e-commerce. At best, they create small delays that are only briefly annoying to your users. At worst, they make your site completely inaccessible, unresponsive to user input, or both.
If your website loads at a slower pace then you must definitely focus on improving site speed. Recent research shows that”45-50% of the people abandon or leave a website that takes more than 4 seconds to load.
Google study was found that sites loading within 5 seconds had 70% longer sessions, 35% lower bounce rates, and 25% higher ad viewability than sites taking nearly four times longer at 19 seconds.
Related Post: Check our guide to improve site speed
Select the best shipping partner
Choosing the right shipping partner when you are building an ecommerce website from scratch takes a lot of research and time. It’s difficult to meet all your business needs with just one courier partner at hand. Not all shipping partners cover the same pin codes. Therefore you need to be extra careful while selecting your shipping partner or select multiple shipping partners to cover more areas.
These are some basic guidance on how to develop an e-commerce website from scratch. If there is something to add, I’d love to hear from you in the comments below!