Things to Consider for Your eCommerce Website
So, you’ve finally decided to take your business online so you can realise your goal of widening your reach and make more sales by tapping the global market.
The first step that you need to take is to build a eCommerce website where you can showcase your products, talk about your business from your point of view, process orders, and take payments at the comforts of your own home or office. In order to ensure your successful in this endeavor, make sure to keep the following points in mind when you begin to build your website:
- Payment options – The main idea of setting up eCommerce site is to process orders and accept payments online. Right now, there are several online payment systems that you can take advantage of but the highly recommended are Paypal, eWay (best for Australian websites), Authorize.net, Google Checkout, Amazon Payments, and 2Checkout. When making a choice, consider several factors, which include set-up or monthly fees, transaction fees, ease of use, accessibility, withdrawal options, and integrations. Also, if you intend to offer payments plans or if you’re selling products with recurring fees, make sure that you choose an online payment system that can handle such transactions. For more information about payments, read ‘Paypal Payments versus Other Payment Gateway Options: What is the Better Option?’
- Shipping – Personally, I find the second most important and often the most difficult element of an eCommerce website agreeing on a shipping method that fits in with the eCommerce solution you’ve selected. How you’re going to ship your items. Are you going to offer free delivery or send the items via Australia Post? Also, decide on how long it will take for the shipment to reach your clients. Keep in mind that it’s better to under promise but over deliver to ensure that your customers are happy. Also, considering overnight or expedite shipping. Some clients are more than willing to pay extra for such service.
- Stock control – Effective and efficient stock management is extremely important for any type of business whether in the online or offline arena. This helps you ensure that you have enough product to satisfy your customers demand, track old stock, and identify excess stock.
- Guarantee/Warranty – People who buy products and services online are more hesitant compared to offline buyers. These people are more concerned that they’re going to get a bad product or that the item will arrive damaged. For this reason, it is critical to put a very visible guarantee on the product detail page telling your customers that your products come with warranty or guarantee. This is the key to turn a nervous browser into a paying customer.
- Reviews – Feedback is one of the most important things that potential buyers consider before they make a purchase. If your previous customers left great feedback saying that your products are top-notch and that you offer unmatched customer service, these can definitely have a significant impact on your conversion percentage as this gives potential customers a guarantee that the transaction will most likely to go well.
- Restricted access for non-members – This feature isn’t designed to alienate non-members but to give them a reason to give you their email address and probably their other contact information. In the world of Internet marketing, getting your potential clients to sign up to your email marketing list is extremely crucial. This is typically the first step in converting them from browsers to paying customers. If you have their contact information, you can easily send them updates and later on, build relationship with them.
- Customer Service – Buyers like to know that there’s somebody they can contact to ask questions about orders, or speak to if what they received isn’t what they ordered. They want a guarantee that should something goes wrong, there is a customer service hotline that can provide them with that much-needed support and assistance to reassure them they haven’t been ripped off.
- Cross-Sell related products – Attracting new customers isn’t the only way to boost your sales and revenue. You can also make more money by upselling related products to those people who have already bought from you. This is much easier than convincing a new client to make a purchase from your website. Any good eCommerce solution should offer a related products plugin to take care of this.
- Content – Great products and a well-designed website isn’t enough to make it on top of Google. In the world of Internet Marketing and website promotion, content is and will always be the king. With Google’s recent Hummingbird update, using great content cannot be more important these days. In order to grab better ranking on this giant search engine, you need to make sure that your website offers more than just product details – it must also include useful, exclusive, and valuable information.
- Design – The first thing that your potential clients will see when they open your eCommerce website is of course, its design. Based on your site’s overall look, browsers will decide if they’ll stay a little longer or click that huge X button on the upper right hand corner of the page. Keep in mind that your homepage is your storefront or your billboard so ensure that it creates an immediate, great lasting impression to your visitors. Your website design should be professional, attractive, and most of all, uncluttered. Also, your website must be easy to navigate as well. Your visitors must find the information that they’re looking for in few clicks on their mouse. Read my previous post ‘How to Get Your Call to Action to Convert A Lead OR Sale’ for more information on turning visitors to sales.
- Download speed – Internet users can be unbelievably impatient these days. If your website isn’t loading in 2-3 seconds, they are goners. So, pay attention to your site’s loading time. Make it work faster by staying away with too many graphics and tons of images. Also, sign up with a reliable web host.
If you’re in need of a fully functional, attractive, and professional ecommerce website but don’t have the needed knowledge on programming language, let Ignition Media do the legwork for you. With years of experience designing and developing ecommerce websites, I guarantee not only great customer service, but customer satisfaction as well!
Ready to Ignite Your Website?
If you are not satisfied with your current website designer or SEO, call me, Nicole Brooke. I’m highly efficient and always available.
Ignition Media’s e-Commerce solutions, which are specifically designed for small and large online stores include integration and installation of WordPress and it offers no restrictions to the number of products and categories that you wish to add.
For any questions or a free quote, please email me at [email protected] and I will get back to you ASAP.