There is no doubt that your retail business needs its own online store if it wants to hold its own against competitors. Having an E-Commerce website allows for businesses to break past the limitation of a brick and mortar store, and sell their products all over the world. It allows you to reach a wider range of prospective customers, and grow your business in a cost-effective way.
Although building any website can be a complex process, building an E-Commerce website can be especially tricky. In order to get more sales, you need to make the purchasing process as easy and intuitive as possible.
Here are 6 things to consider before building an E-Commerce website:
Shipping Options
Shipping can make or break a sale. The majority of abandoned shopping carts are the result of high or unexpected shipping rates. You need to decide whether or not it’s worth it to provide free shipping to customers in order to keep them on the path to conversion.
Product Images
Visuals play an important role in the customer’s first impression. Blurry and inconsistent images appear unprofessional and may damage your business’ credibility. In order to persuade customers to convert, your product images must be accurate, high quality, and aesthetic.
Product Descriptions
It is important that you provide product descriptions which accurately describe the product, explain its benefits, and ultimately convinces the customer that they must have it. Additionally, writing product descriptions that include relevant keywords can greatly benefit your SEO efforts.
Payment Options
It is wise to provide a selection of payment solutions on your E-Commerce website, so you can cater to a wider range of consumers. The checkout is a critical stage of the sales process. If the customer discovers that their preferred choice is not supported and is unable to use another form of payment, the sale will fall through.
Features
There is a range of features that can be seamlessly integrated into your website for a more dynamic customer experience. These include features such as discounts, coupons, gift cards, refund processing, live chat and more. Before building your website, you need to decide which of these features you wish to integrate.
Marketing Budget
You will need to determine how much you wish to spend on your digital marketing. Next, you will need to decide what percentage of that budget should go towards SEO, and how much should go towards paid advertising (i.e. search and display).
