Ecommerce Websites – A Guide

For any business, setting up a successful, well planed ecommerce venture can seem a daunting task. Whether your business is an entirely new, solely online offering or a traditional bricks and mortar, high street store, taking the jump to a fully fledged ecommerce website can seem a very scary process at first.

Worry not, with a few clear guidelines and check lists, the launch of a successful ecommerce website is not as difficult as it seems and is very much in the reach of any business, large or small.

Ecommerce Websites – Get The Essentials Right

In our experience, the most successful ecommerce websites apply the same basic rules to that of well planned traditional high street shops.

• Understand and do not confuse your shopper. Create a clear, easy to understand, uncluttered shopping environment.
• Display your product to the highest standard possible.
• Make your pricing clear.
• Engage with your shopper. Always answer questions quickly and offer clear guides and information.
• Make your shopper feel wanted and loved. Reward loyalty with discounts and offers.
• Advertise – non aggressively but efficiently.

An ecommerce website is in essence no different to a traditional shop or store. What it does offer is a huge saving in costs (mainly no rent to pay) and a much faster route to market (no store to fit out and staff to hire).

Ecommerce Websites – The Do’s & Don’ts

All sounds easy? There are pitfalls to be aware of …

Understand that just setting up an ecommerce website will not attract customers alone.

• Make sure that the ecommerce package you purchase is clear and easy to use. If the ecommerce content management is too complicated, you will be frightened to use it and it will just hinder your progress.
• Keep you product categories and sub categories clear and easy to follow.
• Do not try and upload your entire stock in one go. Stagger your upload by focusing at first on your core products.
• Ensure that your ecommerce store is hooked up to a good analytics product such as Google Analytics. Continually monitor your customer traffic, understanding where they came from and how they traversed your website.
• Keep your ecommerce website fresh with new offers and coupons.
• Understand that just setting up an ecommerce website will not attract customers alone. Create a proactive marketing strategy using a cost effective combination of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising and Email Marketing.

Creating a successful ecommerce website is not a five minute job but with a little thought and effort, the rewards are within the reach of any business, bug or small. At Ready Made Designs we build clever, affordable ecommerce websites from as little as £500. We’d love to show you what we can do ….