E-Commerce Website Development to Build Your Business Foundation Online

Best custom web development agencies consider e-commerce websites among most in-demand type of business sites of today. More and more local and foreign companies are becoming interested in putting up their store online. Apparently, it is now a company’s edge to provide its consumers the online way of paying for services and purchasing products.

Custom web development firms often design e-commerce sites based on the standard features of the site and business requirements. Similar to other website types, e-commerce also encompasses different functionalities before getting live online.

E-Commerce Websites and What Sets Them Apart

Before you define an e-commerce website, you have to know what e-commerce is. E-commerce is the process of buying and selling products or services by a company. It is termed e-commerce or electronic commerce for the transaction will take place online instead of local store.

Some people use the term online shopping rather than e-commerce, but the meaning is the same. The process of e-commerce usually starts with searching for products. Afterwards, a buyer will select products based on features they need. Lastly, checking out enclosed with payments will follow.

The term e-commerce website is coined when sites selling products became popular on the internet.  The industry is growing until now. According to Eurostat e-commerce statistics, there is a consistent turnover from 2008 to 2014 of sales and purchases through e-commerce websites.

In 2013, reports showed that 41% of internet users worldwide purchased products. For every digital buyer, there is an estimated e-commerce sales of $2,960. China is the country with most purchases online in 2015. Other e-commerce sales-driving countries are United Kingdom, Brazil, India, and Germany.

There are different features available in an e-commerce website. The basic features include the searching feature. The search box is usually the area customers look for since they have limited time to look for a product. Since an e-commerce website is designed for product searching, it provides product results in just a click.

Apart from letting customers search for specific products based on their own search queries, e-commerce websites also categorize products effectively. Most e-commerce products group products as featured, best buy, and related products (usually after you searched for a product or when you view one). Through this, visitors are informed interactively on products they may need.

E-commerce website is more trusted than a typical informative website that sells products for it has a more secured payment gateway. If you are planning to build an e-commerce website, you are required to give your visitors convenient ways of purchasing.

Apart from convenience, security of payee’s information must also be programmed. Multiple authentication modules, credit card merchant security collaboration, and secured payment web page must be provided by your e-commerce site.

Your e-commerce site is not restricted to just selling products. Instead of creating a separate website for your informative articles, you could simply add web pages to your existing e-commerce website. You could add a section with news and events, which will inform your visitors on information related to your industry. Basically, even a blogging module could be integrated with an e-commerce website.

E-commerce site could also keep your customers informed on your latest products or promotions. Newsletter subscription is not limited to informative articles or news. It is also applicable in e-commerce sites as well. Having this feature on your website will enhance your campaign.

The Edge of Putting Up an E-Commerce Website

A custom web development agency may not have convinced you in putting up an e-commerce website, but the following excerpt will.  Benefits of custom web development for e-commerce are diverse, giving you the reason to concentrate on online selling.

One of the top benefits of putting up an e-commerce website is the convenience. If you want to improve your customers’ experience, e-commerce website is the best to use. The site will give your customers the ease of shopping from home. They will no longer have to travel to your store just to buy a product whose value is less than their transportation costs.

A custom web development company usually offers e-commerce website setup for they believe you will also benefit from the site’s convenience. If your customers find it very manageable and easy to purchase products from your site both day and night, influx of sales could definitely be expected. This makes your products more sellable than before when you have limited store hours.

If you will analyze the offerings of a website development firm, you will certainly see the guarantee of building online presence for your website. Custom web development service on increasing your search engine rank is always included.

You may not be convinced with search engine ranking advantage, but studies can prove it to you otherwise.  A Deluxe Corp. study stated that small businesses spent a limited amount of time building their online presence. As a result, they cash in less than what they can.

According to the study, small business owners should be aware that their online presence must be maintained to capture more potential customers. Customers tend to search for a business they heard somewhere. They visit its website, read its reviews, and find its social media accounts.

At present, as much as 80% of internet users rely on e-commerce websites to purchase products. If you will keep on delaying the development of your presence online, you will lose the chance of gaining more returns.

It is actually cheap to set up an e-commerce website than putting your local store on view. Building and operational costs will always be required locally. With a website, you could get more sales just by setting a virtual store that is even automated.

Through advances in technology, even your inventory management, purchasing system, and customer accounts management will be faster and easier. If you have a local store, each of the activities will be worth hundreds to thousands of dollars.

You have an edge over your competitors if you have an e-commerce website. You could drive sales and conversions anywhere in the world. You no longer have to worry about limiting your reach to your locality. Having a website opens international opportunities for your business. You will never know if your next visitor will be your future investor.

Top Features to Look for Your E-Commerce Website

Considering an e-commerce website for your business is a good decision. However, you have a simple task to do while checking reviews of custom web development agencies. You have to look for the top features of an e-commerce website on their previous projects. This will assure you a high-performing website best for your customers’ convenience and higher business returns.

The searching feature of an e-commerce website must be there. It must be very easy to use and straightforward. Similar to the concept of Google, make sure that the searching feature can generate results in a click.

Search box is a paramount feature of an e-commerce website for digital strategy. According to Econsultancy study, people who use search feature are more likely to be converted as buyers. Conversion rates could be 50% higher than the average if a site’s searching feature performs well.

Aside from search box, your e-commerce website must have the now in-demand Shopping Cart. Shopping Cart is extremely useful for buyers, especially now that it enables users get more products and have more time looking around without checking out. The feature also allows removing products and making purchasing changes.

Security features of an e-commerce website must be present in every module as much as possible. Customers would buy more only if they are certain your site offers utmost security to their credit card details.  Most web developers today host website in Payment Card Industry or PCI-compliant environment. PCI streamlines website features with Data Security Standards (DSS).

With the more powerful mobile marketing, people will also look for a mobile-enabled shopping feature of your e-commerce website. In 2013, 15% of e-commerce sales were accounted to mobile users. By 2016, it is expected to increase by 25%.  To make your e-commerce website mobile-friendly, it must be programmed with responsive or fluid design. Responsive web design allows people to shop through your site on a smartphone, tablet, or other non-PC devices.

Online shopping is boosted by social media presence. E-commerce site development may have been more complicated due to social media, but it pays off to apply the strategy. Social media platforms tend to give consumers more access to websites selling products. If you could integrate social media to your website, you will breach your limitation in reaching more people.

For better customer experience, your e-commerce website must have different delivery options. Most common delivery options today include UPS and FedEx. You should select one that customers could track their products’ location. This builds trust between you and customer concerning shipping fees.

There are features an e-commerce website may have. If you want to know more, you could start reviewing e-commerce site development firms on CrowdReviews.com and know what they have to offer. By checking out the reviews of website development companies, you will how advanced and powerful your online store could be.