Creating a winning e-commerce site takes much more than just choosing a domain name and filling your site with some pretty copy. Just like any other business, creating a winning e-commerce site takes time, dedication and a clear vision. This can be made easier with the right support and know-how – of course it can – but hard work will always be the key to e-commerce success.
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Create an E-commerce Strategy
E-commerce is a booming industry. According to research, in 20 years’ time, experts are estimating that almost all purchases will be made online – that’s 95%. Some people are even predicting this to happen earlier, some as early as in five years’ time. It can be incredibly tempting to jump in on that action, but you need a proper strategy if you are going to succeed. Your strategy should answer questions such as:
- What is your brand identity?
- Who is your target market?
- What is your niche?
- Who are your competitors?
- What need are you fulfilling?
These questions should be a starting point. Then, your business plan should answer practicalities like how you are going to fund your project, as well as the key performance indicators you want to meet.
Find a Web Developer
Finding a web developer that is competent and suits your price range is the key to launching your site in a relatively short time span in a professional manner. Your web developer can be an invaluable investment and a life-long business relationship, but they can also be a complete waste of resources.
When you are looking for a web developer, you should look for one with whom you can build a long-lasting partnership. You need a developer agency that can handle all your web needs now and in the future, as well as possibly being local so you can have face-to-face meetings (far more productive). Magento developer Los Angeles is the perfect example of long-lasting partner for an LA based e-commerce store because they offer a range of supplementary services such as site audits, front and back-end development, outgoing support and maintenance and security reviews. Make sure you have a developer that can do all that as they will be a savior if your project needs to pivot. The right web developer will help you create your site and will take care of every aspect, from security to aesthetic design, so it is important you have an experienced partner you can trust, working on an e-commerce platform with proven experience
Legitimize Your Business
You need to register your business and look into legal business steps. You should also get a vendor’s license and incorporate your business while working with a registered attorney. This can be an annoying cost for a young company, but it is well-worth some tragedy in the future.
Organize Order Fulfilment
No matter how well-designed your site is, if you want it to be winning, it needs to continue to draw in sales. For this to happen you need to have a clear order fulfillment implementation strategy. If you don’t and orders take too long to arrive, customers won’t come back and you’ll start to accumulate bad reviews.
You should have worked out your order fulfillment strategy when you were planning your general e-commerce strategy but you should test it many times before you take the site live to make sure it doesn’t limit the potential of your new e-commerce store.
