Starting an online business and taking it to success is exciting with the market being as competitive as it is today. Despite the challenges, you have more tools to use, great digital marketing instruments to rely on, and plenty of opportunities to succeed.
The start of your online venture is important. You want to deliver good customer experience from the beginning, and the way to do that is by developing an online store that caters to the needs and wants of your potential customers. We have just the tips to help you get started with developing your own online store in this article.
Pick a Platform That Suits You
Forget about developing an entirely custom online store from the ground up; there is no need to go this route when starting a new business. The existing platforms are more than capable in handling millions of customers while offering the best user experience. All you need to do is customize the platform to better represent the kind of customer experience you want to deliver – your brand.
If you’re looking for simplicity, the WordPress and WooCommerce combination is a good option to look into. Other platforms come with their own advantages and disadvantages. Drupal is quite complicated, but it offers a wide range of customization options. Magento, on the other hand, is geared more towards ecommerce sites and offers specific tools and features you may need further down the road.
Think Mobile
Many web developers now think mobile first. The approach is so popular for the right reasons too. For starters, close to 70% of internet users are smartphone or mobile device users. Since the majority of your traffic – potential customers – are browsing your site using their smartphones, it makes sense to invest in delivering the best mobile user experience first.
Having a functional, responsive site is also good for sales. People are more likely to make impulse purchases when they are on their smartphones, often at odd hours. You can tap into a larger market by having a mobile-friendly site. Besides, there are SEO and digital marketing benefits to gain from a good, responsive ecommerce site.
Consider Security
When you run an online store, you need to consider the security, both of the platform itself and of your customer’s data. You need to ensure your site is backed up, is checked regularly for malware, and that all of your themes and plugins are up to date. An easy way to do this is to work with a company like WP Siteplan who will do all of this for you. Failing to secure your site properly could lead to a lot of financial and legal problems down the road.
Keep It Simple
It is tempting to put a lot of promotional offers and hero products in front of the customers as soon as possible. The approach may work for customers in certain market segments. That said, it isn’t an approach that works every time.
Instead of overwhelming customers with information, you want your ecommerce site to be clean and simple. Make it easy for visitors to find the information they need. Simplify the checkout process to just one or two steps. More importantly, remove distractions that could influence the customers’ decision-making process.
Stick to these tips and start your ecommerce site development accordingly. By the end of the development project, you will have a great and effective site, ready to take your online business idea to the success it deserves.
