The high market penetration, soaring profit margins, and competitive advantage of e-commerce make it a lucrative option for budding entrepreneurs. In the post-Covid world, consumers are increasingly relying on online purchases with contact-free payment modes. Thus investing in online stores has become all the more profitable today. But those who are eager to set foot in the ship of e-commerce must do so cautiously. Ensuring that your business runs successfully is mainly dependent on how meticulously you have charted out and implemented your e-commerce website design and development process. Here is a step-by-step guide to assist aspiring entrepreneurs with e-commerce website design and development.

1. Identify your Products/Services Niche and Target Market Segment

As a budding e-commerce entrepreneur, your first inclination is understandably to get in touch with a reputed website development company. But before you approach any e-commerce website development company, make sure you have figured out answers to the following questions:-

• Do you intend to start a B2B (Business to Business) or a B2C (Business to Consumer) Business?
• What kind of products or services do you want to sell?
• Is there a ready, easy-to-penetrate market segment for it, or is it based on a demand you anticipate soon?
• Have you studied the market trends for your chosen product or service?
• Who are your prime competitors, and will you be able to compete with them as a newly launched e-commerce business?

• Choose the Right Platform for your E-Commerce Store

Once you have figure out your business offerings and customer demographics, the next step would be to choose the best platform to develop your e-commerce site. Some of the most popular, feature-rich, and user-friendly platforms are Shopify, Magento, WooCommerce, and BigCommerce. Ideally, it would help if you made your choice based on the following factors:-

• Platform pricing vis-à-vis your budget
• Platform features, plug-ins and scalability
• Ease of integration with other software
• Robust Site Security
• Ease of Use
• SEO-friendliness

• Select the apt Domain Name and Hosting Service Provider

The domain name you select for your e-commerce business should be concise, catchy, appealing, and be closely related to your products or services. Be sure of your choice because you will not be able to change it later on. Similarly, your choice of hosting service is critical to the accessibility and efficiency of your e-commerce website. Pay heed to the following factors while making your choice:-

• Cost
• High page speed
• Scalability
• High Uptime
• Strong Customer Support Feature
• Good bandwidth for your estimated traffic
• Sufficient Storage and Security Features

• Select or Custom-design your E-Commerce Layout

Approaching the best website design company in Bangalore is highly recommended for custom-designing the layout of your e-commerce website. Any reputed ecommerce website design company will advise you not to choose a free, cookie-cutter template. Having a uniquely designed layout with your business logo will go a long way in cementing your brand image and credibility. The following tips can be helpful in this process:-

• Ensure that your e-commerce web design and layout are clutter-free, minimalistic, and highlight the CTA tabs.
• Keep the product/service categories lucid and straightforward.
• Keep the purchase cycle as short and hassle-free as possible.
• Make it easier for customers to navigate back and forth with internal links.
• Ensure that you have a high-speed and error-proof merchant payment gateway to ease checkouts
• Pay attention to product images in terms of clarity and different angles.
• Make sure the descriptions alongside are concise yet compelling.

• Add User-Centric Features

With the cut-throat competition in the e-commerce sector nowadays, it has become increasingly important to enhance the consumer experience. The shopping experience from start to finish needs to be hassle-free.

Some of the most essential on-site features that customers expect from any good e-commerce store include:-

• Intuitive On-Site Search Functionality- There is nothing more frustrating for potential shoppers when they can’t use the search feature to find what they are looking for.
• Easy to comprehend categories for Products and Services- If you make customers search for long, they will prefer to log in to your competitor stores and resume their search.
• Showcase your Bestsellers on the home page or landing page for the relevant keywords
• Make sure that your current offers, discounts, and coupon codes are attractively displayed and easy to redeem.
• PCI Compliance and Site Security Features are of utmost importance.

Conclusion

From ensuring that you choose the right business niche to outshine competitors and creating the perfect shopping experience for your customers, there are multiple underlying challenges in e-commerce. There is indeed no shortage of opportunities for entrepreneurs ready to face these challenges with hard work, consistency, and innovation. Thankfully for business owners today, a good deal of specialized e-commerce web development companies offer affordable packages for e-commerce start-ups. Collaborating with them is highly recommended for the best business opportunities and high ROI.