With the constantly expanding eCommerce industry (with a CAGR of around 9.79% to reach $5,145,00 Billion by 2029), online shopping is acknowledged as a norm these days. Last year, approximately 15.4% of total sales were captured through online mode, which turned out to be 2.1% more, than in 2022.
The most basic approach that’s followed since the start is ecommerce website development. Thus, a well-building ecommerce website is crucial for your small, medium, or large-scale business.
So, while you move onto online ecommerce store development, you must ensure that your site looks visually appealing, and increases scalability, sales, and conversion rate. But, just creating an ecommerce website will not make any sense, as in millions of active websites worldwide, it’s easy to get lost in the crowd. Your website needs to stand out for several reasons, but a major one is starting with a poor ecommerce website.
Not to fret!
In this eCommerce website development guide, we will have the relevant information you need to start a robust online business right away.
E-commerce website development is the process of building the frontend and backend for ecommerce sites. It includes designing and developing appealing user interfaces, managing product catalogs, integrating secure payment gateways, and implementing must-have features that improve customer’s shopping experience. The chief objective of ecommerce website development is to create a user-friendly and secure online platform to expand business and increase sales.
Building an ecommerce website for your business helps in reaching a global audience. You can sell your products and services worldwide to customers wherever they are, breaking geographical boundaries.
2. Operating 24/7
Customers can shop anytime, with your online presence your ecommerce store will be available to them 24/7, which will maximize your sales potential.
3. Strengthening Your Brand Identity
In the online landscape, ecommerce websites will help boost your brand awareness by increasing your business’s visibility, which catches the attention of online shoppers.
4. Enhancing Customer Convenience
Customers cherish the convenience they experience from online shopping. They can browse the products and services they want, read reviews, compare the prices, and buy online while lounging on their couch at home.
5. Providing Marketing Opportunities
Retailers can save money on advertising and marketing, offering numerous affordable ways to market their products and services that increase their reach and brand awareness, drive quick customer acquisition, and elevate sales.
6. Create Unique Shopping Experiences
By analyzing the customers’ data accumulated by selling via ecommerce websites, business owners can provide personalized shopping experiences that make them feel valued and make them come back again.
7. Ensuring Maximum Transaction Security
Online transactions are prone to cyberattacks, data theft, fraud, and more issues, but ecommerce websites can secure them following different approaches, like fraud protection, encryption, data security, offering secure payment gateways, etc.
How To Start Your Ecommerce Website Development Journey
Initially, you need to be clear about the products and services you are selling, your unique value proposition, and the approach you will follow to showcase yourself uniquely in the market.
Get deeper into the niche you are interested in, and understand the latest market trends, your competitors’ landscape, and possible challenges with opportunities.
Third: Research your Target Audience
Now, identify your target audience, including their buying patterns, demographics, pain points, and online behavior to customize your marketing strategies and offerings.
Fourth: Define your eCommerce Business Goals
Next, it’s your turn to define your ecommerce business objectives. Set them clearly, like customer acquisition numbers, revenue targets, or brand awareness. This way, you can craft your complete strategy and make better decisions.
Fifth: Choose The Best Suitable Model For Your Business
Pick the best suitable business model that may help you convert your business idea into a profitable product that can make your business grow and attain success. You can consider the below business model:
Business Model
Description
Business to Consumer (B2C)
This model is best for those who sell products or services directly to consumers with no interference from middlemen, third-party retailers, or wholesalers.
Business to Business (B2B)
In this business model, businesses buy or sell products or services to other businesses. Sometimes, the buyer resells to the consumer, or himself is a buyer.
Business to Government (B2G)
Here, a business sells information, products, or services to government entities, such as state, federal, or local government.
Business to Business to Consumer (B2B2C)
In this business model, the businesses partner with the other brands to reach new customers. The manufacturers sell a consumer product to the retailers, who ahead sell it to the consumers.
Consumer to Consumer (C2C)
When one consumer sells products or services to other consumers through online mode is the C2C business model. In this type of trade, the sellers and buyers both are consumers, not the businesses.
Consumer to Business (C2B)
When businesses offer goods and services to businesses in exchange for any benefits or payment is a C2B business model.
Direct-To-Consumer (D2C)
In this business model, a brand sells to its end customers directly despite selling through retailers bypassing the middle distribution channel.
Dropshipping
A business model that facilitates the sellers to sell products online without owning or operating any physical hub for storing and processing products is dropshipping.
Subscription-based
In this model, consumers pay an amount for accessing products or services on a recurring basis, and the fee is paid monthly or yearly.
White-labeling
The practice of reselling and rebranding products or services crafted by another company. With this sort of model, businesses can quickly enter into the market or expand their offerings with no extra research and development.
Now, it’s time to plan a comprehensive ecommerce strategy for marking an ultimate success. It includes defining your USP and understanding your customer experience by creating a customer journey map. Ahead, develop a targeted marketing plan and create engaging content. Ensure optimizing performance using data and analytics to refine your approach constantly.
How to Build an Ecommerce Website for Your Business in 10 Steps
Are you planning to build your eCommerce website for your business and still confused about where to start? Here are eleven simple steps to develop an ecommerce website that can help you with the seamless process of website development.
Step 1: Pick a Catchy and Memorable Domain Name for Your Ecommerce Website
While choosing a domain name for your ecommerce website, you need to ensure it’s catchy and easy to memorize. Aim at easy-to-spell and short names that can showcase your brand or its product category.
You can include keywords related to your niche that can help improve search engine discoverability. Don’t consider numbers or hyphens, and ensure the domain name you choose is available and best goes with your brand image.
Step 2: Choose the Best Technology Stack for Your Ecommerce Store
You can do this by opting for one option, either custom-build your website or choose an ecommerce platform to build one, depending on your budget and requirements.
a) Custom Website Development: Using your picked programming languages and frameworks, you can build your website from scratch. This way, you can align your websites with your brand’s identity and target audience. Besides, you can include best SEO practices to improve your rankings on SERP, improve your site’s security, keep track of scalability and flexibility, etc.
b) Ecommerce Platforms: With ecommerce platforms, you will get pre-built solutions including top features, like product management, payment processing, and shopping carts. These are comparatively easier to set up and manage at lower upfront costs. However, you can’t meet all your customization needs, with limited scalability. You can also go with low-code platforms using which you can create websites with minimal hand coding. For example, Shopify, Wix Studio, and OutSystems.
Popular Ecommerce Platforms You Can Choose From:
Magento Open Source (open-source CMS), Adobe Commerce, BigCommerce, Shopify, Shopware, WooCommerce, Salesforce Commerce Cloud, Odoo, or Adobe Experience Manager.
Step 3: Find and Hire a Skilled and Reliable Ecommerce Website Developer
Next, it’s time to get perfect guidance that can help you pave the right pathway toward successful ecommerce web development. You can get this by hiring a trusted and skilled ecommerce website developer from a reliable company holding a captivating portfolio of accomplished projects.
Step 4: Design Your Ecommerce Website
Designing e-commerce websites helps promote your brand and increase customer retention. For this, you can choose any of the two options below:
a) Ecommerce Custom Theme Development: You can create an engaging and unique theme for your site aligning with your brand identity and style. With a custom theme design & development, you get complete control over your site design, its look, how to showcase it, progress, and make it appealing for the users.
b) Ecommerce Website Themes & Templates: Various off-the-shelf themes and templates are there in the market suiting your business needs and ecommerce platform. Such pre-built designs will customize the design and apply it to your online stores and improve branding, appearance, and shopping experience.
Step 5: Add and List Your Products to Sell on Your Ecommerce Website
Now, it’s time to list the products and services on your eCommerce site that you want to sell. Start with categorizing and appending high-quality images, descriptions, prices, and every relevant detail.
Step 6: Set up Payment Methods for Your Ecommerce Store
You need to choose a payment gateway for your ecommerce store using which consumers can pay for the products and services they buy. Allow them to pay by choosing any mode per their convenience, like credit card, debit card, cash on delivery (COD), etc. Integrate payment gateways to the site to offer seamless and secure payment services.
Step 7: Set up Shipping Methods for Your Ecommerce Store
While you set up the shipping methods for your ecommerce store, you need to consider different aspects aligning with your business objectives and customer needs. Choose carriers, and finalize pricing structures and delivery timelines. You can also provide free shipping for a specific cart value.
Step 8: Test Your Ecommerce Website for Functionality, Usability, Security, and Performance
Now, as your ecommerce website is all set, you should test its usability, functionality, and scalability, address issues, and fix them before making it live. Finally, test your site’s performance by testing its responsiveness and speed across varied devices, and browsers to ensure a seamless experience for visitors.
Ensure all links, buttons, and forms work correctly.
Check navigation, search functionality, and user-friendliness.
Test load speed, stress handling, and responsiveness.
Verify SSL, payment gateway integration, and data protection.
Check cross-browser and cross-device compatibility.
Ensure proper SEO elements like meta tags and URL structure.
Check for spelling errors, accurate product descriptions, and clear images.
Step 9: Launch Your Ecommerce Store and Make It Live on The Internet
Finally, it’s time to launch your online reatil & ecommerce store and make it live and available to the end users. Also, promote your site across varied marketing channels to drive traffic.
Checklist for Launching an Ecommerce Website
Test your ecommerce website.
Optimize your website for SEO and speed
Set up your analytics and tracking tools
Create a backup and recovery plan
Review and update your ecommerce website content and policies
Step 10: Upgrade and Maintain Your Ecommerce Store Regularly to Keep It Up-To-Date and Secure
Building an ecommerce website is not enough, you should upgrade and maintain it frequently to let it match the latest technology and trends and stay well-maintained and secure.
While you create an ecommerce website, you must include essential features to make your site valuable for the end users.
Let’s get deeper into what features you should consider for your online ecommerce store.
1. Back-End Features
Features
Use
Inventory Management
Track and manage product stock levels, handle variations and alert for low-stock for smooth order fulfillment.
Customer Management
Create new customer accounts, manage profiles, and past purchases, and enable wishlists to offer a personalized shopping experience.
Order Management
Process orders efficiently, manage returns and refunds, track order status, and offer clear communication to customers.
Security & Payment Processing
Secure payment gateway implementation and potent security measures to safeguard customer data and financial details.
Content Management System (CMS)
Create, edit, and make website content live, such as blog posts, product descriptions, and landing pages with no coding proficiency.
Reporting & Analytics
Get insights into customer behavior, sales data, and marketing performance to make strategies and optimize the store.
Promotion and Discount Code Tools Management
Provide targeted promotions, track their impact, and manage discount codes and coupons to incentivize purchases and increase sales.
Payment Gateway Integration
Provide varied secure payment options via trusted payment gateways, like PayPal, Stripe, etc. to ensure a convenient and smooth checkout experience for customers.
2. Front-End Features
Features
Use
User-Friendly Navigation
Interactive menus and understandable category structures permit customers to simply find whatever they want.
Shopping Cart & Checkout
A customer-centric shopping cart with clear product summaries and a secure checkout process to accomplish purchases smoothly.
Search Functionality
A robust search bar with sorting and filtering options assists customers in rapidly finding specific products.
High-Quality Product Pages
Engaging product descriptions, attractive images from different angles, and detailed product specifications are essential for making informed buying decisions.
Ratings and Reviews
Allow customers to leave feedback, reviews, and ratings about their experience to build social proof, increase trust, and impact buying decisions.
Mobile Responsiveness
The flawless website displays across varied devices for the required mobile shopping experience.
Voice Search
Voice search functionality integration allows users a hands-free browsing experience, specifically on mobile devices.
Image Search
Customers can search products using images, making the product search more intuitive, especially for those who are confused with the exact product name.
With time, technology trends also perk up to let the industries match the steps of the revolutionizing world. The same happens here in the ecommerce industry, and to stay competitive, you need to upgrade your store integrating the latest technology trends.
Let’s check out the major and most effective ones below:
Native and hybrid mobile applications emerge with a personalized and seamless shopping experience including features, like location-based marketing, one-click purchases, and more that boost customer engagement and brand loyalty.
Progressive Mobile Apps (PWA) fuses the best web and mobile experiences. They perform like websites, but the features they hold are like apps, like offline browsing. This offers the visitors an engaging and fast shopping experience with no need to download apps.
AR/VR permits customers to “try on” products virtually or witness them placed in their environment. This elevates product visualization and can increase conversion rates.
Examples: IKEA, Adidas Originals, Lenskart, etc.
4. Spatial Computing For Ecommerce
The emerging technology, spatial computing, creates 3D experiences that blur the lines between digital and physical worlds and can be used for creating interactive product demos or immersive store experiences.
Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are changing ecommerce. AI can generate personalized recommendations and power up chatbots for improved customer service. On the other edge, based on user behaviors, ML algorithms optimize product recommendations and search results. Platforms, such as Shopify provide AI features, like “Magic” that automate varied tasks, such as ad creation and email marketing.
Examples: Flipkart, Lenskart, MyGlamm, Nykaa, Myntra etc.
Chatbot offers round-the-clock customer support, reverting to asked questions frequently, and can also guide customers throughout their buying journey. This enhances customer experience and diminishes support costs.
This technology provides transparent and secure record-keeping for product details and transactions. Also, it holds the caliber to streamline supply chain management and strengthen trust with customers.
Examples: Walmart, Amazon etc.
8. Quantum Computing in Ecommerce
Maybe not now, but the future of quantum computing in e-commerce holds a bright future. Its capability to manage complex calculations can help with improving product recommendations, fraud detection, and logistics optimization.
This technology trend strengthens brands with real-time customer interaction, product showcasing, and answering questions. Besides, its interactive format can be very engaging and drive increased sales.
Integrating Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) with your eCommerce website can help with better order fulfillment, inventory management, and customer service.
Examples: Bvlgari, Airbnb, eBay, Nike, Cisco etc.
11. IoT For Ecommerce
By connecting physical products to the Internet, the Internet of Things (IoT) automates varied features, such as smart fridges that reorder groceries automatically when the supplies go low.
Increasingly, consumers are becoming conscious, witnessing this, ecommerce brands are aiming at eco-friendly packaging, sustainable product sourcing, and carbon-neural shipping options to meet dynamic customer demands.
Example: DHL GoGreen and USPS Blue Earth are the carbon-neutral shipping options
Things to Consider During Ecommerce Website Development
While you develop an eCommerce website, you should consider some basic aspects, like target audience, business goals, tech stack, UI/UX design, product information and content, security and payment processing, SEO, marketing and promotion, analytics, data tracking, and more. Besides, you should keep track of some advanced parameters. Let’s discuss them below:
1. PCI Compliance
Your ecommerce website should adhere to Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standards that include following guidelines for data encryption, storage, and access controls. Being PCI compliant, your website will ensure the safeguarding of customers’ financial information.
Implementing robust security measures can help prevent data breaches and secure your website from cyberattacks. This includes the usage of strong passwords, regular updating, and having a plan to troubleshoot vulnerabilities.
Choose a trusted web hosting provider with the best security measures, scalability to handle future growth, and enough bandwidth to manage website traffic.
Regular upgrades and updates on your ecommerce platform, themes, and plugins help locate security vulnerabilities, ensure perfect compatibility with new features, and optimal performance maintenance.
Team Required To Develop a Best Ecommerce Website
The team needed to make an ecommerce website will vary based on the complexity and size of your project.
Here, We Will Break Down Some Key Roles:
1. Project Manager: This team member supervises the whole ecommerce web development process ensures every job is completed within budget and timeframe, and enables seamless communication between every team member.
2. Developers: They build the core functionality of the digital ecommerce store, integrating third-party tools, and ensuring flawless operation. Front-end and back-end proficiency is needed based on the approach.
3. UI/UX Designer: The role is to create a visually appealing and user-friendly interface that offers an improved customer experience.
4. QA Tester: They test the website’s functionality to ensure the intended working before the launch.
Outsourcing eCommerce Website Vs Hire In-house Development Team
1. In-House Development Team
An ecommerce development process, in-house e-commerce development runs by a corporate individual for organizational use. For example, An IT company decides to build digital products. In such a case, the e-commerce website development company needs to employ its website developers (also known as in-house developers) to craft the system and the requirements to carry out a hiring procedure to choose the development team that the project needs.
Advantages of In-House Development
A superior comprehension of the corporate culture and business.
Complete devotion to project completion is always available.
No social and cultural differences.
Face-to-face discussions can be made easily.
Disadvantages of In-House Development
Increment in cost.
Lack of infrastructure and skills.
2. Outsourcing for eCommerce website development
In simple words, outsourcing is a task assignment. Essentially, a game plan made by a business to employ an outsider website development company to do the online development work. Following this method, the underlying time and cost reserve funds originate from excluding in-house representatives and resources from the framework.
Advantages of Outsourcing
Helps in saving costs.
No representative procuring.
It provides a platform where professionals can be hired from any part of the globe.
Provides flexibility in the business process.
Disadvantages of Outsourcing
Loss of control.
Cultural and time differences.
With the outsourcing model, one can gain admittance to all-inclusive talented designers and employ anybody that one needs. Therefore, when you locate the perfect organization, your expense and time both fall radically when contrasted with in-house advancement.
How Much Does It Cost To Develop an Ecommerce Website
On average, the cost to develop an eCommerce website ranges between $15,000 to $1,00,000+. Well, the price varies depending on varied factors, such as website complexity, type, features to include, and geographical location of the developers you hire, etc.
Connect with a leading ecommerce website development company to know the exact cost of building a website.
Factors Affecting E-commerce Website Development Cost:
Creating a website with basic features will cost less compared to one including advanced functionalities.
Platform Selection
Ready-to-use ecommerce platforms, like Shopify provide in-built solutions with lower upfront costs, but the customization options are limited. When considering custom development, you get complete regulation and scalability with a higher investment.
Team Size and Location
Hiring a team of developers with the required skills and expertise will demand higher rates compared to a less experienced team. Also, the geographical location of the team impacts the costs as the rates vary from region to region.
Features and Functionality
Integrating basic features and functionalities will cost less than appending additional ones that increase the development cost and time.
Design Requirements
Using a custom website design will need more investment compared to opting for pre-built templates and designs.
Development Approach
An ecommerce website development from scratch needs more resources and budget than picking the pre-built themes and customizing them.
Ongoing Maintenance
Ongoing maintenance, security measures, and updates increase the cost of website development.
Why Choose EmizenTech for Ecommerce Development Solutions
Choosing a reliable ecommerce development company provides valuable proficiency, saves you resources and time, and ensures the successful run of your ecommerce website.
Where to find such a company having extensive knowledge, experience, and a team of skilled ecommerce website developers?
Not to fret! Emizentech is the best option for your ecommerce website development and will be your best digital partner throughout the development journey. Why?
Key Highlights of Emizentech
Domain Knowledge
Technical Expertise
Faster Development
Reduced Risk
Technical Support
Maintenance and Updates
Impressive Portfolio and Case Studies
Engaging Client Testimonials
Transparent Pricing
Conclusion
An ecommerce website development is beneficial in many ways, a win-win situation for businesses as well as customers. In the US, the ecommerce market revenue is likely to reach $1.1 trillion by 2029 with a constant increase.
Building an ecommerce website for your business will speed up the buying process, and product listing creation, improve customer trust, 24/7 availability, sales, etc. You can choose custom ecommerce website development or pre-built themes for your website development.
Ecommerce development is the process of creating a secure and user-friendly platform to buy and sell online.
Why You Should Sell Online?
Selling online lets businesses capture better margins, increase sales, expand their business, and meet customers anytime, anywhere.
How Does an Ecommerce Developer Create and Maintain an Ecommerce Website?
Ecommerce developers are experienced at designing, developing, and maintaining online stores and their technical parameters, such as scalability, security, and performance.
How Much Time Does It Take to Build an Ecommerce Store?
On average, it takes 3-12 months and more to build an ecommerce store as it depends on varied factors, such as business size, complexity, type, and more.
Is It a Good Idea to Develop a Mobile App for An Ecommerce Business?
Of course! The latest stats say, that building a mobile app for your business will give a boost to your sales and revenue. By analyzing customer data, it offers personalized shopping experiences to them that enhance customer loyalty. This makes consumers come back repeatedly.
What Are the Criteria for Selecting an Ecommerce Development Company?
When you choose an ecommerce development company for your development project, you should consider below factors: 1. Experience 2. Client testimonials 3. Expertise 4. Track record 5. Communication skills 6. Pricing, etc.
How Can You Communicate and Collaborate with An Ecommerce Development Company?
You need to consider different communication channels when communicating with an e-commerce development company. Let the company understand your requirements and work together to create a seamless process for development.
CTO at Emizentech and a member of the Forbes technology council, Amit Samsukha, is acknowledged by the Indian tech world as an innovator and community builder. He has a well-established vocation with 12+ years of progressive experience in the technology industry. He directs all product initiatives, worldwide sales and marketing, and business enablement. He has spearheaded the journey in the e-commerce landscape for various businesses in India and the U.S.
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