What Is eCommerce Website Development? Online Stores 101

An increasing number of entrepreneurs, retailers, and commercial establishments are investing in eCommerce websites. You may have been advised that you should do the same thing. Even if you know exactly what is an eCommerce website, you may not be sure about what is the best eCommerce website or what goes into developing a retail site.

The first thing you need to know is that facilitating online shopping is an excellent source of revenue and it boosts your competitive advantage. When developed professionally, eCommerce websites allow the customer to purchase products and services from wherever they are. They can use their smartphones, personal computers, or tablets.

Advantages of eCommerce Website Development

Online retail stores offer several benefits to businesses beyond mere convenience including:

• Attracting more potential customers since your online store will be open 24/7
• Expanding your reach into different geographical markets
• Lowering your operating costs when compared to running a physical store
• Helping you to track and analyze customer behavior so you can better target your products and campaigns
• Providing more opportunities for upselling and cross-selling

The possibilities are endless if your commerce platform was developed specifically for your business. If you’re asking “what is the best eCommerce site?”, the reality is that it depends on your business needs. Be clear about your goals before you start the development process.

Types of eCommerce Business Models

Online stores can take several forms but there are three main types. These are:

• Business to consumer (B2C) sites
• Business to business (B2B) sites
• Consumer to consumer (C2C) sites

What is The Best eCommerce Site for My Business?

You now know what is an eCommerce site. Determining what is the best eCommerce site for your needs may take some time. Regardless of the type of site you have, there are certain things that it must have. These include:

• Multiple payment options. Accepting major credit and debit cards is not enough; you’ll want to have additional options like Venmo, PayPal, etc. Some shoppers may be uncomfortable with sharing credit card details information, especially if they’ve never used your site before.

• HD photos and efficient descriptions of products. Give shoppers as much information as possible about the product they’re getting. Since they can’t see or touch the actual product in person, your job is to make up for it.

• A mobile-friendly design. Most of us spend a lot of our free time on our phones, tablets, and other devices every day, and this means that your visitors should be able to see and purchase anything that’s on your site.

• SEO optimization. If your site doesn’t appear on the first page of Google’s search results, you lose out on a huge number of potential shoppers.

Hire Experienced Web Developers

To build a high-quality eCommerce site, you need to work closely with a web development team to get a custom-built solution. With the right site, you’ll generate significant amounts of new business and realize a significant return on investment.