Planning your Ecommerce Site | Essential Factors You Might Have Missed
There are plenty of considerations that go into creating an Ecommerce site to sell your products or services. Setting aside branding and marketing considerations, this article takes a deep dive into the technical, logistical and financial considerations that require planning. Before you contact that website developer to build your dream Ecommerce website, I strongly recommend having a plan for the following aspects of your shop.
Ecommerce Platforms
In all cases, it is critical for you to conduct some research on Ecommerce platforms, and consider what makes a good fit with your products and/or services. The best way to think about this is to have a clear picture of the scope of your Ecommerce and website presence.
For example, some product types can be successfully sold online through websites like Etsy©, which has an emphasis on the selling of handmade or vintage items and craft supplies. They offer clear guidance on how to open an Etsy© Shop using their platform. If you only need an online marketplace for your unique, creative products, this might be your best option.
If you are a DIY (do-it-yourself) aficionado, then you may want to consider setting up an account through Shopify©, or even Square©.
If you want to have a website that incorporates both blogs and an Ecommerce platform to sell a wide variety of products and deeply customized features, then you may want to work with a website developer on creating a website using WordPress© CMS (content management system) and the WooCommerce© plugin.
The bottom line is that you are better served by having clear objectives and a clear scope of work in mind before you start making any kind of investments in Ecommerce solutions.
Product and Services Data
Next, there are some who have little to no experience understanding all of the information required to sell a product or service – at the product/service level. What I mean by that is knowing the granular details about those products and services are very important, as this data will need to be added into your Ecommerce website. Minimally, you will need the following information per product or service*:
- Categories: Another way of thinking about this is – how you are going to organize your products and services? You can have a “parent” category, subcategories, sub-subcategories…on and on. It really depends on the nature of your products and services (simple vs. complex).
- SKUs: A SKU is a “stock keeping unit”, a unique identifier for your products. It helps you track inventory, cost of goods, and allows you to generate sales reports and analytics later on.
- Stock Management: What happens when your product is out of stock? Will you automate or manually address your product stock levels?
- Price: Knowing your pricing ahead of time will really speed things up when you set up your shop.
- Attributes: Size and color are both product attributes, and each product will likely require this information before it can be sold online.
- Descriptions: It is a best practice to have both a short- and long-description of each product for many reasons.
- Images: You will need at least one image per product if you expect it to sell well online.
*If you are selling digital products or services, some of these data points do not apply.
Shipping and Logistics
A customer purchases your product. Now what? This is where shipping and logistics come into play. Where are you storing your products? How is your product getting from storage and into your customer’s hands? For example, I have build Ecommerce sites for small business owners that have a warehouse, and a mailing room. In those cases, I have built integrations with shipping companies (UPS©, FedEx©, USPS©, etc.) so once they process a new order, they can quickly and efficiently print a label, electronically generate a tracking number, and automatically notify their delivery service to come and pick up their deliveries on a daily basis. In this case, you will need to enter your physical store address into your Ecommerce settings.
If you are not storing the product yourself, then chances are you are working with a POD (print-on-demand) service, which can also be thought of as a dropship service. In this scenario, you may have an account with a third party that prints and ships t-shirts that have your unique artwork.
Further, what is your shipping area or region? Are you only shipping to local zip codes, a specific region or state, or to the entire world? The answer to these questions will impact how your site is configured.
Regardless, it is critical to think about how products are going to be delivered to customers, where they are stored in the meantime, and the logistical steps from when the customer order the product to when they are able to enjoy it.
Payment Gateways and Processors
When you have an Ecommerce site, you are going to need to accept payments. I highly recommend that you consider this early in your planning process. First, understand the difference between a payment gateway and a payment processor.
- Payment Gateway: This is a system that collects and verifies a customer’s payment information, and then sends it to the payment processor for authorization. You must have a payment gateways when you have an Ecommerce website, since the buyer and seller don’t meet in person.
- Payment Processor: This is a service that handles the technical aspects of routing data between the customer’s payment type (credit card, debit card, check, etc.) and the merchant’s Ecommerce store.
There are some companies that offer both services, such as Stripe©, PayPal©, Square©, and Authorize.net©. You may even want to set up multiple options so that your customers can use their favorite payment service. In any case, I recommend having at least a general plan where it comes to accepting payments for services.
In Conclusion
Building a successful Ecommerce site requires more than just a good idea or product. From selecting the right platform, to managing product data, shipping logistics, and payment processing, each step demands careful planning and foresight. By addressing these essential factors early in the process, you’ll be better equipped to create a seamless shopping experience for your customers and ensure the long-term success of your online business. Before reaching out to a website developer, take the time to map out these considerations to save time, money, and avoid potential headaches down the road.
