eCommerce Development

Buyers Guide

Last updated: December 04, 2023

E-Commerce Website Development

Ecommerce has set itself on an incredible growth trajectory. Developing a website to capture a significant market pie requires more than structure building, web designing, programming, and database management. To get you started, here’s a detailed guide on various categories and options of e-commerce development platforms!

Today’s retail landscape is drastically shaping the global economy. The question centers around which channels are best to execute an online business. There are a lot of things that need consideration before entering the crowded market of an E-Commerce business.

Starting with the most basic question, whom do you wish to cater business to? Consumer or other businesses? Your website objectives will decide which eCommerce category will be your fit.

• B2C – Business to Consumer: B2C is specifically streamlined towards consumers, exchanging goods or services through the internet. Example: Amazon, AliExpress, Flipkart, etc.
• B2B – Business to Business: If you are eyeing to promote or sell-off your products to other businesses, then B2B is for you! Example: Amazon Business, Alibaba Wholesale, eBay, etc.
• C2C – Consumer to Consumer: A C2C model, also named as 'online marketplace,' works by connecting consumers to exchange goods and services and make money by charging transaction or listing fees. An alternate is to offer a platform to private individuals to facilitate e-commerce with other private individuals. The latter warrants a third-party eCommerce website development. Example: eBay.

Building Your E-Commerce Website

Building an eCommerce website can feel overwhelming and complicated, but with a little information and research, emerging eCommerce platforms have made the technical task more comfortable. Let us walk through the steps involved in the whole building process.

• Strategize and set SMART goals.
• Choose your unique domain.
• Create a user-friendly website design.
• Set pricing and payment options.
• Create a painless checkout process.
• Market and promote your business.
• Evaluate and improve online sales with real-time data.

Ecommerce Platform options

After you have figured out a category that will fit your business, there are three main platform options available to build it.

• Open-Source: A free framework giving you full control of creativity, design, plugins, hosting, and themes that would go into your store. Open source has unique features that are always developing.
• SaaS: Licensed software and delivery model is given to the user and accessed via the internet.
• Headless Commerce: Headless is growing in popularity and allows the brands to instantly make changes to stay current and up to date. It works by decoupling the website's front-end layer from the back-end functionality, allowing developers to make high-quality content experiences.

Common Features of E-Commerce Website Development Solutions

• Behavior tracking of customers.
• Simplicity of the web design.
• Protection of site credibility and visitors’ data.
• CRM integration.
• Shipment tracking.
• Product videos and pictures.
• Multilingual & currency options.
• Chatbot for customer support and better shopping experience.
• An easy-to-use checkout.
• Email marketing features or integration.

Benefits of E-Commerce Website Development Solutions

Without a doubt, eCommerce website development offers a plethora of benefits.

• Convenience: Ecommerce is booming for the last few years. It is the key that sets brands apart—offering the convenience of purchasing items from anywhere in the world that is simple, faster, and less time-consuming.
• Personalization and customer experience: E-commerce marketplaces can create rich user profiles, giving them the authority to improve customer experience by understanding them on a personal level through personalized products and offering suggestions for other products they find interesting. It increases the odds of brand loyalty.
• Global marketplace: Customers worldwide can easily shop on e-commerce sites – companies are no longer restricted by geography or physical barriers.
• Minimized expense: E-Commerce website development requires very minimum startup and operating costs.

Market Trends

• Progressive Web Application (PWA) is a great marketing option that gives app-level experiences on the web. It allows consumers to navigate through the website without the hassle of finding and downloading apps from the app store. PWA techniques can work faster and offline by using less data.
• Headless and API-driven eCommerce enables innovation.
• AI is helping businesses learn about their customers.
• Augmented Reality (AR) has become a major game-changer when it comes to online shopping. It helps online shoppers visualize the products they are interested in, whether it is a clothing item or a paint color.
• Voice search is increasingly growing in volume. People now rely more on voice assistants like 'Google Assistant' or 'Amazon Alexa.'

Choosing the Best E-Commerce Website Development Solution

An attractive window display is where the first impression matters. It invites customers, and an effortless, seamless website will encourage them to browse and buy.

Not every trend is supposed to fit every business. Some can be an immense value; others can be too costly to maintain a reasonable ROI. Knowing your customers and competitors well determines which trend will correspond to your business requirements. Therefore, keep in mind the following elements to create a robust website experience.

Pro-Tip: The best eCommerce platform is the one that successfully delivers the outcomes and objectives that you have set for your business.

• Website development budget – In retrospection, website development can be over-taxing if you do not have a budget strategy with optimal delivery constraints. Playing smart on allocation and investment will be enough to get you sales and facilitate growth.
• Conduct in-depth research of your business industry – staying current and updated on industry news (whether it's home goods, fashion, or B2B) is equally crucial and will keep you from being left behind.
• Create an MVP (Minimum Viable Product).
• Reading and analyzing your Competitor eCommerce websites – Keeping track of their performance, market reach, customer interaction, marketing & SEO techniques is also essential. There will be ideas and innovations that could resonate with your customers' wants.
• Identify the target audience of your eCommerce business – Understanding your audience and speaking to their needs directly will come from taking data and following their behavior.