Top Things to Consider Before Building Your Online Store

Designing and developing an online store is a huge commitment. Even with a host of helpful tools and designing platforms at your disposal, there are a lot of things to consider before you build your store. The more you plan and prep beforehand, the more successful your store will be once launched. Here are some important factors you will need to consider before you design your online shopping site.

1. Integrating Google Analytics: One of the most important things you should consider first is how you are going to attract customers to your site. From up-selling your products with discounts, to tempting your customers with similar products; pushing customers to make a purchase takes a lot of strategy. All this will be of no use if you have no clue of how your website is being viewed online – Google Analytics will give you a detailed, behind-the-scenes look at where your traffic is coming from.
2. Choosing the Right Payment/Shipping Options: People love online shopping sites because of how easy they are to use – everyone loves shopping from their living room in their pajamas. As a designer, you must try to make the experience as pleasant as possible. Including hassle-free payment and shipping options will boost the popularity of your site. Magento, Shopify and Opencart support a wide variety of payment options, including net banking, payment via debit/credit cards, PayPal and even cash on delivery payments. To maximize your shipping options, choose a flexible shipping provider. You can include delivery charges or keep shipping rates at a fixed amount.
3. Updating Your Website: Stagnation is death in the virtual world. Constantly updating the look and feel of your site will have your customers coming back on a regular basis. The ability to add new products, update layouts, and edit information with consistency and accuracy should be something to consider when choosing an e-Commerce platform.
4. Product Support Complexity: When selling products online, it is essential to know the exact number of products you want to host. Product options change the simple usability of a website and you do not want your customers to be scared away from your selection process. Structuring products into categories is a good idea, but can fail if not planned correctly. Remember that every category adds a layer to the shopping experience.
5. Room for Growth: No business has ever started out with a limited scope. Eventually every company wants to maximize their outreach and attract as many customers as possible. Your website should be ready for this. When designing the website, leave room for more products, product categories, new payment options and international shipping. You can even include a backend forum for customer complaint solving.

Developing e-Commerce websites is no walk in the park, but keep these tips in mind when starting out. If you have any other questions, just call Forix. We’ll help you through the process and are ready to get started – today!