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Statista informed in its Key Figures for Ecommerce 2011 to 2016 report that “At least 1 billion of the world’s population have bought goods from online stores.”
Why does it make sense to build your Own eCommerce Website from Scratch in the 21st century? How do ecommerce websites make profits? Do they have some secret tricks up their sleeves that help churn more sales volumes while keeping costs minimal. Yes! They do, and we are going to share that secret with you. The secret about how to build a profitable eCommerce website development that can improve your bottom line.
Table of Contents
Breaking Down the Business Model to Starting an eCommerce Website
A successful business model is one that makes best use of its resources to generate revenue and profits. When you make an ecommerce website from scratch make sure to determine its business model which starts off with domain name and moves on to technology used for UX and cost effective logistics used for customer delivery.
Domain Name: A striking domain name is what makes an ecommerce website click with the masses. Think Amazon, Alibaba, etsy, Ebay, etc. The store name should be short, catchy, easy to remember, brandable and one which does not violate any trademark or copyrights.
Technology: Magento, Prestashop, WooCommerce, OpenCart, OS Commerce, Shopify, Zencart, etc. are some of the free ecommerce development technologies available in the market today. These open-source software help create a splendid ecommerce website with balanced UX and functionality.
Logistic Support: If your business has a rich balance sheet it is worthy to invest in centralized warehouses in metro cities that are assisted by distribution centres across the geographical location for rendering quick service to customers.
3 Super Fast Lanes for Making Your eCommerce Store Profitable
i) Website:
When you create an ecommerce store from scratch you’ll be able to do two things: buy and sell. buy and sell. An ecommerce website can be used to host produce, artifacts, products or anything sourced individually or from vendors. Further, the website can also allow third party vendors to put up their product offerings.
An ideal ecommerce website will:
- Have an intuitive and user-friendly interface
- Be updated real-time with the product offerings
- Have multiple payment modes and payment gateways
ii) Mobile Commerce:
GoMobile reports that “55% of the time spend on retail sites are from mobile devices.” The site furthers states that “Mobile devices will account for 30 percent of global retail e-commerce spending by 2018, up from 15 percent in 2013.”
Having a mobile friendly website is no longer a luxury but a necessity for opening a new ecommerce store. Mobile commerce and its infinite possibilities can be exploited to the maximum to reach potential customers who search for their favorite products from their mobile phones.
iii) Social Commerce:
With 176 million new member addition to the social networking websites and 40% of global ecommerce sales originating from online mediums, social commerce has arrived and is here to stay. From viewing user reviews to exchanging product suggestions, there is lots that can be done with social commerce.
In the coming days, the best way to reach out to your target customer group will be through Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Flickr, etc. In fact, these stores have already initiated their own social stores where customers can browse goods put up for sale by vendors.
On Demand Delivery Tracking
To achieve 100% fulfillment and keep your customers satisfied you will need a delivery tracking app for sure. Starting an ecommerce website that has an on demand delivery app can prove useful in three different ways: (i) Help customers track products (ii) Help business owners monitor and manage deliveries (iii) Help delivery personnel navigate.
Out of the Way Features to Note for While Creating an eCommerce Store
Don’t expect an ecommerce store to look and feel like your neighborhood convenience store. There is much more to it, like:
- Multilanguage
- Reviews & Rating
- Google Analytics
- Categories Management
- Responsive Themes
- Super Deals
- Multi Currency
- Order Management
- Automated Newsletter & Email
- Shipping Methods
- Admin Dashboard
- Seller Dashboard
- Unlimited Products & Categories
- Advanced Reports
- Stock Management
- Tax Management
- Commission Calculations
- Easy Checkout
- SEO Friendly URL
- Customer Management
- Invoice Management
- Product Comparison
Everything Else That Matters while Developing Your eCommerce Store
Take note of these factors that will amplify the profitability of your ecommerce store.
UI & UX design – Present Magic with Design and Interface:
End of the day, what will bring customers back to your website it the UX that it provides. Luring UX does three major things: builds brand, engages customers & leads to higher conversions.
Breadcrumb for Ease of Navigation:
Breadcrumbs are landing points and navigators for users to know which part of your site actually they are. Without breadcrumbs, it will be difficult for users to go a step further or step back. Hierarchy-based bread crumbs help users in their viewing journey along categories and finding related products.
Cloud Hosting – Move To the Cloud for Cost Savings:
Cloud hosting enables an ecommerce website to cope with the rapid, yet uncertain scaling of sales volumes. And, it is easy to use, is economical, extremely reliable, flexible (think pas-as-you-use), highly secured and yields great performance.
Marketing – Shout it Loud for Your Customers to Hear:
Billboards and handouts will no longer serve your purpose. This is the era of digital marketing where SEO, SMO, PPC, and email marketing. Give your ecommerce business all the push it needs with SEO optimized, responsive designed web pages.
All set? Not that you are equipped with every prerequisite knowledge required to launch your own profitable ecommerce store, why wait any longer?
If I make e-Commerce website, which inventory management software I should use?
Hi Gwandoya Oyibo, Inventory management is the key to profitability of an ecommerce story. Good that you asked for a specific inventory management software. Contus offers Contalog, a powerful and intuitive inventory management store that will ensure that your business has optimal stock levels at all times. Contalog helps do much more than just inventory management. Feel free to ask more about Contalog at bd@contus.in
I am wondering why people run after Magento every time to build an ecommerce store. Isn’t there anything else to build an online store?
There are other platforms for building ecommerce stores. But to build on that is quick to load, has powerful features and easy to update, Magento is the best platform to pick. There are plenty of reasons why the top ecommerce stores never want to pick an alternative for Magento.
I have customers from various places who use different languages. Is it possible to start an ecommerce store with multiple languages?
Yes. A Magento based ecommerce store can be easily made compatible with multilingual features. In fact, there are extensions available in case the default web design does not come with multi-lingual feature.
I wish to hear some guidelines on building a multi-vendor ecommerce store. Any worthy suggestions?
Here are some guidelines you can keep in mind while building your multi-vendor ecommerce store.
Keep the loading to a bare minimum, which with Magento is easily attainable.
Use a simple and easily to remember domain name
Use a flux of digital marketing and outdoor advertising for improving brand image
Use inventory management software to keep your stock levels at an optimal level
Use analytics for understanding customer behavior.
Hi, I just want to know that how much would it cost to build an ecommerce website withe above mentioned features?
Hi Anish, Thank you very much for those features for building eCommerce website. We have given all pricing details in this page http://www.contus.com/ecommerce-web-development.php . I am sure it will give you better ideas.
Hello Masi, I want to expand my shoe store in the online medium. I have my own stocks supplied by several vendors. how to start a ecommerce business with my stock of shoes? How much will it cost? How long will it take? TIA.
Hi, Great to know about your future plans. We have just what you need to build an ecommerce store from scratch for your shoe store business. Depending on the functionalities the cost of the building the ecommerce website will vary. The duration to building the store will also vary depending on the desired functionalities. Why don’t your drop us a mail at bd@contus.in and we will revert with a precise quote. Thanks for showing interest.
How to make a profitable ecommerce business? What kind of stocks should I buy?
Hi there is no straight way to build a profitable eCommerce store. You have to decide on the kind of products in which you have in-depth knowledge and prior experience. Prior experience will come in handy since you will better know key metrics like inventory turnover, seasonal periods, etc. Which are necessary for proper ecommerce business management.
I wish to create an ecommerce website from scratch. But I have no prior experience or technical knowledge. It is for my existing furniture shop. Pleas revert
Hello Tamid Riaz. Thanks for getting in touch. We will be glad to help you in starting in ecommerce store. We have significant experience in developing ecommerce stores for existing physical stores. Drop us a mail at bd@contus.in. An expert from our sales team will be at your service shortly.
How to start an ecommerce store in mobile site? Or mobile app? Which one do you suggest?
Hi! I infer you are asking how to build an ecommerce website for an ecommerce store or a mobile app? In either case, I will suggest going for a complete mobile ecommerce app. A mobile ecommerce app has far more features and capabilities than a mobile website. It does not crash so easily and can be configured in multiple ways. So I will suggest betting money on a mobile app than a mobile website.
Actually you have mentioned various technologies like Magento, Prestashop, WooCommerce, OpenCart etc., But I have confused which is most important technologies for building eCommerce website and which one should I use? Can you please give more clarification?
Hi Paolo, Its good question. All technologies are good for creating eCommerce website but I would suggest magento is the best ecommerce platform because of Magento are scalable and flexible features, strong SEO, enabling you to support more than one store, making deep customizations. Thank you.
Thanks for posting such a great article. This will make people aware about the details of steps required in building an eCommerce website from scratch. In your article you mentioned various eCommerce platforms, but my favorite popular platform is Magento. First thing it is free. Second thing its awesome. It has great in build features. Can be easily customized.
Social media platforms can do amazing things for eCommerce store businesses. If you can connect even to a group of people on social platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Flickr, etc. it will only take little time for your popularity to get viral. Its really awesome point about integrating the social Commerce platforms. Thank you Masilamani.
Being successful in eCommerce is a matter of planning and then following the steps. I would suggest to everyone can find a detailed explanation of this article on how to start an online store successfully. Excellent post. Very useful. Thanks.
If I building an eCommerce website from scratch, then I have to focus on my conversion So what are the marketing channel should use to my eCommerce website?
Hello Hugo Walton, There are many online marketing platforms available to generating eCommerce store revenue. But I would suggest you can use social media and content marketing platform. Incase if you have an idea about paid marketing then you can use Adwords for better return on Investment.