Michael Aldrich is the mastermind of online shopping sites that you see today. He created the first ever online shopping system in 1979. The system was a combination of domestic TV to a real-time computer stopping at telephone line.
From Baby Boomers to Generation X to Generation Y, and Millennials everyone likes to shop online. It’s like, why to take the strain of going to a physical store and do shopping when anything can be ordered on e-commerce stores like Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal, eBay India, etc..
Scope of Running an eCommerce Store
Do you have plans of starting an eCommerce store? Well, you can go ahead because eCommerce is here to stay. How do we prove it?
Rapid Rise of Internet Users
In India, we have exploding internet users. Many are becoming familiar with web services. Websites like Amazon, Flipkart, MakeMyTrip have transformed web users to web consumers.
Rising Middle Class who are Ready to Spend
We used to speak of “have” and “have-nots”. But that scenario is changing now. With the rise of small and medium enterprises, foreign direct investment, multinational corporations, millions of new jobs have been created. So this has produced a new class of society who are ready to spend lavishly.
Social Media
Most of the personal buying decisions are made based on social decisions. Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, etc. have become mediums for easy log-in and purchase. Furthermore, advertising and promotions on social sites have increased the chances of successful transaction rates.
Drone Delivery
You order online and get your product delivered through drones. There are almost 15+ countries in the world where orders are delivered through drones. This happens especially in countries like the USA, Switzerland, Finland, Iceland, China, Australia, and Singapore.
App-Only Approach
According to statistics the future of the internet lies in mobiles. In the near future 70-80 percent Indians will access the web through smartphones. This will lead to major brands switching to app only mode.
Google Buy Now Button
Google’s ‘Buy now’ button will appear next to products that appear as part of Google Shopping Campaigns. Users can purchase items without the need to leave Google Shopping. Moreover, this is also likely to contribute to an increase in conversion rates for retailers.
When the users select the products, Google will manage their payment processing while information will be passed on to the retailer.
Artificial Intelligence
Investors are looking for innovative use of technology and are zeroing in on companies developing artificial intelligence (AI) solutions.
There are many e-commerce website developers in cities and towns of India who are experts in web designing and online store set up. Especially, you can spot the best web design company in Chennai to help design your e-commerce store.
The above discussions give you a compelling momentum to carry on with your dream of starting an e-commerce store. Here are five essentials that you should consider while building your website. Let us look at them.
5 Checklist of Components to be Found On Your eCommerce Store
1) Design
Your website design must align with your brand. Some points to consider in the design aspects are,
- Is your design appropriate for your target audience?
- Does your design display well in all types of desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones?
- Is your website fast loading?
- Is your layout responsive?
- Is your site compatible with popular browsers?
- Are HTML and CSS codes validated
- Is Favicon uploaded?
- Do the app icons display well, especially on iOS mobile devices?
- Do all the font sizes look well together?
For further help, you can approach a reputed e-commerce website design company near you to help with the designing aspects of your e-commerce store.
2) Optimize Your Website especially for SEO
Your website should be optimized for Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Some factors you should know are,
- Do keyword research to find out the types of keywords customers are searching for.
- Your site architecture should be based on keyword research
- Do on-page SEO through strategic keyword optimization in meta tags and content
- Implement technical SEO to ensure that search engines crawl your site efficiently.
- Do local SEO to help drive local organic traffic
- Implement effective content marketing to get additional organic visitors
- Do link building to improve the authority of your website
- Install Google Analytics and Ahrefs tools to measure your SEO success.
3) Social Media Integration
Social Media has now almost become the vehicle of digital marketing. Making use of it is really important.
- Have social sharing buttons on all the appropriate pages of your website. This is true in the case of any product or service that you would like visitors to share.
- If using pictures for linking entities like Facebook or Twitter, you have to make sure that you use the Alternate Tags.
- Links to Facebook, Twitter, etc., should be clearly displayed on your website homepage or in a footer or header. This will be helpful not only for SEO but also in getting followers and developing your social audience.
- All your social media links should be made as no follow.
4) Essentials to be Present in Your Product Pages?
- Include Call to Actions (CTAs)
- Customer reviews and ratings for each e-commerce product
- Selling points like free shipping etc., if customers buy immediately
- Provide product images with zoom-in facility
- Multiple product images and angles (360-degree views)
- The availability of each product to show scarcity and push people to buy
- A comments section so people can discuss the e-commerce product
- Videos to display how the product works
- A currency converter if needed
- Deals for people who purchase multiple related items together
- Explain how your product stands out from your competitors
5) Customer Checkout, Shopping Cart and Wish List
- Accept all payment methods
- Offer low shipping costs
- Add checkout buttons on the top and bottom of your pages
- Have superior security aspects during checkouts
- Allow people to save their cart to a Wish List for later
- Suggest Wish List items upsell during checkout
- Offer free shipping when they spend a certain amount
- Provide multiple shipping methods
- Show people how much they have saved during checkout
- Offer a sample if they are hesitant about buying
- Provide the option of paying in installments if the customers buy high-priced items
Conclusion
There are even more strategies you can employ on your new e-commerce store to make it customer-friendly and get the ROI you need.
For your advantage, there are many WordPress website development service companies that can help you set up your customer-based e-commerce store on WordPress. This can be a simple way to start your e-commerce store right away.
Author Bio
Isaac John is a Content Manager at Zuan Technologies. He is watchful of the recent trends in e-commerce and how it betters customer experience. He is interested to write about disruptive technologies.
