Online entrepreneurship is an up-and-coming industry. From ecommerce giants such as Amazon down to sole proprietors on platforms like Etsy, businesses of all shapes and sizes are jumping into the world of electronic commerce. However, starting an online business may not be as simple and easy as one might think.
Building an ecommerce website is a crucial part of any online business endeavor. In essence, the website serves as an online store where potential customers can interact with your brand or company. Website visitors can browse through your catalog, inquire about your services, and basically, learn about your nice.
Simply put, your ecommerce website plays a crucial role in the customer’s impression and perception of your brand. Taking this into consideration, it’s important for aspiring online business owners to pay close attention to the design and structure of their ecommerce sites. To give you a better idea about the subject, here is a simple guide on how to create a quality ecommerce website.
Understanding The Concept of User Interface and User Experience
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Before we dive into the steps on how to build an ecommerce website, it’s essential that you know about the purpose and significance of user interface (UI) and user experience (UX). The UI and UX are two primary concepts that can help better understand how to design a good website specifically suited for your audience and target market.
User Interface generally refers to the looks and design of a website. It involves design elements such as color palette, theme, fonts, and the like. But aside from mere aesthetics, the UI design also takes into account the type of electronic interface that users may use to interact with the website.
The most common ones include keyboard and mouse and touchscreen displays. However, there are also devices that feature voice control and gesture control UIs. The purpose of the UI design is to come up with an interface that is pleasing to look at and easy to navigate regardless of the type of device used.
On the other hand, user experience refers to the overall feel and structure of the website. UX design is primarily concerned with creating something that is easy and trouble-free to use long term. The purpose of the UX design is to establish on good customer experience throughout their website visit. This involves aspects such as website navigability, inventory displays, checkout and shipping processes, and even customer support and troubleshooting.
Steps In Creating An Ecommerce Website
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#1 Identify your choice of ecommerce platform
In order to build an ecommerce website, the first step is to choose an ecommerce platform. The platforms will serve as the location where your website building takes place. Generally, there are three types of ecommerce platforms. Each offers a different set of features that can help in building your website. However, some are not as simple and easy to use or navigate. To make use of this, you may need help from expert or professional developers.
#2 Modify your content management system
Now that you have your commerce platform and content management system in place, the next step is to build and compose your website. The focus of this step is to build an appealing and enticing user interface for your market. But before that, you should first determine your site’s domain name.
Ideally, your domain name should reflect an important element of your business such as your brand name, niche, product, or service. Aside from that, here are some tips that can be helpful in choosing a domain name:
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- Avoid generic names or phrases
- Do not use unnecessarily creative spellings or misspellings
- Try to keep it short and snappy
Once you’ve come up with a unique domain name, you can proceed to modify and personalize your ecommerce store. To make this step easy, you can choose from the platform’s array of themes or templates. Then, you can tweak certain elements such as color palettes, font styles, and the like. But more than the aesthetic, it is equally important to pay attention to the UI design in terms of navigability. Make sure that the web pages are accessible and that features and functions are easy to use and understand.
#3 Construct your product listing
In ecommerce, product pages typically receive the most activity and traffic. This is the site where potential buyers go through different product catalogs and collections or basically inspect what exactly you have to offer.
So when it comes to designing your product listings, make sure that it features everything that a potential buyer would like to see. This includes product descriptions, product categories, product images, as well as the number of stock available. This helps keep potential buyers to stay on your product pages without having to back out or check out a different webpage just to learn more about the product on display.
#4 Finalize your website processes and operations
At this stage, your website is nearly set up. One of the last things that you need to do is to write and design how your business processes work. This is particularly focused on the shipping and payment procedure. There are several payment methods for ecommerce websites. Online stores generally have three payment getaways to choose from.
The first one is referred to as redirects. This process redirects buyers to a third-party site with more sophisticated and extensive security measures in order to process their payments comfortably and safely. While redirects are safer, some customers find the extra step to be inconvenient. To help with this, online businesses also have the option to use on-site payment or the check-out on site, payment off-site options. Regardless, the most important factor to consider is the safety and security of potential buyers.
#5 Preview and test your website
Last on the list, it is essential that you preview and test your website before it goes live. Go over the site’s array of features to make sure that everything works as it should. If possible, have people blindly visit and test buying from your site. A fresh set of eyes can provide you with a new perspective to check important UI and UX elements that need to be changed or fixed.
Bottomline
Starting an ecommerce company is not a walk in the park. It typically takes a long and tedious process even before getting your product on the market. Taking the time to design an effective ecommerce website is a step towards building a successful online business. Regardless, it is important to always keep in mind the significance and purpose of UI and UX design in the creation of your online store.
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