In broad terms an ecommerce site is effectively an online shop through which you can buy or sell products or services. This term can be extended to include the entire online process of developing, marketing, selling, delivering, servicing and paying for products or services.
In our experience, for an e commerce site to perform as expected there are certain “things” that should to be in place:-
A Business Plan – whilst this may be an electronic shop, there is still a requirement for some form of business plan that supports the viability of the concept
A Marketing Plan – once the site goes live traffic will not just stumble across the site, it needs to be driven to the site so what is in place to do this and what provision of cost have you set aside for this site?
Stock Control – this is still a shop and similar principles apply. What stock control is in place?
Product Knowledge – the most successful sales people know their product inside and out and sell the benefits of the product. The same applies in an ecommerce environment. The difference is that usually the sales person is replaced by the description of the product and customer reviews and it is these that help influence a potential buyer
Content is King! – Once the site is up and running it doesn’t stop there! The content needs to be kept fresh to attract potential buyers as well as the search engines. The chances are your competitors are keeping their site content fresh and attractive, so you should consider doing the same by budgeting for this ongoing maintenance at the outset.
Budget – As with any new business venture it is important to have a clear idea of what your budget is, what kind of a return you are hoping to see and within what timescale.
Marketing – What or who is your target market? As with a shop, your online presence must attract the right type of buyer and should be advertised appropriately.
Brand & Personality – What makes your business different? Does your business have a face or does it need to be faceless? Consider why people will buy from your site as opposed to another site. What is your point of differentiation?
Having the answers to all of the above is the ideal scenario; the reality is that you may not have all of the above in place. If you do have any gaps then we can work with you to plug the gaps and ensure your Ecommerce site starts off on the right footing.
Speak with us to discuss your ecommerce needs
