2k COMPUTER sOLUTIONS

 

HOW TO BUILD AN EFFECTIVE E-COMMERCE SITE

 

What better way to sell and distribute your goods and services than online? E-commerce offers a direct business to consumer, and business to business, transfer of goods and services that is both convenient and time saving. In a world that’s technologically oriented, it’s impossible to manage selling your products the traditional way. With innovations such as the internet, selling and buying is easy for both the developer and consumer in all cases. With this availability and convenience, it’s possible to develop national, if not global, distribution and marketing of your business. Building an e-commerce website involves the realization of three vital functions. These are product display, online ordering, and inventory management. If these functions are met, then your e-commerce website should be a success.

 

The current most popular websites are built by companies who have utilized these functions and made their site understandable and easy to use. This is also important, because a website should be made client-friendly in terms of comprehension of where to click, how to use it, and where to order. Amazon.com is one of the most popular e-commerce websites due to its wide range of offerings. It is the “anchor store for all online shopping” in that product inventory is up to date, descriptions and reviews make sense for a good buy, and its design is user friendly. Dell, a popular computer company, is selling over 3 million dollars in computer supplies according to Time.com. Not only does it meet all functions, but it also provides an answer forum where users can post questions and get professional help without waiting hours on the phone.

 

Software such as Volusion E-commerce Solutions’ Shopping Cart Software make it a lot easier in developing an e-commerce site without going through all the trouble of making sure every single component is featured. It has a pre-built setup in which owners of the software have made a shopping cart software solution, where a basic store is set up and ready to function. It is user friendly, comes packed with tons of features that can help a start-up business, offers management of products for whatever niche market you may have, accepts all types of online payments [credit card, Google checkout, PayPal, and checks], includes international currencies, integrates with all major shipping companies, and is overall very customer friendly as well. This, however, is the alternative to creating your own website.

 

When building your site, it’s important to remember to add and manage these key things:

- Product Input and Management: Make sure your stock is up to date, and that the warehouse supply is linked directly to your site to notify customers when certain products are out of stock.

- Shopping Cart Viewing: Most people like to see the products they buy at a glance, without going to a separate page and losing what they were about to order. A pull down menu on the site is user-friendly and comfortable.

- Order Promotions: Make sure that there is a place to input codes in sales, order promotions, and that your customers are notified when they can have a promotion.

- Search Database: A user-friendly search of all products and services will definitely be to your advantage. While people do like browsing, when they need a specific product and it takes them hours to look for it, it’s not very fun.

- Shipping and Charges: An advantage would be if all shipping options were included, as well as automatic tracking of where the product is located. Most people are disappointed when the specified delivery date was “within 2 to 3 weeks” and they receive the product a month later. An e-mail with a tracking number will certainly aid and benefit your business and customer.

 

While it’s certainly important to manage your customers, most don’t like to register for a one-time purchase. Anonymous purchasing, save for credit card and billing information in some cases, should be made available to all customers. A sign-up for email promotions and notification of certain deals on a number of items helps to promote products and services. It’s also important that they receive an email with their order history so they’re aware they have purchased this and should be expecting it. Popular products should be white-listed [place them on the front page for advertisement] and similar business or branches of your business can also have advertisements on your site to promote even more stimulus. A button to e-mail friends and notify them about products or the website should be available at all times. Registry and reservations are also important in terms of wholesale orders.

 

With these successful and proven methods, a valuable and easily manageable e-commerce website can be built to help businesses expand. It’s a great opportunity, and if your business does not yet have an online store, it’s advisable that one is developed. An expansion of a business can depend on a lot, and being available online is one of the major things that can impact a company or enterprise.

Neda Ilieva
2K Computer Solutions