eEcommerce – Some Basics and How it Begins to Work for You.

For customers and sellers, the first interface that will be experienced between them is the website.  The site represents the calling card for the seller and that first ‘how may I help you’ one might otherwise encounter in a retail outlet.  This ‘calling card’ becomes the perception of the seller by the buyer and the beginnings of defining the relationship and whether trust has begun or a very short visit ensues and the customer moves on.

​The eCommerce website really needs to accomplish a few critical tasks:

• It needs to convey an easy to understand and easy to handle interface.  No customer will spend time being frustrated and trying to figure out how things work.  Simple stupid works.
• Navigation is important in all styles and types of webpages and websites but none as important as eCommerce sites. 
• The website must begin to build trust immediately and taking that a step further, the trust of the content and branding begins to build loyalty. 
• And the final challenge is doing all of the above with a beautiful website which should be thoroughly enjoyable to visit when shopping.

 
Facts about online business.
 
30 to 35% of buyer visits come via organic listings on Google and Bing, which is not as high as service or trade websites, but it is a large factor nonetheless.  New businesses trying to break into the eCommerce sector are finding it more difficult to get traction, at least from the most popular keyword searches, which are more or less dominated by the big boys who have been in the market since its inception.  Leaning to less popular but effective longer tail keywords is a strategy that can work, finding those intriguing groups of words is the challenge, one that is always possible with the right research. 
 
When you take in all of the factors that will drive a successful store site, it’s easy to get intimidated by things like keeping it simple, but making the site attractive and engaging.  It’s not difficult because the same rules of shopping and navigating apply. When you think of retail shopping, most stores behave the same way whether you are in a clearance space or an exclusive clothing store.  The merchandise is displayed as attractively as possible, and the check-out is usually not hard to find.  Websites have a much easier time keeping inventories in order and strewn all over the floor after customers have rifled through the shelf or table.
 
Another major consideration is the product itself.  If it is a new product the same rules apply as if it were being sold retail.  Is it unique, in other words, what competitive advantage does this new product bring. It is incumbent on the Ecommerce site owner to find the way to spark interest, not only in creating visits, but in the ability to convert the visitor with the advantages of the product (pricing, uniqueness, availability), and a performing website.
 
The beauty of a website is all in the product presentation.  If you were selling tar, it’s likely the presentation would revolve around the results of paving such as a beautiful mountainous highway, not a glob of tar.  Products can be enhanced in so many ways through nice to look at packaging, uses of the product, nicely presented benefits and well thought out attractive strategies.  When a customer is jazzed about a product, they are not far from executing a purchase.  The last step is making that purchase super easy to accomplish. 
 
When you are looking to engage a company for an eCommerce build, or perhaps an update from a current website, make sure they primarily understand the web design aspect.  A website that works is one that appears professional, and most of all, trustworthy.  Unlike other types of businesses that rely on websites to deliver leads and contacts for sales, the store site relies on its attractive nature and bold product displays.  Once the design details are in place, there are many options for the eCommerce shopping cart, (the essence e of an online store business, as well as a proficient inventory content management | order processing |reporting tool needed to be successful.  .
 
Finally, you will need to stay engaged with your web designer.  It is essential that off page SEO work be done, especially in a competitive niche, but you also need to be very aware of the ongoing analytics.  Monitoring visitors and their habits will help you formulate the best site possible for your product and the habits of your customers.             ​