The reality is that even for companies that trade only offline, a selling site is needed as a kind of addition to existing tools. This is a completely logical and justified fact because today it does not matter how an entrepreneur treats online projects. If a company does not present itself on the World Wide Web, it will cut off its communications from its target markets. An experienced ecommerce developer plays a huge role in this link.
It is also worth considering that many e-commerce projects started their journey from really small retail outlets, and subsequently not only competed with large players but also overtook big business in a number of consumer niches in many respects. This is simple proof that the modern digital age is quite capable of giving a small business a chance to challenge a big player.
At the moment, an entrepreneur who has decided to try his hand at an e-commerce project for the first time will face both difficulties that were not there before and will be able to reap the benefits. The first obstacle is the dense employment of all product niches. If a decade ago the term “commercial request” was just coming into use, today the detailing on the differentiation of requests is so branched out that a consulting agency is indispensable for an objective miscalculation of market conditions.
At the same time, the entrepreneur has the opportunity to get almost any information in the development of selling sites. If in the mid-2000s software platforms for the rapid design of online resources were associated with slow work and annoying ads, today an entrepreneur has a great opportunity to create his own online store even without programming knowledge. All these circumstances have a direct impact on the complexity of developing a website and, ultimately, largely determine financial success.
How to plan the development of your own online business, and what to pay attention to first of all?
Market analysis and formulation of terms of reference
Even if the user decides to design the site on his own, planning is necessary at least in order to discipline himself and focus on the really important tasks. Often the user simply burns out from the labor routine, never getting to the development of the concept and trading model. From the point of view of the formulation of the terms of reference, a list of important parameters should be determined:
• Structure. Markup of information blocks, layout, volume, and navigation.
• Layout of user interface components.
• Basic functionality.
• Ability to integrate with third-party services.
• Marketing functions.
• Opportunities for SEO optimization.
Separately, it is worth highlighting the choice of platform, if the future owner preferred to use a ready-made solution, rather than spend money on development from scratch. Today there is a wide range of software platforms for creating an online store. In the case of designing a large-scale project, Magento or Bitrix 1C is suitable. For small businesses, you can look at MODX. You can learn more about this here: https://elogic.co/services/magento-b2b-development/.
Design and technical implementation
When planning is complete, the first question most often relates to appearance. Here the entrepreneur has a rich selection of examples. You can review Western analogs and add your author’s components to the solution you like. The main condition is not to oversaturate the resource with bright colors and “not relevant functions”.
After collecting and preparing the first blocks of content and product offerings, a layout on a pre-agreed platform will be required. With small needs, you can do it on your own, but in most cases, after decorating the storefront, catalog, and text blocks, you still have to make edits and additions. So it’s better to get at least connections with freelancers who can set similar tasks from time to time and get results.
Testing and market launch
Consumer testing is an important stage in the development of an e-commerce project. Practice shows that it is more profitable and easier to fix bugs before the official release. In this concept, it is better to test the site in a real software environment and identify weaknesses, advantages, and areas for improvement in advance.
