E-Commerce Solution :Checklist to Start Online E-Commerce Website

Easy to sell on the internet? This is a very common misconception, but the dream to reality, it is better to prepare ahead for a successful e-commerce project! By answering our 12 questions, you get a scoring your project live which will direct you to the type e-commerce solution for your needs. We also give you a range of budget to predict.

1.I want to sell a few items or thousands of items?

The solution should allow management more or less advanced product based catalog of its importance: number of hierarchical levels of the catalog, possibility of clusters of cross products by themes such as news or promotions, etc.. One of the main purposes of an e-commerce solution is to allow the user to find the product they are looking for as quickly as possible. This involves ergonomic navigation menus but also effective keyword or search criteria. More your product catalog will be deeper and the notion of searchandising should be developed in the chosen solution: search filters or faceted search comparators, adapting the navigation behavior of the user, etc..

2.My articles are they simple or complex to describe?

To reduce the pitfalls of the physical distance between the user and the internet channel-specific product, we recommend that the e-retailer to provide as much information and pictures of its products to the visitor. The solution should ideally allow multiple photo management and provide quality zoom so the visual aspect is important, as in the case of clothing sites. In some situations you can also choose to insert video or PDF documents to enhance the product description. If your products have specific technical properties, such as appliances or computers, for example, the solution should allow advanced property management section. In addition, if your items require choosing a size, a color, a volume, etc.. you need a solution that is multi-dimensional articles at risk of ending up with catalogs indigestible products. Finally, if you want to associate related items or accessories to your products to increase your average shopping basket, you must provide in advance.

3.How do I organize my inventory management?

Initially, when the e-retailer has few orders to deal with, most e-commerce solutions suitable for managing inventory. But soon, this question becomes serious consequences if it was not properly prepared. Payment of unavailable items caused by users repayment obligations and strong discontent. In case your items fall out of stock, would you allow control and display longer delivery time? Would you prevent payment of the item and alert the user by email at its next availability? Do you want to display the number of items in stock? etc.. These questions concern the front office part of the solution, that is to say, the translation of inventory on your e-commerce site.

Inventory management back office may need to answer many features: replenishment, purchasing management, supplier relationship management, multi-tabling, drop shipping, etc.. The complexity of inventory management is closely linked to the rotation of products and therefore the number of orders to be processed compared to the number of stored products. Beyond about 300 orders per month, we recommend choosing an e-commerce solution that integrates advanced management of stocks or synchronize its e-commerce solution with dedicated software.

4.What methods of payment can I make available to my visitors?

Crucial issue to maximize your number of sales on the site! Initially, a solution that includes a payment by Paypal is enough to test your model. It requires no special contract with your bank as payment by credit card. But very soon it proved to be a real drag, because this payment method is not yet used by all users. You offer more payment options and you facilitate the act of purchase: payment by check, bank transfer, secure payment in installments, with or without credit, payment on delivery, etc.. Payments in installments are particularly recommended for sites with average basket - ie the average amount of orders - is high. In this case, it is often useful to have software tools to fight against fraud, as Fia-Net for example.

5.How do I ensure my delivery?

Delivery costs are still very often an obstacle to the act of buying on the Internet. It is also a source of important issues for e-shopping: poorly filled addresses, inconsiderate guests who say they have not received the product, etc.. To increase the attractiveness of products, offer delivery to a certain amount, offer various carriers - deliveryman deposit - or various types of mail - sending simple tracking, quick - all of which are have an important effect on the success of an e-commerce project. The ecommerce solution should be able to provide these treatments when buying and when processing orders. Advanced solutions offer more automatic qualification delivery addresses or integrated carriers of various labeling.

6.How do I process orders from my customers?

Another crucial question! From a hundred orders per month, processing customer orders is very time consuming and a source of significant errors without adequate solution. At this point, if you want to grow and monetize its processing time it is essential to have an efficient back office or its interface with a dedicated software solution. I begin. How to estimate the number of my order? Consider that on average 3 out of 100 will place an order on an e-commerce site. If a site generates 10,000 visits per month, it can reasonably expect to get 300 orders.

If the cost of acquisition for this visit (marketing costs) is 25 cents, it will provide 2,500 euros for the 10 000 visits. These figures are provided as an example. They obviously vary depending on the quality of the site, sales and many other factors such as industry and competitive pressure. It should nevertheless remember that the number of command is strongly related to marketing investment budgets.

7.Do I want a custom graphic?

Key issue for the choice ofe-commerce solution. If your answer is "Yes, it is a key point! "Are you saying that your wait more customization or graphic ownership of your site, the greater the time spent by designers will be long ... and the bill will be high. This is the case for all those who wish to impose a brand or product with a target identified by a mature marketing thinking.

And this is particularly true in some sectors (fashion, jewelry, clothing, etc..) Or to stick to a demanding target (community of enthusiasts, specific age, etc..). The concept of template, customizable or not, indicates that you need to follow a general structure of e-commerce, more or less flexible site. As part of a graphic custom, your freedom of artistic expression will be greater.

8.Do I want to develop commercial activities on the site?

Price management by customers, coupon codes, sales campaigns, discounts of all kinds, etc.. If you want to perform this type of marketing campaigns, think before choosing your solution! If you are in a highly competitive sector of activity, you will have certainly develop marketing campaigns regularly to differentiate yourself. They are also an important tool for your customer loyalty base, to bring back order on your site. Sometimes, in a multi-channel logic, you can be tempted to combine promotions via paper catalog or mailing your dealer site. Finally, if you have a logical selling B to B, will you allow your connected on your site to benefit from preferential rates customers?

9.Is what I want to retain my customers?

Make sure the e-commerce solution provides at least one management module of the customer relationship. In the current context of increasing qualified traffic acquisition costs, retention is often a key to success. In case you want to perform advanced segmentation of your customer base and send them promotional emails, newsletters, etc.. also planning a possibility to interface with a dedicated solution or advanced back office functionality on the subject. Beyond a few hundred contacts, you will need to use professional solutions for efficient routing of your emails.

10.How will I bring traffic to my website?

This question goes beyond the issue of the choice of e-commerce solution. However, some subjects must draw your attention because sometimes the type of platform chosen can have a significant impact on the potential traffic that the site will be able to capture naturally. The solution must meet the technical requirements for SEO: URL rewriting, HTML content valid, etc..

The ability to add content in the form of news, blogs or counseling records is also very significant because it is in this way that increases its visibility in the search engines. If the solution is directly interfaced with the price comparison is a plus for e-traders who use them. This however is not essential as there are now dedicated solutions for this type of service that are sometimes better suited. Also be careful not to choose too limited in terms of traffic permitted solution. Nowadays, these e-commerce solutions are avoided.

11.How do I efficiently manage my business?

There are no preconceived model to effectively control a business online. However, it is important to take into account the main indicators of the power drive. Among the usual rules we consider the number of visits, conversion rate and average basket. If we define a conversion rate of 3% for an average 90 € basket, we can determine that it will take about 400 visits to make € 1,000 CA (CA Web Nb = VU * rate * Amount Cart transformer).

Beginning of turnover, it is essential to know its gross margin to whether the cost of traffic acquisition has enabled a return on investment. In our example, $ 1,000 CA emit eg 500 $ gross margin for 100 $ of purchase traffic (25 cts visit). Will I manage to reach a net margin to ensure the profitability of my project? Blind on these indicators, while e-commerce project is doomed to failure in the long term. Your solution must at least provide reporting on key business indicators and able to interface with a powerful tool webanalytics.

12.The solution is it scalable?

And last but not least, the e-commerce solution is it scalable? If you are just starting a project with limited resources, you can test your model with free or low-cost solution. In case of failure, the impact is limited. But if successful, it will very quickly through the stages we have described in previous chapters. However, many e-commerce solutions do not provide.

As part of a more successful with larger investments, or as part of an overhaul and a change of platform project, we strongly advise you to measure the stakes on the choices made: total outsourcing developments or internalisation of skills in ASP, SaaS or license mode, proprietary or free software solution? There are no wrong answers. There are only answers to meet your needs today and tomorrow.