Key Ingredients of a Perfect E-commerce Platform
The e-commerce industry is growing at an exponential rate. In the last couple of years, online retail has seen major players like Amazon, Flipkart, and Snapdeal emerge as industry leaders. These companies have also given a big boost to other players that operate in this space. The rising demand for fast, convenient and customer-friendly shopping experiences has led to the rapid expansion of the e-commerce market.
However, setting up an e-commerce website is not easy particularly if you are doing it for the first time. There are so many things you need to consider when creating one; from logistics and inventory management to payment gateways and shipping services. If you’re hoping to set up your own online shop soon, here are some tips on how you could go about doing it:
Research is key
Before you start setting up your e-commerce store, it is important to understand the market and your customers. Take some time to research your niche and find out what your target audience wants from your store. Study the competition and understand what you could do better.
There are many aspects of setting up an e-commerce business that will require research, including your product selection, your target market, how you will ship your items, and how you will receive payments for those items. It is important to do your research before beginning your e-commerce business so you do not waste time and money.
Good Inventory Management System
An efficient inventory management system can be the difference between a successful e-commerce business and a failed one. You will need software that can help you track your inventory, mark products as sold and send notifications to your vendors. Manage multiple sales channels: A single online store is not enough to make your presence felt in the online marketplace. You need to get your products listed on as many platforms as possible, including social media sites like Facebook and Instagram.
A drop shipping business is not ideal for an e-commerce platform. With drop shipping, you’ll never know exactly how much is in your inventory, and you would be entirely dependent on your supplier to restock the items you’ve sold.
An inventory management system allows you to track all your inventory, whether it’s in your hands or in the hands of your suppliers. You’ll know how much is in stock, when you need to place another order, and when you need to mark a product as sold.
Responsive Website Design
Your potential customers will be visiting your website from all corners of the world, so it is important to make sure it is accessible to everyone. A responsive website design is the best option in this case as it automatically detects the device that a customer is using and displays the appropriate version of the website.
Make the shopping experience seamless: Customers these days are used to convenience and ease of shopping. To make the most of your e-commerce business, it is important to make your customers’ experience as smooth as possible. It is better to focus on one particular segment rather than trying to target everyone.
Easy and effective payment platform
The payment gateway that you select will have a direct impact on your sales volumes. It is important that you select a payment gateway that offers the best experience to your customers. Multiple payment options: Make it as convenient as possible for your customers to make payments. If you are selling your products only online, then you cannot expect everyone to pay via credit or debit card. Some people might face issues with online payments and select the other payment options available.
You can select payment gateways that allow you to accept a wide range of payment options such as credit cards, debit cards, net banking, and cash on delivery.
Fast and reliable shipping services
One of the biggest challenges of e-commerce is that customers want their purchases as soon as possible. In fact, 91% of customers look for the delivery date when buying products online. This makes shipping your items quickly a priority.
So, how do you ship your items quickly? Working with a logistics partner will help you reduce lead times. A partner like DHL, FedEx, or UPS can help you streamline your shipping process, manage your shipments and provide end-to-end solutions for your e-commerce business.
Your logistics partner should provide you with a single platform that offers a complete view of your shipments. This will help you choose the best mode of transportation, track your shipments in real time, and also provide you with updates on the delivery dates.
Attractive product photos
Your customers can see the product only if they visit your store physically. But, they will visit your website to do the initial product research. It is important to have high-quality product images on your website. You can either take the photos yourself or hire a professional photographer to do the job.
Conclusion
Many people think that it is easy to start an e-commerce business. While it may seem easy, there is a lot that goes into it. You have to consider many different things and make sure that everything is done properly, or else your business could suffer. Before you start an e-commerce business, you should make sure you are prepared for all of this. There are many ways to set up an e-commerce business. The key is to be prepared and make sure that you follow each of these steps.
