By Alex Schnee
Developing an e-commerce store that people want to use can be the most difficult part of opening up an online business. Between incorporating both the frontend and backend of your site, developing a brand identity, and making the checkout process simple, you have a lot to consider. However, without all of these items in place, it’s likely your business won’t do well.
Here are some things you should keep in mind when you go to create an e-commerce store that will succeed.
1. Make it possible for anyone to make changes
One mistake many new e-commerce store owners make is that they hire someone with advanced experience to design and build their store. While this can give you plenty of features and your store can look professional, it also means you have to hire someone to go in and add extra pages, make changes, or fix bugs. Ideally, you want to be able to hand your store off to a team member, contractor, or be able to understand it yourself.
2. Go beyond templates
While templates can be helpful when it comes to the design of your e-commerce store, it can also make it difficult to stand out from the rest of the crowd. Instead, you might want to think about using headless commerce, which allows you to make changes to your site with the front and backends separated. This way you can try out any alterations you want to make to your design or add features without causing problems. If you plan on making your site look unique, this is often the best way to give it a try.
3. Know your branding
Branding is an essential part of creating an e-commerce store, and you should have a look and feel that is exclusively yours. This comes down to which color palette you are planning on using, your logo, how you present yourself on social media, and more. Overall, things should look consistent and users shouldn’t be surprised by what they find as they navigate your site and social media pages. You might want to hire someone to do this or take the time to determine how you want to present yourself to the world.
4. Hone the checkout process
If any page on your website needs the most attention (though you should offer attention to all of them), then you should spend it on your checkout page. Not only is this the place where most of your users are likely to drop off, but it also needs to be simple to use and feel trustworthy. Make sure to run a few tests to see if the process is convoluted or it makes sense to those who want to buy something from you.
In summary
Your e-commerce store is unlikely to take off without some quality design decisions, and the more time and effort you put into creating a site that is easy to use, the more likely you are to see if pay off.
