ECommerce development is the process of creating an online store for your business so you can sell products or services to your customers. It covers everything from building the website to optimizing for UI and UX and integrating secure payment options.
We’ll walk you through the essentials, including key steps and considerations for a successful eCommerce site. Let’s dive in!
Table of Contents
Why Is eCommerce Development Important?
ECommerce web development ensures a user-friendly experience, allowing for smooth navigation, easy product discovery, and seamless transactions. When done right, an eCommerce store can be the foundation of your business's success.
Here are four key reasons that highlight the importance of eCommerce web development for your brand:
- Boost brand awareness: An eCommerce website is a great way to introduce your business to those who haven’t heard about you yet. It can reach diverse age groups and geographical regions, helping to spread the word about your brand on a global level.
- Increase sales: More customers lead to more sales. Many people today prefer online shopping, so getting your business in the game is a great way to generate more sales.
- Stay relevant: Having an eCommerce shop is a must today if you want to be noticed. It demonstrates that you’re keeping up with trends and adapting to changing consumer behaviors.
- Beat the competition: It’s always a plus to have a good eCommerce site. Some of your competitors may lack an online presence — this gives you leverage over them.
By 2029, it is projected that eCommerce will surpass $6 billion in revenue — it’s no wonder so many businesses are investing in developing and improving their eCommerce sites.
What To Consider When Developing an eCommerce Website
Before you start with eCommerce development, here are a few factors to keep in mind:
- Web design: Web development also includes website design. While you don’t have to be a designer, having basic design skills can be helpful.
- Payment methods and security: You’ll need to integrate multiple payment methods to enable transactions on your site. Moreover, ensure strong security features to keep the site safe.
On this note, Derek Robinson, Chief Marketing Officer at Top Notch Dezigns, adds: "Paying utmost attention to website safety and security is crucial because an eCommerce website holds large volumes of business- and user-related data."
- SEO and other marketing tactics: Search engine optimization (SEO) can help boost your website's visibility. PPC and social media advertising are also effective ways to promote your brand.
- Domain name and hosting: To launch an eCommerce site, you should find a domain name and hosting platform. Without these, your site won't be accessible online.
When developing an eCommerce website, Alexey Borisov, Co-Founder and Partner at Rocketech, suggests four strategic points to remember:
- Don't overcomplicate UX.
- Craft your CJM meticulously to make it easy for your customer.
- Choose a narrow niche — competing with the giants is impossible.
- Treat your website as a sales channel — it exists to generate revenue.
6 Definitive Steps to eCommerce Development
Developing an eCommerce website requires a strategic, step-by-step approach to creating a seamless and effective online shopping platform. Top eCommerce consultants understand that each phase — from conceptualization to execution — is crucial for creating a user-friendly, visually appealing, and functional website.
Most eCommerce businesses go through six key phases:
- Define the purpose of your eCommerce site
- Identify your target audience
- Find a domain name and web hosting service
- Choose your eCommerce web design
- Design your eCommerce website's user interface
- Market your eCommerce website
1. Define the Purpose of Your eCommerce Site
The first step is to decide what your eCommerce site is going to be about. Consider how you want to present your business, its offerings, and values to your customers. Is the purpose of the site to gain profit or raise brand awareness? Think about what you want to achieve before you start building the website.
Understanding your business goals can also guide your decisions. If you aim to boost profits, you’ll want to implement different strategies that improve your business’s revenue, such as reaching certain milestones. You can incorporate various web design trends to reach your business goals.
2. Identify Your Target Audience
Your next step should be finding your target audience. These are the people who will most likely purchase your product or service once they get to your site. Consider these questions:
- Who is your product for?
- What age group are they in?
- Why should they buy your product or service?
If you’re still unsure about your target audience, consider using social media platforms to gather insights or turn to eCommerce SEO agencies to help you craft an SEO strategy that identifies and targets the right customer group for your business.
3. Find a Domain Name and Web Hosting Service
Once you have your goals and know your audience, it’s time to start the actual eCommerce site development process. It begins by finding a domain name and hosting service.
Here are some tips to help you find the perfect domain name:
- Research keywords: When browsing available domains, consider the products or services you want to sell and the keywords that best describe them. This can effectively narrow your options and find relevant, available domain names.
- Check the competition: Explore what other businesses in your industry are doing. Look for emerging keywords or themes that you can incorporate into your domain name.
- Use a domain generator tool: Many online tools can generate relevant and creative domain name suggestions. These tools can be a great way to quickly generate ideas and reduce the stress of choosing a domain name.
Once you've found a domain that fits your business, the next step is to choose web hosting for your eCommerce website. With many providers available, it's important to thoroughly evaluate your options to find one that meets your unique business needs.
Some things to consider include:
- The level of customer support offered: Look for a provider that offers reliable customer support to assist when issues arise.
- Security features: Ensure the hosting provider has security measures to protect your site and customer data.
- Pricing: Compare pricing plans to find a solution that fits your budget and requirements.
- Platform compatibility: Make sure the hosting service is compatible with your eCommerce platform.
- Ease of use: Choose a user-friendly hosting service.
Pay close attention to pricing. Tim Volner, CEO at Poieo Dev, advises: "Consider that eCommerce websites are far more advanced than simple websites, so hosting and development costs will likely be significantly more."
4. Choose Your eCommerce Web Design
With hosting out of the way, you can start focusing on your site. First, think about whether you want to have a custom design or use a template.
A custom design will give you more control over the look and feel of your website and allow you to create a unique user experience that meets your specific needs. However, it is more expensive than using a pre-built theme. The downside of template designs is that they don’t offer a lot of flexibility.
Overall, when you choose how to make your site, you can go down one of these paths:
4.1. Build a Website from Scratch
Building an eCommerce website from scratch can be an excellent option for those seeking a unique and customized web presence. With this approach, businesses can tailor every element of their site to meet their needs and provide their customers with an exceptional user experience.
However, building a website from scratch can be time-consuming and complex, requiring extensive development expertise. Hiring a good website development agency is the best option in these cases.
4.2. Use a Customize Saas Solution
Shopify, BigCommerce, and WooCommerce are three major customizable SaaS solutions for building eCommerce websites.
- Shopify is an all-in-one eCommerce platform that offers flexible features and customization tools to create an efficient and successful website.
- BigCommerce covers all the needs of small business owners and offers a range of templates to help you design a professional BigCommerce website quickly without having to learn any coding.
- WooCommerce is a reliable open-source platform that allows businesses to customize their site extensively with easy plugin integrations.
Regardless of the industry you're targeting, using one of these customizable SaaS solutions can help build the perfect eCommerce website for your business.
4.3. Apply the MACH Architecture
The MACH architecture, which stands for Microservices, API-First, Cloud-Native, and Headless, is quickly becoming the go-to platform for eCommerce websites.
- Microservices allow users to spin up individual components or services at will, creating a nimble and personalized experience.
- API-First means ensuring integration is easy between multiple applications, from customer support to order fulfillment services — all without needing to build out bulky customizations.
- Being cloud-native lets an eCommerce site easily manage unexpected traffic surges and scales with user base growth on demand.
- A headless CMS grants more freedom when crafting tailored experiences that match customer needs, leaving them satisfied and returning for more.
5. Design Your eCommerce Website's User Interface
When creating your website template, always have the user interface in mind. It should be simple and allow customers to quickly navigate through the site. Additionally, website dimensions and layout are key design elements that enhance user experience and drive potential customers to make a purchase.
To achieve this, you have to think about the website’s features. Reliable payment processing and integrated marketing tools are must-haves when creating a successful online store. Excellent customer support, including email and live chat, is imperative to build trust with your customers. Fast delivery is also another feature that many buyers appreciate.
Lucky Gobindram, General Manager at CXR.Agency, highlights the importance of ensuring a seamless, user-friendly shopping experience: “This includes intuitive navigation, fast load times, and a secure payment gateway. It's vital to optimize for mobile, as a significant portion of online shopping occurs on mobile devices."
John Emtage, Technical Solutions Specialist of UClimb, agrees and adds: "Ensure smooth navigation, prominent display of vital information, effortless checkout, and diverse payment choices. From a technical standpoint, accurate schema markup for products, SEO-optimized product descriptions, URLs, and metadata are essential for a successful marketplace."
6. Market Your eCommerce Website
The final step in the eCommerce development process is to market your site. Creating a site will be all in vain if you don’t spread the word about it.
Utilize social media platforms to reach your target audience and reel them into your products. Collaborating with influencers can be a good strategy that can yield great results. Another option is to use PPC ads to reach potential customers directly.
You can also mix modern marketing tactics with traditional methods, such as using flyers alongside PPC ads. Experiment to find what works for your company and delivers the best results, then focus your efforts on maximizing those strategies.
2 Great Examples of eCommerce Websites
To illustrate what a good eCommerce website looks like, check out these two examples:
1. Lush
With a very simple, organized, and user-friendly navigation, Lush is a great example of what it means to have a good eCommerce website. This brand is famous for its handmade body products, offering a wide range that includes everything from hair care to perfume.
The website features a modern, colorful design that showcases the brand’s various products. Each product line and type are organized into separate thumbnails and groups, making it easy for customers to instantly find what they need.
2. Lego
Lego is a globally recognized brand known for its puzzle-like toys, and its website serves as an excellent example of a great eCommerce site development.
Lego’s colors — yellow and red — stand out on the page, easily setting apart the main menu and its buttons. It’s also very easy to navigate since it has organized categories like “Shop” and “Holiday” where you can find excellent holiday gifts. Together, these elements create a seamless shopping experience for all users.
eCommerce Web Development Checklist
Before you wrap up your eCommerce development process and call it a day, check if you’ve covered all the essentials for your site’s success. Here’s a checklist of the most important elements (feel free to adjust it to fit your creation process):
- Figure out your business goal
- Think about what products and services you’re going to sell on the site
- Find a domain name
- Find a hosting platform
- Choose a web design
- Create graphics for all individual pages
- Take care of security features
- Connect banking methods
- Establish clear UI
- Create a marketing plan
eCommerce Development – Key Takeaways
The development of eCommerce has revolutionized the way the world does business. After years of traditional sales avenues, merchants can now easily purchase and sell goods in an international market.
eCommerce development provides an opportunity for many small businesses to shine. If you don’t know where to start, consider consulting with top eCommerce web design companies and learn how to boost your eCommerce sales.
eCommerce Website Development FAQs
1. What does an eCommerce developer do?
An eCommerce developer specializes in creating and maintaining online shopping platforms. They design and optimize websites to ensure seamless user experiences, secure transactions, and efficient functionality. Additionally, eCommerce developers may integrate payment systems and manage databases.
2. How do I determine the requirements for my eCommerce website?
The main thing that will determine the requirements for your eCommerce website is your goals. What do you want to achieve with your online site? Other things you should consider include your target audience, what products or services you sell, and how much you want to invest in eCommerce site development.
