Building An E-Commerce Platform

When was the last time you actually stood in a queue to buy your movie tickets? Chances are that you don’t remember having done that in the longest time. More & more people are moving to online shopping & transactions every day. Starting from online money transfer facilities to shopping your monthly grocery at the click of a button, e-commerce is the order of the day. The internet has created a level playing field where big corporations as well as small businesses can set up an online store within days.

A trained e-commerce developer is in high demand within every industry today. Assuming that your client has a winning product or service, here are top five tips to convert any e-commerce platform into a budding success.

Photographs

Shopping in stores is a tactile experience. Even before we decide to try/purchase a product, we judge it by its looks. For an online platform, photographs provide the shoppers the real experience. Use attractive visuals of the product. In case of a service, use images that best represent the service or provide a glimpse of the actual work in progress. Good quality images are always a bonus. If possible, you can choose to organise a proper photo-shoot for best results.

Personality

The internet is a huge place. In a highly competitive market, it becomes important to differentiate your online store. You can always use a template from Yahoo stores or Shopify, but make sure your graphics & layout are interesting and eye-catching. This way you can make sure that the customer remembers your store. The choice of colours becomes an important factor. Make sure that the colours you choose do not clash with or are similar to other popular brands. People often want to follow the proven path. But in this case, to follow the proven colour would only lead to getting lost. If your store cannot jump out & attract the customer, you can be sure the customer will never visit your store again.

Go global

E-commerce serves as a great tool to expand your target audience. Just because you sell clothes through a physical store, it does not mean you cannot have an online store that caters to the international crowd. Don't be afraid to market your products on a global scale. Shipping to international customers is just the same as shipping to local consumers.

Email correspondence

Since this is a virtual market, acquiring customers is the biggest challenge. You need customers to come to your store & return every time. Email correspondence is the answer for you. Introduce offers that encourage customers to sign up for your email newsletters. Through this you can keep them informed about latest products, services & offers available on your online store. Continuous & regular communication with your customers will help you stay on top of their mind. This can ensure that the next time they think of online shopping, yours is the first URL they type, and even bookmark it for easy access in future.

SEO keywords

Have you ever noticed how in Google search certain results appear on the top while others get hidden in page number 10, where you will never look? When the internet provides an infinite source of products and services, it becomes important that consumers are able to find your store amongst all the businesses listed on the web. Work on your search engine optimisation protocols. Make sure the title of your page doesn't say something vague like 'Welcome'. The titles, in fact, should talk about what your products are & the keywords should be similarly reflected on the pages, both in the visible text & in the hidden meta-tags repetitively.

By carefully planning the content & design of your website, you can ensure that the digital space becomes your playground. Building an effective e-commerce website may seem difficult but with the right training you can win over the internet world.