In this day and age, with the internet at the front of everything, and playing such a significant part in everything: from business, planning, retail, socialising, to news and even exercise with the new generation of internet-ready equipment, if you’re not online, it’s like you don’t exist. For Brands looking to make it in the world, this means that without an eCommerce website in the google rankings, then a MASSIVE market share of potential customers, you aren’t even on their radar. Just take a look at Amazon and how much they’ve grown through the COVID-19 Pandemic because they were the biggest & baddest of online retailers. But it’s not just the monster corporations like them, and Nike, Adidas, Walmart, etc. that saw growth online: small businesses got a chance to grab a slice, with young Shopify Merchants, eBay sellers, and Etsy creators all got to build when suddenly leaving the house to shop became a scary reality. So building an eCommerce Website for your brand and business is a surefire way to get yourself out there! With a fresh design, an optimised build, you too could be making the most of our digital-first world.
An eCommerce Website can be built on most platforms out there: Shopify, AeroCommerce & BigCommerce are the dominant few on the retail market – they offer a specific focus on eCommerce, meaning your new site is tailored towards an online store anyway. WordPress with its WooCommerce plugin is also a fair contender – with more Website capabilities, it can boost you further, allowing for blog posting, Content Creation & everything else, so you don’t have to build 2 sites: One for the business, and an eCommerce Website. So what does your site need in order to succeed?
It needs to be responsive: 46% (approx.) of consumers do their searching, shopping & buying on smartphones, meaning conversions will plummet if your site is not mobile-friendly. Responsive platforms, like Shopify, ensure that designs unique to you don’t make mobile users unable to use the website, and stop you from losing traffic to your eCommerce Website.
It needs to be usable: This means a clear journey from selection to checkout, crisp visuals, easy-to-follow navigation, and it needs to be lightweight, to avoid long load times that discourage customers.
It needs to stand out: When a customer has a unique, and enjoyable experience on your site – it makes them more likely to convert from shopping to sale; their journey from browsing to buying is down to whether your site makes them WANT your product/service. Assess your site, and ask: Do I like using this site? Is there style to it, if so what could I improve?
If you need help with your eCommerce Website, whether it’s design, development, optimisation or you want to work on your bounce & conversion rates, here at stepholt, we do it all! For all things web, contact us HERE and let’s see whether we can get you smooth sailing on your eCommerce journey.
