How to build a successful eCommerce website (part 2)

Building any eCommerce store starts with choosing the most suitable platform to meet all your business needs. At the moment, there are many convenient platforms with advanced functionality. A website builder is the backbone of your online store. Options specifically designed for eCommerce give you more options and room to grow than regular website builders with an eCommerce add-on. Here is some of them:

PrestaShop is an open source eCommerce website building platform. Prestashop is written in PHP using the Symfony framework, Twig is used for writing templates, and MySQL is used for data storage. In 2010 and 2011, PrestaShop was recognized as the best web application for online stores, receiving the "Best Open Source Business Application" award. Prestashop is an ideal option for medium-sized businesses, as it has excellent functionality, a set of standard modules, and the ability to optimize and customize the site.

Shopify is one of the most popular platforms, Shopify is used in 175 countries and millions of merchants use it all over the world. Suitable for both startups and medium-sized businesses, it has excellent customization options, a set of ready-made applications and design themes. Quick and easy store launch. However, its expansion options are limited.

Magento is a standalone solution, so you have complete creative freedom; however, you need someone with coding knowledge to take full advantage of the platform. There is a wide range of integrations and it can handle instant purchases and product offers. Ideal for large businesses and enterprises.

After choosing the most suitable platform and team to work on your site, you also need to:

• purchase a domain name
• pick or create your eСommerce theme (you can choose an existing Theme, it will be cheaper, but creating a Theme will allow you to create a unique website)
• customize your eCommerce template
• add your products
• set up payment options
• sort out your shipping settings
• preview, test and you can run your online store.

However, the most important part after the launch of the site is SEO optimization, so you need to be sure of the specialist who will do it. Since SEO directly affects site traffic, which in turn affects the conversion on the site and, as a result, revenue growth.

Also make sure that the site is optimized for different mobile devices.

Most shoppers shop on mobile, so it's important that your platform can optimize your website for mobile-friendliness. The quality of site optimization for customers visiting the site from mobile devices should be at the highest level.

All these points will allow you to create a high-quality and reliable website. However, each project is unique, in order to provide your users with a unique user experience and be remembered by customers for a long time, you need to take into account all the features in order to achieve your business goals.

Work out the concept of your future site and decide on the business goals and functional component of the site, so that the development team can embody your desires as accurately as possible.

As an example of creating a successful eCommerce site, let's take one of our projects, which is now successfully launched in several European countries.

https://gofitness.ch/, (Switzerland) https://www.nanosupps.de/ (Germany)

This is a Prestashop website with various payment options and languages ​​to meet the needs of customers in different European countries.

Our client needed to effectively sell sports nutrition, organize and control orders, automatically change discounts, easily update/change/edit payment information.

And in order to satisfy all the business goals of our clients, we have implemented modules and their adaptability to the task based on Prestashop CMS. Carefully organized admin panel settings and user-friendly interface. Advanced coding to recreate standard modules to extend its functionality. Using a wide range of payment systems and establishing a relationship with the shopping cart.

As a result, our client received a website that is currently successfully selling products in various European countries. The latest solutions on the market have been adapted to the website system.

As you can see, it is very important to define the business goals and technical specifications before the start of the project, in this case, the likelihood of a successful project increases, since your development team will know what exactly they need to implement on your site.

An interesting thing, as you can see, if you correctly compose the concept of the site, you will be able to plan future expansion options, a marketing plan and СRO, which also will directly affect the conversion and revenue.

A great eCommerce site is more than just a place to sell products. This is where businesses can create experiences that will strengthen their brand, attract new customers, and turn casual shoppers into loyal ambassadors. Choosing the right eCommerce platform and having a marketing strategy in place to build a successful online store can give you an edge in eCommerce success.

Whether you need a quality eCommerce site or you need a set of works on an existing site, we can offer you comprehensive support in creating a successful e-commerce solution (website, marketplace, application, etc.) tailored to your individual goals. and needs based on our extensive experience in the field. We can take care of everything - concept, development, deployment and marketing.