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Companies began selling their products on the web almost as soon as it became publicly available. Since then, eCommerce has only grown in terms of revenue and importance to a company’s bottom line. From behemoths like Amazon down to the local bike shop, almost every some method for selling their products and services online.
In addition to the requirements that come with traditional web design, eCommerce site production requires a number of other factors to consider and keep in mind during the design process. Among these are choosing a content management system, determining security needs, integrating with existing systems, and, of course, increasing revenue through the site.
eCommerce Website Design Components
The core foundation of an eCommerce website is a content management system (CMS). Content management solutions allow you to easily create, edit, design, and publish content to your website.
For eCommerce websites, CMSs greatly simplify the process of uploading and organizing your inventory for sale. Since most eCommerce websites are “dynamic” websites that tend to change quickly over time, the overwhelming majority of merchants use a CMS to run their online stores.
CMSs come in many different forms and fashions. The world’s most popular CMS is one you’ve likely heard of – WordPress. With a near-limitless variety of themes and plugins, WordPress offers an extremely easy way to get your eCommerce site up and running quickly. However, WordPress is somewhat limited in what it can do in an eCommerce environment; thus, many companies use more robust solutions like Drupal, Joomla, and Magento.
Generally speaking, using a CMS can be as simple or as complex as your company needs it to be. Smaller organizations may just simply put up a shop on their website and call it a day, whereas larger businesses often have the time and resources to fully customize their store’s appearance, usability, and integration with their CRM, inventory, and POS systems.
Choosing an eCommerce CMS
As with any decision for your business, there are a number of factors to consider when choosing a CMS for your eCommerce website:
- Expected level of traffic & sales
- Size & diversity of inventory
- Customizability
- Integration with existing systems
- Obtaining a Secure Socket Layer (SSL) certificate
This is but a partial list of factors that will determine the best CMS for your particular business. Other factors can include the overall cost of the actual CMS system, as well as the level of technical expertise required to get it set up and running. For instance, Drupal is somewhat easier to install and set up than Magento – but, this ease comes at the cost of customizability. Accordingly, your IT, sales, and development teams should all have a say in what CMS your business ultimately ends up purchasing.
Other eCommerce Web Dev Requirements
Perhaps the trickiest aspect of creating your eCommerce website is integrating it with your company’s current inventory control and POS systems. Thankfully, many of the most popular CMSs come bundled with existing integrations for common inventory and POS solutions. That being said, this integration process will likely add additional expenses to the installation process, as well as potentially lengthening the development timeline for your eCommerce website.
As with other parts of your company’s web presence, your eCommerce site will need search engine optimization and an overall usability review in order to ensure that it can serve both your customers and your company.
Envision is a team of marketers, copywriters, developers, and designers. Whether you’re looking to launch your first ecommerce website or revamp your current web presence, we have the skills and resources to get the job done. To speak with our team, give us a call at (512) 292-1049.
