How To Build A Quirky E-commerce Store And Win Easy


Gone are those days when brick and mortar shops decorated with string lights used to be brimming with people checking on exclusive discounts and season special products just before Christmas. With 2017 turning out to have a growth rate of 24.8 percent in global e-retail sales, it is easily inferred that e-commerce will rule the game in the coming years. According to reports by U.S Small Business Administration, online businesses are at all-time high and going by the figures it seems that things have just started. There is basically no distinction between success and failure in getting overwhelming numbers of online customers to treat your product right, apart from a self-sufficient strategy and a good website. Having said that, it is important to go about the right way when you’re serious about setting up your own online store, to having an exhaustive list of everything you need to get started. Phhew! Don’t worry, we got it covered for you.

Decide Your Product

To begin with – deciding on the product and services requires extensive research (both about the product and the market) as well as knowing about the needs of the customers too!

If your product is unique, you need to tread carefully whether it is exactly what the customers want and if it’s uniqueness will break-in the market.

Sometimes, going with an MVP also seems a practical way to start for small business firms. Well, MVP stands for Minimum Viable Product and is actually a basic version of your product designed for analyzing customer feedbacks and the market response received. If you receive more positive responses then perhaps a bit of research & development on the MVP would lift off your product online, else if the MVP flops you can go back and collect new ideas from the customers to develop products exactly as they need!

Choose Your Website

First things first, choose your website design wisely. It’s the first thing that your customers will experience so make it worthwhile. Choose a design that’s simple and based on easy navigation.

The last thing you’d want your customers is to get lost mid-way while shopping, so make sure you leave enough breadcrumbs through the website.

Also, control what your customers see first as they land on the home page like the most popular products on your website, multiple images of your fresh arrivals, sale items as well as testimonials of your clients.

Also, control what your customers see first as they land on the home page like the most popular products on your website, multiple images of your fresh arrivals, sale items as well as testimonials of your clients.

Go head-on with an about us page with a description of what you do as well as a blog page where you can post related articles that would keep your customers engaged and anxious about your recent updates!

Tip: Don’t cram up too many products in a single page as it would clutter the looks and responsiveness of the website, driving the traffic away from you.

Set up Right Prices

Finding balance is everything! Figure out your own costs for making the products namely – the price of raw materials, web-hosting charges, shipping, taxes, credit card percentages, additional costs, advertising costs.

Once you’re done with this, research a bit about the prices offered by your competitors in the market for the product and choose a price that would cover your costs as well as be lesser than your contemporaries’ numbers. Oh, you might also add a bit more price to earn a profit!

Shopping Cart & Payment Gateways

Now few people realize the crucial role of having a good shopping experience i.e. – a detailed list of orders with applicable tax breakdowns and discounts as well as a smooth transaction process. Many times, customers end up confused if the promotion codes or discounts were applied to the products they bought. And when it comes to payments, the customers should be given a transparent run-down after the completion of the order. That’s exactly what your customers would carry home as they leave your site!

Tip: Add a quick review box after the transaction process to gather feedback from your customers based on their shopping experiences, helping you to come up with better upgrades in future.

Once you’ve completed all of the above, give yourself a huge pat-on-the-back as from now you’ve your entrepreneur mode on. Good Luck!