An ecommerce site is usually built around a shopping cart software program.
The main function of an eCommerce site is to allow people to buy on line.
Behind the scenes this software required to run such a site is a lot more involved and complex than would be required for a straight information site. But this doesn’t mean it has to be much harder to build or maintain.
Here’s a short list that will help you get started with your eCommerce site
The Five Things Required Are
1. Products Of course – you have to have something to sell!! But what you sell online doesn’t have to be a physical product. Shopping carts can be configured to sell digital goods such as pictures, music, software, etc. Or another option if you don’t have any inventory is to look into drop shipped products. This is where people buy from you but the order is fulfilled by a wholesaler who then delivers the product directly the customer without any further involvement from you.
2. Shopping Cart Software: There are many choices here. Some are better suited to certain types of sites than others. Some are free and some have a license fee. One thing you should also be aware of is the level of technical support provided especially if you are new to all this
The shopping carts I recommend for 99% of all eCommerce sites are zencart and CS-cart. They are both easy to install, modify and have good technical support. Plus they are fairly easy to use!
3. SSL and Dedicated IP: An SSL certificate is needed to create the secure ‘https’ version of your website. This means the https page is encrypted and so sensitive financial data like credit card details are protected.
You don’t need to know how to install an SSL certificate though – let your web host or web designer do it
4. Merchant Account and Payment Gateway. Many online stores use an online credit card processing service like PayPal or Paymate to accept payments. These work well and are widely used.
You can also set up a merchant facility through your bank. Just be aware there is usually a monthly fee involved but it can be cheaper if you can often can negotiate a lower transaction rate – usually only possible if you have a high volume of sales.
Otherwise stick with the online processors.
5. Shipping Provider. Getting the shipping and delivery set up correctly is key to how competitive your prices will be perceived to be.
The simplest way is to have the shopping cart link directly to your chosen shipping provider. The software tells the shipping company the weight, size, origin and destination of the item being sent and gets a shipping cost in return. This is then used by the software in the checkout process
Other possible options are to set a flat rate for all deliveries within a certain region or even free delivery for items over a specified value.
Be sure your shopping cart allows these options..
Putting it all together
If you are a hands-on kind of person you do it all. ie you can set up a hosting account, order and map the domain over and have the SSL certificate installed to it and then install the chosen shopping cart software.
This software will almost certainly need configuring for your desired payment gateway and shipping and probably will almost certainly need some code modifications and template modifications.
Then you will need to input of your terms and conditions, privacy statement and so on.
Finally you’ll set up your categories and input your catalogue of products.
It’s not an overnight process!! If you’re doing it for the first time it might take you 80 or so hours. But cost will be low – possibly only a few hundred dollars
Or you can get a web designer like myself to do it. Just supply me with the required data and I can have it all ready for you within 3 – 4 weeks. Ready for launch. It will cost more than $500 obviously. But not that much more… especially considering it will free up 80 hours of your time!
Now you have a shopping cart: what next?
Once you’re online with your eCommerce site you are ready to start driving some good traffic to it, to make some sales.
Want some help? Get an Ecommerce Web Site Design quote from Richard Law, the Web Design Specialist
Related posts: