Business
Launching an E-Commerce site? Here are the key things to remember
Launching a new e-commerce website is an exciting time for any business, but it’s important to ensure that you make the site as appealing and as user friendly as possible in order to attract customers and maximise sales. E-commerce specialists WTS Technologies explain a few of the key features your site needs, in order to stand out from the crowd.
It must be secure
We live in a world where hacks and data breaches are unfortunately all too common, and so online security should be one of your first priorities – especially as customers may be submitting confidential financial information via your payment gateway. You should make sure that your site is using SSL technology, which shows visitors that the connection is encrypted and that any passwords or financial details they submit will be secure. A site using SSL will have a green padlock in the browser.
Ensuring that your e-commerce site is protected with security software such as a firewall and anti-virus software can also protect against hacks, and if you are using a platform such as WordPress then you should make sure the CMS and all the plugins are kept fully up to date.
Reviews by customers
Positive reviews are a great way of showing off the quality of your products and services and can really help to persuade a potential customer to buy. Research has shown that over 90% of shoppers read online reviews before making a purchase, and the star rating of a product is one of the first things that they look at. Reviews and star ratings from popular platforms such as Facebook can easily be incorporated into your website.
Clear shipping information
Research has shown that a primary reason for customers abandoning their shopping cart is when, towards the end of the purchase process, they are presented with an unexpectedly high shipping charge. You can avoid this from happening by making sure that customers are made aware of shipping costs early on in the buying process, or by displaying the information clearly on one of your website’s pages. Interestingly shoppers have been shown to spend 30% more when they know that shipping is free, so you may consider offering free shipping if this is financially viable for your business.
A smooth returns process
The percentage of customers who end up returning an item is surprisingly high, with research showing that it’s as high as 30%! Whilst this figure may sound alarming, other research has shown that when a company makes it easy for customers to return a product, 92% of shoppers will buy again from the same retailer.
So there you have it. Follow these tips to make sure your e-commerce business gets off to a flying start!