There are many details to think about when developing an e-commerce site. We have developed the list of questions below which help us discover what “size” e-commerce site we will be building. An important part of our job is to guide a client through these to determine what is really needed to meet goals, budget, and timeline.

Hope you find these helpful.

PRODUCT-RELATED
1. How many products will there be at launch?
2. How many product will there be 3-6 months post launch?
3. How are these products organized? How many product categories?
4. Do products have …

E-commerce websites seem straightforward, and some of them are. However, we tend to end up building the complicated ones! They are only complicated because there are many, many details to consider and test… both on our end and the client’s end. It’s best to do all of the planning at the beginning to avoid changing specifications as the site is being built. Here are a few key items to consider.

1. Focus on the Objective

• Selling your product

Every design decision on an e-commerce site should be made with this goal in …

I recently had the opportunity to go to a fancy wedding boutique and try on some amazing dresses. While the experience was spectacular and having found (as of right now) “the dress”, the price tag was a bit of a shocker… a $9000.00 shocker! Being on a tight budget, $9000.00 is just not doable. Now, I have read on several blogs, websites, etc that it is pretty much a bad idea to go try on dresses that are out of your budget, so I mentally prepared myself. I will say …

Looking for original artwork, but don’t have an in-house designer?  DeviantArt (dA) is definitely a good place to start.

Since 2000, dA has been providing an interactive community for artists of all sorts.  The includes the following key features:

• a categorized and searchable gallery of artwork
• feedback space for every work of art in the gallery
• e-commerce interface for artists ready for digital sales

Admittedly, not every artist is prepared to sell their work over the internet, but this does not have to be a dead end.  The deviantArt gallery also includes contact information for the contributing artists, giving you the …

Aaron -

I am the Executive Director for Development for the world’s largest YMCA Conference Center and we operate a $29 million dollar budget. Our rich 104-year history is something we treasure and work to improve the future for everyday. With over 250,000 guests staying at our two properties in Colorado, it is vital for us to turn those great guest experiences into valued members and future donors. Our online giving options have proven very successful and something our prospects have been very happy …

“E-Commerce… consists of the buying and selling of products or services over electronic systems such as the Internet….” - Wikipedia
Since the underlying principles of the digital and physical marketplaces are the same, there are a number of lessons you can take from one to the other.

Here are four key elements of e-commerce drawn from the needs of brick-and-mortar businesses and enhanced by technology.

Online Storefront - The Product Manager

The online storefront is your digital place of business.  As with any business you want to customize it to fit your customers’ buying habits, your chosen branding, and the logistical needs …

Websites are tools, and the tools that endure are the tools that serve a purpose.  Shovels are good at making holes, cars are good at moving people from one place to another.  If you want people to use your website, it must serve a purpose.  However, it is not sufficient for the site to serve a purpose for you, it must serve a purpose for whomever you want to use it.

What Purpose Should Your Website Serve?
And Whom Does it Serve?

There are any number of purposes a website might serve, but let’s take a look at some of the more common …

You’re working with your web developer and you’ve determined that not all your content is for everyone: maybe you want your site to have added value for members; perhaps you handle medical, financial, or other sensitive documents; it could be one of your protections against SPAM bots; it may even be that you like hiding “Easter Eggs” for customers who gather promotional codes from elsewhere in your marketing campaign.

Whatever your reason is for partitioning off a section of your website, you need to decide how secure it will be.

One for All

At first blush …

Just because your visitor has arrived to a specific product page, it doesn’t mean he will add the product to the cart. The product detail page needs to continue the conversion effort that the landing page and the category page started.

On this page, visitors will explore your offer more closely.

In terms of the product, you want to provide:

• A large enough photo (or a link to enlarge)
• Alternative photos if applicable (different angles, colors, etc.)
• Main product features and benefits
• Product options or accessories
• Price, availability, or sale/discount options
• Customer testimonials
• Product warranty/support options

Out of the list above, the product photo may be the most …

Online store category pages are crucial in helping the visitor:

• focus on the items he is interested in
• choose what he wants to learn about next
• guide the visitor one step closer to making a buying decision

We are so used to category pages that we take them for granted… until they are not there. They act like filters, grouping items in ways that make sense to us. They show a list of items with something in common, basic information about the items, and ways to sort the list itself (by price, color, size, etc.).

Category pages answer the following questions:

• Did I choose the right …
  Read More…