There’s never been a better time to set your business up to accommodate eCommerce. With the current restrictions, people are getting as much of their shopping done online as they can and brick and mortar businesses are suffering. COVID-19 aside, eCommerce is a booming trade this is showing no signs of slowing down any time soon. And what’s not to love? 24/7 shopping opportunities, more eyes on your products and the potential to retarget potential customers with tracking codes. For all of these reasons, we encourage you to transition to—or at the very least include the option for—eCommerce in your business.

To help you along the way, here’s a helpful eCommerce business checklist of things to consider from the outset.

Step 1: The plan

Essential to your eCommerce business checklist is the planning phase. If you think it’s as simple as jumping on and creating a Shopify account, think again! The way that the eCommerce aspects of your business function will reflect on your brand and it takes careful thought and planning to get it right. Here are some things to plan out before you jump into any action:

Get your branding in order

You want your eCommerce store to be visually appealing as this is what will stop your customers from leaving the site before they buy. A big part of this is your overall branding and design, which needs to stand out. You may or may not have this in place already.

Consider the structure of your shop

You want your shop to be as streamline and simple as possible so that it’s easy to navigate and doesn’t require your customers to go down the rabbit hole in order to make a purchase. You will need to think about categorising your products, whether you want to provide easy links to your most popular products and how you’re going to display any specials, promotions or free shipping options. If you’re not sure, it’s a good idea to speak to people like us who build eCommerce business websites regularly. We can help guide you on the best way to approach your shop structure.

Step 2: If you have a brick and mortar business already, use this to your advantage.

It’s likely that you already know your consumers intimately. This can give you insight into what their buying habits and reasons for not completing sales are. It’s invaluable knowledge that can help you to establish a successful eCommerce business. Things to consider and build strategies around with your approach to your eCommerce store include:

  • Target audience
  • Preferred buying habits
  • Are your consumers motivated by specials or package deals?
  • What are their resistances to closing sales?
  • Would they appreciate a membership or subscription service?

Step 3: Leverage additional channels to funnel people to your store

Vital to your eCommerce business checklist is the additional measures you put in place to get people to your store. Some of the things you want to think about include:

Email marketing

Having a place to capture people’s email addresses on your site means you can continue a conversation with them long after they’ve left your shop. This is important for both potential consumers and those who have made purchases. There are numerous email marketing platforms. Some are free and others require subscriptions. Often price depends on the size of your database. Some that are worth considering include Mailchimp (this is what we use at CSQD), Hubspot and ActiveCampaign.