10 Steps to Ensure Your Ecommerce Enterprise is Profitable

Below is a guide for all ecommerce beginners; that will help you prepare your business for the internet. Once your website is fully functional and live, you?ll already have in place low cost marketing strategies that will ensure your ecommerce business is a success.

1) Start by making a list of goals

Establish what it is you hope to achieve by selling and promoting your products and business online. Take the time to talk about ideas with the people who will assist your entire ecommerce campaign, and openly discuss ideas, from the first design concepts to final promotion. Keep a note of all the ideas that are mentioned, no matter how farfetched. This is a process for creative, not critical thinking; that comes later, as you fine tune your first ideas. You should try to find out estimated turnaround time and cost on the project, based on the initial brief and ideas. You won?t be relying on this information (it will be updated after Step 4) but it helps to have a ball park figure from the start.

2) Review and consider

You have an idea of what it is you want to achieve, and how you?d like to achieve those things online; however, now is the time to seriously ask yourself if ecommerce is the right route for your business. Consider questions like:

• What are the advantages/disadvantages of selling products online?
• Will you accept online payments ? and if so, what payment methods will you accept?
• What plans will be laid into place regarding shipping of online orders ? and how much will this cost your business?
• Do you have the control, time and resources to regularly update your ecommerce site and store to reflect current market and user trends?

3) Shop around on other ecommerce sites

Find other ecommerce sites from competitors, and take the time to make a critical analysis of each one. Keep a note of what ecommerce site features and designs you like, and which ones you don?t. Things to look for are:

• Look at how the services/products are promoted online
• Admire the general layout and navigation features
• Test drive shopping cart facilities by competitors. Push the ?order online? service right up to the point where you are asked to confirm your order, and then end your test drive.
• Look at how smoothly the site moves from function to function. Keep your eye on how many times you have to click a mouse to get the information you?re looking for.

Don?t limit your search to competitors in your country alone; as consumers won?t. Have a look at what the worldwide online market looks like, to get the full spectrum of strengths and weaknesses within ecommerce stores in your industry. Keep a note of all your findings, so that you can come back to them as you further develop functions and features on your own ecommerce store. Bookmark your favourite designs for future reference.

4) Establish your online target market

Before designs can be confirmed, you need to establish who your ideal online target market really is. For example, if you?re ecommerce store is designed to support a brick and mortar business, decide whether you intend to supply your services locally, or globally. The internet is a global marketplace, and you should consider at least offering your services nationally. If your site sells a physical product, you need to decide whether or not you will supply and ship orders to international clients. Knowing who you internet audience are will help you design a site that targets your audience perfectly.

5) Paying for the perfect online presence

With your final ideas on paper, you can start to better discuss the time, resources and costs involved with making your ecommerce store a reality. Discuss the costs involved with:

• Design and development
• Domain and hosting
• SEO submissions
• Payment system/Shopping cart
• Promotion/Marketing
• Secure server certification
• Cost of additional staff (if any)

6) Find out what makes you unique ? and advertise it

Opening yourself up to so much competition means it?s more important than ever to establish and promote the unique factors about your business and services. Not only do you need to distinguish yourself from competitors, but you also need to ensure the consumer is enticed to shop with you, and not elsewhere. Discuss the unique factors that make your business what it is, and think about what unique elements you would like to bring to your ecommerce store in the future.

7) Make sure your marketing plan is up to scratch

Compile a detailed marketing brief that outlines everything you will do to get yourself seen and heard online. Internet advertising is like no other means of marketing before it; there are so many ways to promote your ecommerce site. Social networking sites, physical promotion and article submissions are just some of the routes you should be thinking of taking. You need to consider how you intend to make your site visible quickly in search engine results.

8) Developing the structure of your ecommerce site

It?s time to sit back down with the team, and discuss your findings. Narrow down your ideas into a wireframe for your site, so that everyone understands the layout, flow and anticipated designs required to make your ecommerce site successful. Spend considerable time discussing the wireframe before any code is produced, to ensure the team?s time is as efficient as possible.

9) Prepare for the launch

Decide on a launch date, and work out a plan that includes milestones, to ensure your website development moves as planned. Make sure you and your team have everything in place before launch date. The last thing you want or need on your first day as an ecommerce business is broken links and missing information. Populate databases with information for dynamically driven sections of your ecommerce store, and make sure everything is in its rightful place, fully tested and approved, before launch day.

10) Make your ecommerce store live

Launch day will arrive, and you will release an innovative and productive ecommerce store. Despite all your efforts, expect a glitch or two in the first few weeks. Visit and use your site as often as possible, so you can constantly see how it looks to your clients at any given time. Take the time to absorb consumer feedback, and make adjustments to your site if and when necessary. Ask friends and family for their thoughts on your ecommerce store.

Following this guide, you will be able to create an effective ecommerce store; that either works perfectly as an online business in its own right, or as a means in internet based support to your brick and mortar business. Planning your ecommerce site to the letter will ensure that your ecommerce site is consistently profitable, because it meets your clients? requirements, and it didn?t blow your budget on needless functions and features.

Ecommerce is an extraordinary industry, one that has defied the recession of 2009 by continuing to expand year in, year out. Make sure your business isn?t missing out on a major opportunity, and start thinking about ecommerce solutions for your business needs.

Source: http://theprodesigner.com/10-steps-to-ensure-your-ecommerce-enterprise-is-profitable/

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