E-Commerce Websites

E-commerce Websites have become an essential part of modern-day business. They allow businesses to sell products and services online, expanding their reach far beyond their physical location, to a national, or even international level. An e-commerce website, or online store, where customers can browse products, add them to a shopping cart, and complete their purchase using various payment methods.

The importance of E-Commerce Websites, if you’re a retail business especially, cannot be overstated. With the rise of online shopping, customers have come to expect the convenience of purchasing products from anywhere at any time. A user-friendly e-commerce website can significantly increase a business’s revenue and customer base.

E-Commerce Websites are made up of a number of key components, all working together to provide a seamless shopping experience for customers. If any step in the process doesn’t work perfectly, your customers will vote with their feet and choose your competitors.

The Shop Page

Each product should have a clear image, product name, price, and a call-to-action (CTA) button, either to view more details or add to cart. Product filters are essential for helping customers find the products they are looking for quickly and easily. Filters are based on various criteria; price range, product type, colour, size, and more. Sorting options are similar, allowing users to sort products based on various criteria; high price, low price most popular products or newest products.

Product Pages

Product pages are where customers view details about a specific product; description, price, and available options. It’s essential to have high-quality product images and detailed product descriptions to provide customers with a clear understanding of the product they are purchasing. Related products can increase sales hugely.

Shopping Cart

Customers can add products they want to purchase to their shopping cart (or basket). It allows them to see the total cost of their purchase, sometimes including tax and shipping fees. Customers can edit the contents of their shopping cart, remove items if they wish, apply discounts or promotional codes, and proceed to checkout when they are ready to complete their purchase.

Payment Gateway

E-Commerce Websites must have a payment gateway, a service that allows businesses to accept payments online. It securely processes customers’ credit card information and transfers the funds to the business’s merchant account. It’s essential to choose a payment gateway that is secure and widely used to provide customers with peace of mind when making a purchase. We use PayPal as standard and Stripe if required.

User Accounts

An optional component of an online store is a user account system. Customers can create an account on the website, which allows them to save their billing and shipping information for future purchases. It also allows customers to view their order history and track the status of their current orders. User accounts also help you, in terms of future marketing, and remarketing.

User Experience and Interface

The user experience (UX) and interface (UI) of an e-commerce website are critical factors that determine its success. Well-designed UX/UI can significantly improve the shopping experience and increase conversions. Ease of navigation, product filtering, search functionality, and product display all play a role.

Security

E-commerce Websites deal with sensitive customer information and credit card details, making security a top priority. It’s crucial to implement SSL encryption and other security measures to ensure customer data is safe from hackers.

Responsive Design

Mobile devices account for a significant portion of web traffic, especially in the world of E-Commerce Websites. Making the site mobile responsive is a crucial factor to consider. A responsive website adapts to the size of the user’s device, providing a seamless shopping experience on both desktop and mobile devices.

E-Commerce SEO

Search Engine Optimisation is the process of optimising a website’s content to rank higher in the search results. A well-optimised e-commerce website can attract more organic traffic and increase sales. Consider keyword research, on-page optimisation, and link building when developing an e-commerce website.

Online Shop Integrations

Integrating an e-commerce website with third-party tools such as marketing automation software, email marketing tools, and social media platforms can significantly improve its functionality and marketing capabilities. It’s crucial to choose integrations that align with the business’s goals and target audience.

Developing E-commerce websites can be a complex process and WooCommerce, our software of choice, requires technical expertise and experience. Hiring a professional web development company, like FutureProof Digital, offers several benefits.

WordPress Customisation

FutureProof Digital design and develop custom E-Commerce Websites, tailored to each business’s specific needs and goals. No two shops are the same, and no two websites should be the same either. This allows businesses to differentiate themselves from competitors and provide a unique shopping experience for their customers.

Save Time & Money

Developing an e-commerce website can be time-consuming, especially for small business owners that may lack technical expertise. Hiring a professional web developer allows businesses to focus on running their business while leaving the design and development of the website to the experts. Time is money, so you’ll save that too.

Improved User Experience

We have a wealth of experience developing E-Commerce Websites. Our designs are intuitive, user-friendly, and optimised for conversions. We know the latest trends in web design and can create a website that provides an exceptional shopping experience for customers. For you, we build a custom admin dashboard to easily manage and update your shop.

WooCommerce is the number one e-commerce solution for WordPress; that allows businesses to create a robust online store quickly and easily. With over 5 million active installations, WooCommerce is the most widely used e-commerce platform globally. It can be customised to meet the specific needs of our clients, and that’s why we use it every time. Events tickets, accommodation booking and product downloads are all just a few clicks away.

WooCommerce is easy to set up, even for non-technical users. It integrates seamlessly with WordPress, allowing businesses to create an online store quickly and easily. WooCommerce offers a wide range of customization options, allowing businesses to create a unique online store that reflects their brand and caters to their target audience. It is incredibly flexible, allowing businesses to sell physical and digital products, subscriptions, and even bookings. It supports various payment options, including credit cards, PayPal, and bank transfers.

WooCommerce is also SEO-friendly, making it easy for businesses to optimise their online store for search engines and attract organic traffic. It provides businesses with access to real-time analytics and reporting, allowing them to track sales, monitor customer behaviour, and make data-driven decisions to improve their online store’s performance.

E-Commerce Websites, when designed using WooCommerce, are not limited to selling physical or digital products. We can customise your website to book appointments; spa treatments or personal training sessions for example. Using e-commerce software to book appointments is convenient for both businesses and customers. Customers can book appointments at their own convenience, 24/7, without having to wait on the phone or in-person. Businesses, on the other hand, can streamline their appointment booking system and avoid double-booking or overbooking.

Crocoblock Jet Appointments

We integrate Jet Appointments software with WordPress and WooCommerce to develop a user-friendly booking system (both the client and the user). Crocoblock Jet Appointments is designed to simplify the process of scheduling and managing appointments on a website. It offers a range of features that allow website owners to create customizable booking forms, manage appointments, and communicate with their customers.

Managing appointments is made easy with Crocoblock Jet Appointments. Website owners can view and manage appointments from a central dashboard, making it easy to keep track of all appointments and schedule changes. The software can also send email notifications to clients and admins to confirm appointments and remind them of upcoming appointments. Admins can also sync their appointment schedule with their Google Calendar, making it easy to keep track of appointments on the go.

WooCommerce can be set up to sell event tickets. These events can be a week, a day, or even an hour in duration, a guided tour for example. Each use case requires WooCommerce to be customised in a different way, and a different software is used for a single ticket event that lasts an hour, than a week-long conference.

WooCommerce Box Office

WooCommerce Box Office is just one of the software extensions we use for configuring E-Commerce Websites for event tickets. The plugin offers a range of features that make it easy to create and manage events, sell tickets, and track ticket sales.

WooCommerce Box Office gives us the ability to create customizable event pages. We create unique event pages for each event, complete with event details, images, and ticket sales information. The plugin includes a range of options for setting event details; date, time, location and more. Ticket prices, ticket availability, and multiple ticket types can also be set up.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of optimising a website to improve its visibility and ranking in the search results. For E-Commerce websites, SEO is crucial for driving traffic, increasing sales, and building a strong online presence. Keyword research is the process of identifying the words and phrases that potential customers use when searching for products. On-page optimization involves optimising the content and structure of individual product pages to improve their visibility and ranking. This includes optimising page titles, meta descriptions, headers, images, and URLs. User experience is also an important factor in E-Commerce SEO. This includes easy navigation, fast load times and clear CTA) that encourage users to take action.