E-Commerce: everything you need to know about digital business

The rise of e-Commerce is unstoppable. Years ago, the most established companies in the world feared entering this digital world that was unknown to them and continued to rely on the traditional trade of their products, with physical stores that were sometimes very difficult to open and maintain. But now, everyone is taking advantage of the benefits of digital commerce because they know that it is a fast and safe way to grow as a business.

e-Commerce statistics in the world

In 2021 alone, global e-commerce retail revenue stood at $3,284,927 million and by 2025, this revenue is expected to rise to $4,230,885 million, according to estimates by the firm Statista. The sectors that generate the most profits are fashion, toys, food and personal care, as well as the electronics, furniture and appliances sector.

In Latin America, growth has also been exponential, as explained in an article on the Cubbo portal, where they point out that the greatest growth began to be registered since the outbreak of the pandemic.

“During 2020, Latin America was the second region in the world with the highest growth in e-commerce (...) Sales revenues through technology platforms grew by 30.6% compared to 2019, which represented revenues worth USD 83,630 millions. The first region in sales growth was (1) North America with 33.5%, in third and fourth place were (3) Western Europe and (4) Asia-Pacific with 11% and 6.1% respectively”, they explained in said article.

Aspects of the design of an e-Commerce that you must take into account

The first thing you should consider after making the decision to create an e-Commerce is the needs of your business and, secondly, the design of said platform. An e-Commerce must be easy to use by users, easy to manage by the company and, in addition, it must represent the essence of your business, of your brand. It is not a random platform designed just to sell, it has to offer a valuable experience to the user so that they decide to continue browsing and buying on the website.

“Just like a store in real life, if you walk in for the first time and see a messy, disorganized floor, you'll probably have a negative opinion and they'll leave. This is the same as an online store. Imagine if you landed on a web page that had a cluttered layout and poor quality images or mismatched fonts, what would your opinion be?", pointed out about it in a Big Eye Deers portal article.

Details such as colors, image quality, font size or website loading speed are essential to offer an optimal experience to the end user. From the moment the user begins to browse e-Commerce, they immediately form an opinion about the brand or company simply by entering this platform.

User experience design

All the elements of the web design of an e-Commerce must revolve around offering a pleasant user experience. When we talk about user experience, we refer to how the user feels browsing the platform, if they easily get what they are looking for, if the navigation seems harmonious and comfortable. The opposite can also happen, leading to a poor user experience.

“User experience is important because it tries to meet user needs. Their goal is to provide positive experiences that keep a user loyal to the product or brand. In addition, a meaningful user experience allows you to define the customer journeys in your product that are most conducive to business success", highlighted in the UX Planet portal.

To design an effective user experience, the first thing you should do is get to know your target, your target audience. By knowing your audience, you will learn their habits, browsing patterns, interests and needs. All of this data helps build effective navigation. You can also interview potential customers to get an idea of what users expect from the eCommerce platform.

Carrying out usability tests is essential so that, once there is an incipient version of e-Commerce, start testing the platform to see if it meets the expected needs.

The design should represent your brand

“It's important to keep your brand image consistent across all the platforms you use, and that includes your website. If you're a wedding dress company, you'll probably want your website to be very delicate and pure, whereas if you're a survival kit company, then you'll want to convey something very masculine and outdoorsy," they explained about it on the Big Eye Deers portal.

Choosing the color palette is an important and decisive decision to create a suitable online identity for your e-Commerce. They can be, for example, the logos you used to design your logo. Make sure that the colors you choose for your e-Commerce platform are harmonious, work well with each other and do not cause a clash in the user.

Pay attention to typography

Typography influences the behavior of users: whether it is very large, very small, very thick, with serif or without serif, it will determine the mood of people when they are browsing your e-Commerce.

“The written text is the main communication between a merchant and a potential consumer. The text establishes the personality of the brand, which can determine how the consumer sees the product or the retailer and the probability that he will make a purchase. Typography has also been found to influence how consumers feel about a product or brand", supplemented in the Salehoo article.

You have to pay attention to aspects such as the size, the color, the spacing between the letters and between the words, the space between lines and the background color, which is usually white or a neutral tone that facilitates reading.

Steps to start your e-Commerce

Define the idea of your e-Commerce

Ask yourself these questions, Amazon recommends: “What problem or challenge are you looking to solve? Who feels that pain point more? Who would be more excited for you to solve this challenge? Finding a problem worth solving is crucial, because some ideas, no matter how innovative, can fail when they don't have a supportive audience of customers."

Product validation

When you already have a clear idea of the product, research the market, look for products similar to yours, evaluate the response of the public. All this will help you know if this e-Commerce is viable or not.

Create business plan

This business plan that you are going to create will help you set the objectives of your e-Commerce, which will be the guide of what you are going to develop later.

Choose the name

If you already have a physical store, you can use that same name for your e-Commerce. If you don't have it yet, you should keep in mind that it should be a short, concise name that at the same time reflects the essence of your business. If it is easy to pronounce, it will be easier to remember.

Choice of e-Commerce platform

After having these "theoretical" aspects clear, then it's time to practice with the choice of e-Commerce platform for your business.

• Shopify

Shopify is an all-in-one commerce platform ideal for starting, running, and growing a business of any size. With its traditional and Shopify Plus plans, it powers over 1,000,000 businesses. It is one of the best and easiest eCommerce platforms that you can use.

If you already own a domain, it will be fully usable with Shopify. If you don't own it, you can buy it through the Shopify platform easily. Shopify has a wide range of templates ready to use for your website. This makes it easy to get started with your e-commerce without the help of developers or designers.

• Magento

Magento is robust open source software used to develop e-commerce platforms. It offers a wide range of features that position it in the market as an all-in-one solution optimized to work efficiently under all the stress that such a platform can experience: high traffic rates and constant sales are not a problem for this platform. powerful tool.

• Drupal Commerce

Drupal Commerce is software built on top of Drupal that is based on a powerful set of modules designed to provide eCommerce solutions for a different perspective, it can be used to develop online stores of all ranges and sizes.

Do you need support with the creation of your first e-commerce or with the improvement of the store you already have? Contact us!

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