5 Essential Components Of An E-Commerce Platform

As per eMarketer, E-commerce sales are expected to rise to $4.058 trillion in the year 2020 which would be approximately 14.6% of the retail spending expected that year. With this kind of growth possibilities, it is obvious that everyone would want a huge share of the earning pie. Setting up an E commerce platform is the first step in the direction. However not knowing the basics can cause much damage to your plan even before it is implemented. We are going to tell you some essential components that are necessary for any E-commerce platform.

1.   Payment Gateway

E-commerce is using online methods to sell your product to its target customers. Once selling is involved, it is clear that you would have to set up the correct e-commerce payment gateway in place. However, it is important to understand that this feature would change as per the platform you have set up. For example, if it is a B2B business portal then most probably bulk purchases would be involved. This means that merchants would need to have a flexible website payment getaway involving discounts, multiple pricing points, and special pricing benefits.

Supposing your business is seeking international customers as well then you would have to set up a getaway which involves all major international payment methods. The shopping website should also be able to provide custom modifications adapting to any payment method. Due to the availability of so many online payment methods, it is essential that you know which one works best for your target customers. For getting more idea on e-commerce payment gateway integration you can always consult a service provider proficient in handling such services.

2.   Product view

To ensure that your platform is different from the rest you need to create a unique brand image. The first impression that a customer would have about your website would be from the way your products are displayed on the landing page. There are a few important things that you need to keep in mind.

• Do not over design or accessorize your store. Your products should be placed in a manner that is easy to understand and navigate through. Make sure that their presentation is such that their features become the prime focus.
• Gone are the days of imposing 5-6 images of the same product in the customer’s Shift to virtual reality and provide a 360-degree view to the customers. When the customer can view the product, it helps to increase the chances of a conversion.
• If you are keen on using promotional offers to attract customers, make sure that you display that prominently on your web page. Regular customers do not want to waste much time browsing through old catalogs. For maximum conversions make sure that he gets all the bonuses and special products highlighted on the home page itself.

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3.   Shopping Cart

Whenever thinking of an e-commerce platform, you cannot forget the importance of a shopping cart. Usually, a software an E-commerce shopping cart holds the chosen items, calculates the total amount and adds the other taxes and shipping costs to present the final cost figures to the customer. Essentially when a customer is done selecting his items, he tends to proceed to checkout. That is when the shopping cart comes into the picture.

It is necessary that utmost attention is paid to the Ecommerce Cart Design. Inability to do so can lead to your customer getting confused while navigating and leaving the purchase midway. Your shopping cart can be of two types.

1) Licensed shopping cart– This involves paying license fees to get control of the software. This can then be incorporated into your website. The merchant also gets full rights to modify and customize the e-commerce cart functionality as per the need of his e commerce platform.

2) Hosted shopping cart– Here the merchant needs to pay monthly recurring fees to get a control on the software. He has no access to the software’s location and neither can he modify its settings in any manner.

When it comes to selecting particular software, the decision should purely be on the merchant’s requirements. Supposing the merchant is just starting then a hosted shopping cart reduces a lot of his burden as it handles most of the work involved. On the contrary, an experienced merchant who has sufficient exposure in the field can opt for a licensed online shopping cart software. Not only would the same be less expensive but it would also provide the users a much more enriching check out experience.

4.   Merchant services in E-commerce

The number of frauds happening online is increasing day by day. Hence it is important that you build a reputation which lets your customers shop on your platform without worrying about security breaches. In the case of international transfers your responsibility of finding the right merchant service provider becomes all the more necessary. This is to avoid any discrepancies while handling payments in many currencies. Considering a service provider specializing in high-risk E commerce is the key to managing the payment flow without any losses.

5.   Support and contact methods

It is normal for any customers to feel lost or confused while navigating through your website. Moreover, most of the customers prefer opting for an E commerce platform which provides multiple contact points. Choose live chat in a floating window as that is the fastest method by which your customers can clear their queries. Apart from that, it is also essential to have a phone contact, and email as that slowly builds up the trust level that any customer can have for your website.

In Conclusion, E commerce may have taken the whole world by storm, but it is important not to get carried away with the flow. If you are also keen on setting up your e commerce portal, these are just a few of the critical features that you should incorporate. In the case of any confusion, it is advisable to consult a service provider for e-commerce website development.

The Internet as a medium is vast, but there are also a lot of possibilities of online frauds happening. Finding and hiring the correct service providers would ensure that all such loopholes of online shopping are eliminated. This would help you in creating and managing your E commerce portal efficiently hence maximizing your revenue generation and reducing your e-commerce website development cost.

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