eCommerce - What you need to know

During the lockdown, we have had a lot of requests for e-commerce websites. Usually it is phrased “I want a shop”. Sounds simple right? When we then respond with a list of questions about “the shop”, there is often a long pause from the client.As we are helpful Monkeys, we have collated a list of things that you need to consider when you are thinking of going down the e-commerce route.What are you selling?

Sounds obvious but you’d be surprised at how many people can’t answer this. Is it a physical product or is it a virtual product that is just downloaded. Is it a subscription that requires a yearly membership? This all determines the tools that are needed.

Do you have images of the product?

Again, sounds obvious but many people just don’t consider it. Having high quality images of your products is vital. You should really have many photos of your products from different angles and in the different options available so the consumer knows what they are buying. There are many photographers who offer product photography. This is worth the investment to make your products stand out.

How are you going to take payment?

There are many payment portals out there, Paypal, Stripe, Apple Pay. The list goes on. Each one has its merits and pitfalls. You need to think about your customers and how they buy. Paypal allows you to take credit card payments without a Paypal account but a lot of people don’t know this and assume they can’t buy without a Paypal account first. On the other hand, Paypal allows you to buy things without getting off the sofa to find your credit card – perfect for the lazy consumer!

How much are you charging for delivery?

If you are selling physical products, you need to think about how much it will cost you to post it. Are you going to charge a set fee no matter how much they order? Are you going to have weight based shipping so that it works out the price based on the weight of the products? Are you going to offer free delivery over a certain spend level? This helps us to figure out the work involved in setting up the shop and whether extra plugins are needed.

Where are you selling to?

Are you going to sell globally or just locally? Again, this has a massive impact on things like delivery. Shipping can be calculated dependant on where the customer is ordering from. Are you going to offer payment in different currencies? Are you only selling locally and therefore only need Click and Collect?

What options are available for your products?

Do they come in different sizes, if so, what are they – do you have a sizing chart? Are they available in different colours? – if so, do you have pictures of all the colours available? Knowing this determines whether your product is classes as a Simple Product or a Variable product. Variable products take longer to setup and therefore more time needed to setup the shop.

Do you have Ts & Cs?

This is really important. It gives your store credibility and covers you legally in case something goes wrong. It should outline things like delivery times, complaints / returns – what to do if they are not happy with the product, cancelling orders, change of pricing, errors in product descriptions etc. There are many websites out there that offer templates which can be tailored to your products. Always best to get advice on this though.

As you can see, eCommerce is not as simple as it seems! This is only the start of the questions. There are many more once you start to go down the different options.

If you would like the Monkeys to discuss your next eCommerce project and help you achieve your goals please do get in touch.