Becoming an E-commerce Business in 6 Strategic Steps

Taking your small offline business online opens various growth opportunities for you. Especially, the sudden growth in the e-commerce industry is an after-effect of the pandemic. Today, people love to get everything delivered to their doorstep within a couple of minutes. Therefore, even a small grocery shop may require to get an E-commerce website to participate in the money game.

However, building an e-commerce website, web app, and especially a mobile app is an expensive process. Eventually, small businesses often hesitate to digital transformation. But if you plan your online journey judiciously, you can transform seamlessly. Let’s discover how to take your small offline business online and become an E-commerce giant in 6 steps. 

#1: Begin with a Website! 

If you are a small business based in the UK with no previous online presence, then always start with an E-Commerce website. A website is the primary tool for online presence. Good websites leave an everlasting impression on visitors.

Also, when SEO-optimized with appropriate ‘keywords’ and engaging content, it helps a business expand its reach via Google Search Engine Result Pages. Beyond this, the benefits of e-commerce websites are unlimited. Therefore, having a website is mandatory for every wanna-be e-commerce business must be a priority. 

#2: Prioritise Web App Development 

Just having a website does not make you an ‘e-commerce’. It is only the primary step. Now, you need to own a web application which is the most crucial step towards taking your business online. A web app is a website that functions like a mobile app. 

It is through the web app only that you will get typical e-commerce features like listing your products online with images and descriptions, add-to-cart options, order and buy-now options, order-tracking and inventory management features, payment gateways and more. 

However, a web application is not separate from your website. Rather, the web development company would add these features to your website only. This way, your website will provide a user experience like a mobile app. 

#3: A Minimum Viable Product First 

Owning an e-commerce website is not an ‘expenditure’. Rather, it is an investment for your small business. However, you may feel hesitant to approach an e-commerce website development company after researching the development cost. But, you can control the cost of website development. Choosing to get a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) first with the most basic functionalities and least customisations helps you optimise the cost. 

Similarly, there are many hacks to control mobile app development costs as well. All in all, by keeping the design simple, you can get a better price quote. And if you are worried about getting a bespoke Minimum Viable Product, then we advise you to share your ideation with a company that specialises in custom software development. They will definitely help you in getting a bespoke e-commerce website and apps. 

#4: Study Your Growth and Wait!

The best practice for every business which is taking its initial steps towards becoming an E-commerce site is to take small steps first. During the initial years of launching an e-commerce website, studying business growth is an important task. 

So, do not forget to integrate the data analytics feature into the website. Study your web app performance and work on improvement continuously. The website development teams will guide you on the analytics feature. At this stage, your focus must be on improving your e-commerce website performance and analysing Returns on Investment (ROI). If the growth metrics are positive, that is, you have good returns from the website, then continue to add new features for your target audience.  

Move from general to specific and basic to advanced. First, get an MVP e-commerce website and web app. Later on, as your business grows, start adding incremental and fancy features. Do not try to become a 30-year-old Amazon overnight!

#5: Now Plan for E-commerce Mobile App

After the tremendous growth of your e-commerce website, now you can plan to launch a mobile app as well. When it comes to user experience, a mobile app often wins over websites and web applications. It is because a mobile app is easier to access and faster to operate. 

So, if your web application has demonstrated growth and support from the target audience, then gift the users with a good mobile app. Remember, the mobile app must resonate with your web app. Maintain your brand identity. 

Launching a mobile application is a golden period for any e-commerce business. Therefore, get ready to unlock a global business reach now and make provisions for order processing and delivery execution as well. 

#6: Based in the UK? Embrace Cross-Platform Apps Only! 

When it comes to getting a mobile app developed for your e-commerce business, you will confronted with a difficult situation. That situation is choosing between iOS and Android apps. Let’s help you overcome this dilemma! If you are a business based in the UK, then choosing cross-platform mobile app development is the right choice for you. 

It is because almost 51% of the smartphone users in the UK are iOS users while the other 49% of smartphone users are Android users. So, iOS and Android OS have equal user bases in the UK. 

However, do not worry! You are not required to own two separate apps. These days, with cross-platform app development technology, you can get a single app coded such that it runs efficiently on both operating systems with a single codebase. 

Summing Up 

Transforming your small business to a fancy e-commerce store is a glorious moment in your life and a basic necessity to survive in today’s business industry. However, the cost of e-commerce development and associated technicalities often scare away a small business with a limited budget and computer literacy. But if you have the right strategy to follow, you can make your digital transformation much more effortless. So, if you are a small business planning to transform into an e-commerce, then follow a systematic path. Take small steps and begin with website development. 

Also, opt for MVP development. Launch a basic version of your e-commerce website/web app first then study the growth. Find out areas of improvement. Once, you reach the best version of the web app, then plan for the mobile app development. This way, you will mitigate most of the risk factors during the initial phase and before the mobile app launch. If you still have doubts, confusions and queries regarding e-commerce website development or e-commerce transformation, feel free to connect with us. We’re always ready to guide you. 

FAQs

1. How Much Does It Cost To Develop An E-commerce Website? 

E-commerce website development costs in the UK depend upon factors like design, UI style, features, functions and more. However, the cost may range between £475 and £3,000. If you add advanced features like real-time order tracking, push notifications, AI bot assistance and more, the development cost increases. 

2. How Much Does It Cost To Develop An E-commerce App? 

E-commerce mobile app development cost in the UK ranges between £1500 and £66,000. The bracket is large because the cost depends upon the level of customisation. The higher the customisation and the fancier the design, the higher the cost. 

3. Why I Must Not Launch an E-Commerce Mobile App Directly? 

Experts recommend not to launch an E-commerce app directly while transforming an offline business to an E-commerce store. The reasons include: 

• Your business may or may not succeed in the online setting, app development is more time and cost-consuming. So, if the results are not good, the loss is bigger.
• If you launch a web app first you get 2 benefits: 
• Incremental Development: First of all, with a Minimum Viable web application, you have the opportunity to monitor and improve the product continuously. The mobile app will be a slightly advanced version of the web app. This way, if you continuously monitor and improve the web version, you will get a more polished and much improved mobile application. 
• Risk Mitigation: Web apps are more budget-friendly than mobile apps. When web apps are your pioneering step towards e-commerce development, you encounter all the risks at an early stage. Also, you stake a smaller amount of money in web applications. However, launching a mobile app directly puts more money, effort and even reputation at stake. 

4. How Can I Monitor My E-Commerce Website Performance? 

By integrating the data analytics function into your E-commerce website, you can study the performance of your website. Data Analytics tools help you figure out important data such as: 

• the traffic volume (how many people are visiting your website)
• traffic sources (regions/countries where traffic comes from)
• products viewed
• products abandoned
• products lying in the cart
• products purchased on a regular basis
• rage clicks (clicks made in frustration)
• bounce rate (how many people left your website within seconds) etc. 

These datasets will help you forecast demands, formulate marketing strategies and plan special offers and discounts and also areas of improvement in website speed, user interface and more. 

5. What are Some Important Metrics to Determine E-Commerce Website Performance?

To analyse the performance of your e-commerce website, you must focus on the following metrics: 

• Page Load Speed: Make sure that the page loads faster, positively within 3 seconds. 
• Bounce Rate: Monitor if people alarmingly leave your website quickly. Figure out what’s bothering them.
• Conversion Rate: Analyse the traffic and check what per cent of visitors actually make a purchase. 
• Cart Abandonment Rate: Some customers may put an item in the cart, but leave after bill calculation. Figure out the card abandonment rate and formulate special offers. 
• Return on Investment: Use the ROI rate to monitor if you are generating profitable revenue. ROI must be greater than e-commerce website development and maintenance charges. 

Mobile Responsiveness Score: Ensure that your e-commerce website is optimised for mobile devices as well. It will unlock more business reach and will also get more attention from Google.