Module 3 – Organize
Information about your business will be necessary to start the e-commerce website. Any documents presenting your organization will be useful. Please, fill and send this document as soon as possible: Web design questionnaire.
While building an eCommerce store is much cheaper and easier than building a storefront, it does still require some upfront capital like the domain, hosting and someone to take good pictures. Make sure you work out a budget that makes sense for your goals.
Here’s a quick rundown of decisions, investments and tasks you will have to do on your side:
➢ Decide how the payment will be done
➢ Initial capital to create your products
➢ Packaging for product shipping
Payment gateway
A payment gateway is a web-based program designed to accept and process payments such as credit and debit cards.
Besides considering cost, it’s also important to choose payment gateways that accept business from your country and your customers’ country of origin. Otherwise, you’re likely to see a drop in sales and an increase in customer complaints.
You should see with your bank, the possibility to redirect the payment to their site or decide if you go with a solution like PayPal. If you don’t want to include online payment, we will adjust the site with COD option.
Showing your products
2 types of eCommerce product photography can be used. The first are clean-cut, white background, product-only images. These should include your featured product, and a variety of images showcasing your product from different angles. The second is in-context or lifestyle photos that show your product being used in its intended environment or alongside complementing products.
As your advisor will not be able to help you take product photos, it would be a good idea to find a photographer who will showcase your products. You will need also to prepare a list of your products with detailed description, size, colors etc…
Packaging and Shipping
Packaging is more than just a way to get your product from A to B — it’s also an incredibly valuable customer touch point. In today’s age of “Instagrammable” moments and unboxing videos, your retail product packaging is also a great way to get extra marketing mileage for your brand.
You will also need to take information on the costs associated with delivering the products. They will have to be integrated into your site, included in the price of the product or added to the invoice.
