15 Elements that make up an e-commerce website
- Shop page
- Product categories
- Cart page
- Checkout page
- Payment Gateway
- Verification Documents
- Shipping Details or Downloads
- Coupons and discounts
- Good product images
- Product variations
- VAT
- Offline Payment options
- Product pages
- Product search filters
- Reporting and management
Comparison between a physical store and an online store commonly called an e-commerce website
The initial entry to your e-commerce website will be your shop page. This page will have your featured products and all your other products. You can either scroll through and click a load more button for more products or it can be broken up into pages, that you can go to.
This is the equivalent of walking into a physical store for example a grocery store. The store can arrange their products how they see fit. Perhaps they want to showcase their fresh fruits and vegetables as customers walk into the shop. You then have to look at it on route to the other products you wish to buy, collecting items you put into your shopping cart.
In your mind, you are thinking, the macaroni and rice are in the same isle essentially filtering where products should be by looking at the category and most stores will also have isle numbers and the products that correspond to them.
As your cart starts filling up and you feel you are done now, you glance at the long queues of carts before you and wished you had stayed home. You start slowly crawling forward and start getting tempted by chips, chocolates, and all sorts of sweet treats, this time you resist, but most times you add an additional packet of chips.
Finally, you reach the all-important checkout stage with or without some extra items. You swipe or tap your card to make the payment. The cashier politely (sometimes) gives your purchases and you are on your way. Happy and looking forward to making some mac and cheese.
They can see how many customers bought for a specific period and now with store cards they even know your name and spending habits, they have your contact details and will market to you on SMS, etc…
This is “normal” commerce so with e-commerce you do everything you can do in the physical store, but from the comfort of your couch, using your laptop or smartphone. An additional advantage of e-commerce is that you can buy digital products like e-books, training courses, games, etc… and immediately download them after the purchase. You also have access to a much larger marketplace comparing prices and products fairly easily. Online coupons are also easy to apply for additional discounts. An online store gives you so much choice. On your product pages, you can have many different images for the same product enhancing the shopping experience with different variations with different prices. Looking at a T-shirt you can sell small, medium and large as an example.
An obvious but important feature of an e-commerce store is that there as no queues. You “enter” the shop and you are the only one there, no fuss you go from cart to checkout in no time. Reviews are a very important part of the e-commerce makeup as customers can have insights on products based on other customers’ experiences. It’s a bit awkward to ask a customer in the grocery store if they like the newly imported coffee.
E-commerce websites are linked to trusted payment gateways like PayPal, Payfast, Yoco, etc…These companies have the required expertise and online security to keep your payment information safe and it is not recorded on the owner’s website, known as the merchant. Merchants have to verify themselves with these companies so it is very transparent and secure. They will provide documents like IDs, business documents, proof of address, and banking details.
Product categories and search filters become increasingly important as your shop grows and you need an easy way for customers to search for what they are looking for. Imagine an electronics shop with hundreds of different components to narrow down. You can search by manufacturer, type of item, year, model, etc… These filters are extremely useful in these situations even in an online grocery store with thousands of products and sub-products. Some big names that come to the fore are Takealot, Amazon, and Fiverr.
Finally, the reporting on an e-commerce website is pretty great, with many features to assist you to manage it. As a result, it helps with business decision-making. You can see all your customers and what they are purchasing, things that need to be shipped, and offline payment follow-ups for people wanting to pay via EFT or cash deposit. You don’t only get the sales information you get information on refunds, and people who abandoned their carts. This again makes it easy to make an informed decision. Settings like VAT, coupons, and sale discounts are also easy to manage. This allows you to stay on top of everything. You can even sell to different countries, offer subscription services and so much more, the possibilities are endless.
An online shop requires no staff, no tills, or physical equipment to make a sale, this is a key advantage.
I hope this has in a small way made the journey to have an online store a little easier. If you have any questions or comments please leave them below and if you think you are ready to start your e-commerce website, chat with us for professional advice and guidance.
Check out our e-commerce pricing for an affordable solution.
Thank you for reading,
Graham
