Understanding eCommerce Development
An eCommerce website is a place where consumers can browse, compare, and buy products online. As more consumers pass on in-person shopping experiences for the ease of online shopping, having a reliable eCommerce website can help you generate revenue and surpass competitors.
eCommerce website development involves a software development team designing and building an online store for your consumers to browse and shop on. A team of business analysts who are familiar with eCommerce sites will work with you to build a competitive online store and meet your business goals. Your eCommerce web developers will be experienced in building online stores and be able to add a new perspective to developing an eCommerce website.
Defining eCommerce Development
The eCommerce web development process includes designing, developing, testing, and launching your website to ensure users have a seamless and positive experience. At Geneca, your eCommerce web development team will include leadership, software developers, business analysts, and quality assurance experts. With a full-service team with experience in complex software development projects, your eCommerce website is in good hands.
Throughout the eCommerce web development project, our team will work with you to determine how the eCommerce website should look and work and keep you in the loop throughout development. By getting your approval every step of the way, you can be confident in the final product we deliver for your consumers.
The Importance of eCommerce in Today’s Business Environment
Having an eCommerce platform custom-built by an eCommerce website developer will set your business apart from your competitors. Since your eCommerce website is typically a consumer’s first impression of your company and brand, it’s essential that you develop it for your target audience.
If a consumer has trouble navigating an online store, they can take their business to another store that is easier to use. By offering your consumers a unique and seamless user experience, they are more likely to become loyal customers. When you work with an eCommerce web development company, you can be sure that every step of the customer experience is optimized to sell online successfully.
Having a website development company build your eCommerce platform will also improve your search engine optimization (SEO) strategy. When you have a fast, high-performing website, it ranks higher in search results, leading more consumers to your website.
The eCommerce Development Process
At Geneca, we use an Agile approach to eCommerce web development to build a high-quality website that meets your unique needs. From eCommerce website design to building a business strategy for launching your new website, we are here to help.
Step 1: Planning an eCommerce Strategy
The first step of the eCommerce website development process is to build out a plan for the project and the eCommerce solution itself. During this step, our team of leaders, business analysts, and technical experts will work to understand your goals and frustrations. We will identify ways to streamline your business processes and build an eCommerce store that appeals to consumers.
Geneca will approach your eCommerce website development project with more than simply finding ways to benefit your business now, but also ways to help your business grow and become an industry leader.
Step 2: Web Design
Once we have a well-defined plan for your eCommerce website development project, our team will work closely with you to determine the design of your eCommerce platform. Your website should emulate your brand, and we will design your eCommerce site to fit your brand while serving your consumers. Having a clearly outlined design before the software developers start building the website will ensure we are building the eCommerce website you envisioned.
Step 3: Defining the Requirements
To set up our software development eCommerce project for success, we take the defining stage of the process seriously. We will work with you to define how every page and process should function, look like, and include. All of this is completed before development begins to ensure we have an extensive understanding of your expectations for your eCommerce platform.
Step 4: Development and Testing
Once we have outlined the design and requirements, our team of software developers will start building your eCommerce website. We will schedule regular meetings to ensure your team is updated on the progress of your solution and troubleshoot any blockers.
Throughout the development process, our team of analysts will thoroughly test your eCommerce site to verify every part of your website works as expected. This ensures that when the project is complete, you can be confident that you’re providing your consumers with a high-quality user experience.
Step 5: Launch and Maintenance
Once your eCommerce website is built and tested, it’s time to make the website available for consumer use. Our software development team will work with you to launch your new eCommerce platform, including training your employees, transitioning legacy solutions, and risk management ideas.
Your eCommerce store being live doesn’t have to be the end of your eCommerce website development project. Your business is constantly evolving and growing to meet industry trends. We offer development services past your product launch to ensure that your eCommerce store provides consumers with the best shopping experience.
Advancements in eCommerce Development
As technology continues to advance, eCommerce solutions will be expected to keep up. Some of these new developments in technology can improve the user experience and allow you to improve business operations. Let’s take a look at three advancements in eCommerce that can transform your business.
Mobile eCommerce (m-commerce)
Mobile eCommerce is the process of a consumer shopping and completing a transaction on an eCommerce website through mobile devices. With the amount of consumers that browse and complete purchases on their phones, it’s essential for businesses to build eCommerce websites that provide mobile users with a seamless online shopping experience.
Mobile eCommerce platforms provide users with a convenient shopping experience offering multiple payment options and the feeling of instant gratification. When building eCommerce websites, ensuring the software development team has technical expertise in mobile platforms will ensure you provide mobile consumers with a seamless user experience.
Integration of Artificial Intelligence in eCommerce
One way to stay ahead of your competition is to integrate advanced technology into your daily operations. The use of artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming more popular across all industries, including retail. In the eCommerce industry, AI can improve the customer experience with advanced customer service and user experience.
You can use AI to analyze how consumers interact with your eCommerce site and predict their next steps. This will help you suggest similar items to consumers, providing a more personalized shopping experience and increasing sales opportunities. These insights can also provide consumers with more personalized email campaigns, increasing the opportunity to attract returning customers.
Role of Big Data and Analytics in eCommerce Development
A successful eCommerce website uses big data to improve marketing strategies, gain valuable consumer insight, and enhance product stock. Big data analytics examines a large amount of raw data to discover patterns and trends, allowing eCommerce businesses to make well-informed decisions.
- Transactional Data: Tracks the ID of the consumer and product, transaction information, and consumer demographics from individual transactions. This allows an eCommerce business to gain insights into regional data, trending products, and consumer demand by season.
- Social Data: As consumers increasingly buy products directly through social media platforms, tracking this data becomes crucial for an online business. Social data can heavily influence how an eCommerce business approaches marketing campaigns, with data on trending hashtags, interactions, and trending influencers.
- Third-Party Integration Data: If your eCommerce website has integrated third-party vendors, then your business can benefit from having access to more advanced data analytics. With these analytics, businesses can improve their marketing efforts to their target audience and drive retail sales.
Your business can utilize big data analytics to improve the consumer experience, increase automation opportunities, and build an effective search engine optimization strategy. These efforts will support your business in building a successful eCommerce website that will keep consumers coming back.
How Geneca Can Help
Is your company ready to build and launch a successful eCommerce website to gain a competitive advantage in your market? Reach out to Geneca today! Our team of software experts is experienced in eCommerce web development and ready to help you exceed your business goals.