This book shows you a logical way to build an e-commerce site that will deliver what it
needs to be profitable. However, when designing your own site, you need to think carefully
about exactly who your customers are, what they need, how they want to place orders, and
what they are most likely to buy. Consider the following points before you start to visualize or
design the site and certainly before you start programming:
Getting customers: How will you get visitors to the site in the first place?
Offering products: What will you offer, and how will you expect customers to buy? Will
they buy in bulk? Will they make a lot of repeat orders? Will they know what they want
before they visit, or will they want to be inspired? These factors will influence how you
arrange your catalog and searching as well as what order process you use. A shopping
basket is great if people want to browse. If people know exactly what they want, then they
might prefer something more like an order form.
Processing orders: How will you turn a customer order into a parcel ready for mailing? Your
main consideration here is finding an efficient way to process payments and deliver orders
to whoever manages your stocks or warehouse. How will you give your customers confidence
in your ability to protect their data and deliver their purchases on time?
CHAPTER 1 ?– STARTING AN E-COMMERCE SITE 5
Serving customers: Will customers require additional help with products that they buy
from you? Do you need to offer warranties, service contracts, or other support services?
Bringing customers back: How will you entice customers back to the site? Are they likely to
only visit the site to make a purchase, or will there be e-window-shoppers? Are your products
consumables, and can you predict when your customers will need something new?
After you??™ve answered these questions, you can start designing your site, knowing that
you??™re designing for your customers??”not just doing what seems like a good idea at the time.
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