Want to know how? Here’s a case study.

What is Ondoor? What do they do?

Ondoor was established in 2014 as an indegenious local grocery store. By the end of 2017, they were a household name in 3 towns of MP – Indore, Bhopal & Mhow- with a 100+ outlets! If you happen to be from either of these 3 towns – you might’ve come across these outlets several times a day, or while searching for ‘grocery delivery near me’.

Now you might be wondering that a grocery delivery app isn’t a new concept altogether, but what is it that makes Ondoor different?

Well, it was back in 2016, when Ondoor had approached us, they had a functional website but they wanted to get into eCommerce to expand the scope of their business. We developed an android app for the company. Whilst the mobile grocery delivery app was made from scratch, their existing website was enhanced by us.

The context that led to the onset of the grocery delivery service project –

For working lads who’re buried head-to-toe in work from 9 to 5, going out on a weekly basis to shop for groceries is often a task. Forget going out, in addition to looking for the best quality, you have to sometimes just accept the fact that it’s not possible to bargain everyday for the right price and just jump on to the very first few deals that you manage to get.

Ondoor online grocery service was an idea, aimed exactly at reducing that effort of the customers, by offering the home delivery option, where virtually anything, be it Vegetables, Fruits, Household Items or Personal care products – they would be available at just a single click!

The challenges in the mobile app development –

While developing an app for an already well-performing offline grocery-store chain, the only major challenge for us was, to stand up to the expectations of the client with this key entry to the mobile-based-eCommerce industry. They initially wanted to become local competitors of BigBasket. In addition to that – UX had to be designed keeping in mind their pre-existing logo, website colour-scheme and font formats.

The aim was to build a mobile app by keeping in mind the website that was already there. The logo was already available and was provided by the client, so the colour schemes could be defined easily. By referring to the colour combination and the website, the font styles and the user experience was finally locked and passed on for development. For eCommerce solutions, and 2019 trends, you can refer to our previous blogs.

Coming to the development, the primary challenge was still there, the transition of a web app to the mobile app had to be made. We were asked to make minor changes to the website but at the same time, had to make the mobile app from the scratch. Also, we had to adhere to what the client already had in mind and had included in the website. By keeping those elements and modules intact, we had to enhance it even more to give the user and the client a memorable experience.

The approach we undertook-

Our Insight for the Client –

EngineerBabu wanted our users to experience a seamless, bugfree UI that would make them come back to place orders from the application, instead of going out to the market. We advised the client against going for the same model as BigBasket. Our argument was based on these facts –

• Since localites comprised of tier-2 city citizens, most of them wouldn’t be comfortable on an extremely tech-savvy application.
• For most users, a complicated purchasing method isn’t a viable option. In case the app doesn’t load within 3 seconds, they choose to opt out and not go any further with the process.
• We wanted the client to act global, but think local for the project to succeed. We suggested them to integrate local language – Hindi, in the application as well. They went ahead with our suggestion!

Development Model –

The approach that was used was the waterfall model. It took a team of 6 of our employees, hired on a dedicated hiring model by us.The requirements were understood by the sales team initially, and were then provided to the design team. After all the layouts had been created, it was the task of the developers to implement it.

Backend developers were working on the principle of modularity. The entire system and application components were divided into modules in order to carry out tasks on various elements at the same time without affecting the work of the other. Dividing the entire project into modules allowed various developers to work on the project at the same time in order to reduce the burden of doing the task on a single developer and in turn, reduce the time required to complete the project and hand over the product on time.

The Information Architecture –

As mentioned earlier, the mobile application was made from scratch, while the web application was altered. The APIs were made in order to provide the functionality to both the mobile application and the web application. The backend architecture for these APIs was made in OpenCart, a relatively new technology in the industry. The front end wasn’t a problem as the website layout was already there. As far as the mobile application was concerned, android was sufficient for both the backend API requests and the front-end client interface.

Wireframe –

During the designing phase of the project, tools like Photoshop and Illustrator were used. The primary reason for using them was to get access to a whole lot of features that are available for designing various elements of the overall project. Using such software and tools reduces the effort to make the core components of the project. This is because some of the components are already available and can be reused with ease without a lot of hassle.

Talking about the development phase, various tools were used by the Android and web developers to create what the designers had set in front of them. Usually, it’s the IDEs that are used in order to make it easy to code to get the desired result.

Results:

The process included- adding item in cart, choosing address, selecting time of order, payment method and.. Voila! Placing the order. Also, notification center – to get the latest promotional updates and the order status.

The business potential of the client’s brand name has been done justice to, by being complemented with this seamless online grocery shopping app. The user outreach of the brand has grown massively since the launch of the application. Old, as well as new users have forgotten about the hassle of going to supermarkets or vendors, bargaining and working hard to get the best deal for the products they wish to buy. Now, online grocery shopping is just one click away!

Learn more about choosing the right eCommerce development company, or reach out to us at mayank@engineerbabu.com.

Technology Stack for the Mobile App Development:

Followed here is a list of tools and apps that we used in the development of Ondoor grocery delivery app –

Android-

• IDE – Android Studio
• Build System – Gradle
• UI Designing – XML, Material design standards
• Web Services Calling – AQuery
• Image and Data Caching – AQuery
• Programming Language- Java
• Push Notifications – Firebase Cloud Messaging

Backend-

• Programming Language – PHP
• Database – MySQL
• IDE – SubLine

What do the users have to say?

This is what two of our users, Paritosh Dalei and Nehal Shah have reviewed on the Google Playstore for the Android app –

The number of installations and rating has also surpassed our own expectations!

Have you tried the Ondoor grocery shopping app? Let us know about your user experience in the comment section below. And if you’re looking for developers to execute your eCommerce ideas into reality, talk to us for a free consultation regarding the pricing and duration.

The post How we Developed a Grocery Delivery App with 1,00,000+ Downloads! appeared first on EngineerBabu Blog.

So, what’s next on the plate for a traditional E-commerce business? The answer is relatively simple and straight-forward – BLOCKCHAIN!

It has been enjoying a good run in the financial industry for quite some time now. A surge of more than 400% by 2021 is expected to be seen by the global blockchain market. As blockchain is inching closer to the real sectors of the economy, an increasing number of people have now started talking about other possible use-cases of blockchain apart from finance, especially in the most lucrative domain of them all, E-commerce.

The E-Commerce industry has disrupted the way we shop & live, and blockchain is on its path to disrupt eCommerce. The implementation of blockchain technology in eCommerce marketplace will ignite a significant shift by establishing a decentralised economy. Now, if you want to learn more about blockchain, then you must visit this link.

In this post, we are going to be extensively covering the 5 ways how blockchain is on its way transforming the E-commerce marketplace. Stay tuned, as this post is definitely going to leave you surprised.

1. Revamping Payments Methods

Blockchain witnessed its first implementation in currencies powered by its technology (like bitcoin, ethereum, and ripple).  Today, cryptocurrencies are being utilised as an alternative to traditional currencies.

This shift is due to the relative ease of implementation and the fact that they are decentralised. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies provide numerous advantages over traditional currencies which benefits both customers and merchants. Some significant advantages:

i. Decentralised

Blockchain isn’t regulated by any central authority which basically implies that the buyer and seller only control its operations. Thus, no third party can look over or manipulate your transactions. Blockchain currencies can’t be inflated or devalued by any bank or government, as is the case with other currencies. For instance, if the economies of a country were to collapse today, their currencies would terribly suffer which is not the case with bitcoin because geopolitics do not influence its operation.

ii. Identity Protection

Cryptocurrencies based on blockchain technology don’t reveal the identities of the transacting parties. Still, these transactions are very transparent as centralised ledger stores the details and give visibility to transactions.

iii. Freedom of Transactions

There is no governing body which controls how a person utilises his/her bitcoin. Regular payment methods are often imposed with several limits based on the amount and even geographical location. However, this isn’t the case with currencies like bitcoin. Blockchain-based currencies gives users absolute freedom to perform transactions without any cap on the spending limit.

iv. Ease of Use

Blockchain based currencies are incredibly comfortable to use. Unlike traditional currencies, one doesn’t need to visit any regulatory authority to create an account. From the comfort of your home, it can easily be accomplished. Additionally, they do not levy any charges to open an account; instead, a virtual currency wallet is absolutely free.

v. Faster Transactions

Traditional transfers often take long, especially sending money across continents may take up to several days to accomplish. Bitcoin transfers, on the contrary, only takes up a few minutes! Most importantly, they aren’t closed at any point in time, and a transaction could be carried out at almost any point of time, in an instant.

vi. Reduced Fraud

Blockchain-based currencies are extremely secure to transact with. Because of peer-to-peer technology, it is tough to hack into the process and conduct a fraud. Thus making it one of the safest modes of transaction.

With recent developments, it is very much likely that eCommerce marketplaces would soon allow consumers to pay with Bitcoin rather than Stripe or PayPal. Security is relatively easy to implement. In addition to being decentralised, sending and receiving money will become as convenient as scanning a QR code. The relative ease of making payments is likely to be the first implementation of blockchain in the eCommerce marketplace.

Recommended Read: How to Start an eCommerce Business

2. Improved Supply Chain Management

Supply chain management is one of the most pressing concerns that every eCommerce business is marred with. Since the supply chain is a critical element of any eCommerce business – blockchain implementation in this sector will likely solve many problems. Blockchain can be extensively leveraged to solve supply chain issues like record-keeping, tracking of products as a less corruptible and better alternative to the centralized database. Other use-cases of supply chain include:

i) Provenance Tracking

Record keeping and provenance tracking become easy. With the help of RFID tags and embedded sensors, product information can be accessed. The timeline of a product right from its inception to where it is at present can be traced through blockchain. Besides this, to detect anomalies in any segment of the supply chain, this type of accurate provenance tracking can also be leveraged.

ii) Cost Reduction

There is an automatic deduction in the extra costs incurred by the system. Blockchain is applied to amp-up the administrative processes in the supply chain. It happens while still guaranteeing the security of transactions. The elimination of intermediaries also eradicates the risks of frauds, product duplicity while saving money at the same time. Customers and suppliers can further process payments within the supply chain by utilizing cryptocurrencies rather than customers and suppliers or relying on EDI.

iii) Inventory Management

The management of inventory becomes a whole lot easier by introducing blockchain in the process. Blockchain implementations in inventory management enable retailers to avoid unnecessary expenditure on hiring new staff time and again.

Recommended Read: How Can Blockchain Remodel Supply Chain? A Comprehensive Analysis

3. A More Transparent eCommerce Marketplace

In the wake of charges for lack of transparency, there has been a recent backlash that big retailers have been facing.  For the existing eCommerce platforms, it’s a serious concern. For instance, Amazon was in the news for cutting-off and even disabling a merchant’s page without any explanation.

Thus, by applying blockchain technology in the eCommerce marketplace would establish a decentralised environment where any wrongdoings on the part of the business or merchant can be efficiently monitored.

A transparent eCommerce marketplace also facilitate in conducting transactions in a frictionless and efficient manner.
Moreover, with the declaration of recent blockchain projects by retail giants like Walmart and Unilever – it is evident that they are eyeing at gaining a foothold in blockchain-based offerings.

4.  Secure

Blockchain today, is one of the most secure platforms out there. The Distributed Ledger Technology or DLT which blockchain boasts, offer excellent security for online database platforms that makes it ideal for implementation in eCommerce. Also, there has been almost negligible reporting of security breaches in blockchain-powered networks.

Another significant upside blockchain offers for eCommerce businesses is that blockchain-based currencies don’t exhibit personally identifiable information.

Currencies like Bitcoin operate like cash in the sense that they don’t require a consumer to expose sensitive data. In fact, the customer himself authorises a transfer from his/her own personal “wallet” to that of the recipient. Tied to each user’s wallet, a randomly-generated unique identifier is the only distinguishing piece of data.

Since cyber attacks and data theft has increased tenfold, there is an inevitable risk of losing customers data. Therefore, adopting blockchain is an absolute key to solving these challenges.

Recommended Read: 5 Security Tips for Your eCommerce Business

5. Spawning Genuine Reviews and Personal Offers

i) Fake Reviews

Reviews – good or bad—can determine the order in which a business appears on an E-commerce marketplace or in a search query result. Fake reviews tarnish the reputation of a good company while at the same time promoting a fraudulent one. The reputation of an online enterprise relies on the legitimacy of its reviews. Hence the majority of online operators have increasing concerns regarding the product service reviews found on the internet.

Thus, making blockchain technology a crucial source to verify the reviews on their products or services. Deploying blockchain can help curb fake reviews, as blockchain stores data in blocks which is then added to a chain of similar information blocks. Each block requires to be verified across a network of computers. And once verified, it cannot be altered. To create a digital map of someone, this technology can be employed.

ii) Personal Offers

Adopting blockchain technologies in business processes can be extremely beneficial for marketing as you can issue redeemable reward points to the customers through blockchain when they cross a specific bar of spending. This will enable the client to benefit from a varied range of discounts and personal offers, at the same time enabling proper tracking of the data making blockchain technology more efficient.

Wrapping Up

The applications of Blockchain can revolutionise the eCommerce marketplace. Although it may take us a little time to witness these implementations – change is definitely in the pipeline. If you have an idea but do not have the tech expertise to build your software, visit Bluerang where you can find the best IT companies at affordable prices.

Besides being faster and considerably cheaper, blockchain facilitates most activities that the present-day commerce systems allow without causing any third party interference, making it ideal for retailers. Blockchain technology can finally be concluded as the backbone of businesses in the eCommerce marketplace.

Let us know if liked this information or need us to edit or add something. You can also drop an email at mayank@engineerbabu.com, or talk to us right now

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The post The 5 Ways in Which Blockchain is Transforming eCommerce appeared first on EngineerBabu Blog.

These few questions seem to be on everyone’s mind lately. Owing to the tremendous growth eCommerce has witnessed in the past half-decade, it is evident that businesses will be looking to seek benefits of omni-channel retailing.
But what exactly is omni-channel retailing? Do I need to employ this in my business strategy?
There seems to be a lot of conundrum revolving around this topic. But worry no more because we’re here to answer all the questions surrounding omni-channel. Stick around till the end of this post, and I assure you that none of your questions will go unanswered.

History

Retail in its Nascence

Since Adam, commerce used to be single-channel, meaning the retailers owned a physical brick and mortar store through which sales occurred. This model was a tremendous success considering you didn’t require significant expense other than setting up your store.
Since times evolved, this channel became obsolete as it encountered many limitations.

The Digital Revolution

As the age of the digital revolution befell and smartphones & tablets came in picture – Customers demanded a more comfortable approach. Thus, retailers shifted their focus to a more diversified strategy to broaden their offerings.
Consequently, the multi-channel approach was born. Leveraging multi-channel consumers were able to shop from different channels as per their preference. Multi-channel approach provided the needed flexibility and convenience required for consumers to purchase goods and services.

This approach observed tremendous growth and proved hugely successful. But with time, people started noticing its limitations as well – Although this approach was beneficial having bought round-the-clock access to customers, but lacked in providing a seamless experience across different channels.
And, as more and more data got accumulated, it became relatively critical to introduce coherence amongst different platforms. Moreover, customer service was also a big concern since retailers communicated with shoppers in multiple channels and became perplexed with data synchronization in separate systems.

The Third Wave of Change – Origin of Omni-Channel Retailing

Customers now are more demanding. They don’t want to be limited by their geography and not have access to some commodity that might be available someplace else. Besides, they wish to seamlessly manage purchases across different channels and not struggle with order fulfillment and delay in delivery.
Hence, the arrival of – “Omni-Channel Retail”

Pertaining exclusively to eCommerce, omni-channel retailing is an integrated approach to commerce aiming at providing a unified shopping experience to consumers across all platforms.
Omni-channel retail requires centralized management of data sources to ensure a demographic view of that data. As a result, customers can wishfully use different channels in their shopping process, commencing their search at one and finishing-up the purchase at another.

The Difference between Multi-channel and Omni-channel Retailing

Many people believe omni-channel to be an extension of multi-channel retailing, though this isn’t exactly the case. Both omni-channel and multi-channel follow distinct business models.
Using multi-channel retailers implement as many channels as possible but there is no coherence amongst them, each channel is managed separately.
On the other hand, the omni-channel approach offers an integrated solution where there is centralized management of data amongst all channels, thus establishing a symbiotic ecosystem.

Why omni-channel?

According to a recent study by Harvard Business Review – To better analyze the multitude of omni-channel retailing, it was stated that:

• 7% shopped online exclusively
• 20% were store-only shoppers
• 73% used multiple channels

The above stats clearly indicate an already underlying fact that multiple channels help generate more sales. Harnessing omni-channel efficiently can boost your sales in no time. This is because shoppers that engage with retailers on multiple channels make purchases more often.
Thus, omni-channel is a lucrative strategy which needs to be leveraged right away if you wish to increase sales and retain customers. After all,

Progress is Impossible without Change

Must Read: The Top 7 eCommerce Trends for 2019

Do businesses really need to employ an omni-channel retail strategy?

Since the dawn of the internet and all things related, every business is expected, and in fact, SHOULD, have an online presence. Entrepreneurs who got-on early on this bandwagon, and realized the importance of this extremely lucrative domain are still ruling the roost! (Amazon is a good example, I guess).
Several studies conducted over time have proven time, and again that multi-channel is the way to go. Owing to the fact that consumers nowadays want everything at their convenience, and having an online presence gives institutions that opportunity.
However, the demand now is not just having multiple channels to shop through – Consumers, now, are also looking for seamless integration across the numerous platforms they utilize throughout the day. Hence, it is extremely critical, especially now more than ever, to adopt the omni-channel approach if you want to expand your business.
Businesses who have already adopted this omnichannel approach are flying high. Let’s take a few use-cases to understand better:

• Disney

Disney has gotten the omni-channel experience right to the minutest of details. Disney’s trip planning website works flawlessly across all mediums like mobile, tablet, desktop, etc. Also, it seamlessly integrates across all your devices providing synchronization with the bat of an eye.

• Starbucks

Starbucks is also leading the herd when it comes to providing one of the finest omni-channel experiences. Standing in line to get your morning cup of Joe and realizing you don’t have enough balance in your account, is the side of the town where nobody ever wants to get to.

Starbucks has now made it possible to check and reload your card via phone, website, in-store, or on the app. Any change to the card or your profile gets updated across all channels, in real-time.

• Zomato

With omni-channel, it’s all about making the customer’s life easy. It becomes especially frustrating when there isn’t seamless integration amongst platforms of the same application. For instance, imagine yourself ordering food from your favorite restaurant to discover half-hour later that the restaurant hasn’t even received your order yet.

A situation like this nullifies the whole point of adopting this medium in the first place.

Zomato (an Indian food ordering service) seeks to eradicate this frustration with its flawless user experience. You can easily track your delivery guys’ movement in real-time across multiple platforms. Plus with its easy-to-navigate tools that provide on-the-go ordering access, Zomato does a wonderful job at that too.

Since you now understand why it is crucial to implement the omni-channel retail strategy in this day and age, let us now understand as to how exactly can you do it.

How to develop an omni-channel retail strategy

Get a comprehensive understanding of your customers’ persona

The first step that goes into establishing a seamless omni-channel retail strategy is in clearly chalking up your target customer’s persona. This includes understanding which devices, platforms or medium your customers utilize regularly.

Sieve through your Google Analytics report and develop a clear elucidation of your customers’ demographics, geography, and concentration.

Secondly, try and analyze how customers are discovering your business. Once you gather and analyze all this data, you can proceed with implementing strategies accordingly.

Analyzing this data will help you gain a broad understanding of the most important touchpoints for your business.

Providing Seamless User Experience by bridging Online & Offline Shopping experience

Now that you’ve nailed down specific platforms to streamline or improve, it’s time to build off of that understanding for an omni-channel buying experience.

You need to bridge the gap between the online and offline shopping experience because customers now, don’t like wasting time visiting your store if they aren’t sure whether their desired product will be on the shelf.

To address this, you can integrate your eCommerce platform with Google. Applying this will assist the user to directly go from keyword search to product location to buying it and picking it up in-store.

Concluding View

It is no secret that technology is rapidly evolving. We have come so far from the phase when you needed a desktop to access the internet. The inception of the first iPhone was a total shift in paradigm where your handheld device was able to seamlessly access the then growing realm of the internet.
No one has been able to make it big, all by himself! Teamwork goes a long way in ensuring the overall success of any organization.  Especially, in case of omni-channel retailing, you need to strictly ensure that all the cogwheels of your supply chain are working coherently.
EngineerBabu specializes in designing some of the best seamlessly-integrated eCommerce solutions out there, and we are more than willing to share our substantial domain expertise for the benefit of your organization. You can also contact us for a free consultation.
Feel free to drop your comments in the section below, in case you have any doubts.

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The post What is Omnichannel Retailing? appeared first on EngineerBabu Blog.

In this article, I would try and shed some light on the practical and significant use-cases of AI in eCommerce and how your eCommerce business can leverage it at this moment in time!
There seems to be a lot of conundrum on the subject of AI in eCommerce, so let’s put an end to this discussion, once and for all, shall we?

5 Use-Cases of AI in eCommerce

1. Better Search Results

It has been observed that customers end up abandoning their purchase because often the product results displayed turns out irrelevant.
Through AI organizations are trying to display customer-centric search results that are relevant to their desired ask.  eCommerce websites are increasingly leveraging NLP (or Natural Language Processing) and Image Recognition to better comprehend user language and produce better product results.
Yandex, a popular search engine, successfully implemented some advanced applications of NLP and Deep Learning to optimize future searches with the help of the data of previous searches. This turned out to be a massive success as they were able to increase their click-through rates by almost ten percent.
Clarifai is trying to improve ecommerce by building smarter applications which can see the world as people would. In their words, “Artificial Intelligence with a Vision.” These applications enable the developers to build more intelligent apps and at the same time empower business by providing a customer-centric experience.

Pinterest is partnering with ecommerce stores for its new offering Pinterest Lens to find matching items in the store directly from their image on Pinterest. This is great from the standpoint where people generally abandon their search because they aren’t able to find the relevant product.
Developments such as these are not just helping businesses generate better revenues, but are also reducing customers’ journey.

Recommended Read: 5 Tips to Ensure Impeccable Security for Your eCommerce Business

2. Shopping Experience Level 1001!

How do you enhance the user’s shopping experience?
Make it as real as possible!
If you want to understand just how much Google knows about you, go check out your Google Maps Timeline!
The devices that you use collect and store a ton of information about you. This data is extremely valuable as the right type of information can enrich and improve your shopping experience.
Deep Learning and Machine Learning technologies are able to utilize the smallest piece of data. For instance, even the hover that you made over a product is analyzed and evaluated to understand the likelihood of you buying that product.
In practice, this personalization helps deliver images of related products, enticing offers related to the product, alerts related to that product, and dynamic content that alters according to demand and supply.
AI engines such as Boomtrain acts as a bolt-on with your existing customer channels and helps businesses analyze how customers are interacting online. It also provides a unified view across all devices, monitoring and analyzing performances across different platforms.
Companies like Criteo, are assisting Internet retailers to serve personalized online display advertisements to consumers who have previously visited the advertiser’s website. Through cross-device advertising, they are able to engage shoppers wherever they are online with premium-placed ads across desktop, mobile and social.

AI is assisting in generating deep and relevant insights of data by analyzing and scanning through terabytes of data to efficiently predict human behavior. This scale of intelligence helps deliver a personalized shopping experience for the end user.

3. Curbing Fake Reviews

These stats are absolutely insane!
Customer reviews are an integral part of the sales cycle. 87% of customers trust what they read without the blink of an eyelid. The last couple of years have seen a surge in talks around this subject and has consequently impacted the way customer perceive information they encounter online, even if it is ostensibly written by a credible source.
Artificial Intelligence is increasingly being deployed to analyze user reviews.
For instance, Yelp has deployed a sentiment analysis technique to classify their review ratings. Through this technique, they organize the information into different data sets like business_id (ID of the business being reviewed), date (Day the review was posted), review_id (ID for the published review), stars (1–5 rating for the business), text (Review text), etc,.
On similar lines, Facebook has come up with their AI solution “fastText” for text classification and create supervised as well as unsupervised learning algorithms to obtain vector representation for words.

4.  Sales Forecasting

Earlier only God or Charles Xavier could have read your mind – but now – AI can too!
Try and fathom an alternate reality where all your marketing efforts and expenditures are targeted only where the customer is likely to make a purchase. Your conversion rate will be at an all-time high, and you won’t waste your capital on customers who won’t buy.
Being able to foretell how much of a given product will sell by a specific date will enable shop owners to stack up on inventory more efficiently, and simultaneously eliminate large sums of undesired cost.
It is especially valuable for industries dealing with perishable products, which include not only groceries but also tickets of concert and transportation – anything that costs money when unsold.

Sounds too good to be true, right?

AI solutions can gather historical data about past purchases and help your sales team better derive conclusions and make decisions. Besides, you won’t even need to sell your arms and legs to afford this either as these solutions are easily deployable, even by organizations with smaller budgets. Employing AI, businesses were able to derive relevant conclusions like –

• Suggesting products that should be promoted on a particular date
• Identify popular products that are making good sales
• Predicting what customers are likely to purchase in advance
• Determining the highest price a customer will pay for your product
• Targeted promotions
• Reduce fraud
• Improve supply chain management
• Enhance business intelligence
• Make the most money on your sales

5. Chatbots to the Rescue

It might be so hard for you to feel special amongst an ocean of 7 Billion, right?
Well, eCommerce websites are adopting chatbots to make you feel special.
Companies are increasingly deploying chatbots to improve customer service & satisfaction. Go ahead and browse any ecommerce site, a little chatbox will pop-up asking you what you want to make a purchase of. Once you enter your requirements, you get filtered results specific to your taste.
Let us list some benefits of deploying chatbots:

• Chatbots have increased customer conversion tremendously by reducing the labor for lazy buyers.
• We have come so far from the time when chatbots offered just customary replies. Now they have become intelligent beings who understand and tackle a range of issues which they were earlier incapable of.
• It is vital to provide real-time support to online shoppers as a recent study found that almost 83% of online shoppers need assistance while shopping and chatbots make it possible to provide real-time support.
• Chatbots also provide a more personalized experience for consumers. Compared with social media, chatbots can make conversations more interactive and engaging. They increase the sales figures by up to 40%.
• Deploying chatbots helps to collect feedback more efficiently. Additionally, it can make it easier to track purchasing patterns and consumer behavior.
• Chatbots can provide efficiency, that too at an affordable price. Live support can be quite costly with limited work hours. Chatbots automate the process and can operate 24/7.
• Chatbots are gaining ground. Apart from potentially changing the industry, implementing a chatbot can be a good marketing campaign. Any company who wants to stay ahead in the race needs to follow this trend.

Wrapping Up

Coming up with innovations isn’t rocket science anymore. AI has become the single biggest driver of massive technological advancements in every tangible domain – and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.
The question we need to ask ourselves is – Are we ready to keep pace and adapt with this onslaught of changes that are happening so rapidly?
If No, there you have it. You need to adapt and change pace as quickly as possible. Coz if you don’t, you will be replaced.

EngineerBabu excels in providing some of the best eCommerce solutions out there. Our AI-enabled offerings help derive deeper insights into the customer journey and in turn assist businesses in taking calculated decisions on how to advance.

Our eCommerce customers have garnered numerous accolades over time. Our dear Australian customer Frankgreen grabbed the Best Design Award for not one, two, but three consecutive years. Ondoor, a grocery retailer earned 100,000 downloads in record time as well!

Call us for a free consultation, we’ll be glad to help you out! Also check out our portfolio, right here. 

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Firstly, let us understand some of the most distinguished and common threats that hamper merchants from doing business effectively –

• Online Security
  There is a wide range of ecommerce security threats out there that hamper trade over the internet. The primary motive behind all these security threats is to exploit the victim in terms of money. These include credit card frauds, malware, phishing attacks, hacking, spams, etc.
• System Reliability
  System reliability comprises three major types of issues
  • The Internet service provider (ISP) server could crash
  • The online payment system could show errors
  • The ecommerce plugin could have bugs
• Privacy Issues
  We can’t even quantify how many product catalogs, user IDs, personal information, and financial information like credit card details a typical eCommerce site stores. That’s what makes eCommerce sites of almost any magnitude, so attractive and appealing to hackers and fraudsters to exploit. A customers’ personal data could be compromised and used for spamming, identity theft and unsolicited marketing. Therefore, privacy issues are one of the most pressing problems for e-commerce businesses.
• Payment Frauds
  No matter how good your online security measures are, sometimes it is tough to avoid payment frauds. Notorious elements could get access to details of your credit cards by impersonating as financial institutions.
• Intellectual Property Issues
  Others could copy your product descriptions, product images, copyright logos, even music, and even videos and use it for their purposes. Intellectual property violations are pretty eminent as they could easily be made.

Recommended Read: How to Start an eCommerce Business?

Having learned about the major threats, now let’s dig into how you can prevent your site or your business from these imminent anomalies that hover around this realm,

1. Get SSL Certified

Ideally, every site needs to have SSL by default. Generally, SSL certificates are used to protect data transfer, credit card transactions,  and login information. In a recent development, SSL certifications are also being deployed on social media sites to enable secure browsing.

What are SSL certificates?
SSL Certificates are records of data which digitally bind a cryptographic key to an organization’s details. When deployed on a server, SSL activates the padlock and HTTPS protocol and activates secure connections from a web server to a browser.
SSL Certificates bind together:

• A domain name, server name or hostname.
• An organizational identity (i.e., company name) and location.

The primary reason why the utilization of SSL is increasing is that they keep sensitive information sent across the Internet encrypted so that only the intended recipient can access it. This is critical because the information one sends over the Internet is conceded from computer to the other to get to its destination. If any computer in the network is compromised, the server would be able to see your username, passwords and even sensitive information like credit card numbers if it is not encrypted with an SSL certificate.
When an SSL certificate is used, the information becomes unreadable to everyone except for the server you are transferring the information to. This approach safeguards it from potential threats and notorious elements.

How does it work?

1. A user attempts to connect to a website (i.e., a web server) via a web browser. This connection needs to be secured with SSL.
2. The web browser requests the identity of the web server.
3. The web server sends a copy of its SSL certificate.
4. The browser verifies the received SSL certificate. If verified it sends a message to the web server.
5. The web server acknowledges by sending over an acknowledgment.
6. The session is started, and encrypted data is shared

2. Become PCI compliant

In a study, it was found that nearly 90% of security breaches impact small businesses.
PCI Compliance stands for Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). The PCI DSS is a security standard for organizations that handle branded credit cards from the major card schemes.
The standard came into practice in 2006 and has gained wide popularity worldwide to prevent credit card frauds and to increase controls around cardholder data.
PCI compliance applies to corporations of any size that accepts card payment. So, is your ecommerce PCI compliant?
There are plenty of reasons to become PCI compliant as this could increasingly secure your online transactions considerably.
Small businesses often feel plagued in their capabilities to adjust their processes accordingly to become PCI compliant. Hence, if you want your business to become PCI compliant you need to remember, PCI compliance is attained through a collaborative effort amongst teams, including working with payment processors that ensure PCI compliance, accepting EMV chip cards and even securing your business’s IT infrastructure, networks, and payment processes.
PCI compliance can be intimidating and complicated for e-commerce business owners to decipher and implement, but they’re a set of precautions designed to minimize your risk and protect your customers.
Getting PCI compliant can be a daunting task, especially for small business owners. Thus your PCI compliance checklist should include the following:

• Use a firewall for payment card data and public network, and keep the firewall updated.
• Do not store the cardholder’s data. If your business needs to store cardholders’ data, make sure you use strong encryption. Several platforms provide extensions to shift the storage of cardholder data. For instance, you can deploy Magento’s extension BrainTree to switch the storage of the cardholder data.
• Use encryption to safeguard all transmissions of cardholder data over any public network.
• You need to ensure that your card processing systems have a vendor-supplied security patch installed.
• Limit access to cardholder data to as few people as possible.
• Regularly test your security systems and network environment.
• Establish an effective and efficient security policy and make sure that all personnel are aware of it.

3. Choose the correct eCommerce Platform

It is an extremely critical business process to employ an efficient ecommerce platform for your business. It is vital, especially for small business, to be extremely vigilant while selecting the correct ecommerce platform for your business.
With sleuths of ecommerce platforms being available at throwaway prices, selecting the appropriate platform becomes a daunting task, considering that switching isn’t an appropriate option. Hence, a tonne of planning must go into ensuring that you have selected the best platform.
Our recommendations:

• We recommend you to employ a platform which is based on Object-Oriented Programming and includes built-in security protocols.
• In case, if you opt for WordPress as your platform, select a good WordPress security plugin that will help add an extra layer of protection to your website.
• Also, set up a bot mitigation solution as it isn’t provided by default.

Have a look at the table below, and you’ll get a brief idea on which platform could be leveraged for your business.
For an in-depth understanding of the best and most suitable ecommerce platforms for your business, do read our detailed article on, “Best eCommerce Platforms in 2019.”

4. Do I really need security auditing?

YES, YOU DO!
I can’t press on this enough to make people understand the importance of security auditing. Even if you are a small business with relatively lesser transactions and money flowing through your website,
YOU DO NEED SECURITY AUDITING.
Frequent security checkups and audits are highly recommended for sustaining and reinforcing your ecommerce website’s safety. Audits not just help in weeding out potential threats that may have found their way onto your portal, but also eliminates data of past transactions.
Just like casinos; online portals which have round-the-clock cash flow are marred with new security contingencies every other day. Security audits thus become quite necessary to ensure their client’s information is safeguarded efficiently and effectively.
An ecommerce business is granted a certificate and a mark after its security audit. Even consumers can differentiate these security audited websites through the individual marks they embody.
There are 4 significant factors on which the security audit of business is evaluated, namely:

• Data security
• Performance
• Engagement
• Navigation
• Product
• Payment
• Fulfillment
• Service

5. Is your Customer even Human?

Do you know that bots represent 50% of all the website traffic?
Do you also know that 30% of this 50% are bad bots?

These bad boys are the single-handedly the most significant contributors to eCommerce website frauds.
Everyone wants more traffic for their ecommerce site. However, it is necessary to ensure that all this traffic is legitimate and comes from a verified buyer. What you might suppose as legitimate traffic on your website could actually be malicious bots deployed by hackers and even your competitors to scrape your product prices and even steal your entire customer data, vendor data and product catalogs, that too within a matter of a few seconds.
For protecting your business against the threats of bad bots creeping into your website, you can employ a series of effective steps,
STEP 1: Detecting and Analyzing legitimate bot traffic is the first step. Bot detection platforms should be able to make out human traffic from non-human traffic. Non-human traffic patterns could be detected by employing logical puzzles and security questions on pages that involve cash flow.
STEP 2: Once you are finished implementing STEP 1, and bot traffic have been identified, the next step involves classifying the type of traffic. Bot traffic could either be from a known source – like that of search engine bots which should be allowed to pass through, and the other could be from a source malicious source, whose intent may not be clear – this shouldn’t be allowed to pass through.
STEP 3: The third and final step involves controlling the malicious bot traffic, which would depend on the intent of the bot. For example,

• If the bot is eyeing for vulnerabilities or trying to commit frauds like shopping cart stuffing, the software should deny access and return a false 404 “page not found” to the bot.
• For a DoS attack (denial of service), your bot mitigation and management solution should simply divert the traffic.

Fortunately, there are also some pretty effective bot detection platforms that you could leverage at a reasonable price for your eCommerce site, namely,

• Infisecure
  InfiSecure offers real-time and user behavior based bot detection technology to identify bad bots. Their tools block web scraping bots in real time before they access your ecommerce website, thus preventing customers from fraudulent orders, data theft, price scraping, and variation tracking.
• ShieldSquare
  ShieldSquare utilizes a non-intrusive API-based approach to analyses and detects malicious activity on your ecommerce site, thus blocking bots in real-time without impacting the real users already browsing through your product catalog.
• Data DomeBeing employed by some of the significant fortune 500 companies, Data Dome employs an AI-empowered bot management solution to counter frauds like user data theft, price scraping, etc.
• Global Dots
  Global Dots is an extraordinarily efficient and effective platform to ensure security from bad bots. They use Behavioral Fingerprinting to analyze dynamic profiles of real customers to identify click frauds, content and price scraping.

Concluding View

Many pillars go into holding-up the dome of eCommerce security.
Data privacy being a major concern for every internet-based enterprise right now, it is extremely important, now more than ever to safeguard customer’s data to maintain the dwindling trust with eCommerce-based companies. With the revelation of Cambridge Analytica Scandal consumers have become unsure of commerce over the internet.  
Whether you are just starting out, or have a small business in a place or a major enterprise – Doesn’t matter. These measures need to function like clockwork to ensure impeccable security for your website. One would also need to keep yourself and your team updated with the latest advancements in Cybersecurity.
Stringent security measures must be put in place to protect your company from threats, or risk jeopardizing revenue and customer trust.
After all, It is a tricky domain to be in, but,

The fruits of your labor will bear the fruits of your success.

Handpicked Content for You:

• How to Start an eCommerce Business
• How to Start a FinTech Company
• How to Enhance Your Payments Usability – Instantly!
• How Can AI Help Small Business?
• Largest eCommerce Companies in the World

The post 5 Security Tips for your eCommerce Website appeared first on EngineerBabu Blog.

In fact, E-commerce integration has come as far as becoming a top priority for B2B business owners.

The growth of the global E-commerce market in recent years is simply mind-blowing. E-commerce accounts for almost 10% of retail sales in the US and 23% in China – a figure that is growing by upwards of 15% each year.
According to a recent statistics report – In 2018 retail E-commerce sales amounted to $2.842 trillion which is expected to hit $4.8 trillion by 2021.

The notion that E-commerce is a separate entity in itself is quickly evolving as a customer’s journey of buying a product or a service, now merge online and in-store. Nowadays a purchase cycle doesn’t simply end by making a purchase. There are swarms of marketing gimmicks to try and lure you into making repeat purchases.

You might have also observed that even if you made an in-store purchase you get bombarded with offers that are simply too good to resist. Great examples of such gimmicks are shopping festivals, Black Friday Sales, etc.

Enlisted below are the major 7 E-commerce trends to watch out for in 2019 and some important developments that companies should take into account this year to ensure the growth of their online business.

Omnichannel 

Omnichannel might be a relatively new term for some, but it is definitely one to reckon.
It is basically a multi-channel content strategy that businesses apply to improve the user experience. Its approach implies that communication mediums and their supporting resources are organised to work in unison rather than working in parallel.

In other words, It entails the integration of several platforms, online as well as offline, such that the experience of communicating across all the channels one prefers to use is as efficient and pleasant as using a single channel in isolation.

Pertaining to E-commerce, omnichannel is a thoroughly-integrated approach to trade which aims at providing shoppers with a unified experience across online and offline mediums. Through this approach, businesses are eyeing to intricately link digital and in-person purchases to create a symbiotic commercial ecosystem.
A real omnichannel shopping experience will extend way beyond brick-and-mortar stores encapsulating E-commerce marketplaces, mobile-browsing, social media, and even onsite storefronts.

“To Be Everywhere – That’s the Dream”

Although recent studies have shown a laid-back attitude of shoppers in embracing the omnichannel approach, it is definitely bound to change. According to industry insiders, it will be the single biggest development in eCommerce in 2019.

• Why are we so sure, you ask?

Major US retailers and tech giants are loosening their purse strings and going on a shopping spree all across the globe. For instance, Walmart’s acquisition of India’s largest eCommerce company – Flipkart, and Amazon buying Whole Foods indicates that big businesses are expanding their reach in order to combine different shopping experience.

The willingness of these corporations to squander indicates efforts to integrate the online and offline shopping experience. Big corporations are trying to establish a unified experience across online and offline channels. Understanding the need of the future, they are eyeing to link the digital and in-person purchases together to create a symbiotic commercial ecosystem.

For instance, IBM Enterprise Mobility Services can help retailers create an omnichannel shopping experience, using data analyzed and collected from mobile apps, social media, and in-store technologies.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dg-ZGU3D9E

Thus, it is critical for any business to keep up with the latest online trends to continue boosting sales and at the same time stay ahead of the competition.

Trustable Ecommerce App Development Companies

Automation

One of the most likely trend that will likely disrupt not just E-commerce, but numerous sectors in the next half decade is – Automation.

Many industry experts believe that automation will likely become one of the most effective ways for E-commerce business owners to expand their business offerings. Automation tools will possibly take over a majority of manual tasks that derive no substantial ROI (Return on Investment), which will enable businesses to employ their manpower in doing more tangible and creative work.

• The Rise of Chatbots & Impending Layoffs

According to a survey it was found that over 50% of online shoppers prefer using messenger applications to contact businesses rather than traditional methods like calls or e-mails.

Therefore, AI-enabled chatbots would likely be incorporated by more and more eCommerce merchants for customer support and satisfaction.

However, according to reports, this development will claim as many as 2.3 million jobs that were earlier performed by humans.

Stringent Return Policies

eCommerce business is marred by its biggest advantage.
The generous return policies are proving to be a two-edged sword for eCommerce businesses. For instance, returns have hit a whopping $450B in 2018, up 53% since 2015.

Recommended Read: Best eCommerce Platforms for Small Business

During its nascent stage, eCommerce business owners introduced liberal return policies in order to increase conversions by reducing consumer uncertainty. But owing to the exceptional growth, free shipping, and generous return policies have produced a dangerous side-effect – The cost of managing these returns.

Witnessing this trend, in 2018, Amazon declared it would impose a lifetime ban on – “serial returners.” Serial returners are shoppers who have a habit of returning many or even most of their purchases. 61% of retailers stated they would do the same if they had better means to track returns and “serial returners”.

Hence, in 2019 it is likely to witness a multitude of retail initiatives that deter returns. These initiatives could include more complex or conditional return policies to even incentives to pick up items from store.

PWA

For beginners, let’s understand what PWA is.
The Definition…
Progressive Web App or PWA, is a term used to denote a new software development methodology. Unlike traditional applications, progressive web applications are a hybrid between regular web pages and mobile applications.

This new application model endeavours to combine the features offered by most modern browsers with the advantage of providing a fluid mobile experience.

PWAs (or Progressive Web Applications) will likely change how eCommerce & Mobile coexist.
Brands and retailers will soon begin switching from sites and applications to this new standard as it combines the upsides of each and simultaneously does away with the limitations.

It’s all about removing friction & making it easy for users to get to what they want.

– said an industry insider

The Advantages of PWA:

• Connectivity independence: PWAs can work on low-quality as well as offline networks.
• App-like interface: PWAs mirror navigation and interactions of native applications.
• Self-updates: PWAs are able to update themselves automatically, thus apps stay fresh.
• Safety: PWAs are served through HTTPS, so unauthorized users can’t access their content.
• Discoverability and easy installation: PWAs aren’t available on app stores. Although they can be shared through a URL, and therefore, are found easily.
• Faster: PWAs load 2-10 times faster than mobile sites.
• Push Notification: PWAs also allows push notifications, similar to other native applications.
• Responsive: PWAs are very responsive and are compatible with almost any browser, regardless of screen size and other specifications.

Many organizations, as well as E-commerce platforms, have already begun adopting PWAs and this trend is likely to continue. In 2019, we’ll see more and more E-commerce businesses shifting to PWAs to enhance shoppers’ experience.

Enter the Robots

China’s second largest E-commerce player, JD.com, deployed robots to improve their warehouse functioning, such as categorizing, packaging, and parcel sorting. They witnessed a considerable increase in the efficiency and speed of the sorting mechanisms and even the delivery schedules of the products.

AI and Machine Learning capabilities are already being extensively leveraged by almost all significant eCommerce players to better interpret consumer behaviour and concurrently provide personalized product recommendations.

But this isn’t the only use case for AI in 2019.
Apart from customer service and retention, AI-based solutions will most likely automate – The creation, classification, and translation of product content.

With hoards of products being added every second to the database, it has become extremely critical to keep up with the pace of content creation.
This change is extremely necessary as shoppers often abandon a purchase due to lack of product information. The winners in this race will be businesses with the best and most relevant product information and consequently end up acquiring customers.

Social Buying

Social buying is already a huge affair in China where 55% of users stated buying goods and services directly through social media applications.
No less than 11% online shoppers now purchase through their smartphones weekly, 35% also reported that it has become their primary purchasing medium.

This trend is likely to make a crossover; and markets like the US, UK, and Canada will witness an increasing number of transactions through social media platforms this New Year.

Private messaging services like WhatsApp, Snapchat and Facebook Messenger have a huge user base. Businesses will look to leverage their popularity and make these services transactional.
Major social media platforms have already begun implementing shopping features in their solutions,

• Instagram, for instance, is believed to be working on designing a standalone shoppable application. This development comes after their introduction of shopping features on its main platform, where they already provide options for businesses to trade through their platform – providing an image, product description and price information, along with a direct link to the website of the seller.
• Google, through its new offering – Google Express is aiming to consolidate retailers into a single cart for consumers, centralizing the purchasing experience, including in-store pickup – without ever being a merchant themselves. Google thus will capitalize on the vastness of its ecosystem.

• Snapchat also has come up with its innovative, “Shop and Cop” section, where users can scan through merchandise and buy directly through the application without being directed to a separate website.

eCommerce business owners should definitely consider leveraging social media platforms as this is the destination where they can directly interact with young shoppers who are already adept in purchasing online.
So, if you aren’t satisfied with simply getting leads and generating traffic – Social Media is the place to be!

Voice Search

Voice Search is set to take off this year.
According to studies, over 50% of millennial use voice search before making a purchase online. Voice search offers a lucrative opportunity for business to reach their audience in a much personalised manner. Also, with the exponential surge in adoption and usage of voice-activated devices such as Google Home and Amazon Echo – tech companies will definitely look forward to utilizing them in the future.

Popular voice assistants such as Google Assistant and Alexa will gain prominence in 2019 and would become a reliable medium for purchasing online.
Walmart and Google have already announced plans of partnership to allow shopping through their Google’s voice assistant.

Optimizing your online store for voice search is definitely a must in 2019 when one takes into account the projected increase in mobile commerce. Make sure you take the time to better understand the demographics of your business, your key customer persona, check out how they interact with your social media channels, and emulate their language.

Also Read: Top E-commerce Development Companies in 2019

Wrapping Up

The eCommerce domain is transforming dramatically every year.
As AI continues to further move towards enhancing the customer experience – We shouldn’t be surprised if our gadgets like Google Home or Amazon Echo analyze our needs and orders our stuff automatically.

Through omnichannel marketing and integration of payment services, you will be able to effectively and efficiently manage your eCommerce business and simultaneously reach more people.
Whatever strategy you wish to pursue in 2019, try and make sure you test your purchasing experience at all times.

Industry experts strongly recommend getting someone to go through your site for the first time or asking someone you don’t know to give their thoughts. As,

You’ll constantly find something to improve or amend that you may have never noticed before.

EnginnerBabu has proven its mettle by creating some of the best eCommerce solutions out there. Our solid expertise in the domain, along with relevant experience in building eCommerce products makes us an ideal tech partner for your business. Reach out to us for a free consultation call. We would love to guide you!

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The post Top 7 E-commerce Trends appeared first on EngineerBabu Blog.

This is a simple business model that’s extremely easy to over think. There are many moving parts that can feel tricky, and even confusing at times. Therefore one must remember,

“Everything is Simple, till you make it complicated.”

Here’s the basic game plan to start an eCommerce Business

1. Select a product to sell
   1. Find a product to sell
   2. Evaluate your product
   3. Conduct market research
   4. Obtain your product
   5. Prepare a business plan
   6. Sell some samples
2. Set up your business
   1. Find a name and create an engaging logo
   2. Structure your website for SEO
   3. Build your store
   4. Select a sales channel
3. Identify KPIs for your business
4. Acquiring Customers
5. Market extensively
6. Collect feedback

STEP 1: Selecting a Product

In this section, we will highlight some key strategies one can apply to get going with your product.
1. Selecting a product to sell
The first step in building an ecommerce business is to know what products you want to sell, and this is generally the place where most entrepreneurs get themselves stuck in.  If you don’t understand what you’re doing, it’s easy to get lost in the Gulf of Product Research.
With so many businesses and sellers looking to one-up the other – It is essential to target a niche market segment, in case your product is mainstream – remember to keep your quality high, and pricing as competitive as possible.
2. Evaluating your product
Once you get a product idea in mind, how do you stipulate it will sell?
Here market research comes to action.

• Brainstorm and research about the different types of products you can sell.
• Take into account every possible anomaly.
• Validate your product idea by asking people to purchase before you start on making or importing them.

Pre-sales is a powerful strategy that could help ensure there’s a real demand for your product. Pre-sales helps reduce assumptions and gets you moving forward quickly with your business.
3. Find the Right Vendors
Once you’ve decided on a product, you will need to source that product from a distinguished supplier. It can take quite some digging to find them, but there are ways to ensure you dodge the scams and increase your odds at finding an awesome supplier.
You’ll have a lot of competition selling products online, so it is in your best interest to obtain the best quality and best prices for the products you wish to sell, or materials you use to create your products. Look around with patience until you find a vendor you want to do business with long-term.
The DON’Ts

• Don’t proceed to buy in bulk from a factory until you have their samples in your hands which you absolutely LOVE.
• Don’t let any supplier tell you that they can’t ship small sample orders; they are just trying to squeeze you.
• Don’t purchase with any other method but Trade Assurance or PayPal for the first few months with your supplier. This eradicates a ton of risk.
• Don’t buy from someone that won’t accept PayPal or Trade Assurance. What it really indicates is that they were closed down due to complaints.
• Never buy counterfeit products. Not that there isn’t money to be made, it’s just a bad business to be in and ILLEGAL.
• Never buy a lot of inventory in the beginning.

STEP 2: Set up your business

Besides from finding an actual product to sell online, another challenging decision is determining your business or brand name and choosing an appropriate and available domain name.
1. Find a name and create an engaging logo
The right name can prove to be a brand’s valuable asset, driving differentiation and speeding acceptance. On the other hand, the wrong name can cost millions in workarounds and lost income over the lifecycle of the brand.
Thus, it is immensely important to find the right name when setting up your online store and help your business stand out from the crowd. Here are a few pointers on how to find that killer name.

• Keep it short & simple
• Be different
• Put on your creative thinking hats
• Be original
• Never lose the essence

2. Structure your website for SEO
To make sales, it is vital for any online venture to rank well on search engines. Therefore you need to understand the basics of search engine optimization so that you can adequately structure your site and pages for Google and other search engines.
Here are a few pointers that can help you rank well on popular search engines like Google:

• Carry out extensive keyword research
  • You can use keywords research tools like Ubersuggest, SEMrush, Moz etc to understand which keywords are trending.
  • Choose the right keyword for your store
• Ensure your site structure is simple, but easy to scale.
• Try keeping every page of your site as few clicks from the homepage as possible.
• Leverage On-page SEO for the product category and product pages
• Take advantage of LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing)

3. Build your store
After having a better understanding of search engines, it is now time to build your store. The two most crucial aspect of delivering the best user experience is – Captivating product descriptions and Beautiful product photography
Recommended Read: 5 Things to Keep in Mind for Building an eCommerce Website
4. Select a sales channel
It is a smart approach to leverage already build sales channel instead of creating new ones. Therefore one of the best ways to target new customers is to choose sales channels where they already shop. The right combination of sales channels will depend on your products and your target customers.

STEP 3: Identify KPIs for your business

Key performance indicators or (KPIs) are like landmarks on the road to online retail success. Examining them will help eCommerce entrepreneurs identify progress toward sales, marketing, and customer service goals.
KPIs should be selected and monitored depending on your unique business goals. Specific KPIs support some goals while they’re irrelevant for others. With the idea that KPIs should be different based on the goal being measured, it’s likely to consider some performance indicators for eCommerce.

For instance, these could be some of the key KPIs for different sectors:
For Marketing

• Site traffic: Site traffic is the total number of visits to your eCommerce website. More site traffic means more users are visiting your store.
• New visitors vs returning visitors – New visitors are the first-time visitors to your site. Returning visitors, on the other hand, are those who have been to your site before.
• Total Time on site: This KPI tells you how much time visitors are spending on your site. Ideally, more time spent signifies they’ve had deeper engagements with your brand. Generally, you’ll want to see more time spent on blog content and landing pages and lesser time spent through the checkout process.
• Bounce rate: The bounce rate denotes how many users exit your site after viewing only one page. If the bounce rate is higher, you’ll want to investigate why visitors are leaving your site instead of sticking around.

For Sales:

• Sales: Ecommerce retailers can examine the total sales by hour, day, week, month, quarter, or year.
• Average order size: Sometimes referred to as the average market basket, the average order size tells you how much a customer is typically going to spend on a single order.
• Gross profit:  This KPI is determined by deducting the total cost of goods sold from total sales.
• Average margin: Average profit margin or average margin is a percentage that represents your profit margin over a specified duration.
• Number of transactions: These are the total number of transactions. Use this KPI in union with average order size, or the total number of site visitors to get more profound insights.

For Customer Service:

• Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) score: The CSAT score is measured by customer response to a ubiquitous survey question: “How satisfied are you with your experience?” This is usually answered using a numbered scale.
• Net promoter score (NPS): The NPS KPI provides insight into your customer relationships and brand loyalty by describing how likely customers are to recommend your brand to someone in their connections.
• Hit rate: Calculate your hit rate by accounting the total number of sales of a single product and dividing it by the total number of customers who have contacted the customer service team for the said product.
• Customer service email count: Are the number of emails your customer support team receives on a daily basis.

For project management:

• Hours worked: The total hours worked tells the total time a team has put in a project. Project managers should also measure the inconsistency in estimated vs actual hours worked to calculate better and resource future plans.
• Budget: Budget depicts how much money has been allocated for a specific project. Project managers and ecommerce business owners would want to ensure that the allocated budget is realistic; if you are repeatedly over budget, some adjustments to your project planning needs to be done.
• Return on Investment (ROI): This KPI tells us, how much your efforts have earned for your business. The higher the number, the better.
• Cost variance: Just as it is helpful to compare real vs predicted timing and hours, you should examine the total cost against the expected cost. This will help you comprehend where you need to reel it in and where you may want to invest more.

STEP 4: Acquiring Customers

Acquiring customers, in the beginning, requires focus and time. With hundreds of channels and means to promote your business, it can become difficult to find the ones that make better sense for your business.
One needs to identify some key marketing tactics that you are planning to leverage and implement them for the first few months. Identify some KPIs to analyze whether the tactics that you narrowed down are working or not. If not then you should tweak your marketing strategy.
It’s easy to fall prey to endlessly altering your store in pursuit of perfection, instead of spending that attention into the most significant activity – Getting people to the store.
Try this challenge: If your store had already launched, focus your next 30 days exclusively on getting targeted traffic that’s likely to make a purchase.

STEP 5: UP Your Marketing Efforts

Once you are in the business for a quarter or two – It is time to shift your focus to a broader marketing initiative.  It is likely that by thi time you have a few sales under your belt. It’s time to get serious and focused. Try implementing the below strategies to drive hoards of customers to your door –

• E-mail marketing
  • Run email campaigns
  • Send promotional and transactional emails
• Content Marketing
  • Create engaging blog posts
  • Post relevant and crisp content
  • Leverage significant players of the industry
• Social Media Marketing
  • Utilize Instagram to drive traffic
  • Try your hands at Pinterest
  • Create short YouTube videos.

STEP 6: Gather feedback

To stay relevant in ecommerce, it is crucial to learn from your mistakes.

I have observed that almost everyone in the ecommerce domain never follows up on their customers’ feedback. Collecting feedback shouldn’t be your only goal; instead one needs to follow up diligently on the customers’ shopping experience and implement strategies to improve the same.
Several major ecommerce players swear by this strategy.

Wrapping Up

Building your own eCommerce business or for that matter, any business whatsoever is as appealing as it is challenging. At a rapid pace, you need to learn a tonne about choosing a product, assessing its viability, figuring out how to get it sourced or produced, building the online store, marketing and selling to new customers. The process doesn’t even end here, you need to constantly improvise and improve your offerings or someone will get ahead of you.
The process can feel quite tedious as if you’re solving a head-scratcher of a puzzle, but it’s rewarding at the same time. We wish following this resource roundup helps provide you with a clearer road-map.

We hope you found this post valuable. Let us know in the comments below what you would like to learn next about.

Handpicked Content for You

• Top eCommerce Development Companies – 2019
• 5 Things to Keep in Mind for Building an eCommerce Website
• Largest eCommerce Companies in the World
• Best eCommerce Platform for Small Business – 2019
• How Can AI Help Small Businesses?

The post How to Start an eCommerce Business appeared first on EngineerBabu Blog.

According to Statista, In 2017, retail e-commerce sales worldwide amounted to USD 2.3 trillion & e-retail revenues are predicted to grow to USD 4.88 trillion by 2021. The three major online stores’ revenues alone amount to almost USD 100 billion in 2017.

Online shopping being the most popular online activity worldwide, but this usage fluctuates vastly by region – in China, an estimated 19% of all retail sales transpire through the internet, however, in Japan, the share was just 6.7%. Desktop PCs still prevails for placing online shopping orders but smartphones, are rapidly catching up.

Thus there seems to be an abundance of incentives for businesses to leverage this lucrative industry in. For once, we would not like to end up late to the party, would we?

So, if you are on the lookout for a tech partner who can facilitate in bringing your ecommerce dreams to reality, then look no further.

A unabashed and unbiased list of the best ecommerce development companies in the US and India

1. Magneto IT solutions

Magneto IT solutions can be touted as the flag bearer of some of the finest ecommerce products of the industry. Having completed a decade, they have a vast experience of managing a variety of projects in this domain.
Magneto IT solutions, boast an impressive portfolio, collaborating and working with the likes of, Amazon, HP, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Race Chip, KTM, ESPN, and IBM being some of their star clients.

Their primary focus area is eCommerce which amounts to almost 60% of their service lines and their primary clientele comprises small businesses (<$10M), amounting to 80%.
They also provide services for Mobile Application, Customize Web Application, IOT, and Chatbot.

2. Brainvire Infotech Inc

Brainvire Infotech is an Award Winning Digital Transformation focused technology Consultant Company working in Mobile Application, eCommerce Stores with Omni Channel Solutions, .Net Application, and Hybrid Mobile Application.

Besides ecommerce app development, they also offer a broad range of services including – Mobile app development (Android, iOS, Windows, Hybrid), Web App Development (PHP, .NET, MEAN stack), Game App Development, Enterprise Solutions, and even ERP & CRM Integration.
They deliver solutions to a wide array of industries, including – different verticals like BFSI, Retail, Media, and Healthcare.

From Fortune 500 companies such as Walmart to startups like FreshDirect – Their clientele comes from a wide assortment of businesses.
Having completed 17 years in the domain and have served over 2000 clients, they are a trusted partner for a majority of enterprises. They also boast a geographic presence in 11 nations including four offices in the USA, which makes their services prompt and timely.

3. Gorilla Logic

Gorilla Logic is one of the premium providers of nearshore and US-based Agile development teams. They have substantial domain expertise in delivering full stack web, mobile and enterprise applications.
The differentiating factor that I noticed after reading several client reviews on clutch was the level of control, flexibility and transparency they introduce during the development stage.

Apart from ecommerce app development, their core areas of practice comprise – Web Application Development, Mobile Application Development, Back End, UX/UI, DevOps, QA, Agile, Security, Big Data and IoT.
Gorilla Logic could serve as an ideal partner for large enterprises and mid-market entities.

4. Absolute Web Sevices

Absolute Web Services is a full-service development agency specializing in ecommerce and business websites & applications. They have been in the business for 20 years and thus have a greater understanding and acumen into the entire business process.

In addition, their development team also provides a full-service digital marketing team to design and implement digital strategies for Online Demand Generation. Thus, helping in business growth and brand transformation.
40% of their service line constitutes ecommerce development. They do offer other services such as web design and web development.
AWS can serve as ideal tech partners for the medium-sized enterprise ($10M – $1B) as most of their current clientele comes from this domain.
Their key customers include – TigerDirect, Capezio, CC Homes, University of Miami, , R+Co, , Cheney Brothers, Luminaire, Grand Western, Juno Lucina, , MigVapor, Oribe, RubberB, Isram Realty, VOGA Italia, iStencils, FairyLoot, Fitlife Foods, In Common Beauty, Wyze Cam, Royal Flowers Group, Rivergate Companies, BabyCottons, etc.

5. Cyber Infrastructure Inc.

CIS is empowered by 12+ years of experience in the field of IT.
CIS offerings fulfill all types of technology needs that you require. A differentiating factor for CIS is the fact that having worked with an extensive client-base stationed all over the world, they are well aware of the globally recognized standards and latest technology trends.
Highly optimized solutions and offerings across a wide multitude of industries serve as a strong point for CIS.
CIS’ principal area of expertise is application development, open source development, mobile application development, business intelligence and analytics, business process management, cloud infrastructure implementation, front-end design, and digital marketing.
Businesses of practically almost any size could leverage CIS’ offerings. Although most of their clients are medium enterprises, they have a successful track record of designing great solutions for small and large enterprises as well.

Trustable Ecommerce App Development Companies

6. Cleveroad

Cleveroad builds web and mobile solutions that can fit any industry and budget — dealing with startups, business segments, and even private clients.
Cleveroad has a presence in 5 countries worldwide, and their Research & Development operations are based in two Ukrainian IT cluster cities – Dnipro and Kharkiv.
They possess solid domain expertise in ecommerce development, as they have a portfolio of 500+ custom B2C and B2B apps for a variety of industries and business domains, including E-Commerce, Healthcare, FinTech,  Agriculture, Logistics, Real Estate, etc.
Cleveroad also provides its customers with full-cycle servicing that covers all the aspects of software production:

• End-to-end mobile and web development;
• UI/UX design
• Cloud-based solutions;
• AR, VR, AI, Big Data and IoT solutions;
• Advanced Quality Assurance;
• Dedicated Agile teams.

Almost 70% of their service line constitute ecommerce development which makes them an ideal partner for businesses which require complex and customized ecommerce solutions.
Cleveroad also hosts a cohort of some extremely well-known clientele, including
BET3000, PrankDial, VirginAtlantic, Octopus, DPD, HSBC, MoneyWiz, Fuji HI, Cartogram.

7. Dotcom weavers

DotcomWeavers is an award-winning web design and development company which specializes in eCommerce, Custom Software, and Mobile applications.
They have been in the domain for the past 12 years, and have developed more than 400 projects for businesses of all magnitudes & industries.
They have offices in Paramus, New Jersey & India,
They are a Magento solution partner, and their 70 member team includes some of the best Magento certified programmers.
They are hands-down one of the most reputable companies out there if you are looking to utilize Magento as your ecommerce platform. They can easily customize your Magento store to meet your specific website, integration, and conversion goals.
Another critical differentiating factor between them and others Magento companies out there is their offering of a personal, consultative approach that allows them to understand customers’ business goals and technical requirements.

8. Atlas Softweb

Another prominent enterprise for ecommerce development for small business is this company from India.
Although being a relatively new entity in the market, they have succeeded in earning a name for themselves by offering splendid services to their customers.
Atlas Softweb could serve as a proficient partner for creating a user-friendly ecommerce website.
Their innovative Ecommerce development solutions can aid your organization in several ways including improving your business presence.
Some of their key clientele includes – Educents, Nirma University, IIT Gandhinagar, Sun Fung Tech, Pesche, and Connect Zone.

9. Contus

Contus is a digital transformation enterprise established in the year 2008 with a mission to transfigure every technology. Contus is headquartered in the US & has regional offices in India.
With more than 200+ tech Professionals revolutionized clients’ business digitally across 40+ Countries like UK, UAE, USA, etc.
Contus is engaged in developing a wide array of ecommerce extensions, mobile & web applications, and omnichannel management solutions. They also render specific tailor-made ecommerce solutions as per client requirements. End-to-end eCommerce development consisting of web backend, mobile commerce, delivery tracking app, social commerce makes Contus a go-to destination for high-end eCommerce development projects.
The company offers its eCommerce development service across several platforms including Magento, Drupal, Prestashop, Zencart and many more.
Contus offers the following services-

• Mobile Application Development
• Web Application Development
• Augmented Reality App Development
• Virtual Reality App Development
• Wearable App Development
• IOT Web Applications
• Full Stack Development
• eCommerce Applications

Along with offering services, they also boast some ready-made solutions for businesses to deploy.  Mentioned below are some of products:

• Contus Vplay – A Multi-Faceted Video On Demand Solution
• Contus Fly – A Real-time Messaging Solution
• Contus Bot – An Intelligent Chabot Solution
• Apptha Marketplace – A Sheer Hub for Marketplace Software
• Apptha Airhotels – A Sheer Hub for Marketplace Software.

10. SynapseIndia

Synapseindia is another eminent Ecommerce development company, offering effective development services. They are hailed as specialists in providing ecommerce solutions for various platforms like OpenCart, Magento, WordPress, BigCommerce and several more.
SynapseIndia is also one of the oldest in this list of ecommerce development companies and has been offering solutions since 2001. They have an extremely impressive and unique clientele across numerous domains. They have worked with some of the most reputed global brands such as PayPal, UNICEF, Indian Army, Bata, DNG, Johnson & Johnson, etc.
Their Service Offerings covers a vast array of services like:
E-Commerce Solutions – Shopify, Magento (Magento Enterprise, Magento Enterprise Cloud), WooCommerce, OpenCart, BigCommerce, etc.
Microsoft Technologies – ASP.NET MVC, C#, VB.NET, WPF, DevExpress, Telerik, Umbraco, Kentico, nopCommerce
Mobile Development – iOS, Android, Xamarin, Ionic, ReactNative
Open Source Technologies – PHP/MySQL (Core PHP, Laravel, Zend, CakePHP, CodeIgniter, Yii, etc.), RoR, Django/Python, MEAN, MERN.
SynapseIndia has also received several notable industry recognitions like:

• Microsoft Gold Partner
• Xamarin Certified Developer
• Drupal Organization Member
• Kentico Partner
• Bigcommerce Partner
• Certified by RedHat Linux
• Google AdWords Certified Partners

Concluding View

This brings us to the end of the list of some of the best eCommerce development companies out there, that can help build your next online store.

Each company listed above has been ranked in the top for their eCommerce development services. They have also been the workhorses behind some of the most popular and successful online stores of today.

Handpicked Content for You:

• Largest eCommerce Companies in the World
• Best eCommerce Platform for Small Business – 2019
• 5 Things to Keep in Mind for Building an eCommerce Website
• AI in 2019 – What Tech Companies Are Betting Big On?

The post Top eCommerce Development Companies – 2019 appeared first on EngineerBabu Blog.

From user engagement to site performance – It is one thing to design a simple website, but developing an eCommerce site comes with its series of challenges.
Firstly, eCommerce websites are built not just to inform and showcase your brand online; they are primarily built for customers to shop. Hence, designers need to ensure that the site is easy to use and intuitive to make sales.

Without sales, the whole website will lose its purpose.
So, before you begin, consider reading this article thoroughly as it can serve as a holy grail and remembers these keys to bring your ecommerce product dreams to reality.

1. Select an ecommerce or web hosting platform

If you are a small or medium-sized enterprise and aren’t looking for a customized platform – Then to save time and money, select a popular ecommerce platform.

I recommend Shopify, Magento, OpenCart or BigCommerce.
MUST READ: Best eCommerce Platform for Small Business – 2019
Most developers are quite familiar with these, making it easy to integrate WordPress plugin, payment processing, etc. The platforms also come with a range of customizations.

Additionally, these ecommerce platforms come at a reasonable price.

2. Reverse Engineer Successful eCommerce Websites

One of the most ingenious ways to create an ecommerce website or product that generate leads, drives traffic, and converts visitors is to reverse engineer what is already working for the other ecommerce sites. Learning from those who are already excelling in the domain is a sure shot way to ensure that you create a functional platform which is lucrative for your business.
But, how can you do that?
To understand what your competitor is utilizing, you can go to Ahrefs (or other competitor analysis tools such as SpyFu, Similar Web, or SEMrush) and type in your own website’s URL or that of your competitors’.
Once you do that, try finding out how they’re getting their traffic, what keywords they’re ranking for, what keywords they’re bidding on, etc.

3. Open source or SaaS – Choose wisely

Depending on a variety of factors – such as your company’s current and future needs, as well as budgetary and other constraints – you’ll have a significant decision to make as you dive into the world of eCommerce:
Should you use an open-source or a SaaS platform to house your online store?
Let’s compare:

If you don’t require a much-customized online store and want to instead focus your energy & time on running and scaling your venture instead of managing technology – you’ll be more content with a SaaS platform. It will save you considerable time and money while allowing you to focus on achieving your business objectives.
If you have the pockets to hire a developer, and want a highly customized shopping experience, then open-source will be a viable bet for you.

4. Finding the Right Tech Partner

Choosing the right tech partner is a critical step to ensure your product succeeds, especially if you are from a non-technical background.
eCommerce can get tricky at times. Some problems arise which could only be handled by experienced developers, thus you must hire a partner who has an experience of working in this domain.
Going for a jack of all trades isn’t really a good idea here. Also, solely hiring a developer won’t suffice. You will require an eCommerce domain expert to fulfill your requirements.
Owing to the fact that ecommerce is a massive entity in itself; it would be foolish to hire someone on the basis of their work in other domains. A developer who is good with designing ride-hailing or dating apps won’t necessarily be good in developing ecommerce applications. 
Check out our award-winning ecommerce application right here.

Trustable Ecommerce App Development Companies

5. Clear and Easy Navigations

Make sure you have clear and easy-to-follow navigation at every step of the purchase. If a user doesn’t find the product or services they were looking for, they aren’t going to spend long looking for them on your website. After all, they have plenty of options to choose from.
Aim at retaining the user by providing them with a clean and clutter-free experience.
Keep in mind the following pointers and you’ll be good to go:

• Match Your Design with Your Products

Keeping your design coherent with what you’re selling will complete the overall feel and look of your site. While designing, make sure that everything from text, images, color schemes, perfectly aligns with your website.
For instance, If your website is selling toys, your design should look fun and colorful.
And if your website is trading gadgets, the theme of your design should look modern and techy.
For instance, this e-commerce website which buys and sells Captain America merchandise uses a design that matches their products perfectly.

• Proper Product Showcase and Descriptions

The purpose of your ecommerce site should be to sell products; thus it is essential to highlight your products on your website. When showcasing items, always ensure that you’re using high-quality images that will grab user’s attention. The larger the images, the better. By showing good quality pictures, your customers will visualize how well the product looks in real.

For better usability, choose a layout that emphasizes your product on every page. Don’t give them a hard time finding the page for “Accessories” or “Shoes” if they’ve already looked or clicked on a similar product.

• Easy Checkout Process

Besides from allowing transactions to be swift and anonymous, an eCommerce site should also make it as compelling as possible for consumers to check out their items. The more straightforward this process, the more motivation your customers will have to make a repeat purchase. So don’t create too many pages for checkout.
Try to create a single-page process while not being too overwhelming for consumers.

• Payment Options

I’ve observed several eCommerce sites that deny users to pay with Paypal or with other kinds of payment aside from Visa or Master card. Now with the introduction of a Unified Payment Interface, you need to ensure that you provide ample payment solutions in order to cater to a wide range of shoppers. By considering your consumer’s payment preference, you can increase their motivation to shop thereby boosting your sales in the long run.

Questions to ask an agency when developing an eCommerce site

Many non-technical customers we encounter are concerned majorly about two things,

“Cost & Time”

But this is definitely not the correct approach to follow. Firstly, you should give clear instructions of what you are trying to build (Clear Requirement Document) and ask other questions like the following.

• Building the portfolio
  • How do you determine the price of the project
  • How big is your company and how long have you been in the market?
  • Can you provide instances of websites you’ve developed in the past?
  • Do you hold any case studies that showcase the effectiveness of your sites
  • Do you have a project manager who will take ownership of my website when it is being created
  • Is there an ongoing cost to maintain the website, and if so, how much?
  • What standards and practices do you use to ensure that the site is responsive to different devices and is optimized for search?

• Analytics and reporting
  • Are you willing to set up analytics for me?
  • What tools and solutions do you use for site’s analytics?
  • What eCommerce metrics do you advise we track?
  • How can we trace what products are performing best
  • How can we trace what channels are performing best?
  • How can we track how customers are using our site?
• Website features
  • How do I create a discount or voucher code for my customers?
  • Will I be able to personalize the prices based on user groups?
  • Can customers review the products?
  • Can you develop a “WishList,” “Notify when a product is available,” or “Back-ordering” features?
  • Will the consumers be able to change the quantity of an item in their cart from the cart page?
  • Will the website possess a “dashboard” where users can update their information?

• Search engine optimization
  • Do you incorporate keyword research as part of the website build?
  • Is site-wide HTTPS included as part of the build?
  • How do you optimize page speed, especially on catalog and image-heavy pages?
  • Will you implement Schema markup for my site?
  • Will you include a blog on the website? If so, will they be on the main site or sub-domain?
  • How will you deal with dynamically-generated pages?

• Tech Questions:
  • Which technologies will be adopted in frontend?
  • Which technologies will be adopted in the backend?
  • Are you going to make Native Android & Native iOS Apps or Hybrid?
  • Which server will be used for hosting?
  • How will you ensure the security of the website?
  • How much time would be required to implement changes, if needed?
  • What happens if the server is down?
  • How do you ensure protection from hacking and phishing attempts?

Wrapping Up

An ecommerce site can completely transform your business. It can not only boost your sales but can also establish your enterprise globally – That too without the pain of going through opening a brick and mortar store.
It is true that creating an e-commerce website requires a lot of sweat, time, effort, and expense. However, if you know the right techniques, a good e-commerce site cannot just boost sales, but also retain more long-term customers than you could ever expect.

Our team at EngineerBabu prides themselves in designing some of the best ecommerce solutions for businesses globally. Our cherished Australian ecommerce customer Frankgreen has won numerous awards, like the Best Design Award for not one, not even two, but three consecutive years!! Our other ecommerce application Ondoor (an online supermarket app) went on to garner more than 100k downloads in record time.

Contact Usright away for a free consultation! 

We hope that you found this post helpful. Let us know in the comments below what you would like to learn next about.

Handpicked Content for You:

• Largest eCommerce Companies in the World
• Best eCommerce Platform for Small Business – 2019
• AI in 2019 – What Tech Companies Are Betting Big On?
• What are UI and UX? A Designer’s Guide to the Tech Industry

The post 5 Things to Keep in Mind for Building an eCommerce Website appeared first on EngineerBabu Blog.

The Deciding Factors…

The points mentioned subsequently could serve as a starting point for determining the best ecommerce platform that could serve your purpose.

• Pricing Structure
All platforms come with a price list with an applicable subscription period. Now, if you are a small business owner and are just venturing into the world of ecommerce, you need to take into account the pricing structure of the platform that you are planning to use. Always make sure that you get a detailed understanding of the pricing structure. You must also ensure the affordability of the eCommerce platform which may also include subscription fees, delivery costs and the extra tax amount.
There have been numerous instances when merchants were required to switch to a different platform as they increased the prices and the costs were totally unjustified. If one isn’t cautious, switching between ecommerce platforms can wreak havoc on your site’s authority with search engines.

• Do your research
Don’t dig your own grave by selecting the wrong platform.
Brainstorm with your team and gather all their expectations regarding the platform. Ask every possible question you want, to ensure that all the bases are covered. An excellent ecommerce platform needs to make the best possible online store for your brick and mortar shop.
Another aspect of ecommerce is choosing the best hosting service. A bad hosting company can have a detrimental impact on your search rankings, making your site slower and causing a significant downfall.
With proper diligence narrow down at least three hosting services that you like, list all the pros and cons of the services, and then proceed accordingly. Taking hasty and unplanned decision is definitely a path that should be avoided.
Read: How to Build an Awesome eCommerce App? 
• SEO friendliness
All the above shenanigans won’t matter if you can’t make your store rank on Google. It can be extremely beneficial to have your store rank high in search results. You want your customers to find you when they’re searching for products like yours.
Some of the most important factors when looking for an SEO-friendly platform include:
    • The ability to add a blog to your site.
    • The ability to use a personalized domain name.
    • The ability for customers to drop reviews.
Your SEO efforts shouldn’t just end here. Once you start appearing in search results, you will need to continually optimize your offerings lest you would go down in ranks with time.

• Mobile Friendliness
Did you know, according to an official statement by Google, mobile users account for a staggering 50% of the entire search queries globally. Thus it is hard not to address the elephant in the room – While finalizing an ecommerce platform for your business, kindly ensure that whichever platform you decide on, has capabilities to provide mobile-friendly pages.
This indicates that it is extremely critical to look for platforms which allow customers to access your website quickly and also make purchases on their mobile or tablet devices.

BEST ECOMMERCE PLATFORMS IN 2019

1. WooCommerce

WooCommerce differs from other platforms mentioned on this list solely because it is a WordPress plugin. This makes its application quite tricky as it can be useful for only a specific set of businesses.

To implement WooCommerce, you must possess an understanding of WordPress, because it plugs directly into it.
Also, WooCommerce pricing is a bit tricky to pin-down. There are several costs associated with hosting WordPress and WooCommerce that can fluctuate within a certain range. One user’s cost is going to differ from the others.
X-Factor:
WooCommerce provides a varied range of analytic tools to choose from. With these, you can effectively measure the sales and analyze according to date brand, statics of customer, calculate your daily and monthly sales, and even estimate the number of orders. However, many tools are also inbuilt in WooCommerce.
Pros:

• WooCommerce is free. Being an open source free software, one doesn’t need to break the bank to start with it. Additionally, it also offers free updates from time to time.
• Being a WordPress plugin, it is extremely customizable with many themes, making it a delight to use. Additionally, you can also download extra plugins to modify your website.

Cons:

• WooCommerce doesn’t provide online store owners with the necessary tools to implement SEO effectively. 
• You must know both WordPress and WooCommerce to make changes to your website.
  

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Trustable Ecommerce App Development Companies

2. Shopify

Shopify is hands-down, one of the most successful and well-known platforms that small and medium-sized businesses can leverage right now. It empowers more than 500,000 businesses worldwide to sell online and has a whopping 1 million active monthly user base. A considerable chunk of the overall ecommerce transactions is processed through Shopify, roughly amounting to almost $46 Billion.

As a platform, Shopify offers a tonne of flexibility. You can completely customize your online store and manage your inventory and products.
X-Factor:
Shopify has successfully leveraged its humongous seller as well as user base to its benefit by setting up an active and thriving online community, where shop owners share their tips and expertise. This helps the developers keep pace with the latest developments of the industry, and at the same time release timely updates.
Pros:

• There’s a dedicated mobile app so you can keep track of your store anywhere and any time.
• Shopify is extremely SEO-friendly. It allows custom title tags as well as meta descriptions on every category page. It also allows you to create customized landing pages which are extremely useful for marketing purposes.

Cons:

• Aside from their monthly rate-plan, many of the themes on Shopify comes at an additional cost.
• Shopify is still struggling to cater to large businesses. Although Shopify Plus has been introduced, it still lacks the panache that is needed to handle large customer base.

3. Magento

Many technicians tout Magento as one of the best premium open source solutions in the game, but not so much for small businesses. Helming over 150,000 sites and many fortune 500s under its umbrella, it is indeed popular amongst enterprises.

X-Factor:
Scalability is one of the most prominent X-factor for Magento. Magento is built to scale, so whether you are selling 10 or 10,000 products, Magento can handle it.
Pros:

• Flexibility – Magento offers full flexibility for users to play with the code and practically modify every aspect of your site according to your whims.
• The platform is extremely feature-rich owing to its open source software and third-party support.

Cons:

• Technical Expertise – Exclusive Magento developers are hard to find. Being an extraordinarily expansive and extensive system, (over 30,000 files and 300 database tables) – Magento has a broad learning curve, and it takes a fairly experienced developer with a solid understanding of object-oriented development and experience with core software to really comprehend what they’re doing.
• Price – The Enterprise version starts around $1,988/month, and the premium enterprise version costs $49,990/year.

4. OpenCart

Opencart is a free-to-use and open source ecommerce platform. One can just visit the website and install the software. While a functional site can run for free but if you want add-ons, then the average cost range from $20-100 per module (which includes – Sales Motivator, SEO Backpack, Intuitive Shipping, etc.

X-Factor:
The cost of setting up a store with Opencart is quite approachable even for small businesses. There are also a vast number of add-ons available, and many of them are free – you can basically get a site up-and-running using diverse payment gateways for practically no additional costs, whereas on other platforms you would need to pay.
Pros:

• Opencart doesn’t require an extensive learning curve. It is also easier to install. New users could readily understand the platform, which would help them set-up and start using Opencart quickly. This is because the interfaces offered by the solution is pretty straightforward.
• Well-Designed admin interface

Cons:

• Opencart doesn’t guarantee high-performance capabilities. One would need to install additional plugins for SEO, sales and shipping, etc.
• Opencart isn’t extremely customizable which can constrict some businesses.

5. BigCommerce

While one end of the ecommerce platform is dominated by Shopify, at another end of the spectrum, lies Bigcommerce. Much like its counterpart, BigCommerce offers a range of prices and packages, tailored to suit different types of businesses.

X-Factor:
BigCommerce has one of the most carefully considered checkout framework in the industry. It provides one of the smoothest single-page checkout experience, which helps in conversion to a great extent.
The importance of this cannot be understated, as the checkout page is a place where it is most likely to lose a consumer.
Pros:

• Bigcommerce provides massive hosting resources with a dedicated team that works on optimizing and keeping it running smooth.
• Provides layers of security.

Cons:

• Extensive customization available only if you possess good coding skills.
• It is a bit more expensive.

Concluding View

Choosing between ecommerce platforms requires extensive research. Each platform has its own set of services, charges,  subscription-period, strengths and weaknesses depending on the functionality.
Custom-made platforms will surely help you, but to scale up your operation, you will need to leverage any of these platforms. The biggest hurdle for a small business is to decide upon the most suitable platform, choose from their services and deal with their limitations.
Stay tuned as in the upcoming series of articles we will extensively cover each aspect of ecommerce, thus helping our readers and clients grow their business and attain new milestones.
Our founders started EngineerBabu to transform the technological landscape for our customers.
Having heard stories of how clients get duped by their tech partners, they resolved to do something about it. To ensure that customers don’t feel exploited they strived to introduce total transparency into the product development process.
Our team truly strives to develop a personal connection with customers which helps us to understand their requirements better. 
In the words of our wonderful founders,
We aren’t in the business for just making money; we are here to build lasting relationships.
Having worked on all the platforms mentioned before, we possess solid domain expertise of creating incredible ecommerce websites which have helped our customers achieve significant breakthroughs. This is what they have to say about us –

Handpicked Content For You:

• How to Build an Awesome eCommerce App?
• A Definitive Guide to eCommerce App Development
• 15 Tips for Designing a Mobile Friendly Ecommerce Website
• How AI Can Help Small Businesses?

The post Best eCommerce Platform for Small Business – 2019 appeared first on EngineerBabu Blog.