To the internet entrepreneur, Ecommerce is an expansive frontier waiting to be tamed. However raw the marketplace is though, it is important to recognize that internet retail is not too different from brick & mortar retail. I work at an Ecommerce development firm and I can attest to the capability of the internet to provide a solid online business with enough customers to flourish. What few retailers fail to realize is an online storefront takes more care and planning than their physical storefront. While there is less overhead, the clientele is more fickle. While more people see your product, a lower percentage of them will actually buy something. These differences mean you have to take more care in constructing your users’ online shopping experience, and adjust your attitude towards the new age of retail.

Here are some ways you can prepare yourself and your business for Ecommerce success:

1. Plan ahead:
At my job, we get calls from potential clients who have product launches 2 months out and they want full-featured websites to be ready in time for their first shipment and television commercials. It just doesn’t work like that. The design process alone can take up to 2 months for a product that depends heavily on branding. Functional specifications, estimations, scheduling, and pre-production revisions all take time - not to mention you also have to wait in line for development with the other projects your chosen firm has taken on. Then there is the quality assurance and bug fixing. If you want a truly realized website, give your project 5 months minimum.

2. Invest in your storefront:
“What can I get for $3000?” Nothing. Your Ecommerce website is a storefront like any other. How much money would you invest in a brick & mortar establishment? My guess is over $200,000. You don’t need nearly that much of an investment in your Ecommerce store, but it is important to keep that perspective. Half as much will get you something truly respectable. With equal parts design, development and marketing, a solid investment will ensure a solid showing on the internet marketplace. Remember that you’re not only paying for hours put in during the actual development and design, but also the planning, strategizing and quality assurance. The mentality towards approaching an Ecommerce project should not be that of reducing costs, but instead to increase profits.

3. It’s more than just a website:
Once you have your online store, as wonderful as it is, nobody is going to know you exist unless you get the word out. Search engine optimization, search engine submission, paid advertisements, promotions, email campaigns and word-of mouth all play a vital role in getting customers to your store. Without a diverse approach to attracting customers, your site will simply fail to make you money. It is also worth noting that without an astronomical budget for all of this marketing or brand recognition, an unfocused target audience is equally as dooming. The game has progressed enough to the point where it takes a significant investment to break into a general market. Know who your customers are/will be and market directly to them.

4. Respect the marketplace:
I hear a lot of strange comments from hopeful Ecommerce website owners; they have this spiteful view of internet customers, assuming that if they cast their net wide enough, they’ll catch a few sucker fish. The methods they use include attaching suspect handling costs to every shipment to make up for their suspicious discounts, or using sub-par imaging to represent their product. These Ecommerce evils stem from the perception that the internet is still an untapped market; a lawless frontier with nothing but enthusiasm drawing the masses to digital storefronts. This is *so* 1998. The internet has matured. Quality of service and presentation will earn you a solid customer base that will be hard to shake.

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