It can be an incredibly daunting and a difficult task for someone unfamiliar with creating a good eCommerce site. In order to help you help, we have put together a helpful guide with everything a small business would need to consider before jumping in to building a website!
PRODUCTS
• Inventory – Do you need to integrate with a Point-of-Sale and/or track inventory of products?
• Images – Do you have quality images of your products?
• Variants/Product Customization – Do your products come in different sizes and/or allow for customization when ordering?
• Product Data – Do you have written descriptions that showcase your products features/benefits
• Downloads – Is your product a digital download? Think through watermarking, number of downloads, file size, etc.
• Coupons – Will you use coupons or promo codes?
• Variable Pricing – Do you have a minimum quantity or wholesale discounts?
PAYMENT
• Credit Card on Website – requires a payment gateway (authorize.net for example). Has a monthly fee + a per transaction fee (or % of transaction)
o PCI compliance
o SSL certificate
• Credit Card off Website – PayPal/Stripe – No monthly fee. Transaction happens off your website, so PCI is mostly on the gateway.
• Offline Payment – Pay at pickup, call for payment
TAXES
• Taxes included in product price?
• No tax calculation needed?
• Selling nationwide requires potential extensive tax interface. Check with your CPA and consult:
o Taxjar.com
o Avalara.com
Both services will interface with your eCommerce site and calculate taxes in real time based on the user’s location.
SHIPPING
• Shipping based on per product
• Shipping based on order total
• Shipping or pick up in person options?
• USPS, FedEx, UPS real time integrations require –
o Product weights
o Box dimensions
o Account info
Hope this checklist is helpful for you. Please do not hesitate to contact us! We offer competitive packages for Website Design, Search Engine Optimization, Email Marketing, Social Media Marketing, and much more.
Contact us for more information on ways we can assist you build your next eCommerce website or company store for branded merchandise for employees and marketing