I have just set up an e-commerce site. It was much more work than I expected.
Why do I say this$%: I think I came from the wrong perspective. I thought, naively, that I could put an off-the-shelf store up, populate it with goods and products and sit back an watch the orders flood in.
Wrong! So wrong!
If I had to do the same again (which I am planning, actually) I would start off from some guiding principles.
Firstly, i would decide what I was going to sell and to who - what is the product and what age group or style of person was I selling to$%: Then, sort out the site layout with this in mind. Instead of trying to do it all myself I would enlist, and pay for, the help of someone else. The job would be done much more quickly and effectively - I could then get on and do something else.
The store needs good clean lines and an attractive appearance. Think that YOU were the customer and see everything from the customer's eyes. What I did was ask on a forum for people's views and I was shocked at the responses! That was because I was looking from MY perspective, not theirs. Needless to say, I have made changes - it is still not perfect but it is better than it was.
Dealing with payment processors was fun. Which payments should I take and how do I set them up$%: If you are like me then you won't have much in the way of IT expertise. So, outsource it - again it will be done much more effectively and experts will tell you things you don't already know (like you need security else someone is going to hack your data or steal the secure data of your customers).
Delivery$%: Who is going to ship, how often and to where$%: How much will it cost the customer and how long will it take$%: The customer needs easy access to this information or else they will leave.
I am still developing my site but hope to be better very soon
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