Tips for Choosing the Top eCommerce Web Design Company

eCommerce is a lucrative business model. The cost of getting started is low and the margins are (usually) superb. This is perhaps the reason many believe that simply having a great product is enough to achieve success with an eCommerce business.

While there is no denying that a fantastic product is not just critical but essential to success, it is not the only factor that plays a role. How this product is presented and how the company behind the product is perceived both play a critical role in determining the success of an eCommerce business.

In other words, besides having a superb product, it is imperative to back that product up with an authentic and attractive online presence. The website (or the eCommerce store) plays the most crucial part in creating and maintaining the online presence and reputation of an eCommerce business.

If a business wants a high-quality store, using pre-made templates will hardly get the job done. Serious businesses need a customized eCommerce store that is suited to their product or product range. At the same time, the online store must also be designed in a way that positively resonates with the audience of the store.

To get this right, it is important to work with the right eCommerce web design company. However, finding the right one can be confusing, since there is an abundance of options to choose from. In this article, this confusion will be eliminated as we walk you through the proven process of selecting the right eCommerce web design company. Let’s jump right in:

Firstly, Define Your Business Goals

What Do You Want From Your eCommerce Website? Laying the Foundation for Success

Before you even begin to think about design aesthetics or specific features, it’s crucial to have a crystal-clear understanding of what you want your eCommerce website to achieve. This internal clarity will act as your compass, guiding your decisions and ensuring that the design partner you choose is perfectly aligned with your objectives.

Take some time to delve into your core aspirations by asking yourself these fundamental questions before you partner with an offshore eCommerce development company:

Are you primarily focused on aggressively driving sales volume, or are you more interested in creating a sophisticated platform to showcase your products and build brand awareness?

• Driving Sales: If your main goal is to maximize revenue through online transactions, your website’s design should prioritize clear calls to action, streamlined checkout processes, and potentially highlight promotions and discounts. Think of it as a highly efficient sales machine.
• Showcasing Products & Building Brand: If your focus is on creating a premium brand experience, the design might emphasize high-quality imagery, detailed product storytelling, and a visually immersive experience. Sales are still important, but the journey and brand perception take center stage.

Do you envision your online presence as a multi-vendor marketplace where various sellers can list their products, or are you building a dedicated, branded store exclusively for your own offerings?

• Marketplace: A marketplace requires a more complex infrastructure to manage multiple vendors, their product listings, and potentially their payments and shipping. The design needs to accommodate diverse storefronts within a unified platform.
• Branded Store: A branded store allows for complete control over the customer experience and reinforces your unique brand identity throughout the entire shopping journey. The design will be tailored specifically to your products and brand narrative.

What tangible metrics will define success for your eCommerce venture within the next 6 to 12 months?

• Defining Short-Term and Mid-Term Success: Establishing clear, measurable goals provides a benchmark against which you can evaluate the effectiveness of your website and the impact of your design partner’s work. Consider metrics such as:
  • Sales targets: What level of revenue do you aim to achieve?
  • Conversion rates: What percentage of visitors do you expect to make a purchase?
  • Customer acquisition cost: How much are you willing to spend to gain a new customer?
  • Average order value: What is the average amount customers spend per transaction?
  • Website traffic and engagement: How many visitors do you expect, and how long should they ideally spend on your site, browsing multiple pages?
  • Brand awareness metrics: Are you aiming for a certain level of social media engagement or email list growth?

You can thoughtfully answer these questions to gain a deeper understanding of your own needs and also be able to clearly communicate your vision and expectations to potential design partners, ensuring a more fruitful and aligned collaboration. This initial clarity is the bedrock upon which a successful eCommerce website is built.

Compare eCommerce Platforms

Which Platform Is Right for You?

Here’s a quick comparison to guide your decision:

Smart Questions to Ask Developers: Ensuring a Successful Partnership

You are committed to an offshore development partner for your eCommerce venture. But it’s crucial to ask the right questions to gauge their expertise, approach, and long-term commitment, and then hire eCommerce developers.

These inquiries will help you make an informed decision and set the stage for a smooth and successful project:

“What specific eCommerce platforms do you have deep expertise in?”

• Why it matters: Different eCommerce platforms (like Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento) have their own strengths, weaknesses, and technical nuances. You want a developer who isn’t just familiar with a platform but truly specializes in it, understanding its best practices, common pitfalls, and potential for customization. Their answer will reveal if their core competencies align with your chosen (or considered) platform.

“Can you showcase tangible results from past eCommerce projects that are similar in scope and complexity to mine?”

• Why it matters: Talk is cheap. Seeing is believing. Asking for case studies or examples of offshore eCommerce development companies’ previous work, especially those that mirror your project’s requirements (e.g., similar product types, integrations, or scale), provides concrete evidence of their capabilities and track record of success. Look for quantifiable results like improved conversion rates, faster loading times, or successful integrations.

“Is Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and website speed optimization a standard part of your development process?”

• Why it matters: A beautiful website that no one can find is ultimately ineffective. SEO and speed are critical for attracting organic traffic and providing a positive user experience. Understanding if these crucial elements are baked into their development process from the start, rather than being afterthoughts, will save you time and potential rework down the line.

“What kind of support do you offer after the website officially launches? What are the terms and typical response times?”

• Why it matters: Launching your website is just the beginning. You’ll likely encounter questions, need minor tweaks, or potentially run into unexpected issues. When you outsource eCommerce solutions to an offshore company, knowing their post-launch support structure, including their availability, response times, and any associated costs, is essential for ensuring ongoing website health and addressing any hiccups promptly.

“Who will legally own the intellectual property rights to the website’s code and design once the project is complete?”

• Why it matters: This is a critical legal question when you hire eCommerce developers, especially when you outsource eCommerce web development. You want to ensure that you, as the client, have full ownership of the custom code and unique design elements created specifically for your website. Clarifying this upfront prevents potential disputes and ensures you have control over your online asset in the long term.

Case Study or Success Example

Client Spotlight: Surpassing Expectations – A 40% Conversion Surge for XYZ Homeware Company

When a leading supplier of wholesale kitchenware approached our team, their existing Magento 1 store was struggling to keep pace with their growing business. Primarily focused on large bulk orders from commercial clients, their website suffered from slow loading times, cumbersome navigation, and a checkout process that often led to abandoned carts. They needed a robust, high-performance Magento solution specifically optimized for their unique business model.

Our team embarked on a comprehensive redesign and development process, focusing on key areas that directly impacted user experience and conversion:

• Blazing-Fast Performance: We meticulously optimized their Magento 2 environment, implementing advanced caching techniques and streamlining code. This resulted in a dramatic reduction in average page load times, plummeting from a frustrating 7 seconds to a lightning-fast 2 seconds.
• Intuitive Navigation with Enhanced Product Filters: Recognizing the complexity of their extensive product catalog, we implemented sophisticated and highly granular product filters. This empowered buyers to quickly and efficiently narrow down their search based on specific criteria like material, size, color, and intended use, significantly improving the browsing experience.
• Frictionless Checkout User Experience: We carefully analyzed and redesigned their entire checkout flow, removing unnecessary steps and simplifying form fields. We minimized cart abandonment and made the purchasing process seamless by optimizing for bulk orders and providing clear, concise information.

Tangible Results Achieved Within the First Three Months Post-Launch:

• Soaring Conversion Rates: The homeware company experienced a remarkable 40% increase in its overall conversion rate. This meant significantly more website visitors were successfully completing bulk purchases.
• Substantial Growth in Average Order Value: The improved user experience and streamlined bulk ordering process led to an 18% increase in their average order value. Customers were not only buying more frequently but also purchasing larger quantities per transaction.

Considerations To Make When Selecting An eCommerce Web Design Development Company

• Relevant Technological Expertise

Building a regular website and building an eCommerce website are two very different things. Sure, an eCommerce website is just another website, but there is additional functionality involved. For instance, an eCommerce website, unlike a regular website, is capable of accepting and processing orders and is even capable of processing online payments. This means, there is the underlying technology that is used on eCommerce websites that enable all these functions. At the same time, eCommerce websites are generally more secure than regular websites, and for good reason. After all, an eCommerce website processes critical customer information such as credit card details, which is crucial for ecommerce customer retention.

For this reason, it is important to choose a development team that has experience within the eCommerce domain. Not only that, it is also recommended to choose a company that has experience with the specific eCommerce platform and technologies that one wants to use on their own website.

• Relevant Design Experience

eCommerce websites and regular websites don’t just differ in terms of the underlying technology. Another area where these differ is in the design. An eCommerce website is designed to showcase products and product-related information. The primary design objective is usually to make it as easy as possible for visitors to find a relevant product and make a purchase.

Most websites that don’t fall in the eCommerce category are designed to provide information and thus, they are designed in a completely different manner.

With that said, even as far as eCommerce web design is concerned, there is a myriad of styles one can choose from. It is thus strongly recommended to browse through the portfolio of an eCommerce web development company to see whether or not they have worked with a design that appeals to you.

• eCommerce Website Development Cost

Understanding the eCommerce website development cost is a critical factor when selecting a web design and development company. The cost can vary based on the complexity of your project, the desired features, and the expertise of the development team. It’s essential to receive a detailed quote that includes not only the initial development expenses but also ongoing maintenance and support costs. This transparency will help you make an informed decision and ensure your eCommerce venture remains profitable.

• Go Through The Online Reviews

The previous two steps were aimed at finding companies that have a portfolio that is aligned with how you have imagined your eCommerce website to be. Once that is done, it is time to start eliminating the bad apples from the list of prospective companies. The best way to do this is to read through the online reviews of all the companies that you have shortlisted.

Finding reviews on the website of such companies is incredibly easy. However, most companies don’t post the negative reviews that they have received from dissatisfied customers. To find those, a little more research will be needed.

In many cases, one can find unbiased reviews for service on the Google search engine itself. Alternatively, there are a number of third-party platforms that paint a realistic picture of the experience of working with particular web development or eCommerce development company.

In other words, it is important to understand that most web development projects are high in value. After paying a high price, if a customer is dissatisfied, they almost always find a way to make their voice heard. Sure, finding such reviews may require the investment of a little extra time and effort but it may end up helping you save thousands of dollars and months of the stress of working with a bad team.

Read the related post on: All about Magento – the Perfect eCommerce Solution

• Clarify Maintenance And Ownership Terms

Many eCommerce development companies only offer to develop a website. This means, once the website has been developed, there will be an additional charge for any changes. Over time, this can drive up the cost of owning the website significantly. However, there are also other companies that will offer an annual maintenance contract along with their development packages. Opting in for such a service is strongly recommended as it allows business owners to have an expert on call for the times when they need to make any changes to their website.

Another malpractice that many development firms employ to squeeze more money out of their customers is that they retain the ownership of the design of the website. This way, the actual owner of the website does not own the design and has to pay extra every time they want to introduce a design change. Transferring the rights of ownership of the design is a perfectly practical solution but even that comes with a hefty price tag attached. Ideally, you should own the design (and every other element and aspect) of your website. It is important to make sure that the company you employ or work with does not use such practices.

Conclusion

Choosing the right development company can be a time-consuming process. In many cases, not being able to find the right company even messes with the project deadlines. However, it is important for business owners to understand that the time spent in choosing a dependable and trustworthy eCommerce development company is not wasted as it saves them from a lot of headaches after the project has started.

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