Mastering ECommerce Marketplace – Your Definitive Roadmap to E-Commerce Website

The UAE e-commerce market is expected to reach a value of $9.4 billion USD by 2028, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.7% between 2024 and 2028.

In 2024, the market is expected to see a growth of 9.0% compared to 2023. This explosive growth presents an undeniable opportunity for businesses to reach new customers and expand their reach. However, to thrive in this ever growing competitive market, coming up with a well designed & user-friendly e-commerce website is no longer an option. 

It has become more of a necessity. 

In this definitive guide, we will equip you with the knowledge & strategies required to build a thriving e-commerce presence. So buckle up, and let’s read everything about it. 

What is E-Commerce Website Development? 

E-Commerce website is the bridge that connects consumers to businesses. It involves practices where online shopping experience is digitalized, from business concept to virtualization and beyond. 

E-commerce breaks geographical barriers taking your business to a wider global audience reach. It targets specific demographics, expanding the customer base beyond physical reach.  

For a better ROI, a robust e-Commerce platform works on vast amounts of data, customer behavior, preferences and interactions. All such interactions allow e-commerce experts to create targeted campaigns with personalized recommendations and well optimized marketing. 

To begin with ecommerce website development, following are some of the pre-requisites that every e-Commerce business should consider to help customers find what they are looking for. 

How to Develop an E-Commerce Website? 

Understanding Your Target Audience 

The first step to effective e-commerce website development is understanding your target audience. Since you’re selling your products through an e-commerce store, your website becomes the most integral part of your business. It’s where the majority of your marketing efforts should be focused because it’s where conversions take place.

Therefore, it’s essential to create a website that appeals to your customers while incorporating current ecommerce web design trends. An attractive website, following the latest trends, will ensure guaranteed conversions. To identify your target market, the first thing you need to do is explore who your audience is. You can examine their demographics, age, and gender, and evaluate the existing customer base.

All of these activities will help you put together the perfect buyer persona.

A prime example of an e-commerce business that effectively identified its target audience is “Dollar Shave Club.” They revolutionized the shaving industry by providing subscription-based razor and grooming product deliveries directly to consumers’ doors at affordable prices.

Here’s what Dollar Shave Club did differently:

• Understanding Customer Pain Points: Dollar Shave Club invested significant time in researching and understanding the common pain points of adult men. They discovered that the high cost of men’s hair care and grooming, along with the inconvenience of purchasing razors from traditional retail outlets, was a significant issue.

• Conducting Extensive Market Research: Dollar Shave Club conducted thorough market research to study their target demographics. They identified their ideal customer as typically young to middle-aged men seeking affordability and convenience.

• Creating a Distinct Brand Persona: Dollar Shave Club took an extra step by crafting a unique brand persona characterized by humor, simplicity, and authenticity. This persona resonated well with the target audience, making the brand approachable overall.

Choosing the Right E-Commerce Website Platform 

Finding the right eCommerce platform is something that every eCommerce store owner is concerned about. The platform which you choose for your eCommerce presence decides how successful your eCommerce journey is going to be. The right eCommerce platform will make it easier for you to manage and promote your online store and that will eventually impact your user experience. 

Entrepreneurs often have to explore three options; 

Open Source ECommerce Platform – The first option you have is the open-source ecommerce platform. Open Source ECommerce platform offers greater flexibility and better control. You can easily modify the open-source code and redesign your ecommerce platform, just the way you want. Although they are free to install, you may have to spend an amount in maintenance which makes them a bit costly to run. 

WooCommerce is one of the widely used WordPress integration and is a globally recognized content management system. It’s an open-source, free to use CMS bringing powerful e-commerce functionality. You can have a higher level of customization, and can tweak around with different themes and extensions available. The extensive customization and user-friendliness is what makes a large and active community. WooCommerce is built with SEO (Search Engine Optimization) in mind, helping your online store rank higher in search engine results. You can also integrate different payment gateways, so whether you have credit cards or digital wallets, you can integrate multiple payment options for customers. 

SaaS Ecommerce Platform – The second option are the SaaS ecommerce platform solutions. SaaS platforms are mostly pay-to-play platforms which operate on a monthly subscription fee. SaaS platforms offer you a wide range of tools which are relevant for building your online presence, promoting your business, and requiring significantly less maintenance. Many such things like platform security, ensuring PCI compliance and so on are usually handled by third-party SaaS ecommerce platform services.

A good example of a SaaS based eCommerce platform is BigCommerce. It has an Open API which merchants can utilize to make custom integrations and implement other customizations. Besides, SaaS eCommerce platforms aren’t as flexible and customizable as open-source platforms available. 

Headless ECommerce Platform – last but not the least, a headless e-commerce platform decouples the front-end presentation layer (the “head”) from the back-end ecommerce functionality. In a normal e-commerce platform, the front-end and the back-end are dependent on each other and are interconnected. 

So let’s say, if there are any changes or updates that you want to make within the user interface, you will have to make the changes within the back-end of the e-commerce system. 

However, the headless eCommerce platform has the front-end as a separate layer from the backend. You can use React, Angular, or Vue.js or any other front-end framework of your choice to build the user-interface that connects with the e-commerce back-end via APIs. 

Headless commerce offers you better customization options in comparison to SaaS platforms so you can have better experience & high-end customizability. 

Why Is It Important?

Choosing the right eCommerce platform is only one part of the ball game, there are several other factors which are dependent on what type of eCommerce platform you wish to choose. 

For instance, 

1. What type of hosting environment will your website will best sustain in? 
2. What level of security does your hosting require? 
3. How SEO friendly is your eCommerce website? 
4. What are the payment options which you want to integrate? 
5. The back-end support, the mobile-friendliness & the level of eCommerce scalability. 

Altogether, the right eCommerce platform depends on what are your business requirements. Let’s say, if you’re planning to launch a shoe store where you’re not only selling shoes in Dubai, but you’re also selling it in different other locations of the Middle East, then you may want to consider your bandwidth requirements, the store size and the estimated online traffic. 

Determine Proper Product Categories 

Proper product categorization helps impact online shopping experience. When you define clear & intuitive product categories, it becomes easier for online shoppers to easily find what they are looking for. 

It’s where online merchants handle product taxonomy. Product taxonomy is all about understanding the different products which you will be selling online and creating a logical way to sell it online. 

Product taxonomy is just one side of the coin, the other side is how well you understand the product attributes, values and online shopper’s purchasing habits. 

When we talk about product categorization, a merchant usually begins the process by organizing broader categories and narrows it down to specific sub-categories. 

Let’s say, if you’re running an online apparel shop, product categorization becomes vital. You can start with broader categories such as Men’s wear, women’s wear and kids’ clothing. Then, you can select a main category and sub-divide it into smaller sub-categories such as tops, bottoms, dresses, outerwears, and accessories. 

For example, a main product category for men’s wear will have a hierarchical structure which may include a list of subcategories such as shirts, pants, jackets, & hats. It will make your eCommerce easy to navigate delivering improved experiences. 

Standout As a Brand 

In a crowded online marketplace, standing a head and shoulder above the competition. Start with developing a unique branding style and make sure your online store stands out among competitors. After all, you want to create a unique brand personality that resonates perfectly with your target audience. A unique brand identity is what will set you apart from the competition. 

Start by developing a cohesive branding style which mostly surrounds color scheme. 

How the Right Colors Create an Impact? 

The best colors will take your brand identity a step forward. It will offer your brand a well groomed and better personality. Here’s how the right color scheme holds significance in the eCommerce space. 

• Brand Identity: Colors have the power to convey specific emotions and messages. Choosing the right ones helps communicate your brand personality to your audience. For example, a playful toy store might utilize vibrant and energetic colors, while a luxury jewelry brand might opt for sophisticated and elegant tones.
• Emotional Connection: Colors can evoke emotional responses in viewers. Understanding how different colors affect emotions allows you to create a specific experience for your visitors. For instance, warm colors like red and orange can stimulate feelings of excitement and urgency, which can be beneficial for encouraging purchases.
• Memorable Impressions: A well-chosen color scheme can contribute significantly to brand recognition and recall. Consistent use of your color palette across all platforms, from your website to social media, creates a visual signature that people will remember and associate with your brand.
• Improved User Experience: Colors can also influence user behavior on your website. Using contrasting colors for important elements like calls to action (CTAs) can enhance their visibility and user engagement.

For example, the motorcycle brand Harley-Davidson exemplifies the strategic use of color psychology in brand building.

Their signature Vivid Black, often paired with chrome accents, perfectly embodies the brand’s masculine, rebellious, and American-made spirit. This bold color choice resonates deeply with their target audience, who often associate black with strength, power, and individuality. 

Add Images & Description 

The only downside of online shopping is that your customers don’t have the liberty to test the product, or inspect it physically. Shoppers are unable to get the feel of the product which means online retailers don’t carry the burden of creating product displays for interested buyers. 

So what should an eCommerce store owner do in such a situation? How should they actually win their customers? It’s by putting up high quality and original images along with a proper description. Start with a quality camera (for instance a DSLR or a good smartphone) and create product images from multiple angles. While taking pictures, make sure that the product is kept in a well-lit location so it can have a more vibrant look. Use a tripod stand to place your camera for excellent stability. In this way, all your product images will have consistency. 

As a result, your shoppers will have more time to inspect and get 360 degree product spin. Don’t forget to add a product description that satisfies the needs or interest of a shopper.  

For instance, Everlane, a popular online clothing brand, focuses on high-quality, ethically sourced basics. However, customers can’t try on the clothes before purchasing, which can lead to concerns about fit and fabric feel.

So Everlane uses clear and well-lit photos showcasing their garments from various angles, including close-ups of the fabric texture and details. They also feature models of different body types wearing the clothes, allowing customers to envision how the garments might look on them.They offer a zoom function on their product images giving enough liberty to customers so they can check the stitching quality or fabric texture more closely. 

Planout Your Content Marketing Strategy 

For an eCommerce website to stand out, it is highly relevant to have an effective content marketing strategy in place. A workable content marketing strategy can help you drive more leads to your eCommerce business, so you can convert online visitors into successful customers. 

The first thing you need to do is; 

Define your target market. Ask yourself the following questions: 

• Who is it that you’re trying to reach with your content? 
• Are you aware of their interests, needs, and pain points? 
• Do you know who your audience is, what their specific desires are? 

Next, try to understand; 

• What do you want to achieve with your content marketing? 
• Is your goal to increase brand awareness, drive more traffic to your website, or boost conversions? 

When you have clear goals, you can measure the success of your content & adapt to a working strategy. Once you’re aware, the next step is to invest in informative, well-written & visually appealing content that resonates with your target audience. By addressing customer pain points, offering relevant solutions, showcasing expertise & highlighting benefits of your products, you can win your target market and drive more eCommerce sales.

Test Your Website 

So before you launch your eCommerce website, always remember to test your eCommerce site extensively. After all, the last thing you want is a business that is buggy and broken. 

Not only does it damage your brand’s reputation, but also makes it harder to pull customers in the future. Start by analyzing your website’s speed, responsiveness & browser compatibility. 

Check if your eCommerce website ideally loads under 2 seconds. A good website should take only a second to load up. Test your page load time using a tool like Google’s PageSpeed Insights & use the information to collect recommendations so it improves overall site performance. 

Last but not the least, put yourself in the shoes of your customer and test the user flow. Check your site’s navigation, search for a product on your eCommerce platform and add it to your cart. Go through the checkout process and see if everything is running smoothly. 

Key Takeaways

• E-commerce is booming, offering immense opportunities for businesses to reach new customers.
• Building a user-friendly and well-designed e-commerce website is crucial for success.
• Understanding your target audience and their needs is essential for creating a successful online store.
• Choosing the right e-commerce platform depends on your specific needs and budget.
• Clear product categorization, high-quality product images, and informative descriptions are essential for online shopping experiences.
• A well-defined content marketing strategy can drive traffic and conversions to your e-commerce business.
• Thoroughly testing your website before launch ensures a smooth user experience and protects your brand reputation.

Conclusion

Building a thriving e-commerce presence requires careful planning, strategic execution, and continuous optimization. 

By following the steps outlined in this guide and staying up-to-date with the latest trends, you can create a successful online store that attracts customers, drives sales, and propels your business forward. 

Are you looking for an eCommerce website solution for your business? Branex is an Ecommerce web development company, we offer you a feature-rich and fully customizable eCommerce solution. Over a span of decades, we have helped many businesses transform their digital presence and bring their digital journeys to life.