Launching your e-commerce website can be a good idea to boost your sales. Online sales allow you to reach a wider audience, especially geographically, but also to build customer loyalty by offering them greater convenience. This sector is experiencing exponential growth. However, not all e-commerce sites are created equal. Discover the essential tips for a high-converting website, and all the information you need to understand, create and manage an online store!
What is an e-commerce website?
Definition of e-commerce
E-commerce refers to commercial transactions carried out on the internet. Whether on mobile phones, tablets or computers, all purchases made remotely are considered e-commerce. Today, a new word complements e-commerce: m-commerce. More specifically, this term refers to purchases made via mobile phones or tablets.
E-commerce offers many advantages: the catchment area is expanded, sales hours are not limited, the target audience is broadened and fixed costs are reduced.
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Showcase website |
E-commerce website |
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Company presentation |
✓ |
✓ |
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product pages |
/ |
✓ |
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Prices |
/ |
✓ |
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Online purchase |
X |
✓ |
What should an ecommerce store contain
Your e-commerce site must comply with major legal constraints. Beyond obligations such as double validation, return information, deadlines, etc., certain pages are important to demonstrate your professionalism:
- a homepage
- an FAQ
- a legal notice page
- product pages
On your homepage, the customer must understand your company’s values, what you sell and the possibilities for online purchases, for example. The frequently asked questions section plays a reassuring role. The visitor can find on this page all the answers to their questions and the possibility of contacting you. The legal notice page must comply with very specific rules. It must include, in particular, information on the legal framework, address and contact details. Product pages also contain specific information about each product so that the prospect has all the information needed for their purchase. If in doubt, turn to Fevad, the Federation of e-commerce and distance selling.
5 tips for an e-commerce site that works
Choose the solution that suits you
An e-commerce store, to work as well as possible, must above all rely on a solution that will help you manage your inventory and payments. Thus, when you have little stock, the product can be displayed as unavailable or with longer delivery times. Some solutions offer turnkey websites, easy to create and set up, while others require you to call on a service provider to configure them. This is an essential step, which is why in the rest of this article we offer you an effective benchmark for choosing the best e-commerce solution.
Be compliant
Rules are crucial in e-commerce, because you risk a lot. Make sure you comply with all current legislation. In particular, 2 clicks are required to validate a purchase, the first to validate the order, the second to accept the sales contract. The 14-day withdrawal period must be respected. If not, the customer must be informed. Delivery must then be made within 30 days. Finally, a mediation service is mandatory for dissatisfied customers. Fevad can inform you about the important points!
Work on your SEO
A good e-commerce site starts with… significant traffic! To achieve this, take care of your SEO. Your product pages can be optimized, and you can also create a blog to talk about these topics. Follow all the rules of a classic website to bring in as much traffic as possible.
Focus on images and descriptions
Customer satisfaction is also a priority for any good e-commerce site. For this, the key is precision. Unlike a physical store, an online shop does not allow your customers to see, touch and smell your products. You must therefore provide them with as much information as possible: photos, videos, contextual visuals, precise descriptions.
Communicate with your customers
Good communication also guarantees customer satisfaction, and improves loyalty. To do this, discover omnichannel and how to implement it for a winning online sales approach. Now is the time to look into marketing automation to connect your e-commerce site with perfect communication. Recommend products, inform your customers about their orders, create buzz with your new products… The scenarios for mechanizing your prospects’ journey are numerous, and everything is possible with marketing automation!
Also read: Product recommendations: the complete guide to boosting your e-commerce site
Which platform for my ecommerce site?
It is no longer a secret: your e-commerce platform is the sensitive point of your online sales site. From creating your site to managing your sales, it is essential. To compare them, here is a quick benchmark:
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Shopify |
Prestashop |
Woo commerce |
Magento |
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SEO |
++ |
– |
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++ |
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Support |
++ |
+ |
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– |
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Cost |
– |
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+ |
— |
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French? |
X |
✓ |
– |
X |
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Simplicity |
+ |
++ |
+ |
– |
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Customization |
+ |
+ |
+ |
++ |
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Webmecanik plug-in |
✓ |
✓ |
✓ |
✓ |
Depending on your sector, your web knowledge, your CMS (WordPress, Wix,…) you need to choose the platform that will allow you to have a turnkey site. Some will offer you a free version, others will be easier to get to grips with. One piece of advice: write the most complete requirements document possible, so you can clearly understand your priorities.
3 top e-commerce sites
To give you examples and a more concrete vision of what you could aim for, here is an analysis of three online sales sites that convert!
Cultura
Cultura has managed to find the advantages of online sales while also working on customer loyalty and SEO. By creating a blog section, a space reserved for members with private sales and contests, and a community website, they cover all the essential points for a site that converts! A great example of an ecommerce site.
Veepee
Veepee managed to carve out a place for itself with its private sales concept. To go further, this year it is launching Re-turn, a service allowing a product to be resold rather than returned if it is not liked. Indeed, this was one of the weak points of online private sales, which the site managed to leverage and turn into a strength. An example of innovation.
Amazon
Amazon’s strength is choice. A very wide selection of products, different delivery options: everything needed to further improve customer convenience. Coupled with complete product pages and simple navigation, allowing a view of the price, shipping costs and delivery times at a glance, it definitely wins the gold medal!
You now have all the keys in hand to make your ecommerce site a success! To go even further, think about how to connect your site with tools that will be useful to you later on. In particular, marketing automation. This tool will allow you to communicate automatically with your customers, both to follow up after a visit to your site without a purchase, and for order tracking for example.
