Main stages of creating an online store

Interest in online shopping is increasing every year. In the frantic pace of life, people are not ready to spend a lot of time looking for the things they need. It is much more pleasant and rational to shop online. It saves time and resources of buyers, and business owners can maximize their profits with minimal expenses. Only there is one important nuance – before creating a website you need to think it through and follow the sequence of stages. Which ones? About what the main stages of the development of an online store is worth going through, we will tell you below.

Definition of goals and objectives

It is imperative at this stage to understand what services/goods you will be offering to customers, who your target audience is, and to determine the tasks and purpose of creating an online store. As a rule, it is to minimize costs and maximize profits.

The tasks of a web resource can also be different. For example, increasing profits, entering a new market.

Analysis of competitors and the market

Before proceeding to the development of the site it is necessary to conduct a detailed analysis of the market and competitors. This requires determining the age, location of the target audience, studying their pains, needs.

Analyzing the CA is an important stage of launching an online store. Thanks to it, you can better recognize your customers and create an effective and competent promotion strategy.

As for competitors, you should pay attention to pricing, product range, advantages and chips of the company. This will allow you to derive your ideal formula and develop a project that will make a worthy competition in the market.

Platform

Creating an online trading platform is possible on Laravel, WordPress, 1C-Bitrix and other platforms, but the most popular in the CIS is the development of an online store on Bitrix. It has a huge catalog of ready-made modules for integration with 1C, payment gateways, various CRM systems, different loyalty programs and many other most necessary services. It has a huge catalog of ready-made templates that can be deployed in a couple of days and start trading. Due to the modern, built-in caching system provides fast loading speed. In addition, 1C-Bitrix is one of the secure CMS.

For the development of complex, highly loaded projects, where you need a unique admin today it is popular to use Laravel. It has a rich library, provides ample opportunities for scalability, ensures high performance and security of the web resource.

Functionality

The functionality of an online store is also not the least important. You should determine what you need to run your business successfully, and without which option you can easily work without.

For an online store, the following are key components:

• корзина покупок
• каталог товаров
• система доставки/оплаты
• поиск по сайту 
• системы фильтрации и сортировки. 

At the same time, it is important to build the development taking into account possible future scalability and the possibility of adding new functions in the future.

The trend is becoming popular not to develop any complex modules (smart search, loyalty systems, etc.) on your site, but to connect third-party services and use them on a subscription basis.

Drafting of technical specifications

Once the full picture is obtained, based on the brief filled in by the client, work begins on creating the TOR. In essence, it is a precise instruction for the development of the project, where all the requirements are prescribed. The terms of reference include:

• Information about CA, product mission
• Structure of sections, list of web pages and their description
• Mechanics of modules operation
• Technologies
• Design idea
• Technical characteristics.

Designing

At this stage, the structure is created, the navigation of the site is thought out. The most important point is to work out all the main user paths, make them as short and meaningful as possible.

Key points:

• Maximize the number of clicks a customer has to make.
• Provide fast search and site navigation (the faster a user finds a product, the more likely they are to buy it).
• Key information (necessary for ordering) should always be on the first screen.
• Everywhere (in the card, profile, cart, personal cabinet) offer related products, bundles or promotions that include the products the customer is looking for.

Design development

After creating the layout, the work on the design begins. This is quite an interesting and lengthy process, because it is important to think through each element. The design itself should be easy to perceive, but at the same time cause interest, attract attention. All elements should be clear, clear.

Layout

After the approval of the layout begins another important stage – layout. It involves turning the layout into ready-made pages. The speed of page loading, correct display on different devices and even SEO results will depend on how well the layout is done.

Programming

Once the layout is completed, the task of developing an online store on Bitrix or any other CMS goes into the hands of programmers. They prescribe the logic of departments, customize administrative modules, ensure the functioning of the web resource.

Filling with content

It is required to fill the necessary information, product cards. Content should be unique and useful. Photos should be of high quality. Otherwise, users will not stay on the site for a long time. Only a systematic and competent approach to the development and filling of the resource can lead to the cherished goal – increasing profits.

Testing and launch

After web development of the online store is carried out testing in order to identify flaws, errors. It also allows you to improve the user experience.

The specialist evaluates the performance of the resource, checks for the speed of page loading, correctness of order processing and other functions

Launch and promotion

After successful completion of the main stages of development, the online store is placed on the server and set up payment systems, analytical tools for evaluating user behavior and tracking site visits.

Work is carried out to promote the resource and bring it to the TOP in the search engine.

Conclusion

We have listed the main stages of the development of an online store. Do not ignore them, skip them, because the cost of creating a web resource is considerable. Only a competent systematic approach, as well as the right choice of developer will allow you to get a quality result.

This article was sponsored by Maxime Castelli