Having an eCommerce web design that works across smartphones and tablets is not enough as that’s now the norm. You need to ensure that your eCommerce store considers the mobile user at every level. From product search to the checkout process, you need to make the mobile experience native and intuitive.

eCommerce mobile device purchases hit $700 billion in revenue during 2017, which represents 300% growth over the past four years.

Filling out forms on a phone can be a painful experience at the best of times. Allowing users to register using their Google or Facebook profiles can help remove this barrier. One click purchasing using digital wallets removes the need to hunt around for a credit card and then enter all your information. Amazon Pay, Apple Pay, PayPal One-Touch and Visa Checkout are just a handful of services that allow visitors to your eCommerce website to check out and pay with minimal fuss.

Traditionally eCommerce websites used generic upselling and related products to generate additional sales. Whilst useful, the practice treated all visitors to your eCommerce store the same and assumed they had similar buying interests. Darlweb modernises eCommerce development to display personalised product recommendations based on the individual customer’s own unique reactions at different data points. These data points typically include:

By creating a smart eCommerce system and building a picture of each customer we can look to more accurately match products that individuals are more likely to be interested in and purchase.

There are various eCommerce platforms available to you and making the right choice is extremely important. As your web design agency, we will discuss the pros and cons of each. One of the first decisions you need to make is whether you are looking for a completely bespoke solution or to tailor an off the shelf eCommerce package. The main considerations will be budget and the eCommerce functionality you require. As you can imagine, building an eCommerce website from the ground up is a costly and time-consuming process. Whilst a bespoke solution offers complete freedom in terms of design and what can be achieved on a functional level, an off the shelf solution like WooCommerce might be a more realistic option if you are starting out or have a limited budget.

If you require unique functionality and/or integration with many different back-office, wholesale, packaging, accounting, CRM and invoicing systems a bespoke eCommerce website might be your only viable option. In this case, Darlweb would recommend Laravel, an open source framework that offers us complete freedom and flexibility to design and code any type of eCommerce system that you require. Every aspect of the eCommerce platform, from UI and design direction through to the check out process can be tailored to your precise requirements.

If you are a startup venture or have a fairly standard set of requirements, an off the shelf eCommerce solution might be a better fit. Whilst we can still deliver a unique design there are various rules we have to follow in order to conform to the general workings of the platform being used. You will generally have less choice and freedom in terms of how the shopping experience will function, but unless you need core modules to function in specific ways, this might not be an issue.

Another consideration is the time it will take to design and develop your eCommerce website. Whilst an off the shelf solution could be live within 1-2 months, a fully bespoke eCommerce system could take twice that amount of time and potentially more, depending on the size and scope of the project.