Ever crossed your mind what makes an e-commerce website successful? Is it the creative web design, catchy content or the role digital marketing played or even the combination of all these and various other factors? Well, for one, the owners of these websites have well covered their fundamentals at the beginning, and two, the quality of their designed e-commerce website is top-notch. Not only do they know how to connect directly with their customers but also how to encourage them to make more purchases.

Now, with the help of this article, your online store too can join the list of the successful e-commerce sites. All you need to do is follow the below-mentioned strategies which cover almost all the essential elements an average buyer experience while visiting your store and how you can work on them to make your business stand out among less savvy merchants.

Start with the right platform

Also known as CMS or Content Management System, these are the foundations upon which you build your online store. And there are plenty to choose from but the three most popular ones you will find are Magento, WordPress, and Shopify. Since you are new to building websites, we would recommend Magento for you. It not only offers a simple, out-of-the-box solution but also gives you access to thousands of plugins besides tons of other useful features.

Select your hosting provider

Reliable web hosting has always been a critical part of creating a website. It is basically a remote server or a host where all your website’s data and files are stored and can be accessed by you and your customers via a web browser. And just like CMS, here too you get a lot of options to choose from. While looking for a host for your online store, just make sure to pick the one that specializes in e-commerce or at least hosts a lot of existing e-commerce sites.

Work on an engaging web design

An effectively designed website always work wonders for e-stores and websites in general. However, creating one is an entirely different story, you either need to pay a pretty penny to a designer to design e-commerce website or can learn to code yourself. One other option is to buy a ready-made template and customize it to your needs. No matter what option you choose, always remember the bottom line; design a website that can easily captivate the site visitors’ attention.

Offer live chat support

It often evades our mind to think of customer support while establishing an online store. And it seems justifiable at the moment as well since you won’t be seeing anyone face to face, so why bother? Well, you should. Not only does it fulfill your customers’ need to communicate should they encounter any issue but a good customer service also gives your business a certain level of reliability which further helps to build brand awareness, an extra bonus point.

Include popular payment gateways

A payment gateway is a service that use secure internet connections to verify, process and accept or (sometimes) decline direct payments or credit card processing on behalf of the merchants. Go with multiple payment gateways if possible, they give you a competitive advantage over the market, allow you to access new markets, help maximize global conversion rate through local payment alternatives and much much more.

Add product reviews

Reviews always help e-commerce stores and that too in big ways. Check Amazon, Flipkart, Wal-mart etc. and you will know why these e-commerce giants aren’t just retailers but also serve as a source of information to help shoppers make an educated decision. So, the more reviews you have, the more convinced a shopper will become about making the right choice. Also, customers sharing products after reviewing on social platforms is an added exposure.

End Thoughts

Though what we have mentioned above are a set of definitive actions you must take to reach your e-commerce goals but these are not the only ones. You will also be required to make your site SEO-friendly, ensure that it works well on all devices, use email marketing and various other tactics in order to keep your business competitive.

And do not forget that an effectively designed e-commerce website isn’t just about making your store look good, its more about applying a successful conversion strategy to create a simple and smooth shopping experience to your site visitors.