E-Commerce or electronic commerce is associated to sale or purchase of products or services online through the internet. E-Commerce generally takes place with website as a medium and a secure payment channel linked to the website. Basically in layman’s terms, there is an online store or a shop where he/she can view/search/select and purchase products, exactly as one does physically when he/she is going to a shop.

E-Commerce has been recognized world-wide for the following reasons:

1. Ease of use

2. Accessibility all across the globe

3. Great variety & easy compassion of products from different vendors

4. Trusted payment channels

5. Sit at home shopping, hence less time consuming.

All the above reasons indicate why the world has accepted E-Commerce as an integral part of business today. It is therefore very important for any new entrepreneur to understand the significance of E-Commerce and how best to utilize this tool for his/her business.

Any entrepreneur looking to put his/her business over the internet would have many questions in mind on the subject. The first and the most obvious question one would shoot up would definitely be:

What should I do to make my website an extremely friendly selling tool??

Designing an E-Commerce website is an art coupled with technical conventions. One has to be very careful and meticulous as to how one devices his/her strategies for selling online. In order to develop a dominating e-commerce website one must take into consideration the following:

1. Design a user-friendly and appealing catalog: Your product catalog is like your resume; if it is appealing, extremely navigable, and has good product info; people are lured into buying your products. Entrepreneurs must remember the golden rules- firstly people are on your website to purchase your product, and secondly window shoppers are potential customers. A user can purchase your product today, tomorrow or day after; for this you must provide the user with enough opportunities to purchase your product. An eye-catching catalog (yet not too jazzy), is all you need for your users to memorize you. The aesthetics of your website are amongst the best selling tools you have!

2. Connect it to a secure payment gateway: You must give your users enough security for their money. Highlighting this aspect can be very crucial for you. Payments take place through credit cards online, and if any user is sceptical about the money he/she is giving you, your sales are doomed! One must take supreme care that customers are well educated on the security of their transaction. It is very essential to give in a write-up on the website regarding the payments as well as the security of the transactions. Using words phrases like ‘guaranteed secure transactions’, getting in a couple of references from the payment gateway, etc. can really boost your customer trust in you.

3. Allowing users to remember you- one must make sure that if a user has come to your website he/she must not buy the same product from another website just because he/she can’t find it on yours! An extremely important feature of online shopping is giving your users an option of maintaining a ‘wish list’. Through a wish list, the user can remember the page where he/she had sighted the product of desire but could not purchase it for some reason. This way, whenever the user has the means to make a purchase, he/she can log on to the wish list and locate the desired product.

4. Cross Selling- Cross selling is another tool with the e-Entrepreneur. Here, the products can be cleverly linked to each other so as to lure the user into further shopping. For example, if the user is looking for a book on the website, the website must also be able to suggest him/her other books by the author or books related to the subject, and even the best sellers in the section. This way the user will not only be educated on the related products but will also be lured for a future purchase.

5. Up Selling- customers are generally delighted to receive special offers and discounts on the products they are looking for. The website administrator can cleverly introduce special schemes like ‘buy flowers worth $50 and get a box of chocolates free!’ Such schemes are extremely enticing for the users and generally generate more business.

One, not only has to have a complete understanding of the modules behind an E-Commerce website, but also should have a sense of commerce along with. Any website with badly highlighted products might loose on its valuable sales. Therefore it is always wise to strategize the module elements in the best way possible as well as take expert help to get best results.

There are certain vitals of E-Commerce which need to be addressed to any new E-Entrepreneur.

Let us begin with highlighting common terms associated to any E-Commerce website design & Development:

While the first three can be assumed as relative steps, the last two are basically a part the E-Commerce strategy. For designing any E-Commerce website, the web administrator has to keep these aspects in mind and then formulate the design of the website.

Up selling and Cross selling are very important tools for any Entrepreneur especially when he/she has a platform to accomplish that easily. It is obvious that one would not want a user to simply purchase one product and leave the website. What is important is that the website helps generate user interest towards other products as well. For example a shopper purchases deodorant from the website, the program should be smart enough to suggest several ranges of deodorants, most purchased deodorants as well as products from the range of cosmetics to the user. Here if the user is looking for a deodorant, and finds a good range of cosmetic products also, he/she might wish to go in for those also. Cross selling is a very useful tool for any E-Commerce website and is quite helpful for generating good business.

The success of any E-Commerce website depends on a number of factors, most common amongst which are definitely a well organized website structure and an attractive design outlay.