Things to Consider When Adding a Store to an Existing Website

Many of our digital marketing customers in Colorado Springs that have found success with our web design and SEO often ask us about adding a store to their website. In this post, we give you a quick list of things you must consider when adding a store to an existing website.

TL;DR

When adding a store to your existing website, there are the key things to consider. First, you’ll need to choose the right e-commerce platform that integrates well with your website and offers features like product variations, shipping options, and secure payment gateways. You will want to create a user-friendly shopping experience with clear product descriptions and high-quality images. Mobile optimization is a must nowadays to cater to shoppers on-the-go. You’ll want to manage your inventory effectively and provide responsive customer support. Marketing your new products and ensuring legal compliance are also crucial. And don’t forget about technical details like SEO optimization, responsive design, and security measures to protect your customers’ data. By covering these bases, you can successfully add a store to your website and start selling your new products.

Adding a Store to an Existing Website is a Major Undertaking

Expanding your business to include an online storefront for selling products is a great way to grow your revenue and reach a wider customer base. Here’s a comprehensive list of 30 things you should consider when adding a storefront to your website:

E-commerce Platform: Choose the right e-commerce platform that seamlessly integrates with your existing website and offers features tailored to your specific needs, such as product variations, shipping options, and payment gateways.

User Experience: Ensure a user-friendly interface and intuitive navigation to enhance the shopping experience for your customers, including easy product search, clear product descriptions, and high-quality images.

Mobile Optimization: Optimize your storefront for mobile devices to accommodate the growing number of mobile shoppers and provide a seamless mobile shopping experience.

Product Presentation: Create compelling product listings with detailed descriptions, specifications, and high-quality images to showcase the features and benefits of each product.

Inventory Management: Implement a robust inventory management system to track stock levels, manage product variations, and automate inventory updates to avoid overselling.

Secure Payment Processing: Integrate secure and convenient payment gateways to provide customers with multiple payment options and ensure the safety of their financial transactions.

Shipping and Fulfillment: Set up efficient shipping and fulfillment processes, including calculating shipping costs, choosing reliable shipping partners, and providing transparent delivery options.

Customer Support: Offer responsive customer support through live chat, email, or phone to address product inquiries, provide assistance with purchases, and handle post-sale customer service.

Marketing and Promotion: Develop a digital marketing strategy to promote your new product offerings, including email marketing, social media promotions, and potentially paid advertising to drive traffic to your storefront.

Legal and Compliance: Ensure compliance with e-commerce regulations, including data protection laws, terms of service, privacy policy, and refund/return policies to protect both your business and your customers.

SEO Optimization: Implement SEO best practices for e-commerce, including optimizing product pages with relevant keywords, creating SEO-friendly URLs, and generating sitemaps to ensure search engines can index your product listings effectively.

Responsive Design: Ensure your storefront has a responsive design that adapts seamlessly to various screen sizes, providing an optimal viewing experience across all devices, including desktops, tablets, and smartphones.

Performance Optimization: Optimize the loading speed of your storefront by compressing images, minifying CSS and JavaScript files, and leveraging browser caching to enhance the overall user experience and reduce bounce rates.

Product Reviews and Ratings: Enable customer reviews and ratings for your products to build trust, provide social proof, and enhance the credibility of your offerings, ultimately influencing purchase decisions.

Cross-selling and Upselling: Implement features for cross-selling related products and upselling higher-value items to increase average order value and maximize revenue from each customer transaction.

Analytics and Reporting: Configure web analytics tools such as Google Analytics to track and analyze user behavior, sales performance, and conversion rates, providing valuable insights for optimizing your storefront and marketing strategies.

Security Measures: Prioritize the security of your e-commerce platform by obtaining an SSL certificate, implementing secure authentication and authorization protocols, and regularly updating security patches to safeguard customer data and transactions.

Customization and Personalization: Consider offering personalized product recommendations, tailored content, and customized shopping experiences based on customer preferences and behavior to enhance engagement and drive sales.

Integration with Existing Systems: Ensure seamless integration with your existing business systems, such as customer relationship management (CRM) software, inventory management, and accounting systems, to streamline operations and maintain data consistency.

A/B Testing: Conduct A/B tests on different storefront elements, such as product layouts, call-to-action buttons, and pricing strategies, to identify the most effective strategies for optimizing conversions and sales performance.

Accessibility Compliance: Ensure your storefront meets accessibility standards, such as providing alternative text for images, keyboard navigation, and screen reader compatibility, to make your products accessible to all potential customers.

Schema Markup: Implement structured data markup, such as product schema, to provide search engines with additional information about your products, potentially leading to enhanced search result listings.

Retargeting and Remarketing: Set up retargeting and remarketing campaigns to re-engage potential customers who have visited your storefront but did not make a purchase, increasing the likelihood of conversion.

CDN Integration: Utilize a Content Delivery Network (CDN) to distribute content geographically and reduce server load times, ensuring fast and reliable access to your storefront across different regions.

Multi-Language and Multi-Currency Support: If you anticipate international customers, consider offering multi-language support and displaying prices in various currencies to cater to a diverse customer base.

Fraud Prevention: Implement fraud prevention measures, such as address verification and IP tracking, to minimize the risk of fraudulent transactions and chargebacks, safeguarding your business and customers.

Dynamic Pricing: Consider implementing dynamic pricing strategies based on factors like demand, seasonality, and customer segmentation to optimize pricing and maximize revenue.

Social Proof Integration: Integrate social proof elements, such as customer testimonials and user-generated content, to build trust and credibility, influencing purchasing decisions and enhancing the overall shopping experience.

Live Chat Integration: Provide real-time assistance to customers by integrating a live chat feature, enabling immediate responses to inquiries and potential sales support.

API Integration for Third-Party Services: Integrate with third-party APIs for services like product reviews, shipping calculators, or email marketing platforms to enhance functionality and streamline operations.

Summary

When adding a store to your existing website, consider choosing the right e-commerce platform, creating a user-friendly shopping experience, optimizing for mobile, managing inventory, providing responsive customer support, marketing your products, ensuring legal compliance, and addressing technical details like SEO optimization, responsive design, and security measures. These considerations will help you successfully integrate a store into your website and start selling your new products. If you need more details or specific help, feel free to ask!