Looking to set up an online store to sell your products or services?
There are lots of things to consider prior to approaching a website design company. Without all the facts they will be unable to accurately provide you with a quote for the website.
To help you get to grips with the array of features and functionality you need to consider we have put together this guide How to write an e-commerce website brief. By the end of this guide, you will have all the information you need to get quotes for the work and be ready to get started building your e-commerce website.
Introduction
Start with an introduction that outlines the purpose of the website, your business goals, and your target audience. You can also include a brief summary of your company’s history, values, and mission.
Scope of work
Include timescales, deadlines, product launches and key information.
Attach your brand guidelines, logos for your business and have any logos of products or affiliates etc that you need to include on the website ready to provide when needed.
What are you looking to sell?
This may sound obvious but you need to know what you want to sell. From the number of categories to the number of product lines within those categories and the number of variations each product has (such as colour, size etc). You need to get to grips with this early on in your plan.
What information needs to be displayed for each product or category? For example, long descriptions, serial numbers, model, and make. Etc.
Do you need to be able to filter your products by size, stock level, colour etc.
What images or videos do you have to market those products or services, do you have multiple or just 1 or 2. Do you want a new image to show the product in each colour based on the item colour the user has chosen?
It can be helpful to start creating a spreadsheet to track all of this information. Doing so will be helpful during the website build process as this can then be used to import your products into the website.
How will you want to add new products to the site, will individually suffice or do you need to be able to import large quantities in one easy go? Even if initially you may be happy with individually listing each product it is important to think ahead. If you are considering adding a large product line in a year or so, mention that to us now so we can ensure your site is fit for purpose for you for the years to come!
What will you charge for shipping
Shipping costs can be a big area for you to consider. Will you charge based on product weight, and the distance to the delivery address, will you have delivery zones? Will discounts be available for multiple-item purchases etc?
You will need to have a good idea of how you wish this to work and the criteria you will base these costs on before you approach a website designer.
Payment facilities and shopping basket
What payment options will you provide? There are many options available nowadays and each comes with its own costs to utilise. These costs can vary from one payment provider to another as can the ease of use and reviews so make sure you consider these early on.
From Paypal and Stripe to finance providers like Klarna and Clearpay. Do your research and decide on your chosen payment methods before commencing on your website journey as changing your mind part way through the process can be costly.
Make sure the basket is easily accessible and the process is simple. Consider if you want to add a wish list and save for later feature giving users the ability to save products to a wish list or save them for later, to encourage users to return and complete their purchase at a later time.
Customer portals
What do you want your customers to be able to do in their log-in area? Do they need to see past orders if so for what time frame? Do they need to be able to return items, amend their personal details, update payment methods, upload information related to their purchase or add customer reviews?
Order management systems
The website should have a system for managing orders, including tracking orders, updating order status, and managing refunds and returns.
Notifications and automations
Who and how do you want internal notifications? Is an email to one email address sufficient or will it vary? Does the website need to automatically update another piece of software such as your CRM or stock management system?
Basket abandonment do you want basket reminder emails sent to your shoppers? This can increase sales especially when you include an offer code to encourage them to checkout!
Thinking about every stage of your customer journey can help you to identify what features you may need.
Again, creating a spreadsheet of features and functionality can be useful for your website designer from the quote stage through to the build of your website. Consider grading your features from critical to nice to have. This way you can then quickly scale back your website initially if your ideal website is slightly beyond the reach of your budget initially.
Additional features
Will you use discount codes, have newsletter sign-up forms, special offers.
Summary
It is important to carefully consider your requirements for your e-commerce website to enable you to receive accurate and comparable quotes for website design and maintenance. But, also to ensure your users will have a great experience when using your site. Failure to do so will inevitably lead to a loss of sales and revenue.
Ensuring your brief is well thought out will ensure no delay to the website build enabling your launch to go ahead as scheduled. A common problem with websites like these is that the company continue to grow the brief, adding new ideas throughout the website design and build stage which will increase costs and cause delays.
We hope this helps you with your new e-commerce website design!
Would you like a quote for the new site? Share your website brief with us and we will be in touch.