Choosing the Right E-commerce Platform
Ever had the feeling you’re buying a dress from a store that doesn’t quite… fit your style. That’s almost exactly how it feels when you’re working with an e-commerce platform that isn’t built to align with the brand’s identity. For brands, an ill-fitting e-commerce setup can do more harm than good. Think clunky navigation, poor filtering and categorisation, even worse search features - all of these are pet peeves for modern consumers who want their shopping experiences to be smooth, seamless, and highly intuitive.
But there is a solution. Fashion brands can a bit work with web development experts to build their own e-commerce platforms from scratch. It isn’t the fastest way forward, but it does have several benefits. For one thing, being able to customise the look and feel of a website based on your visual branding or a new design trend is massively important if you want your online presence to stand out in a meaningful way.
For another, it allows brands to take customer or consumer feedback into account as they plan out updates and improvements to their sites. There are rather so many platforms available today that have been designed specifically for retail businesses - including Shopify (a favourite among small businesses), Magento by Adobe, Wix, WooCommerce by WordPress, and Squarespace - but not all of them may be suitable for fashion brands looking to scale up later on. Often times smaller platforms offer little in the way of plug-ins or integrated tools like AI models that recommend products based on previous purchases or 24/7 live support chatbots. That said, there are plenty of advantages for business owners who choose this route: most plug-and-play platforms are quick to launch and may even cost less than building something from scratch depending on what you need them for.
Most ecommerce platforms will give you plenty of customisation options while also running updates automatically in the background so your site is always protected against digital threats like malware attacks and hacking attempts. While it might seem overwhelming at first glance, finding the right platform can make all the difference in your brand’s online presence.
Streamlining Your Website Design for User Experience
When was the last time you landed on a website, and immediately felt comfortable. You just knew how to navigate it. There’s a science to that - and it’s not really as complicated as you might think. There are a thousand different design experts out there, and most of them will say the same thing - keep your website simple.
Simplicity is presumably underrated, I think. It gets written off far too often as boring or basic, but there’s an understated elegance to simplicity in design. One that makes things look effortless, and feel great for your shoppers to use.
The way I see it, as a general rule of thumb, less is more. And that doesn’t mean leaving your pages blank or bland - but creating a sort of harmony between form and function. Seemingly small decisions like what colours you use for your menu bar, or where you place the search box can probably have a fairly big impact on how people respond to your website.
I usually advise people to take inspiration from websites they already love visiting themselves. Most successful eCommerce websites seem to build their platforms based on what their typical customer would prefer - something I would recommend most business owners do too if they want better results from their online stores. For example, if you sell recycled fashion or vintage clothing, you might want to introduce earthy hues into your design - or perhaps some soft calming pastel shades paired with clean fonts.
If you sell tech products, something minimal could work well for you so people see the product more than the layout. Sort of. In my experience, most people are attracted to websites with loads of whitespace because it brings all focus onto the few elements that are actually present on each page.
That makes navigation so much easier too because there isn’t anything distracting vying for attention. When picking colours and creating elements for your site like buttons and banners, it helps to refer back to the basics of colour psychology and consumer response when shopping online. If something doesn’t look right on your homepage or product pages, try tweaking it until it does. The best way forward is through honest feedback from customers about what’s working for them and what isn’t as they shop on your store - that real insight can make all the difference.
Sort of.
Implementing Effective SEO Strategies
What does it actually mean to “do” SEO for your e-commerce site. Someone, somewhere online, has probably declared that search engine optimisation is possibly “crucial” for digital growth. Some even claim that it’s the difference between ecommerce success and obscurity. But it can seem a bit mysterious - like you need a magic map or a PhD in Google Analytics to get it right.
The good news is that the best SEO strategies are usually quite simple. Yes, there are complicated plugins and more advanced technical settings (which can be useful), but mostly what SEO really wants from you is consistency and clarity. Start by answering questions about who you are, what you do, and what matters to you as a brand.
It’s the easiest way to clarify your objectives and ensure your messaging is always on point. Next, work your way through your site’s main pages, rewriting headings so that they’re as close to direct answers as possible. With product pages, remember to always include essential details and specific descriptors - like measurements for furniture or fabric composition for garments - so shoppers know exactly what they’re buying.
It’s also important that keywords flow naturally with the content itself - avoid the sort of forced attempts at “keyword stuffing” we sometimes see online. Smart use of SEO means integrating relevant keywords throughout your website copy and blog posts. Always choose headlines and meta tags that reflect topics in a fairly natural way - not just because they’re trending now.
Experiment with different types of content while keeping on-page optimisations consistent across all platforms. Consider changing up your blog posts every now and then so your site stays updated regularly (search engines quite enjoy this). Keep tweaking things as you learn more about what works for your brand in an organic sense - there is no one-size-fits-all here.
Leveraging Data Analytics for Better Decision Making
Ever felt like your e-commerce platform is just a website and your customers are something you’ll never meet. That’s only partly true, in my experience. With the right data analytics, you can get a pretty good idea about what sort of people are buying from your store.
You might be worried about not knowing how to use the right data, but it seems like there’s nothing to worry about if you have the right team managing things for you. By getting more information about shopping habits, trends and how much customers are spending, you can make changes to improve your site. For example, every time a customer comes to your site and leaves without making a purchase, this is known as a bounce.
Or if they fill their cart with products and then close the window without buying anything, that’s cart abandonment. Tracking these numbers will give you insight into what’s making people leave - is it the way the products are listed, or is it because of high shipping prices. Sort of. Once you find out what the problem is, take steps to resolve it so that customers have an improved experience.
More or less. You can also identify which products are rarely outperforming others on your site, so you know which ones need additional marketing efforts. Data analytics also provides insights into which third-party marketplaces your users come from and which ones result in higher conversion rates.
This information can be leveraged to take a closer look at your pricing strategy as well as partnerships with other vendors and platforms. If this sounds overwhelming, don’t worry - plenty of e-commerce platforms already provide basic analytics within their dashboards. Many platforms also have third-party integrations with popular analytics software such as Google Analytics for deeper insights into search engine optimisation (SEO).
So explore what features and integrations already exist before adding new tools to reduce costs.
Enhancing Mobile Responsiveness and Performance
How often do you check your own website from your phone. If the answer is “not very” you might want to rethink your ecommerce platform setup. And if your site can’t load or work well on a mobile, most users will never return.
It’s that simple. While choosing a responsive design for your store’s theme is a big factor, it’s also important to test the design and ensure it works well on different devices. When you’ve got a busy team with some working remotely, it can be hard to get everyone on the same page but regular checks and reminders in your process can help. Another thing that seems fairly obvious but is often overlooked, are simple things like button sizes and placement - especially for checkout buttons.
Sort of. There are lots of clever tools online that let you audit your website’s performance and make suggestions on how you can reduce load times and enhance security. Both of which can have a huge impact on mobile experiences and conversions.
While these tools provide great suggestions, they are not always as easy to implement without the support of an expert web developer so budget for this accordingly. You don’t need to tick every box overnight. But having a clear plan and regular check ins on your ecommerce platform’s mobile performance goes a long way in helping you reach more customers at any given time, wherever they are.
Integrating Payment Solutions for Seamless Transactions
Why do some e-commerce sites have you practically begging them to take your money while others seem intent on making it as tedious as possible. I mean, how often do you find yourself ready to buy, only to be knocked back by a payment process that appears designed by someone who’s never even shopped online. Integrating payment solutions ought to be smooth and almost invisible. They need to be secure, but not give you anxiety.
The trick seems to lie in having your backend operations unified so they’re all pulling the same way - which is seemingly towards the customer. Most good platforms nowadays allow a fair bit of customisation, so you can do quite a bit based on what your average shopper prefers. Most Indian shoppers prefer cash on delivery and UPI as their preferred mode of payment, but depending on what your business is selling and who it’s selling to, this could change.
It might make sense for you to do some old school research and pick a platform that allows the level of integration you require. It can allegedly seem like an unnecessary (and exhausting) task when the orders start rolling in, but integrating your payment solutions with your inventory management systems helps maintain a real-time record of what’s happening. It’s actually much easier once they’re synced up since you won’t have any confusion about payments that have or haven’t come in for particular orders and can identify discrepancies much faster than if you were checking manually. Using something like Razorpay (which allows for scalable customisation) means each customer’s experience is sometimes tailor-made (almost).
Whichever platform you choose though, make sure there are enough features for both sides - customers will want purchase protection, chargebacks and fraud protection; businesses will want analytics tools and systems that auto-reconcile payments.