Welcome to our blog, created specifically for clients seeking to develop an eCommerce platform. This blog aims to gather all essential information and blogs from our specialists related to building a successful online store, guiding you through the various stages of eCommerce development.

To ensure a seamless collaboration with the software house team, we’ll also provide valuable insights on how you can effectively prepare and contribute to creating your eCommerce website, paving the way for a fruitful partnership and trouble-free launch of the project.

Let’s start with talking about the idea of eCommerce migration, as it is the case for most of our clients. However, this information is equally valuable for the people wanting to create their first eCommerce store, as examples of common website issues are presented.

Quick jump

When should you consider eCommerce migration?

First of all, migration should be an answer to a problem that occurs with a current platform. One of the main reasons is technical debt, which makes it difficult or even impossible to develop the eCommerce store further due to the limited system capabilities. Moreover, a mistake that many businesses make here is investing more and more resources to maintain the website instead of focusing on modernizing and upgrading their digital infrastructure so it can work smoothly for many more years.

Another popular reason for migration is the lack of out-of-the-box tools and functionalities that the online store needs, or the integration with such tools is too difficult and costly.   

To determine if your store may require migration, take a look at these issues:

  • Scalability problems
  • Poor performance
  • Lack of customization and flexibility
  • Troublesome integrations
  • Poor customer experience
  • Security concerns

If your store encounters one or more of these problems, migration might be the solution. Each of these points is described in depth here, along with the whole process of preparing for eCommerce migration. It’s certainly worth taking a look!

Do the research and gather your requirements

The next extremely important step is gathering requirements for your new eCommerce store. Generally, the more documentation is gathered, the better (especially in the case of custom eCommerce projects). However, this documentation should also be as precise as possible to avoid misunderstandings.

While listing essential functionalities, include all the information necessary to properly complete the project. Clients sometimes do not inform the software house about the functionalities that are crucial for their business and differ from the typical eCommerce store because they assume it is obvious for developers to implement them. This approach may lead to wasted resources and potential delays.

Choose the development agency

Research the market and check the agency’s portfolios to choose the best eCommerce agency for your business. To do so, you can search for agencies on Google, as well as ask people from your industry for a development company recommendation. When browsing portfolios, pay special attention to the industries for which the chosen eCommerce development agency was doing the eCommerce project. For instance, when a particular agency specializes in the fashion industry and has completed over 20 projects in this field, developing an online store related to other industries like healthcare or electronic parts can be way more challenging. Accordingly, if a development agency conducted numerous projects from different fields and levels of complexity, this shows that they are flexible and can easily adjust to different business requirements. They have gained a wide range of skills and knowledge from their experience, which helps them to deal with new situations with a well-rounded perspective.

What’s more, do your best to choose one person responsible for communicating with the developer’s team and making decisions about the new store. This approach makes the work easier as there is only one coherent vision of the website. Nonetheless, devote some time to talk to your team and gather feedback regarding current issues and possible improvements within the store. Then, one designated person should collect the information and communicate it to the software house.

In Bitbag, good communication with a client is a pillar of a successful eCommerce project. The workshop’s methodology and general project workflow can be suited to the client, so clearly communicating requirements and terms for cooperation is crucial for mutual understanding and success.

Last but not least, eCommerce agencies use different pricing models regarding eCommerce project development. This aspect usually involves two options: Time and Material or Fixed price, where the first one allows for more flexibility in project scope and adjustments, with costs varying based on the actual time and resources used. The second one, in turn, offers a predetermined cost for the entire project, providing financial predictability but often with less flexibility for changes once the project is underway. In order to ensure transparency and avoid misunderstanding, it’s best to contact a sales/business development representative and determine conditions and pricing models individually. 

What about the eCommerce platform?

After the documentation is gathered and delivered to the software house, it is time to choose the most suitable eCommerce platform. Choosing the development agency based on the desired eCommerce platform is also viable if such was already determined; nonetheless, we will focus on the first variant here.

When choosing an eCommerce platform, several factors are considered. First of all, the choice depends on the size of the business and the type of eCommerce business. Next, a company can think of the desired type of platform for the project, for instance, SaaS or Open Source.  The chosen platform and its architecture should solve all the problems you experienced so far, as well as not lead to other ones. In other words,  the platform should be exactly suited to the needs of your business.

If you want to migrate your eCommerce website, this article explains how to choose an eCommerce platform during migration and shows what type of data should be migrated to the new eCommerce store.

How to prepare for project launch?

How to prepare for the project launch (+checklist)
A step-by-step guide to successfully planning and launching your custom eCommerce project

Maintaining the eCommerce platform

Launching the online store is not the last step. From that point, a website must be maintained and updated. It is best to discuss this aspect before or shortly after the eCommerce project launch so the decisions about the maintenance can be carefully considered to make the right choice for the business.

To do so, business owners can hire a specialist to take care of the website. This option may result in more control over the websites as it will be fully at our disposal. However, it may also implicate some risks, such as higher costs, dependency on a single individual’s expertise, and potential delays in updates or fixes if the specialist is overburdened or unavailable.

The second option is the post-launch support from the eCommerce agency. In BitBag, we provide maintenance and long-term support free of charge after the end of the project. Nonetheless, pay attention to that service in other agencies as it may require additional payment. 

Keep in mind that apart from an eCommerce agency, costs related to the new eCommerce website can include reliable hosting, payment processing, marketing efforts, and more. All costs related to eCommerce projects are carefully described in this article.

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Summary

We hope this article has helped you understand the process of creating eCommerce stores and related projects. Being well informed about conducting eCommerce projects is a great advantage both for the developers and the business owners, as it improves workflow and helps stick to the budget. Remember, the journey of eCommerce development is continuous, evolving with eCommerce trends and customer needs. Staying informed and adaptable to changes and new features is key to staying competitive in this ever-evolving market.