Developing an e-commerce website for your retail business can really multiply your revenue.
There are several benefits of building an online store that you can get such as:
- Low-cost setup as compared to a physical store.
- Ability to reach masses.
- The abundance of options to promote business online at an affordable cost.
- Ease of order management.
- No need to invest in the inventory or warehouse.
Additionally, you can also hire Indian website builders to save more on your e-commerce website development.
But even before you get started on your website development, you may have several questions for your web developer to seek clarification for.
In this blog post, we have shared 6 frequently asked questions that are raised by our clients who want to build an e-commerce website.
This blog post may also help you to clarify your queries.
Let’s dive in.
#1 How much is the cost?
The very first question that our clients or prospects ask us is about the cost of e-commerce website development.
How much is the cost to design an e-commerce website?” or “how much do you charge to build an e-commerce store?.
Well, there is no standard price to create an e-commerce store.
Some web developers may quote you as low as a few hundred dollars while others may quote you a few thousand.
The cost to build an e-commerce website depends on several factors such as:
- Which web development platform do you prefer to build your e-commerce store? If it’s a CMS like WordPress, you can definitely get the best deal.
- What kind of products do you intend to sell? Will they have multiple variants such as size, color, etc. or they will be simple products that have no variants?
- Do you need any special features such as POS integration etc.?
- Do you want to integrate PayPal or any other payment gateway? Using PayPal can be straightforward and thus affordable but if you have other preferences, your web developer may have to use custom codes to integrate the gateway of your choice.
- Do you want your web developer to upload the products for you or you would like to upload them yourself?
Your website development cost may vary if you choose to hire a local developer or consider outsourcing your web design project to other countries like India.
Recommended post: How much does an e-commerce website cost in India
#2 How much time it takes to build?
Another important question that all of our prospects ask is “How much time it will take to complete my website?” or “How much time does an e-commerce website takes to complete?“.
Again, the timeframe to complete an e-commerce website depends on the size & nature of the website.
A basic e-commerce website development shouldn’t take more than 3 weeks to complete which doesn’t include the product uploading.
However, a complex website may take up to 4 months to complete.
If you have a set deadline to launch your e-commerce store, you must ask your website builder if they have the ability to achieve it or not.
At Innomax, we have helped our clients to launch their online stores in as low as 12 days.
If you use WordPress to build your e-commerce store, it can help you to set up and launch your website pretty quickly as compared to other CMS platforms and technologies.
#3 What do you need from me?
This is another question that our clients ask us before proceeding ahead with their website development. They want to know all details we need from them to start the website development and complete it on time.
Here’s our answer to all of our clients.
To start & complete the website development on time, we need:
- Logo of the company, if available.
- Some royalty-free product images to showcase on the homepage slider (animated header).
- Some of the product details (images and their details like description, price, etc.) to upload while testing out the website.
- All the content for pages like about us, contact us, etc.
- PayPal or other payment gateway integration details.
- Shipping charges that they want their customers to pay.
- Last but not the least, the website hosting details so that we can deploy the website after we are done with our work.
If you are on a deadline, you must make sure that you have all of the above-mentioned details or data to provide to your developer so that he or she can assist you to complete your website on time.
Recommended post: 8 Essential elements of a web design contract that you must read before hiring a website developer
#4 How I will manage my store?
Our prospects and clients also ask questions like “How can I manage my e-commerce website after you develop it?” or “Will I be able to change the information on my website?“.
We all know that website development is not a one-time thing. You may need to change the content or images on your website frequently or as and when required.
If you hire a web developer each time you need any changes on your website, you may end up paying a lot of money for your website management which doesn’t make any sense.
What’s the solution here?
With the help of CMS platforms such as WordPress, you can easily take control of your e-commerce store and manage the content, images & products on your website. This is one of the reasons that we choose WordPress to build e-commerce websites.
Recommended post: 6 Reasons for you to choose WordPress for your website development
#5 Do you provide support?
No matter how efficiently you check your website before launching it, you may still experience some errors or bugs on your site.
So, most website owners are worried about the post-launch support that they will get from their website builders. Therefore, they would ask us questions like “Do you provide any kind of support?” or “What will happen if I face any issues on my website after launching it?“.
At Innomax, we provide all our clients with a service warranty of 3 months which means we will help them to resolve any kind of issues that may arise after making the website live.
#6 What about web maintenance?
Just like any other valuable commodity, your e-commerce website also needs regular maintenance in order to perform well in the long run.
Not all webmasters understand this but those who have been running their websites already for some time will know the importance of website maintenance. Therefore, they would ask us questions like “Will you help me to maintain my website?” or “How much do you charge for website maintenance services?” or “Do you have any website maintenance packages that I can see?“.
Why website maintenance is so important?
- To regularly update the information & products on your website.
- To regularly upgrade all the plugins and themes of your website.
- To make sure that your e-commerce store is performing well for your users on all browsers & mobile devices.
- Ensure that all the forms such as checkout and registration are working fine.
- To protect your website from different types of security threats.
At Innomax, we provide web maintenance services for our clients who need them. You can also have a look at our different website maintenance packages.
Recommended post: 8 Reasons for you to maintain your e-commerce website regularly
