By Chris Lee

With retailers recording a bumper Christmas for online sales and consumers, particularly the over 45 age group, becoming more comfortable buying online, ecommerce has become a pivotal part of many businesses’ strategy.

But for companies embarking on an ecommerce strategy, how should they go about it? NMK caught up with Ben Dyer, director of product development at ecommerce software provider Actinic, to find out ecommerce best practice.

Three is the magic number

People are getting more comfortable buying online, but what are the key challenges businesses face when initiating an ecommerce programme? Dyer believes that there are three core components to a successful site.

“The first thing is about getting people to your site and once you’ve got them there it’s about making it easy and compelling for them to buy from you. The third thing is providing a great customer service,” Dyer said. “Sometimes people forget that ecommerce is not about the technology, it’s about having the right product and the ability to sell it, the same as bricks and mortar stores.”

Dyer believes that successful ecommerce sites have two things in common – they are well marketed and they sell from the moment that visitors arrive.

“Defining the strategy is more important than rolling the site out,” he said. “Merchants should focus on growing the business, not fighting the technology behind it.”

Counting the cost

Is it costly to set up an ecommerce site? Dyer says that there is wide range of technologies on offer varying in price, to challenge is finding the right one to suit the business.

“The one thing that people sometimes forget about ecommerce is that there can be some hidden costs, such as marketing and selling to consumers,” he said.

On the upside, Dyer believes that having a technology background is no longer necessary to be a successful online vendor.

“If you look at eBay, it broke the mould. It enabled anyone and everyone can sell online quickly and easily,” Dyer told NMK. “The advice I would give when choosing a solution, to make sure it’s appropriate for your business. Don’t download anything for free and try to panel beat it into shape.”

Grand designs

Dyer believes that the design is critical to capture customers, especially given Google’s estimate that sites have just three seconds to impress.

“Three seconds is not a long time to make a great impression, establish your brand, tell people what you’re doing and build trust. The best way to do this is through the design of the site and it should be central to any ecommerce project,” he said. “The key is to prototype, test and gain feedback on the site. They question should be ‘how would you approach buying from this store?’”

So what questions should businesses ask designers?

“Web design is a fairly ad hoc business, there’s no Corgi stamp for Web designers,” Dyer advised. “Do some digging, do some research, speak to previous clients. If your designer has built ecommerce sites before, try them out. I’ve written a blog about this subject.”

Top tips

So does Dyer believe to be the key best practices for ecommerce sites?

“Firstly, understand your goals and ambitions before you approach a designer, sit down and map this out,” he said. “Secondly, what is the solution? Designers may use an off-the-shelf package and probably want your project out of the way as quickly as possible, so understand what it is you’re buying and how to maintain it. Finally, engage with your existing customers and understand their needs and wants. Get a real customer insight because the most successful stores do that.”

To hear the interview in full, please visit the author’s RunMarketing podcast.