A Complete Guide To Ecommerce Development

Brands these days have to use platforms on top of brick-and-mortar stores to get sales and earn revenue to keep the ball rolling.
Physical stores alone just don’t cut it anymore.

And this is where eCommerce websites enter the fray. These are stores on steroids minus the physical location constraints.
More so, they can be visited by just about anyone on the internet. Imagine running a business that is open 24/7, round the clock, greets every visitor, remembers what customers like, and doesn’t require any staff or locations.

That is a win-win situation for everyone, right?. Therefore, it is safe to say that it is a recipe for success for every brand.
More so, it allows them to compete and succeed in today’s market.

However, in order to reap those benefits, you have to have an eCommerce website in the first place.
And that is only possible through eCommerce development.

So, what is eCommerce website development? Well, to find out, we will discuss everything about eCommerce development in this blog.
More so, we will look at the reasons why you should create an eCommerce store and the benefits it will bring.
So, without any further ado, let’s get right into it.

What is eCommerce Website Development?

Let’s just jump into the elephant in the room right now and discuss what is eCommerce website development.

Well, simply put, eCommerce development is the process of creating an online store that allows you to sell your products or services directly to customers.

More so, eCommerce itself stands for electronic commerce. This refers to the trade of goods or services over the internet.

Understanding Front End and Back End Development

E Commerce development is about creating two sides of the same coin. The first one is the front end. It is also known as the client-side. This is what the users see and use when they visit the site.

Everything on the client’s end is happening on the front end. This includes when they browse products, add them to a shopping cart, or make a purchase, for that matter.

More so, the front end includes a lot of other things as well. They are the store’s layout, its design, as well as the products and their images. The Checkout process and the UI also fall in that category.

The other part is the back end. It is also known as the server side. This is the engine under the hood. It is what makes a website function.

The back end handles all the logic, data processing, and server functionality. It manages product data, handles order management and customer information, and processes payments.

More so, the back end deals with integration with third-party apps and systems like product catalogs, inventory systems, payment gateways, user account management, order processing systems, CRM, shipping and logistics integrations, analytics, and performance tracking tools.

And this is just the development side of things in the eCommerce website development process. That is because, before the development takes place, the website is designed first.

In it, the designers create the site’s UI and UX. After the design and development are done, the QA testing comes.

In testing, QA testers check everything and give the green light for the eCommerce site to launch.

Why Custom eCommerce Development Matters

It goes without saying that eCommerce websites are a must for brands these days. An eCommerce site allows a brand to reach customers all over the world by giving them an online platform to shop.

But more than anything, it allows a brand to compete, succeed, and stay relevant in the modern market. After all, the revenue from the eCommerce platform is there for the taking.

According to Statista’s Report, “The revenue earned from the eCommerce market is set to reach US$3.66 trillion by the end of 2025.” 

So, it’s safe to say that having an eCommerce website is a golden ticket to cashing in on some of that revenue.

However, there are more reasons to go with eCommerce development, especially with one that is done fully custom.

Therefore, here’s why e commerce web design and development matters:

Tailored to Your Specific Needs

When you go for the custom approach, the entire eCommerce web design and development is done according to your liking.

This means each and every aspect of the website is tailored according to your requirements. Your website will be designed and developed to better fit your specific needs, business model, and offerings.

This way, you can have a site that is on par with your eCommerce Growth Strategy. More so, your web design, branding, and web features will all be on the same page.

Flexible and Scalable 

With fully custom eCommerce design and development, you create a site for the future. This means your site will be future-proof and flexible enough to adjust to any changes in the tech world.

Furthermore, this is the same reason why having custom Web Design is Important. More so, your site will be scalable.

This means that your site can handle the increase in visitors when your brand grows in the future. Also, it will allow your site to handle extra data loads without crashing or slowing down.

Personalized Shopping Experience

When you create a site just the way you want it, you get to add the features you want. This means you can add features like AI. It will allow you to improve your site’s shopping experience.

More so, you can improve the shopper’s experience according to their preferences and behaviors thanks to AI.

And when you offer a better shopping experience, the chances of the customer returning to your site increase tenfold.

More so, you can gather customer data as well as get insights into the buying behaviors. This data will allow you to improve your site’s User Experience even more.

And in turn, all of this will increase the customer’s satisfaction and loyalty.

Good Development = Good Results

Another one of the better reasons for going with custom eCommerce web design & development is that everything is happening just the way you want it.

This means you’re in control of all the decisions you take. Either you can make your site look all shiny, or you can go with features that add to your site’s quality.

You can have the eCommerce developer create a site that is fast, user-friendly, and mobile responsive.

More so, you can add modern features and create a good design. Off-the-shelf options are not nearly as customizable as a custom eShop development.

More so, they don’t give you the room to add your creative touch to your site without compromising quality.

But when you create a site to a T with a plan that is well thought out, achieving good results is a matter of time.

Increased Conversion Rates 

Creating a fully custom site is the best way to go after conversions. That is because the whole point of an eCommerce site is to get sales and conversions.

And when you create one, you keep conversions in mind all the way through the eCommerce website project.

You go with design and features that can increase conversion rates with CTAs and better navigation.

More so, you create Landing Pages that convert. And they are a secret recipe for increasing conversion rates and driving sales.

Better ROI 

The saying “buy it nice or buy it twice” cannot be any truer in the case of the development of e commerce website.

When you go with good and quality development, you save yourself from the trouble of redesigning or redeveloping your site.

This issue comes up more often than not due to flaws in development codes or bugs and errors.

Therefore, you must remember the golden rule, which is that “cheap resources always give you cheap results.”

And when you have that in mind, you have to avoid taking any shortcuts that are cheap and look way too good for the price they cost.

While custom options do cost more upfront than, let’s say, a template, they are worth it all the way.

Because when you create a site to your liking and tailor every bit of it to your needs, you will find that a custom option is more cost-effective in the long run.

And the return on investment that you get from it certainly justifies the resources that go into creating it.

Difference Between eCommerce Development and Regular Web Development

Many people mix eCommerce website and app development with regular sites. However, despite both being websites, they cannot be more different from one another.

They differ in their nature, purpose, and features. Brands create an SEO Friendly Website to provide information about their firms. More so, they use it to get leads for future dealings.

On the other hand, the sole purpose of an eCommerce site is to sell products or services online. But there are more ways in which they differ that you might not know about.

So, here’s a quick overview of the differences between eCommerce portal development and plain sites:

Aspect	eCommerce Development	Regular Web Development
Purpose	It is designed to sell products or services online. Brands use it to manage transactions.	It focuses on providing information. Brands use it to raise brand awareness, and establish online presence.
Target Users	Online retailers, wholesalers, and customers who purchase.	Brands, organizations, and people sharing content, portfolios, or services.
Key Features	Shopping carts, product pages, checkout, payment gateways, inventory management	Information pages, blog sections, galleries, contact forms, service listings.
Design Focus	User journey optimized for conversions and sales.	User experience centered on navigation and content consumption.
Performance Needs	Must handle high traffic, product searches, and fast transactions.	Usually lighter traffic with simpler performance requirements.
Integration	Third-party systems like CRMs, shipping APIs, analytics, and ERPs.	May only need basic plugins or integrations (contact forms, maps, SEO tools).

Key Features of an eCommerce Website

Every site must have some Essential Website Features that make it easy to use. These features are a must in this day and age. More so, a visitor expects a site to have these features.

And if, for some reason, a site doesn’t have it, then they find themselves on the wrong side of the internet, which is the Forgotten Side.

Therefore, to avoid that, you must put these features at the top of your list during e-commerce software development:

User-Friendly Design

The first and most obvious feature is a user-friendly design. After all, what’s the point of going through BigCommerce website development to create a site if no one can use it in the first place?

Therefore, an eCommerce site’s design needs to be user-friendly at all times. This means the site needs to be fast and easy to navigate.

Its design needs to be super neat and clean. More so, the site should be free of design clutter. Elements need to be in the right place. It must have a simple navigation bar that is visible on top and is easy to use.

More so, the web design should use White Space to great effect. This will help separate design elements and content blocks from one another.

Moreover, it will give them the breathing room to stand out as their own. Other than that, the Brand’s Logo must be on the top left corner of the site.

You must also make the logo a clickable button that takes users to the homepage. All of these things help make a design great and user-friendly.

Mobile Responsive 

The second most important feature is that an eCommerce site must have a Mobile-Friendly Design. This feature is perhaps just as important as the user-friendly design, if not more.

After all, more than 64% of the traffic on the web comes from mobile phones, as per Exploding Topics’ Report.

So, if your site isn’t mobile-friendly, then you can kiss goodbye to more than half of the people on the net.

Therefore, it goes without saying how important this feature is. This feature can be added using a mobile responsive layout. It will allow your site to adapt to different screen sizes.

More so, it will adjust your site’s content and design to fit the user’s device screen size. More so, it is the one feature that needs to be kept in mind during the eCommerce development process.

That is because there is no going back once the site is created.

Product Management System

This is one of the features that turn your site from a regular one to an eCommerce store. A product management system allows you to keep track of inventory.

You can also update product information, like its price and images. More so, it allows you to add new products, remove them, and categorize them on your site.

You can integrate the system with inventory management to know the latest stock information.

When you add products, make sure your Graphic Designer creates high quality images so that your site’s design doesn’t look bad.

Shopping Cart and Checkout Process

This is another one of those features that turn a site into an eCommerce store. And it is a shopping cart and a checkout process. The former allows customers to add products to their cart.

The latter allows them to make the purchase. However, you must make the checkout process as simple as it can get.

Doing so will make people less likely to abandon the cart. More so, make sure that customers stay on the page they are on when they add products to the cart.

The cart can appear below. It must show the product details and the final pricing. The user can then check out the items later at their own convenience.

Security Measures

Your site must have all the security features so that it is secure for customers to shop at all times. As you know, the world of the internet is filled with scams at every corner. There is enough fraud on the net as it is.

So, you must take extra measures to ensure your store does not look suspicious. You must make your store trustworthy and credible. More so, you will need to provide a safe hopping experience for customers.

You can do so by following data protection regulations. Also, you will have to follow security protocols, such as having SSL certificates.

More so, you will need to ask eCommerce web developers to add Captcha and keep your site protected from cyber threats.

SEO Capabilities

The one and only feature that makes your site discoverable on the internet is SEO. SEO allows your site to appear in search results so that people can visit it.

No matter how good your site looks or how eCommerce website works with features, if people can’t find it, then it is of no use.

Therefore, you will need to follow SEO best practices. It is one of the utmost eCommerce website requirements.

More so, you will need to optimize the products and images on your site for SEO. You will need to use Content Marketing to make your site SEO friendly.

That way, you will have to write blogs and product descriptions and stuff SEO keywords in them. This will help your pages rank at the top of search results.

Marketing Strategy

Like SEO, your eCommerce store will need to follow a handful of Website Marketing Strategies once the BigCommerce web development is complete.

These will help your site to gain the prominence, attention, and visibility it needs to hit the ground running.

There are a lot of marketing strategies that you can choose from for your eCommerce store. Some of these strategies are paid marketing methods.

These will help you gain web traffic as soon as you begin with the marketing. However, if you do not wish to pay, then you can use unpaid and organic means to gain web traffic.

While the organic methods take a lot of effort and take longer to achieve results, they prove to be the best for an e commerce project in the long run.

Content Management System

A Content Management System is one of the most important web features. And you need to have it on your site before the eCommerce platform deployment.

That is because in an eCommerce store, you will be writing product descriptions, approving reviews, and adding blogs to your site just about on a daily basis.

So, to manage all that content, you will need a CMS to make your life easy. A CMS does as it says, which is managing the content.

The best pick for this is WordPress, which is used by just about every other eCommerce site.

How Much Does eCommerce Website Development Cost?

The big question that comes to mind before starting an e commerce website project is how much does it cost? Well, the price of rapid eCommerce development depends on many factors.

This means how much the eCommerce Development packages cost and what the size of the e-commerce project is.

But on average, the net eCommerce development starts from as low as $10,000. However, the commerce backend development can shoot up to six figures.

More so, it can go as far as half a million dollars for enterprise projects. As you know, there are a lot of factors that influence the B2B e commerce website development cost.

Some of these include the project size and requirements. More so, business size and development option also determine the cost.

And of course, the development partner’s expertise, the e commerce developer hiring model, and whatnot are the main factors.

However, if you want to know more details on the eCommerce website development cost, then you can read our blog on the eCommerce Website Cost Breakdown.

6 Steps of the eCommerce Development Process

As we come towards the end of this eCommerce development guide, let’s look at the development process.

Every project begins and ends with a plan. So, whether it is a web redesign project or a development one, they all need an eCommerce Website Development Project Plan.

The plan will direct to consumer eCommerce website development. It will list all the phases in the process from start to finish.

More so, it will define the roles responsible for each stage. Therefore, the development process for the e commerce projects includes the following phases:

Define Your Goals and Objectives

When the project kicks off, the first phase is the strategy and planning. This is where you will create strategies for developing eCommerce websites.

More so, here you will define your goals and objectives. You will need to be specific with your goals and what you wish to achieve with the projects.

Moreover, you will need to set S.M.A.R.T. goals. It stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound goals.

However, most brands fail to clearly define their goals. And this is one of the biggest mistakes a brand can make when starting off with their online store development services.

Research Your Market and Target Audience

The second phase in the eCommerce portal development service is the market research bit. This is where you look at your competitors to gain insights and learn about market trends.

More so, you do this to make grounds on areas that others might be lacking in. And you can only identify gaps in competitors when you research the market.

You cannot one up others if you do not know what they are doing and how they are doing it.

More so, it helps you figure out your target audience. Also, it allows you to tailor your website according to their preferences.

Choose the Right Platform

The next stage in the eCommerce development services is to choose the eCommerce platform. Creating an eCommerce software from the ground up can be a lot costly.

That is why people go with known solutions and add them to their site. And you, too, will have to go with one of these eCommerce solutions online.

There are a lot of 3rd party eCommerce options that you can choose from. These will get your store up and running in no time.

Some good options include Shopify, Magento, WooCommerce, and BigCommerce. But before you pull the trigger on one, you must look at its pros and cons.

More so, you must choose the one that is easy to use and fits your budget. Also, take their customization options, scalability, integration abilities, and security features into account when choosing.

UI and UX Design 

Once you have chosen the platform, you can build your eCommerce store around it. The work starts with the Design phase.

Here, you will create the user interface and user experience of your BigCommerce eCommerce website design. This phase will dictate how a customer interacts with your website after they land on it.

In essence, you will be creating a roadmap of the user journey from landing on your site to browsing a product and then making a purchase. Also, you will create the visual look of your website.

This means you get to choose the theme for your store. More so, you will add your branding identity to your site, such as your logo and other visuals.

However, you must make sure you do not go all in on design. That is because in web design, more doesn’t always mean better.

And overcrowding your design with images, design elements, and content is one of the biggest Web Design Mistakes you can make. So, avoid design clutter at all times.

Website Development

The prototype work from the design team is forwarded to the e commerce developers. The eCommerce development team takes over the project in this phase.

They start to add functionality to the prototype and bring it to life through coding. More so, the BigCommerce website developer uses programming languages to develop the store.

Also, they add all the core features and log to the store. They essentially create the working product that the customers will use and interact with.

This is where the website development skills of the e-commerce developer will come into play. The higher the skills an eCommerce programmer has, the better the website will be developed. It is as simple as that.

Testing and launch

The last piece of work that needs to be done before the store goes live is testing. In this phase, the eCommerce website development experts and QA testers will take one final look at the store to check for any flaws in the code.

More so, they will test it for any bugs or performance issues. If they find it, then the eCommerce marketplace developers will fix it right away.

Once all the testing is done, the team optimizes and prepares the store for launch. More so, they will help you launch the store so that the deployment is done in a smooth manner.

Get Started With Webnhubs for Your eCommerce Development

Developing a custom eCommerce store is a huge undertaking. That is why partnering with an eCommerce store development company early on is the right move.

Webnhubs is the best name in the industry. We offer eCommerce Development Solutions for brands of all sizes.

No matter what your offerings are, we will design and develop the store as per your specific needs.

We have the best eCommerce developers in our team. They take on e-commerce projects of all sizes and complete them on time and within budget.

More so, we offer the best eCommerce website development packages that provide the best value for money.

Our eCommerce front end developer uses the latest tech and eCommerce development tools to develop your project.

More so, we make sure that your store is scalable. This way, it can handle the increased users just as your business grows. We will create your online store just the way you want it.

So, partner with Webnhubs for the best eCommerce web development services and start your store project today.

Wrapping It Up

So, there you have it, folks, that’s the end of this blog. We hope this blog can answer the question of “what is eCommerce development?” The answer is a bit long because creating an eCommerce store is about building everything from the ground up. But once you figure it out, then you can create a store that ticks every box and sells.

And selling is all that matters in the game of eCommerce. However, if you need help from experts to create an eCommerce store, then you can consider Webnhubs for the job. And if you liked reading this blog, you can check more of our B2B eCommerce web development blogs on our site.