What Is An E-Commerce Website & How To Build One
What Is An E-Commerce Website & How To Build One
Table of Contents
E-Commerce Website
Definition
What is E-Commerce?
What is an E-
Commerce website?
How to build an E-
Commerce website?
E-Commerce Website
Legal Requirements
Top 5 E-Commerce
website builders in
2020
How to create an
eCommerce website
using WooCommerce
& WordPress?
Top 5 WooCommerce
plugins for growing
your eCommerce
website
Conclusion
An e-commerce website, by definition, is a website that allows you to buy and sell tangible goods, digital products or services online. Trade, be it
barter exchange or buying and selling of goods and services has been prevalent for centuries. No one can be self-sufficient. And this brings out
the need for demand and supply of goods and services. Transactions have been going on all over the world for centuries, locally, and across
locations. Keeping the same concept in mind, now think electronic. However, also bear in mind that with the whole world going online, data
privacy laws have become increasingly stringent. And before you begin, an eCommerce venture you should be aware of all the legal policies
required for your eCommerce website.
website.
What is E-Commerce?
E-Commerce, also known as e-Business, or electronic business, is simply the sale and purchase of services and goods over an electronic
medium, like the Internet. It also involves electronically transferring data and funds between two or more parties. Simply put, it is online shopping
as we commonly know it. E-Commerce started way back in the 1960s when organizations began to use Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) to
transfer documents of their business back and forth. The 1990s saw the emergence of online shopping businesses, which is quite a
phenomenon today. The first-ever online purchase was a Sting CD, sold by US retailer, NetMarket on 11 August 1994. It has become so
convenient and easy, that anyone can shop for anything right from a living room, with just a few clicks. This has evolved more with the
emergence of smartphones, where now, you can shop from anywhere and anytime, with a wireless device connected to the Internet. Now you
can search for almost any product or service online, without having to go anywhere physically. “In 2020, eCommerce sales are expected to
account for 15.5 percent of retail sales worldwide.”- Oberlo.in
Source: Oberlo.in
E-Commerce websites are online portals that facilitate online transactions of goods and services through means of the transfer of information
and funds over the Internet. In the early days, e-commerce was done partially through emails and phone calls. Now, with a single website,
anything and everything that a transaction needs, can be executed online.
Business-to-Business (B2B):
(B2B): Electronic transactions of goods and services between companies. Example: A business sells SAS products to
other businesses.
Business-to-Consumer (B2C):
(B2C): Electronic transactions of goods and services between companies and consumers. Example: You buy a new t-
shirt from an online store.
Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C):
(C2C): Electronic transactions of goods and services between consumers, mostly through a third party. Example: You
sell your old smartphone on eBay or Olx to another consumer.
Consumer-to-Business (C2B):
(C2B): Electronic transactions of goods and services where individuals offer products or services to companies.
Example: A Social media influencer offers exposure to their online audience in exchange for a fee.
eCommerce is nothing but a type of commerce. Its functioning style is quite similar to that of the physical retail industry. The only difference it
has with a brick and mortar store is that here, the entire process takes place online. The journey of an eCommerce firm begins with setting up an
eCommerce website. It is usually done with plugins like WooCommerce. After that, the products are displayed along with necessary details like
product descriptions and price tags. A CTA button like “Buy Now” is placed near the products for the convenience of the customers. If they feel
like buying a product they can simply click on the button and make the payment. Customers are usually asked to place their orders by filling up a
form. There, they need to provide all the necessary details like the delivery address. There are different payment methods used in the eCommerce
industry. Buyers either can make the payment through a payment gateway like PayPal or they can use their credit cards. There is another option
called COD or cash on delivery. This is mainly preferred by senior customers. In this option, the buyer makes the payment when the item they
ordered is delivered on their personal address. The payment can be made either in cash or through cards or other convenient options like Google
Pay. If you are not happy with the quality of the product or mistakenly a different product gets delivered to you, you can use the reverse logistics
system. It is simply returning the items and getting the money back. You need to notify that you want to return the product you ordered. A
representative of the company will come to you and take the product back. The money will be cashed to your account. The product promotion in
eCommerce is also done digitally. The two most prominent methods are a digital advertising and email marketing. Ads are placed on the social
media platforms which are most preferred by the target groups. All visitors are asked to provide their email addresses. Based on that an email list
is prepared. After that personal emails are sent. Sometimes personal notifications are also sent to the social media accounts of the prospect
costumes.
These are some of the most popular examples of eCommerce websites across the world (in no particular order) –
Amazon
eBay
Alibaba
Taobao
Walmart
Etsy
Selling products through an online shop is the best way to make a bit of extra money. Through an eCommerce website, you can easily introduce
your products to a large number of customers at once. There are so many benefits of eCommerce websites over physical shops. And that is the
reason why many traders are inclined to take their business to the next level by creating an eCommerce website. You don’t need to be a tech
geek to build a website for your business. Alternatively, you can hire dedicated developers that will help you with your eCommerce website
creation. Also, you can easily create your own eCommerce website with the help of various eCommerce platforms. Ecommerce platforms are the
quickest way to build an eCommerce website. Below are some of the top eCommerce website builders which you can consider for developing
your eCommerce website.
Before you even launch your e-commerce website, you need to make sure it is legally compliant with the data privacy laws that are applicable to
your audience’s region. GDPR and CCPA are the two of the first regulations that directly impact data collection, use, and storage on a
widespread scale. Below are some of the policies which you need to set up on your eCommerce website
1. Privacy Policy
2. Terms and Conditions
3. Disclaimers ( related to your product, service, content or affiliate revenue)
These are just some of the basic policies you need to communicate clearly to your visitors.
Besides this, if your website uses cookies ( and it is highly unlikely you aren’t), then you need to make sure you get your users’ permission as
well, to store their data in the cookies.
WooCommerce is an open-source platform just like WordPress and the most popular solution for building an eCommerce website. And is
currently the most popular technology used for eCommerce. About 27% of all websites around the world use WooCommerce and that figure
comes around 35,712 websites.
WordPress is an open-source CMS and it easily integrates with WooCommerce. With WordPress and WooCommerce, you can create your site
the way you want it, depending on the products you’re selling. To add more functionality to your eCommerce site, you can easily install various
WordPress and WooCommerce plugins. So, whether you are planning to start a small or large eCommerce store, WooCommerce gives you all
you could ever need for building a high-quality eCommerce store with the power of WordPress.
7 Reasons why we love the WooCommerce & WordPress combo for making an eCommerce website
Later in this article, you’ll learn how you can create a website using WooCommerce & WordPress or directly jump to the section: How to create
an e-commerce website using WooCommerce & WordPress?
BigCommerce
BigCommerce is another top option to consider if you’re looking for a reputable and trustworthy eCommerce site builder. BigCommerce has
features like bulk pricing rates, quote management, customer groups, and custom price lists. BigCommerce is specially designed to help larger
eCommerce sites scale quickly. So, if you are willing to start a high-volume eCommerce store which is fully functional and has all the advanced
features, BigCommerce will be perfect for you.
Shopify
Shopify is the most popular eCommerce platform which is used by more than one million online stores worldwide. Shopify is suitable for those
who are planning to start a high-volume eCommerce store. Shopify provides 70+ free and premium themes that are easy to use and customize.
The Shopify app store contains over 3,200 apps that you can choose from to add features and functionality to your eCommerce store.
Magento
Magento is the most powerful CMS and eCommerce platform that perfectly suits any business type and size. More than 190k eCommerce
websites are powered by Magento. Magento is an open-source platform and provides more than 3,000 third-party extensions that can make
your store unique and adaptable for all situations.
Wix
If you are a beginner, then Wix is the most suitable eCommerce platform for you. Wix is amongst the top and most popular online site-builder
platforms. Wix is easy to use and comes with a drag and drop feature. Wix provides specific plans made for eCommerce websites. All plans have
unlimited bandwidth, a free domain for one year, visitor app analytics, and $300 in advertising vouchers. With the Wix store manager
dashboard, you can easily track orders, inventory, and product pages.
Top 5 #E-Commerce #website builders in 2020- @WooCommerce & #WordPress, @Shopify, @Magento, @Wix, and
@BigCommerce CLICK TO TWEET
A domain name refers to the web address of your website. An easy way to come up with the domain name for your blog is to use the name
which is related to your niche and choose .com as the extension. Check whether the domain name is available using a website like Namecheap
Namecheap..
Go to Bluehost home page and click on the Get Started button to continue:
Upon clicking, you will be taken to their signup page where you will be asked to choose a pricing plan among the following 3 plans. We
recommend you to choose the plus plan. You can always upgrade your plan.
(Note: While we were working on the article, Bluehost was offering a special discount on the choice plus/prime plan. We would recommend
going for the Choice Plus plan if the offer can still be availed.)
After selecting the plan, you have to enter the domain name of your website.
If you’ve opted for the Choice Plus plan, you’ll get the domain privacy protection feature for free. For other plans, you can choose it as an add-on.
Domain privacy protection is a useful feature as it keeps your details hidden from the public.
After adding the payment details, you’ll receive a confirmation mail. Once you’re registered with Bluehost
Bluehost,, you’re good to go!
Bluehost and almost every major web hosting service provider offers 1-Click Installation for WordPress and other CMSs such as Joomla and
Drupal.
Below are the steps to install WordPress using the 1-Click Installation feature:
1. Log into Bluehost (Or any web host you are using)
2. Go to the control panel
3. Click on the WordPress icon (Install WordPress) which you can find under the website section
4. Choose the domain where you’d like to install WordPress
5. Enter the site name, admin username and admin password of your choice, and once you’re done, click on Install Now
Congratulations! You’ve successfully installed WordPress, and now you are ready to install the WooCommerce plugin and start building your e-
commerce site.
4. Next, click the “Install Now” button next to the plugin and activate the plugin.
Next, you’ll see WooCommerce’s on-screen setup wizard. To start the wizard, click “Let’s go!”
The first step in the wizard is about creating below pages:
After creating the required pages, all you need to do is click the “Continue” button to proceed next.
The next screen you’ll see is to set up your store location, currency, preferred units, etc.
On the next screen, you can select if you’re going to be shipping physical goods or not. If you check the box, WooCommerce will pre-set the
remaining shipping-related details in the settings.
Next, check the main tax box, if you’re going to charge sales tax. Once you check the box, a new set of boxes will appear and inform you of
what’s going to happen next.
Next, click the “Continue” button and you’ll be asked to set up your preferred payment method.
PayPal and Stripe are the most popular payment options. We recommend that you integrate your site with both PayPal and Stripe. When you
are done, click “Continue” to proceed.
The next screen you’ll see is just a confirmation page. Now, you’ve just built a blank e-commerce store with WooCommerce!
The WordPress theme directory is a great place to find free themes or you can check this list of the top 100 free WordPress themes.
themes. In this
guide, we will use the free Responsive theme(one
theme(one of our own popular WordPress themes with 50,000+ active installations) that can be installed
and used as any standard free WordPress theme.
Follow the below steps to install the Responsive theme manually from the WordPress admin dashboard:
The Responsive Ready Sites Importer plugin extends the functionality of the popular Responsive theme by adding the ready site importer
feature. It comes with free ready to use WordPress website templates that can be easily customized using the Elementor page builder.
First, download the latest free Responsive Ready Sites Importer by visiting https://wordpress.org/plugins/responsive-add-ons/
https://wordpress.org/plugins/responsive-add-ons/..
After downloading the plugin zip file, follow the below steps to install the Responsive Ready Sites Importer Plugin manually from the WordPress
admin dashboard:
Now that you have activated the importer plugin, it’s time to import an eCommerce website template that comes free with the Responsive
theme. To do so, follow the steps below:
1. From the WordPress dashboard navigate to Appearance > Ready Sites and select any eCommerce template like Furniture shop, Jewellery
shop, Ecommerce fashion, Fashion shop, Pet shop, etc. For demonstration, we’ll select the Ecommerce Fashion template in this article.
2. On the preview page, you will see the website and you can see the “Import Site” button.
3. On clicking the Import Site button on the preview page you will see actions that will be taken to import the website.
4. Now you can click on the Import Site button and the import process will start. You will see a checkmark in front of the actions that are
completed.
5. After Import is complete you will see the Launch Site button which will take you to the newly imported site.
Next, you will need to add your site logo, add and style the navigation menu. With Responsive theme you can easily make these changes to your
eCommerce site. Check this guide
guide..
With the above steps completed, your eCommerce site is ready to display your first product. Follow the steps below to add your first product:
Once you’re done, click on the “Publish” button to make your first product live.
How to customize your eCommerce store page?
Follow the steps below to customize the store page layout using customizer:
Follow the steps below to customize the product page layout using customizer:
Main content width: You can adjust the width of the main content.
Sidebar position: You can change the position of the sidebar. You can choose to put your sidebar on Right side, Left Side, or No sidebar.
Gallery layout: You can change the product gallery layout to horizontal or vertical.
Single product structure: You can Show or Hide any particular product element and also drag up-down to change the position of a particular
product element.
Below are some of the best WooCommerce plugins available to help you grow your eCommerce business:
2. Optinmonster
Optinmonster generates opt-in forms to grow your email list, uses exit-intent popups to get potential shoppers to stick around, and more. It is
available for free in WordPress.org. If you want to get pro features and want more insights on improving your website conversions, you can
consider their paid plans.
It is very important to learn about how users engage with and experience your site. HumCommerce – A CRO tool with Visitor’s Recordings,
Heatmaps, and User’s Flow features can help produce insights on user experience.
HumCommerce also features some powerful and cost-effective features to allow eCommerce websites to optimize the website at each stage to
convert your visitors into buyers.
One of the crucial ways to grow your eCommerce business is by increasing your subscriber base. This way, you can send out new product
launch, announcements, and any other communication periodically.
MailChimp is a popular email marketing tool that enables you to build an email list and send mass emails. Using Mailchimps’s WooCommerce
plugin you can collect emails via your website. You can create forms on your site through which you can build your newsletter list. It also
integrates with major contact form plugins giving you one more avenue to build your database.
5. Yoast SEO
Yoast SEO is a must-have plugin if you want to improve the rankings of your eCommerce website in the search engine. This plugin helps with
SEO friendly content, XML sitemaps and provides an easy template to add a title, meta description, and other SEO tags.
Conclusion
Last but not least! Post a lot of reviews and testimonials on your website. People love to read other customers’ experiences before becoming a
customer themselves. Post a few negative ones too. This section should not look all made up to suit your business.
Ecommerce has made the world a much smaller place, thanks to the Internet. It is convenient, fast, and easy. The number of people turning to e-
Shopping is only going to rise as time goes by. So make your business go online, choose a good e-commerce WordPress theme and set up a
clutter-free and easy to use eCommerce website, and see your sales and profits rise.
What Is An #E-Commerce #Website u0026amp; How To Build One (2020 guide)
35 Comments on “What
“What Is An E-Commerce Website & How To Build One”
One”
Sharon Louis
February 5, 2017 at 9:26 am
Hi Pooja,
Thanks for great idea explanation about e-commerce!
i define e-commerce like this: Transacting or facilitating business on the Internet is called eCommerce.Buying and selling good
on the internet is a very common example of eCommerce.
:)
Again thanks for sharing this helpful article!
Reply
Alex Hales
March 14, 2017 at 2:12 am
Rebeka Sara
March 14, 2017 at 11:22 pm
I am very interested in B2B eCommerce. Your definition is very elaborate. We are a photo editing company and most of
our clients are B2B based. Thanks for your efforts on the proper eCommerce definition.
Reply
nishantotarget
March 30, 2018 at 2:36 am
Hey, Pooja.
Accidentally I landed on your website. As you mentioned in the article eCommerce comes with diverse challenges and
opportunities. Most often the challenges are quite extreme that small B2C eCommerce companies will not be able to compete
with the international brands.
The consumers affinity towards freebies and discounts are extreme. They fall for high volume discounted sales. Where as a
startup with limited budget needs to strive a lot, to identify their KPI and to differentiate their USP.
Reply
Derek
April 14, 2018 at 1:39 pm
Hi Pooja,
Great article, I especially liked the “What Makes a Good e-Commerce Website?” section. However, like the comment above me
mentioned, it can be hard compete with the big brands. With that said, one of the thing people can do is do niche specific
stores.
Most of us are aware that being the next Amazon, eBay or even Etsy is nearly impossible. But niche sites are wide open and
they seem to resonant with people. For example I’m in the process of starting an all cat store :)
Reply
Peeyush
May 14, 2018 at 2:00 pm
Big Thanks. Its really Going to help me for my project on E-commerce and its details. Thanks Again
Reply
Steven
May 15, 2018 at 9:34 pm
Now a Days Without E-Commerce Concept we can not get leads to our business.Big Companies are always interested in B2B
eCommerce companies.Really Great Article Post,it will really help me to run out my business.
Reply
https://imageretouchinglab.com/
August 6, 2019 at 3:06 am
I think the main challenge for the ecommerce beginner is server speed. Because Google takes it very strongly
nowadays to give ranking. High Quality hosting server can solve the issue.
Reply
Alex Dean
August 9, 2019 at 2:08 am
You’ve shared a very resourceful article about eCommerce website. This is really Cool.
Reply
casinosbobet.club
August 26, 2019 at 1:42 am
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Vinod
September 7, 2019 at 1:17 am
Paul Smith
September 16, 2019 at 3:07 am
Really informative & helpful article. I have shared with couple of my friends. Thanks.
Reply
David Finch
September 17, 2019 at 3:34 am
Thanks for elaboration of complete eCommerce journey. I Think the important metric of e-commerce which should
measure each of us on our website are very important.
Reply
Musa
October 2, 2019 at 9:14 am
prasanjit
October 11, 2019 at 1:11 am
I really enjoyed your article. I’m going to work on e-commerce. Your article has really helped me a lot.
Reply
Jenna
October 13, 2019 at 4:12 am
In 2016 first i learn about eCommerce website this time i struggle to build my own platform, but now a day its become
so easy and now i use Shopify they give me lot of support to build eCommerce platform very easily.
And thanks for sharing your content here. happy to see such as great article.
Reply
M Naeem
October 18, 2019 at 1:55 pm
very informative and clear content. easy to understand. thanks
Reply
activate espn
October 26, 2019 at 1:34 am
I went over this site and I think you have a lot of good information, great webpage. thanks for shering
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activate espn
October 26, 2019 at 4:47 am
A debt of gratitude is in order for sharing your data. I genuinely value your endeavors
what’s more, I will be waiting for your next post thanks indeed.
Reply
Souren Das
November 5, 2019 at 6:04 am
This is really a great blog. You covered almost everything about e-commerce.
Brenda Foster
November 21, 2019 at 7:19 am
Helpfull writing. If you start any business like eCommerce and another, you must gather proper knowledge. here is rich
full knowledge for eCommerce business. Thanks for sharing the best experience.
Reply
E-commerce is the trending business now but you can’t touch the giants like Amazon, eBay. The best thing you can do
is start a niche e-commerce website to find a low competitive high search volume product start the keyword research, design
and other related tasks. If things are going well you can definitely earn decent money from your e-commerce business. By the
way, you have done a great job putting the information.
Reply
Andrew Smith
November 28, 2019 at 10:47 am
In my opinion, I understand E-commerce means who are selling products and services and their website is an E-
commerce website. In trending online business E-commerce grabs a huge market in online as like Etsy, Amazon, Aliba etc.
Reply
Ravichandran
December 27, 2019 at 11:35 pm
Super
Reply
Joseph Martin
February 4, 2020 at 8:34 am
Nice topic and a great read. I don’t think these are must because not all e-commerce websites are using this. In
contrary, this is very effective if the business is just starting, no doubt to that.
Reply
Mohammed Raihan
February 11, 2020 at 1:53 pm
Adresik
February 15, 2020 at 2:10 pm
Thanks you!!! I will use this information and will promote my website
Reply
fashion clothes
March 26, 2020 at 5:34 pm
This article was just amazing. I really appreciate your word. A very informative article. keep sharing this kinda post.
thanks.
Reply
Jack Martin
April 3, 2020 at 1:36 am
Great Article!
Thanks for sharing. I will really help in my eCommerce website development.
Really useful in my every query related e-commerce.
Thanks again.
Keep sharing…
Reply
winonah
April 5, 2020 at 9:54 am
Hello, after reading this awesome article i am also glad to share my know-how here with mates.
Reply
Fred Douglas
October 8, 2020 at 6:29 am
Hi Pooja,
Recently I just wanted to open an e-commerce store to sell my own products but I didn’t know enough about opening a shop in
e-commerce platforms. So I searched a lot for a step by step guide for it but I didn’t get something very helpful. Finally, I got
your article and you have described all the things that I was searching for. Thanks for your article and information.
Reply
Terrie J Moorer
November 2, 2020 at 6:40 pm
This article is truly helpful, it explains ecommerce from beginning to end how to set one up.
Thank you!
Reply
StraitsResearch
January 8, 2021 at 1:19 am
Hey, you have provided great info how to built it and I think this will even work in 2021 as well.
I would also like to share that the physical store will always be limited by a geographical area it can serve. An online store, or
any other type of eCommerce business for that matter, has the whole world as its market. Going from a local customer base to
a global market at no additional cost is really one of the greatest advantages of trading online. In 2018, 11.9% of global retail
sales came from online purchases and this is only set to increase year on year.
Reply
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