Differentiating Your E-Commerce Site to Attract Customers

As consumers in today's day and age, we understand that shopping online is much more convenient and efficient than driving across town trying to find what you need. According to an eMarketer estimate, about 148 million consumers in the U.S. over the age of 14 will make at least one online purchase in 2011. This statistic will continue increasing each year as online stores become more and more prevalent. Today, stores that do not have an associated e-commerce website are lagging behind the competition.

Many companies have noticed this rising trend and have created an e-commerce site to attract these online shoppers. Unfortunately, creating the site is just the first step. You will most likely not see an immediate increase in profits after building your online store unless you find a way to differentiate your website from the millions of others. Yes, having all the right internet marketing techniques may drive more consumers to your webpage, but it won't seal the deal unless your visitors convert into customers. You need something that will immediately catch your customers' eyes and keep them on your site wanting to know more. This intriguing "something" can come in many forms. I can't tell you what it is for your site – but I can point you in the right direction toward differentiating your store and increasing your revenues!

Getting Started:

If you don't already have an e-commerce website for your store, the first step is finding the platform that works for you. From personal experience, I would highly recommend using the BigCommerce platform. Being not very technically competent, I was initially hesitant to try making an e-commerce website. But, creating a store with BigCommerce really doesn't require any technical knowledge! Despite that, the resulting website still looks very professional and attractive. For any questions you do have along the way there are online tutorials and a fantastic support team to walk you through setting up your e-commerce website including: importing your products, setting up the shipping and tax settings, utilizing the available online marketing tools, etc. By the end of the day you will have a fully functional e-commerce website and you can begin selling online. But, you still need to differentiate your store from every other store on the internet.

Differentiating Your E-Commerce Site

Add rotating images on the front page to spark interest. Change the coloring and layout of the BigCommerce template to match your store's logo. Add a map to show your location. Anything you can think of that will make your store stand out amongst the competition will help you to differentiate. You're probably thinking – "how can I add these modifications when I don't have the technical knowledge to do it myself or the money for a full custom designed website?" While most BigCommerce designers will only do expensive full designs, Scripti Labs, a BigCommerce programming and design partner, does hourly web design and development at an extremely affordable rate.

When differentiating your store, remember that it still needs to be easily accessible for your customer. The last thing you want is a frustrated customer because she is unable to find the checkout page. To keep your e-commerce website customer-friendly remember the following tips:

Keep the search bar in a visible location so that customers can easily search for the product they want.
Do not clutter the page! While images are appealing to the customer, keep the number limited or add a separate page dedicated to an image gallery. Customers will be immediately turned off by a cluttered e-commerce site.
Don't choose background colors that make the content hard to read. Keep it simple.
Keep the website easy to navigate.
These are just a few suggestions. The best thing to do is have a friend try going through your website and purchasing a product to make sure that everything is running smoothly.

Scripti Labs:

If you are having a hard time differentiating your e-commerce website in a way that attracts customers (rather than distracts them) call Scripti Labs. Scripti Labs has a tremendously helpful staff that is a joy to work with. They can assess your needs and help you create the customizations that would be a good fit for your company's website.

Scripti Labs is a BigCommerce design partner that specializes in web design and javascript development. As a BigCommerce programmer, Scripti Labs knows the ins and outs of the platform and can help you with anything from simple hourly modification to custom functionality and even full template designs. Scripti Labs works closely with the BigCommerce support team to ensure that they are up-to-date with the most recent developments so they can provide the best services possible for their clients. The sales and support team at Scripti Labs is very knowledgeable and will assist you in creating a professional and cheap e-commerce website suitable for your company. When you contact Scripti Labs with a list of ideas to modify your site, they will get back to you immediately with a quote for your project and an estimated date of completion.

Whenever I need maintenance help with my e-commerce website, Scripti Labs is my go-to programmer. They have not only shown exceptional results for the lowest rate that I could find, but they were very patient in explaining how I can update the images in my rotating banner on the homepage. Contact Scripti Labs today to start differentiating your e-commerce website!