CommerceCubes

New to E-commerce? We need to talk

Like so many people that are launching or thinking about launching an e-commerce site there are some things you know and other things that you may not know. Here are some common issues that seem to arise when developing e-commerce and other web based applications

• It is so easy to set up an e-commerce store – in truth it is very easy to setup an e-commerce store; however it is much trickier learning to market the store because it isn’t as it is in real life where physical location matters. Anyone with access to a computer can buy from you which in a sense can make it that much harder to compete. Even if your system or service is unique your shoppers may still have problems finding you.
• Marketing Budget? What marketing budget? – In developing sites for people over the past few years I come to realize that most don’t approach it the same way they would if they were opening a physical business. In a physical business marketing is key… the same holds true for e-commerce. Just because you’ve officially gone “Live” does not guarantee sales. Watch out for those unrealistic expectations.
• Coders from India? Russia? Etc… Cheap but effective? – I don’t understand why people are so upset to learn that the coder they’ve hired to develop there web application doesn’t fully understand their needs because they don’t understand you in general. Sure developers who speak English as a first language are more expensive to hire but to some extent you are getting what you pay for. Remember this when hiring and save you a lot of time spent and headaches. This leads me to my next point
• Pay your development staff well and they will take care of you – If you are cheap with your developers then don’t expect them to point out what is wrong with your system and don’t expect them to stay around helping you with your business problems… They won’t. This could end up costing you a lot more in the long run in terms of more time spent having to re-hire new programmers while you wonder why you cannot seem to keep them. Outside of this if there is a fatal flaw with your e-commerce store they will not point it out as quickly because they’ll fear “scope-creep” and also you will expect them to do it for free.

The point behind dispelling these myths is really to save you, the client, and a lot of hassle, money and time in the long run. After all, the reason you hire someone to help you is to do something you do not fully understand, comprehend or something you cannot physically do yourself. While it seems like I am poking fun at the state of development in today’s world this is more observational for your own good as you go out and start hiring a developer or development team.

Lucas