Over the 12 days of Christmas, Frederic Austin was gifted many items from his true love. Although the gifts received were very odd (and hopefully he managed to keep the receipts) the fact of the matter still remains that his true love managed to get him all of these gifts.

In modern times obtaining gifts as normal as blueberry pie or as bizarre as 3 French hens can be a breeze with the power of eCommerce on the internet, but as the phrase goes: you have to be in it to win it.

Why should I get an eCommerce website?

Setting up an online eCommerce website is nigh essential in this day and age – especially with the current events as we all may agree. The year has been very tough for everybody and moreover for businesses without an online presence as they have had little to no way of making sales.

If there was ever a perfect time to get on-board the eCommerce train it was 20 years ago but the next best time is now. Opening your digital doors can be a daunting task for anybody who doesn’t know how to create an online presence but fortunately for you, we do!

We would encourage any business that sells a product or service to get an online eCommerce website and increase their sales significantly.

How do I get an eCommerce website?

Getting an eCommerce website is a doddle nowadays, there is a variety of options out there for you; admittedly some we recommend more than others. Whichever type of eCommerce website you choose to develop will always have its pros and cons.

The options we will cover are Online Website Builders, Web Design Agencies, Freelancers and Online Shops.

Online Website Builders

Online website builders such as Wix, Duda and Squarespace are a quick and easy way to build an eCommerce website with little to no coding or design skills. This can be a very tempting choice as it saves choosing a more costly option such as having it built by an agency or freelancer. The biggest issues with using website builders come with the lack of freedom given to you.

Your eCommerce website will not be able to have its own unique identity when building with a website builder as they work mostly from template designs with no room for freedom or custom designs. Other issues are arise are the guff that comes with the website and the lack of marketability it brings.

With the builder having to include all the possible code for all the choices it means your clientele are going to be caught in long loading times for assets not even present on the site. This will significantly slow the site down and this along with not being able to correctly SEO your site fully there is a very high chance it will be lost in the void of the deep web.

Website Design Agencies

Full discloser here – yes we are a web design agency and yes we can and will be happy to build an eCommerce website for you (you can contact us on 01925 563 960 or fill out our contact form here).

As biased as we may be, we still do truly believe that a website design agency is certainly the way to go when creating an eCommerce website for your business and here’s why. Agencies will have a dedicated team at the ready to build, develop and maintain your eCommerce site that no other covered option will allow.

Many large companies such as The Whitehouse (https://www.whitehouse.gov/), The Walt Disney Company (https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/) and The Rolling Stones (https://rollingstones.com/) have websites created by agencies – not only that but each of the aforementioned websites are built on WordPress, the same CMS platform used by us. As you may have guessed the biggest issue with using an agency to build your eCommerce website comes in the cost. As these websites are custom built from the ground up it can be a costly process.

The other issue is finding an agency who aren’t looking to take advantage of your lack of knowledge in the design field. We have heard stories from some of our clients of how Cowboy design agencies have taken advantage of them and have provided a less than acceptable build that barely works and doesn’t hold up to modern-day standards.

But don’t just take our word for it, have a look at just some of the high-quality eCommerce websites we have built:

• Carlick Contract Furniture – https://carlickcontractfurniture.co.uk/

• 1895 Sports – https://www.1895sports.com/

• Salford Red Devils –https://www.salfordreddevils.net/

Freelancers

Another common way of having an eCommerce website built on your behalf is through the use of freelancers. Freelancers are website developers who are skilled in coding and design but instead of working for an agency they work for themselves.

Freelancers find themselves between agencies and online website builders in regards to affordability as they generally have fewer costs to upkeep. The major issue with using freelancers is there is no guarantee on the reliability and the responsiveness of the individual freelancer.

As they are usually sole traders it can be difficult to ensure you are using a trusted developer and you may fall victim to a scam or Cowboy developer so it’s always best to read reviews and see examples before going with one.

Online Shops

A final way of achieving an eCommerce online presence is not quite by owning a website but instead having an online shop on a website. Using websites such as Etsy and eBay can be a good way to start a small online shop, it is usually free or cheap to set one of these up but the major downsides come from not really having your own presence and instead of sharing a space with all your likeminded competitors, this doesn’t really give you many ways to pull out ahead of your competition when everybody is on equal footing.

We would recommend small online shops for any small crafts businesses and hobbyist traders who aren’t really looking to support a business and are more looking for a way to make money off their hobby.

What if I already have an eCommerce website?

Having an eCommerce website is only the foot in the door when it comes to your online presence. Making sure your website is kept up to date and is properly optimised for search engines is half the battle with any website, especially eCommerce websites. Always make sure you’re on top of your website maintenance and that your website is modernised to compete with the current trends. If in doubt give us a call on 01925 563 960 or fill out our contact form here and we will give you a free consultation.

In Conclusion

As we keep stating and will state again – getting an online presence with an eCommerce website is becoming more of a necessity than a luxury as times change and we advance further into the future. The popularity of online shopping has been skyrocketing in recent years with the easy accessibility and ease of use – physical stores are having a hard time competing without an eCommerce website.

Here at Mosaic we can help you design, build and create an eCommerce website so you can join the running with the future of commerce and overtake your competition. Call us on 01925 563 960 or fill out our contact form here to see how we can help you.