20 Big Lessons from Online Businesses

As I’ve worked with a couple of clients who needed to sell on an online store, and I’ve been a picky ecommerce customer myself, I’ve realised a couple dozen things I wished they’d known if they were doing it all again.

I’ve numbered them because a). I’m incredibly millennial and because b). I think the list becomes easier to read and follow down the page.

Absolutely necessary

1. Policies & charges — delivery, returns & exchanges, terms & privacy
2. High-resolution product photos
3. Compelling & detailed product description
4. Mailchimp for pre- and after-sales email campaigns
5. Organized catalog
6. FAQs
7. Contact
8. Search
9. Social media

Also think about

1. Product videos in action
2. Pre-orders
3. Gift cards
4. Coupons
5. Subscriptions
6. User-generated content
7. Inspiration behind your collections
8. Loyalty programs

Optimising Your Ecommerce Store for Repeat Purchases

Do *not*

1. Have difficult website navigation
2. Make me look for products I’m just browsing
3. Make the checkout process long or difficult

Essential Customer FAQs for your Ecommerce Website

Which Ecommerce Platform is Best — Squarespace, Shopify or WordPress?