In an ecommerce business, having a website is an important aspect; having a website with the right features is another, more important one. This is because your website is the means through which you do your ecommerce business. An ordinary website and a feature-rich website is often the difference between succeeding and failing at ecommerce. Once you have your Ecommerce site completed, you can focus on marketing your products and making sales – increasing your chances of a good profit margin. Moving on, here is a guide to help you when you begin creating your own Ecommerce site.

1. Hire someone who will be dedicated solely to web management, if the nature and size of the business supports it.
2. Hire temporary employees to help set up the business and bring them back periodically to make changes to the site, expand online capabilities or launch new ventures.
3. Outsource the development, design and hosting of the website and rely on an outside organization to keep it up to date and to manage growth.
4. Use an “e-commerce in a box” product to set up an e-commerce site. These products typically charge a monthly fee (around $25) and provide an online store with virtual shopping carts (locations where shoppers electronically place the items they want to buy). They also include online catalogs, customized product pages; tools that help merchants list their products and services on online auction and shopping sites, secure online payment options, discount coupons for customers, and technical support.

The web has immense power to transform a business. With that said, sometimes a product just doesn’t seem to lend itself to online sales–at least at first glance. Businesses like amusement parks, bowling alleys and utility companies either require the customer to be on-site or offer a product that is largely intangible. But even for those types of businesses, customers have come to expect an online presence. A company can sell tickets or offer discounts through its website, show images and videos of its facilities, set up online games that relate to and increase demand for its offerings, or enable customers to make payments over the internet.