A good and unique design actually means an e-commerce development process that is in line with the company's overall strategy. Well-designed e-stores offer their visitors much more than just an aesthetically pleasing visual experience. They attract visitors and help people to understand the product, company and brand through different perspectives that include the e-store's visuals, content and interactions. This means that each element of the e-commerce design must work towards the chosen objectives. It is important to achieve a harmonious synthesis of design elements. This can be done through a holistic development process that takes into account both form and function. We always start by setting project objectives and defining the project scope. project scope), i.e. what functionalities are needed to meet the objective and how long it will take to develop them.
E-commerce development service can be divided into two groups: simple e-commerce and uniquely designed e-commerce. Simpler e-stores are suitable for smaller businesses that do not have a large product range or sell niche products and have a limited budget. For example, start-ups, organic producers, etc.
You can calculate the approximate cost of making an e-shop using our e-shop with price calculatorNOTE: This is an indicative estimate and the actual cost of the project will be known once the requirements of the project are known. If you are interested in developing an e-shop, read more about website development development
Easy e-shop
The development of a simple e-shop is divided into five main stages.
- Design phase - this phase involves designing the e-shop, selecting the ready-made base, functionalities and additional modules in cooperation with the client.
- Design phase - this phase involves refining the elements of the chosen ready-made design according to your wishes and adding your company branding to the e-shop.
- Development phase - this phase involves developing the necessary functionality, refining design elements and adding the necessary plug-ins to the e-shop to provide the desired functionality.
- Testing phase - In this phase, the e-shop is tested with various automated tests to ensure its reliability.
- E-shop publishing and follow-up and support services.
Read more about simpler processes forwebsites
Unique design or special solution e-shop
The development of a dedicated e-shop is divided into six main phases.
- Stage is the Analysis and Discovery stage - In this stage we get to know your business, by the end of the stage an analysis document will be prepared based on the project objectives, functionality requirements and internal business processes, client interviews and competitor analysis.
- Planning phase - This phase involves the planning of the e-shop, during which a project plan is drawn up.
- Design phase - this phase involves the creation of design ideas or design prototypes based on analysis of the user experience (ux) and user interface (ui) of competitors, customer interviews and user experience testing of the final design prototypes by target audiences to be sure which design elements and functionalities work best for the company's customer audiences.
- Development phase - this phase involves coding design views based on completed prototypes and developing functionality for the e-shop.
- Testing phase - In this phase, the e-shop is tested with various automated tests and user groups.
- Launch of the e-shop and follow-up and support services - This stage involves launching the e-shop and agreeing on further support and follow-up services.
Analysis and detection phase
In the Analysis and Discovery phase, we get to know your business. We will set the project objectives, select the initial website functionalities required and map your internal processes and current marketing activities. We will review the previous website, if it exists, to see which operational elements and functionalities could be used.
During the stage, we will also visit your business on-site to better understand your internal processes and help you integrate the sales and marketing processes of the website with your existing business processes without any hassle.
If necessary, we will conduct client interviews with key customers to understand their expectations of the company. We will conduct an analysis of the current customer journey, resulting in an improved customer experience and streamlined business processes.
If necessary, we will carry out an analysis of your main competitors' e-shops to identify which functionalities and design elements they use and what the customer journey of their e-shops is. What digital marketing channels they use and how their SEO strategy is set up, what their backlink profile is and how optimised their e-stores are.
In addition, we will conduct a content audit of the marketing materials and social media accounts that the company already has in place, so that we can recommend what content needs to be added to the new website. Read more about content creation services.
Planning phase
One of the most important parts of the development process is drawing up the project plan. The project plan is drawn up on the basis of the analysis document that was prepared in the first phase. The project plan defines the objectives of the project, the deadlines, the deliverables and the project scope. An annex to the project plan outlines the project schedule of activities for the developer and the client.Completed website sitemap.In addition, we will prepare a content creation strategy on the basis of the content audit carried out in the first phase.
One of the most common and difficult problems that plague web development projects is getting out of scope. The developer, together with the client, sets a goal, deliverable or functionality in the analysis document that is time-bound in the project plan. If the requirements of this objective, deliverable or functionality change gradually during the development process, or if new functionalities are to be added during the development process that were not foreseen before, this is work outside the project scope. In this case, the project is updated to include the new requirements and the phase schedule and the project budget and scope are updated.
Design phase
On the basis of the analysis document and the brandbook (CVI), the designer will create an interactive prototype of the website, i.e. the design intentions in the figure - for detailed prototypes, it is certainly necessary to carry out testing with different stakeholders already after the first design views have been completed, such as the company's business or retail customers, key customers, potential customers (cold group), company employees who will use the website in their work. The design phase is divided into weekly design sprints. After the initial design views are completed, we will give you access to the design views where you can review them, add comments to design elements and pages and approve the design views.
In the case of simpler e-commerce projects with a specific design, it is usually sufficient to create a design view of some of the more important pages, so that the design issues can be resolved before the development phase starts and the client has a general idea of what their e-commerce will look like.
If your company does not yet have a CVI (Corporate Visual Identity), we can create one for you. Read more Branding on service
Development phase
The development phase involves the actual building of the e-shop. In this phase, the real development and coding of the e-shop takes place. This is the most time-consuming part of the development process, which in turn is divided into two parts: front-end work and back-end work:
Front-end work, i.e. coding of design views completed at the design stage.
The back-end work is the development of the actual functionality, i.e. the coding and documentation of the functionality described in the analysis document. While the user interface is designed by visual elements, the back-end program codes instructions to make each element perform the required functions.
Testing phase
In the testing phase, the completed e-shop is tested with automated tests and also with previous user groups. The developer checks the functionality of all elements of the e-shop. The aim is to identify any problems such as broken links, non-working functionalities and the functionality of the design on different devices to ensure everything is correct. We use validators to check the code, making sure that the code written follows best practices and current standards, test the speed of the e-shop on different devices and in different locations. Once all the tests are passed, the eShop is ready for publishing.
Publishing your e-shop
At this stage, the company's e-shop will be published. This is the last and lasting phase of the development where the necessary maintenance and support services are selected. Once your e-shop is published, you may still need help and support in the future. As your business grows, you may need to increase the number of content pages or products, add new functionalities and adapt design elements. Regularly, you will need to update your e-shop, fix bugs and problems, back up your e-shop and optimise your database. As digital trends are constantly changing, you will also need to keep your e-shop up-to-date in terms of content, user experience and SEO.