On our last blog post we discussed extensively the requirements for an online E-Commerce business. Today we are going to talk about the actual expertise needed to manage your E-Commerce store day by day. We would urge you to be careful when choosing an E-Commerce theme and research the theme and the ease of use prior to purchase. Once you have uploaded your theme to your server, you will need to educate yourself on how to add products and how to understand the technical aspects of the specific store theme you have chosen. Remember that all themes are not identical and each has its own uniqueness.
Learning E-Commerce Administration:
If you plan on running your own E-Commerce website, we recommend that you take online courses available “free” through YouTube and purchase an instruction book from the software developer. If you have chosen PrestaShop, there are plenty of online resources. PrestaShop appears to be one of the most user-friendly themes to manage. Some themes such as Magenta and Cart Weaver, as examples (in our opinion) have a larger learning curve.
When we accept an E-Commerce project we offer several options.
- We can simply upload the store and optimize the store with your unique logo, color palette and page content. You would be responsible to learn the administration, add products and run the store. You’ll add additional page content, upload product images and learn the basic and advanced elements offered by your store theme.
- We upload and optimize the store and provide up to 3 hours of basic training. After the training session you are on your own to go further by signing up for online educational resources to learn more technical aspects of the store features.
- If you wish to have us choose a theme, upload the store theme and manage the shopping cart for you, we can do this but the cost for this option can become very expensive.
Hiring an outside IT individual to run the store:
For those of you who feel you are not technical enough to take on this genre you will have to consider paying an IT professional or request a payment arrangement from the theme builder to manage the site. Most E-Commerce platforms do require some technical expertise for operation. You can learn this if you are willing to spend the time to educate yourself. Per our programmer, above and beyond running the backend of the store, you must also be able to manage your payment method, upload images, manage your client accounts as they relate to shipping, product return requests and any customer service issues that arise. Managing an E-Commerce Website is a full-time commitment and you should know this before going forward.
We have just launched a new E-Commerce Site called “Whisker Boulevard.” This site owner loves his new site and he is enjoying his online experience selling Custom pet furniture.
To avoid disappointment, spend the time to do your due diligence before making this investment. We wish you all a happy web experience.
Article by Jean Holland-Rose
Chief Creative Officer & SEO Professional
Inside Design Orlando
