Once the design is signed off we will work with you to create the web site. This involves both of us working as a team:
Creating content
Configuring and installing our software
Setting up procedures
Testing and launching the site
Create content
The web site content needs to be thought through and clearly written. A guideline in writing for the web is to use half as many words as you would on the printed page! Users scan rather than read, so use bold text and bullets to emphasise the main points. The use of links to more information is also essential.
Product data: On an ecommerce site, the bulk of the content is of course the product data. Unless the product list is short, this will probably involve repurposing existing material. If you have this material on a database or spreadsheet talk to us about importing the data directly into our system.
Marketing material: The marketing material on the site is very important. You will want to position your company and its products and to emphasise selling points. You may want to provide industry information both to help your customers and as a magnet for search engines.
Small print: Make sure you cover:
Your terms and conditions
Your privacy policy
Your returns policy
Contact information
Set up processing steps
We will configure the software to work with your operations to ensure a smooth integration. The back office system covers:
Reviewing orders
Order log of each action resulting in the completed order
Picking lists
Back orders
Delivery notes
If you are taking payment by debit/credit card, you will need to set up a merchant account with a bank and an account with a payment gateway service. Even if you have a merchant account you will probably need a second account for the Internet (Internet merchant Account - IMA). We have developed software to work with these payment gateways and we can develop new modules for other payment gateways if required.:
Servebase
Netbanx
WorldPay
PayPal
Plan customer services
While we are developing the site you will need to develop your customer services procedures:
You might want a special set of phone numbers to that you can identify web queries. 0845 numbers for example which can be tracked online.
Perhaps you should offer a product assistance help line. A high percentage of websales are done over the phone. Your customers will often prefer this.
On some web sites a call-back facility might be useful.
Returns are an important issues on the web and you may need to adapt your current procedures.
Think about a newsletter to remind customers that you are there, and alert them to special offers. Make your newsletter interesting and you will see sales jump after each issue.
Time to go live!
Once the development stage is complete and the site has been set up we will hand the site over to you for acceptance testing. We have a set of test scripts which you can use and modify if you wish.
During testing the whole site will be password-protected to prevent real customers finding it. We will be running in test mode where artificial credit card numbers are used.
You will need to carefully proof-read the site looking for errors and ommissions. You will also need to dry-run your back-office procedures.
Once you are happy with the site it will go live. Let the marketing begin!
