Ecommerce website development
For businesses today, there are many off the peg, or ready-made, platforms available to them, such as Shopify, Magento, WooCommerce or Weebly.
At TJS, however, we avoid these platforms and only build bespoke websites which are designed and developed around each client’s specific business requirements, thus avoiding all the unnecessary bloat and inefficiencies associated with standard platforms.
What is an ecommerce website?
An ecommerce website is one that allows the buying and selling of goods, services and digital products over the internet, rather than in a physical location such as a shop. There are 4 types of ecommerce (electronic commerce) known as B2B (business to business), B2C (business to consumer), C2C (consumer to consumer), and C2B (consumer to business), and a website enables a business to take orders and process payments for goods or services, manage the shipping and deliver customer service, amongst other things.
How to build an ecommerce website
There are essentially just two ways to create an ecommerce website, by using a free website builder or by having a site built for you by professional designers and developers. In turn, website developers have a choice in how they build a site – they can use an off-the-peg platform, adding features that are relevant to the client’s needs, or they can build it bespoke, from the ground up.
Ready-made ecommerce platforms
An ecommerce platform is the software an online retailer uses to carry out all aspects of their business, for example sales, shipment, order processing, returns and customer support. Well known ready-made platforms include Shopify (a hosted platform), Wix, Adobe Commerce (formerly Magento), and WooCommerce (the online sales add-on for WordPress). Such platforms feature free to use code or charge a small fee, but as your business grows and reaches the potential of the platform, additional charges will be incurred for add-ons, and even per-transaction fees. The nature of these platforms means they are designed to cater for as many businesses as possible in a sort of ‘one size fits all’ model and therefore have to include additional programming and features many businesses will not need or use. Large software firms can be prone to unwanted attention which can lead to their off the peg platforms requiring constant security and update patches.
Bespoke ecommerce websites
A bespoke website is custom-developed from the ground up to satisfy your exact requirements and, unlike its ready-made cousin, will not charge you as your business grows, for example for add-ons, transaction fees, increased bandwidth fees and extra support. A bespoke website has the ability to grow with you, adapting to the needs of your business while offering fully customisable features such as the CMS, stock control systems and courier integration. Our article ‘The Benefits of Bespoke Website Development Vs Off the Peg Platforms’ has lots of information.
Award winning web design from TJS Online
To ensure the optimum user experience on your site, it is essential to choose a development team with experience in website design and development; with over 20 years’ experience, TJS has developed award-winning websites and formed loyal partnerships with clients, many of whom have been with us for 15-20 years. Having worked with numerous clients whose businesses had outgrown their previous website software, at TJS we develop only bespoke websites. Our team is made up of highly skilled developers who relish challenging briefs and whose coding skills enable them to create advanced tasks and functionality impossible with a ready-made platform. Our bespoke websites are not only strategically geared towards meeting Google’s highest standards, but they can be fully integrated with today’s online marketplaces including Google Shopping, Amazon, Not on The High Street and more.
The reviews that our clients receive from their own customers bear testimony to the quality of the sites we build and we believe our work speaks for itself.
If you would like to discuss your ecommerce web development with us, please contact us on 01507 525500.
