- Visit some successful ecommerce stores including your competitors. Look at design, layout, categories and features.
- Look at templates for the platform you are considering using.
- Make a list of the sites you like. Print out screen shots of the sites you like or sketch out drawings. Note what you like and do not like. Save these urls to a file for reference. Make a list of the features you require.
- Look at the features list for the platform you are considering. Well known open source platforms are WordPress (varius plugins), Drupal (Ubercart and Drupal Ecommerce), Magento, Zen Cart and OS Commerce.
- Look up blog posts about the varying platforms to compare them. Find out their strengths and weaknesses. Or ask your developer!
- Imagine yourself as the customer. Walk through the shopping process and see if all the functions you need are included in your plan. Ask some customers. If you shop onine, take print screens of the checkout process that you like and save the email notifications.
- Make a diagram or spreadsheet of how you plan to organize the products in your store. Think about how shoppers would search and what categories and keywords they would use to look for products in your store. This will help you organize your product categories and collections. Also organize sale items, impulse items, best-selling items and new releases. Note: Products can go in more than one category.
- Talk with your web developer to go over your ideas and see if they are easy to implement and will work within your budget. Your developer will also be able to contribute some ideas if they have built ecommerce sites before.
