With evolving business needs, more and more eCommerce stores are moving to custom online store development to build their eCommerce website from the ground up.
Brand-specific needs may require special features, workflows and growth goals which are often not tailored into mass market platforms like Shopify, Magento or WooCommerce.
Custom development allows more control and personalization of every element, which makes custom online store development a requirement for growing brands. While custom stores are often a great solution, they come with their own set of hurdles.
This article tries to explain everything good and bad about custom store development and the caveats you may come across.
Benefits of Custom Online Store Development
1. Unique Branding
You have the ability to brand the website to your needs. From the smallest design features to the most elaborate patterns, everything from design to navigation is tailored to fit your brand personality. This helps your brand stand out in a crowded marketplace and creates a unique brand identity.
2. Flexible Functionality
Your products may require specific features which are often not available in off-the-shelf eCommerce platforms like Shopify or WooCommerce. With custom solutions, you can implement features specific to your products like:
- Product configurators
- Multi-vendor setups
- Subscription models
3. Scalability
Custom solutions offer unlimited scalability. As your business grows, custom stores can adapt easily to the growing traffic, new products and even expanded workflows.
4. Seamless Integration
Today’s eCommerce stores are not a stand-alone platform. They are integrated with:
With custom stores supporting complex back-end integrations, you can streamline operations by integrating complex platforms to your store seamlessly.
5. Superior Security
Ready-to-use models make code available online, which is often a loophole in itself. With a custom solution, your codes are secure, and you can incorporate advanced security features in compliance with industry-specific regulations.
6. Personalized Experience
Build UI/UX for your target audience. Integrate features like:
- Personalized recommendations
- Mobile responsiveness
- Easy checkout
Tailored to your audience’s needs.
Use Cases of a Custom Store
Most eCommerce stores are either powered by Shopify, WooCommerce or some ready-to-use platform. There are special cases when a custom store is required. Some of the use cases for a custom store development include:
Direct-to-Consumer Brands That Require a Unique Journey
Brands that require a different workflow from what is available readily will often face restrictions. Modification to the platforms like Shopify and WooCommerce can be tedious and may be prone to bugs. Also, future updates may affect your customization requiring frequent changes to your code.
A custom development solution will give you a free hand on how you tailor your workflows, making it possible to achieve complex tasks seamlessly.
B2B Portals with Custom Workflow and Compliances
B2B websites, especially ones which require user registration, bulk product management and custom shipping options, are left with limited choices in terms of platforms. Tailoring a platform like WooCommerce or Shopify will be daunting and various features will face restrictions.
B2B brands also require a completely different set of workflows often not available in ready-to-use platforms.
Multivendor Marketplace
Multivendor marketplaces like B2B portals require complex workflows and are different for each business.
Websites like IndiaMart and TradeIndia are eCommerce stores catering to businesses. These websites have a different workflow and structure and are unique in their own ways.
Custom stores are the only options available to provide the customization required for multivendor marketplaces.
Subscription Box Businesses
Not just services and news websites, but products too are trying the subscription model in businesses.
Imagine:
- A dog food business catering to customers by delivering products in time for your pets every week or month.
- A medical website offering a subscription model delivering your diabetes medication and testing strips in time every week or month.
This is a custom feature which requires custom programming.
Steps Involved in Creating a Tailored Online Store
Custom online stores require careful planning from the beginning, understanding the requirements of your business and what specific features you want custom created.
It is important to understand that the cost of a custom-tailored store is high. If a platform already offers the features you require and is easily customizable and is also scalable to your needs, you should consider a ready-to-use platform like Shopify or WooCommerce.
A custom store should be your option when there is little to no option. This could be enhanced security, user interface, design, workflow or customization of 3rd party plugins like payment gateways.
With that said, below are the steps we use at Megh Technologies to create a custom store online for you!
1. Market Research and Defining Target Audience
It’s important to understand the niche, customer needs, preferences and the competitor landscape to tailor your store to your audience effectively.
We do thorough research on your competition, what they are doing and how the target audience responds to their website and interact with them. This helps us understand where we can improve and how your preferences align with your product and services.
2. Choose and Purchase a Domain Name
The domain name that aligns with your brand is easy to remember and establishes credibility and brand presence online, which is key to the success of any online store.
The days of generic domain names are over. Domain names have to reflect your brand identity and yet be easy to remember and recall. We help you decide on the domain name and purchase it.
3. Creating an Effective Business Plan
Your business plan for an online store is different from that of your brick-and-mortar business.
An effective business plan for your online business will have a completely different set of business goals, marketing strategies and operational workflows.
How the online store will support the overall growth of business is key and will be determined at this phase.
4. Choosing the Right eCommerce Platform
We don’t recommend a custom store in all cases. Most cases can do well with Shopify or WooCommerce.
There are special cases where a custom store is required. This could include a different workflow not available in ready-to-use platforms or design restrictions which may require a custom store design.
We help choose the right eCommerce platform for you based on your requirements.
5. Design and Brand Your Store
Branding is key to all businesses today. Brand identity should be aligned to your business needs and you should be able to reflect your brand identity through your website.
This includes:
- Logos
- Colours
- Typography
- Navigational structure
We create a wireframe for your website which will reflect your final product for approval.
6. Front-End and Back-End Functionality Development
We start with creating the user interface and integrate back-end systems for:
- Inventory management
- Payment gateway
- Shipping
- Customer management
The core work happens at this phase.
7. Curate Product Catalogue
We don’t just design your store, we go further by:
- Preparing high-quality product images
- Creating detailed descriptions
- Categorising products logically
- Uploading them to your store
This includes optimisation of each of the products for better visibility and reach.
8. Setup Payment and Shipping Options
We configure multiple payment gateways and define shipping methods and rates according to logistic strategies.
This could include API integration from payment gateways and security checks.
9. Testing
The testing phase is important to ensure smooth performance of the store.
We perform end-to-end testing on:
- Browsing
- Product selection
- Checkout
- Payments
- Order confirmation
10. Launch and Promote
We deploy your store online and start the initial marketing strategies like:
- SEO
- Social media
- Email campaigns
The initial marketing campaign setup is entirely free and optimisation during later stages will depend on your preference.
11. Maintenance and Optimisation
While your store may be live and active, there may be a few necessary changes based on user preferences.
Regular maintenance ensures your site is functional during peak hours and performs smoothly overall.
We ensure your site is maintained, updated and secure for the life of the contract while we optimise your site for traffic and increase marketing efforts to your needs.
Conclusion
Each step is vital to building a successful eCommerce website.