The ways in which various products were being sold and purchased got completely revolutionized after the internet got advanced. The web development sector got more upgraded and the creation of highly functional websites became possible. The feature-packed highly efficient web application allowed the e-commerce industry to get established. The concept of buying products online was not at all popular in the beginning.

 Most of the audience were facing trust issues and had the fear that the product would be fake or the process would be extremely complicated, many even doubted that the product would never arrive. But the constant persuasion of the industry in establishing trust had been rewarded in wonderful ways. The Industry has received constant growth even if it has been much slower in the beginning phases. The concept of e-commerce involves the process of purchasing or selling products over a digital network. The e-commerce system functions as the direct competitor of brick and mortar stores, many large retail stores in the US have failed to compete with eCommerce industries and declared bankruptcy. 

During the covid phase, the e-commerce sector has received massive growth across most countries. This allowed the adaptation of online purchasing to happen across a mass audience which otherwise would have taken several more years to attain such a high number of e-commerce platform users. As several brick-and-mortar stores became non-functional for a large period, the e-commerce platforms were the only sections which the product could be availed from. The e-commerce online platform comes with many advantages over conventional physical stores. 

The smooth order placement only with a few clicks and its delivery right to the customer’s house has the capability to easily make customers get habituated to it. Well, if you are thinking about launching your very own e-commerce store then it would be most true to say that you are late. But IT experts like at Softgrid would say that it’s not too late and the opportunity for making a highly profitable e-commerce business still exists for new businesses venturing into the industry. The industry has received many new businesses between 2020-and 22 that have dedicatedly operated as an e-commerce platform and received popularity just in a few months. This means if you launch an e-commerce website within 2023 there would be a great deal of competition, but if the best practices and innovative development structures are implemented then competitors won’t be in much trouble.

The Plans for setting up an eCommerce business in India 

The primary task that you are going to have is to have a clear vision of what you are trying to build and achieve in the e-commerce business. The category of products that the e-commerce platform would host also remains one of the basic priorities in pre-planning. If you are having great doubts about laying out the detailed Plan then experts at Softgrid are always there for a no-cost discussion to help you out with the business plan.  

Deciding the structural format of the e-commerce platform- Clarity needs to be present about the proportion of eCommerce business you will be handling. If you are going to own a products business and use the e-commerce platform as a digital store then it needs to be rigidly stated to the firm who will be building your high-performing and efficient e-commerce website. The website can be commonly built on the single-vendor model in which all the products available are from a single brand and no other vendor participates in the digital business of the platform. When you decide to operate your eCommerce platform you need to also decide whether you will just be owning the platform or you will be also operating the brand that hosts the products as well. If you are just willing to own the e-commerce platform then making it a multi-vendor digital marketplace is going to be the ideal approach. 

The products and the suppliers- If your eCommerce platform will be directly selling products then you also have the responsibility to choose the specific products its suppliers. It becomes also possible to manufacture and sell products with complete ownership on the e-commerce platform. But often e-commerce platforms try to use the full capability of the digital solution and thus collaborate with multiple brands to let them sell them through your e-commerce platform. The brands which are going to be approached need to be properly identified and inventory setup is required as well in balance with the business size in the proposal.

Business name and other vital features- The e-commerce platform you are going to host shouldn’t be something highly random and inappropriate. You should be thinking of more than four names and then decide among them, keeping the market research in mind. According to marketing experts at Softgrid the best platform names are the ones that are very easy to spell and remember. You can also discuss with the Marketing Professionals at Softgrid for coming down to a conclusion regarding the platform name, domain name, and also the Logo for the business. Deciding the Logo comes after the platform name is finalized and requires much innovation from the design professionals. 

Hiring an IT professional company and staying connected- For getting a unique and efficient eCommerce platform you need to hire an IT professional company like Softgrid which have various niches and project development experience. After the project gets accepted by the firm and the necessary details have been obtained you can allow yourself to relax and shade off the entrepreneurial stress. But remaining in touch with the development team throughout the process is also very important. You need to ask for updates in between a few day’s gap and also participate in web development discussions if required. The feedback that you provide is implemented into the web development process through periodic customization by leading IT companies like Softgrid.   

Platform Testing and Shipping process- The final product is always tested vigorously by IT experts before deployment and you are also allowed to suggest final changes if required. The e-commerce platforms often remain integrated with third-party payments portals and plug-ins that make the e-commerce website more advanced and user-friendly. The products of your business that get purchased need to be delivered to houses of the order placers as soon as possible. A highly robust Shipping system is required if your product orders would also coming from overseas countries. Getting on a deal with one of the shipping expert companies is the most common choice that is availed by e-commerce platforms.   

Maintenance and Management of the eCommerce platform

After the launch of your brand new eCommerce platform, the IT professionals still have the responsibility to monitor the platform for a certain period of time and look for any kind of technological glitch or non-functionality of a feature that might remain. The e-commerce platform requires a management team like in a brick-and-mortar store. So make sure you have a team ready with you for managing the orders, replying to customer queries, handling shipping, making small changes in the platform and more additional tasks might also be present. 

Launching an eCommerce platform is the biggest step toward building a giant global brand. For the eCommerce business operations to run successfully the platform needs to have nearly a hundred percent uptime with all the features getting by customers successfully. Just like an automobile requires routine maintenance the same is needed for a feature-packed, scalable website. This lets the website function with utmost capacity and allows the customers to have the best eCommerce shopping commerce.

Guided ways from Softgrid that will help your eCommerce platform compete

 Innovation from the brand- If you have plans about copying the features, offers and other segments from the e-commerce giants in the industry then surely it wouldn’t work out. The biggest asset which would give your platform an edge to compete will be nothing but implemented innovation. For using innovation, the existing market always needs to be studied by providing extra importance to the faults remaining among the popular existing platforms. The gaps remaining in the industry work as the best fuel for running the innovation vehicle. Make sure the unique features that the e-commerce business holds do solve problems for the customers and remain useful even in the future. 

The presence of a mobile application- If you are just having an e-commerce website and not an application for it then automatically in today’s world your business will be missing out on a large number of customers. When compared, the mass digital audience is preferring to buy through their mobile phone instead of using web platforms and this is why having an eCommerce mobile application is going to keep you ahead in the game. Smartphones are gadgets that remain with people all day and night- this immediately increases the chances of brand engagement and more purchases. Through easy notifications, your platform can remain in touch with the customers every day and let them know about any attractive offers or new product ranges. 

After Purchase service- The type of customer service a platform provides matters a lot with the customer return rates and brand loyalty. How the customers are treated with their queries and after-sales service remains deeply attached to the consumer marketing around an e-commerce platform or business. The word-of-mouth recommendations that happen through already acquired customers are often witnessed to be the most effective marketing with no expenditure happening. The customers need to feel valued by the e-commerce platform and this is a factor that can be controlled for a newly launched platform in a highly competitive category. 

 The non-profit mindset- Nearly any kind of business in existence revolves around the customer’s purchases. Therefore the prime focus of a business should never be on making profits but on engaging with a large number of potential clients on a daily basis. For a newly launched e-commerce platform, extra discounts, coupons for other platforms, giveaways, and similar offers can bring in a large swarm of customers. Do not worry about profit and design the ideal marketing plans, Softgrid also offers digital marketing services that would let the offers reach a wide range of demographically distributed target audiences.