Whether you’re a blogger, a developer, or fall somewhere between, you’re likely to discover something new and useful in this video.
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How To Build An E-Commerce Website (2023 Guide) – Forbes Advisor UK
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Revenue in the UK ecommerce market is projected to reach a staggering £132.90bn in 2023, according to Statista. And if you are in the retail space, creating an e-commerce site can allow you to get a share of that pie. Here’s how to build an e-commerce website in just seven steps.
Step 1. Choose your content management system (CMS)
The foundation of every website is a content management system (CMS). There are a number of different content management systems to choose from open-source platforms such as WordPress to beginner-friendly all-in-one website builders such as Shopify or Squarespace. Which is right for you and your online store will depend on your budget, experience, and unique e-commerce needs.
Here are the most popular content management systems for e-commerce websites:
- WordPress: The world’s leading CMS that is also one of the most customisable.
- Shopify: An ideal e-commerce solution for building a dropshipping business.
- Squarespace: One of the best website builders for beginners who want to easily build a professional website with no previous web design experience.
- Square Online: Best for existing retailers that are looking to sell in-person and online.
- Wix: An all-in-one website builder that is both easy to use and highly customizable.
For help deciding which is the best CMS for your e-commerce needs, learn more about the best e-commerce platforms.
Step 2. Create an account (or get web hosting)
Once you have decided which CMS to use, the next step is to create an account–unless you choose WordPress. If you are planning to build your e-commerce site with WordPress, your next step is to get a web hosting plan. The best web hosting services come with a free domain name, a free SSL certificate and one-click WordPress installation, eliminating the need to manually connect your domain and hosting to WordPress.
If you’re using a website builder such as Shopify, Squarespace, Square Online or Wix, simply navigate to the provider’s website and register for an account. If your chosen CMS allows, register your domain name through the CMS to eliminate the need for manual domain configuration process.
In the instance where your chosen CMS does not give you the option to get a domain name, register your domain using a domain name registrar. For help choosing one, check out our article on the best domain name registrars.
Step 3. Select an e-commerce theme or template
The first thing you need to consider is a theme for your website. Themes are ready-made templates that give your website a consistent look and feel. All subscription platforms have tons of templates to choose from, so whether you’re building your e-commerce website with WordPress, Shopify, Wix or anything else, you will have prebuilt templates and themes to choose from.
Keep in mind that while free templates are generally available across most platforms, some also offer paid (or premium) templates. For example, both WordPress and Shopify offer premium themes that range in price from around £30 to over £200. The benefit is that many offer more unique designs, which can help businesses that want a specific look to reduce the amount of time spent customizing their chosen theme.
Step 4. Customise your site and build out web pages
After you have found the perfect theme or template for your online store, the next step is to begin customising it. This is where you will be updating your header and footer, configuring your site’s navigation, and building out pages from your homepage to your refunds and return policy page.
Step 5. Create product listings
No online store is complete with product listings. So once you have built out your website, the next step is to create your product catalogue, complete with all of your individual product listings. In this process be sure to organise and categorise your listings so they are easy for your future site visitors to find and for you to manage.
After you have populated your e-commerce website, there are a few key aspects of building an e-commerce site to attend to from setting up a payment processor to adding inventory and tax tools.
Choose a payment gateway
When it comes to choosing and setting up a payment gateway, many online retailers opt for third-party tools such as Stripe or PayPal to make the process easier and more secure. If you are redirecting the customer to other websites, you must ensure that the data is fully encrypted before transfer.
If you are choosing payment integrations, consider these points:
- How easy is it to integrate the tool with your platform?
- Is the tool secure?
- Is the tool PCI compliant?
- What are the fees you and the customer must pay?
For a detailed breakdown, refer to our article on the best payment gateways.
Integrate shipping
If your platform allows it, you should integrate shipping with your e-commerce website for a seamless experience. It will also simplify operations and you can focus on selling. But before you integrate shipping, determine your shipping policies such as free shipping, variable fee, flat rate, etc. And while you are at it, also establish refund and return policies.
Add a sales tax calculator (optional)
Additionally, you may want to consider adding a tax calculator to automatically calculate VAT, shipping and any other fees at checkout.
Step 7. Test and launch your e-commerce site
Before launching the e-commerce site to your customers, you must check the site thoroughly. Every button and every link on the site must be working. Even 404 error web pages should be designed according to the theme.
Run tests to see if you can add products to the cart and process the payment. Most platforms will allow you to test payment processing without actually charging your credit card.
Be sure to check if all the emails are getting sent to the right inboxes after a purchase has been made or declined. And last but not least, check how your site looks and functions on mobile devices. If possible, try to check out the site’s performance on different web browsers.
Once you have tested and double-checked everything, from product descriptions to category pages, you are ready to launch.
Announce the launch of your e-commerce store through your social media pages, guest posts on popular retail blogs in your niche, influencer marketing and to your email lists. If you have the budget, you can also go for paid advertising on Facebook, Google and other platforms.
Benefits of selling online
Before you actually start building your e-commerce website, you need to be clear about your business needs for building a website. Here are some reasons why you should sell online.
More buyers are going online
Buying online is convenient as well as safe, and during the pandemic, e-commerce sales surged by as much as 40% in 2020, the first pandemic year. The easy availability of smartphones also means that you can buy from anywhere, any time of the day. So it’s obvious that people will continue buying long after the pandemic has abated.
Setting up an e-commerce shopfront is cheaper
When you compare it with a brick-and-mortar store, Setting up an e-commerce storefront is much cheaper. This is partially because brick-and-mortar stores incur multiple fixed costs such as rent, electricity bills, employee payments, infrastructure maintenance, etc.
E-commerce website can help offline sales
It is not necessary that online and offline stores should be mutually exclusive. They can augment each other nicely when you tell people about your brick-and-mortar store on your e-commerce website and install app kiosks in your stores.
For instance, Amazon is now opening brick-and-mortar stores after the runaway success of its online e-commerce website.
Create unique customer experiences
Personalising experiences and services are much easier online. You can use different media including video, audio, stories, customer reviews and personalised messaging to build an experience your customers cherish and share with others.
Start selling immediately
Once you have the website ready, all you need to do is set up payment processing and list your products on the website to start selling. There is no need to wait for new employees, stockpile inventory or generate enough marketing buzz. You are in business the moment you put your website live.
Eliminate costly overheads with dropshipping
When you think of retail, the first thing that comes to mind is sourcing, maintaining and handling inventory. However, if you choose a dropshipping business model, you don’t need to maintain and handle inventory by yourself. You can read all about dropshipping here.
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Bottom Line
An e-commerce website is your online brand identity. You must take care to build it in a way that makes it easier for customers to experience your brand. Also, remember that it is not possible to get everything right the first time. Keep learning from your experiences, be ready to experiment and make changes when required.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Can I build an e-commerce website on my own?
Yes, you can easily build an e-commerce website on your own. You need to follow these steps:
- Buy a custom domain name for your e-commerce website
- Opt for an SaaS e-commerce solution
- Choose a shopfront theme
- Customise the theme to match your brand
- Upload products to sell
- Set up payment methods and you are ready to sell
How much does it cost to build an e-commerce website?
These are the best e-commerce platforms for 2023: Squarespace, Square Online, Ecwid, Shift4Shop, Shopify, Wix, Weebly, BigCommerce, WooCommerce and Big Cartel. You can read the pros and cons of all these platforms here.
Which is the best e-commerce platform?
These are the best e-commerce platforms for 2023: Squarespace, Square Online, Ecwid, Shift4Shop, Shopify, Wix, Weebly, BigCommerce, WooCommerce and Big Cartel. You can read the pros and cons of all these platforms here.
Are website builders secure?
Because most website builders offer cutting-edge technology, they are usually ahead of the curve when it comes to keeping their sites secure. They do this by keeping their customers’ websites protected by using top-end technology. Because of this, most website building companies offer some of the best security options available on the internet.
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5 Hidden Features of WordPress.com – WordPress.com News
Isn’t it amazing how you can learn new things about someone, even after years of knowing them? That’s how Jamie Marsland has felt in the last few weeks while diving deeper into WordPress.com’s capabilities. In today’s Build and Beyond video, he shares five incredible features built right into the platform that aren’t as well known as they should be. Whether you’re a blogger, a developer, or fall somewhere between, you’re likely to discover something new and useful.
Ready to build on WordPress.com? Start a free trial today:
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New WordPress.com Themes for March 2024 – WordPress.com News
Five of our favorite new themes.
The WordPress.com team is always working on new design ideas to bring your website to life. Check out the latest themes in our library, including great options for small businesses, sports fan, nostalgic bloggers, and more.
Feelin’ Good is a vibrant (to say the least!) blog theme with a bold vaporwave aesthetic. Its nostalgic atmosphere pays homage to the daring, over-the-top visual art and advertisements of the ’80s and early ’90s. We’ve combined a lot of elements that shouldn’t work together, but do. If you’re looking for a dynamic, attention-grabbing, eye-popping visual feast of a theme, try Feelin’ Good.
Click here to view a demo of this theme.
Low Fi is a simple blog theme featuring a narrow column layout that’s optimized for seamless browsing on mobile devices. With six style variations, you’re sure to find a palette you’re drawn to. Taking inspiration from the lo-fi beats music scene, the theme’s design cues, such as the square header image, offer a nod to album artwork.
The overall aesthetic is deliberately understated, with each element—from the muted color schemes to the textured background—crafted to evoke a sense of nostalgia and warmth.
Click here to view a demo of this theme.
Cakely is the ultimate WordPress theme designed specifically for passionate bakers, cake enthusiasts, and dessert lovers. Tailored for small businesses aiming to shine in the world of sweets, Cakely effortlessly combines style and functionality to showcase mouthwatering creations. Its vibrant pink color scheme exudes joy while maintaining a classy, clean layout with easy navigation. This theme ultimately strikes the perfect balance between professionalism and playfulness, making it an ideal choice for showcasing your delicious masterpieces.
Click here to view a demo of this theme.
Treehouse is a carefree, fun, and friendly theme ideal for Woo stores selling children’s products. With its unlimited customization options, Treehouse enables you to set up an online shop with just a few clicks. Utilizing a soft color palette, playful design details, and simplified layouts, your site will attract a wide range of customers, from young parents to over-the-moon grandparents. This theme is fully responsive and cross-browser compatible.
Click here to view a demo of this theme.
Major League Baseball’s 2024 season kicks off on Thursday, March 28. What better way to show your home team the love it deserves than with a baseball-themed fan site! With a somewhat old-school layout, this theme evokes some of the classic sports sites of the ’90s, back before fantasy leagues took over. The header and accent colors are customizable, ensuring that your favorite crew is properly saluted.
Click here to view a demo of this theme.
To install any of the above themes, click the name of the theme you like, which brings you right to the installation page. Then click the “Activate this design” button. You can also click “Open live demo,” which brings up a clickable, scrollable version of the theme for you to preview.
Premium themes are available to use at no extra charge for customers on the Explorer plan or above. Partner themes are third-party products that can be purchased for $79/year each.
You can explore all of our themes by navigating to the “Themes” page, which is found under “Appearance” in the left-side menu of your WordPress.com dashboard. Or you can click below:
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How to Get Started: Investigating Payment Gateways Online
When investigating a website, app, or online shop, one of the key questions you may need to answer is ‘How are they making money?’
Investigating the financial transactions of an organisation can reveal details about its connections and funding. Furthermore, if the website or app is engaged in illicit transactions, tracing the payment gateway can help achieve accountability by identifying what sites they are using to earn money. Bellingcat has looked into the payment processors in previous investigations on far-right merchandise, Britain’s far-right influencers, and non-consensual deepfake pornography.
Payment gateways are a technology that takes a customer’s payment information, checks it with their financial institution, verifies that the transaction is legitimate, and then completes the transaction. As explained by Forbes, online stores need a payment gateway to be able to facilitate payments. Companies including PayPal, Stripe, and Square are commonly used as a payment gateway for online purchases.
Most mainstream payment gateways (like Stripe and PayPal) prohibit their services from being used in illegal transactions including the sale of illegal drugs, the promotion of hate or racial intolerance, and non-consensual adult content. Finding evidence that someone is violating the Terms of Services of these companies – and how they are doing so- can lead to the closure of loopholes and accounts. It can also provide additional information about an organisation’s revenue streams.
It is nearly impossible to conduct online transactions without a payment gateway. So it should be possible to find the payment gateway of an organisation earning money, even if it is not obvious at first. One resource that is extremely useful is Chrome’s built- in developer tools (other browsers also have similar tools). Below we’ll provide an overview of the tools to use and questions to ask when scrutinising payment systems.
How are they Taking Payment?
For online transactions, you’ll typically see websites accept traditional forms of payment including credit cards, debit cards and, more recently, cryptocurrency. Since cryptocurrency is not subject to the same regulations as traditional financial systems, cryptocurrency is often used to process payments for illegal services. Since this does not need to be ‘hidden’, websites will usually disclose which currency they accept and how to transfer funds into a crypto wallet. There are other ways you can track funding through cryptocurrency, as discussed in this guide.
If none of the above apply? Other sites that use a payment gateway will accept money directly via credit card payment, bank transfer, or through peer-to-peer payment apps (i.e., PayPal, Cash App, Zelle). If this is the case, you should be able to identify the payment gateway being used. In the case of the peer-to-peer apps, these services may be used by businesses and not just individuals’ transactions. They also require a bank account or credit card to use them. It is helpful to view transaction options on both the mobile app and web browser, in case the options differ. It is also worth checking the currency that payments are being taken in – if it is a US website taking payment in a foreign currency, that can also provide clues. Further, if a website is using different payment gateways depending on the currency, this can lead to additional leads in your investigation. Payment options may also change depending on what IP address you are using. In other words, setting your IP address in the UK and then changing it to the US may result in different payment gateway options.
Where are they Soliciting for Payment?
Organisations may solicit for payment via a website or a messaging app like Telegram. It is important to investigate all avenues where payment is being requested as each method may provide different clues for your investigation. For example, for some of the AI deep fake services we investigated here we found that companies would accept different payment methods depending on how you tried to pay – via their website, via a web browser or via Telegram. Sellers may want to direct their users away from their website to more private forums such as Telegram to facilitate transactions and avoid detection.
Is the Organisation Trying to Hide How Payment is Taken?
For some sellers, using a mainstream payment gateway may violate the terms of service of that company. To be able to use their services, these sellers may try to hide the nature of their goods from the payment gateway company.
A Walk Through Example
Some sites may not show their payment options without signing up first.
This was the case with the Nudify.VIP site which offers non-consensual AI Deep Fake pornography.
Initially, the website states that their services are free.
“With our service you can undress any person in a photo absolutely FREE!”
However, this is misdirection, as you are then prompted to log in or sign up. Only once you create an account do you discover that you need to pay to access the service and how much it costs.
You are then presented with an option to pay via crypto or via credit card, but it does not yet say what cards they accept or what payment gateway they use.
Clicking through to ‘Go To Payment’ gives us a new screen that lets the user pay via credit card (ie MasterCard, Visa), a US Bank account (ie Wells Fargo, USAA), or through Cash App.
There is no indication of the payment gateway they are using, but if we look at the URL on the checkout page, we can see that it no longer says that we are on a Nudify.VIP domain. This is a clue that users are being directed to the checkout page through another website. This method is used to hide the true source of purchases from payment gateway providers. There’s another clue that the domain has changed- in the fine print at the bottom of the checkout page. Via the Checkout Page using either Cash App or credit card options, it discloses:
“By providing your card information, you allow aiphotos.art to charge your card for future payments in accordance with their terms.”
This is another clue that the payment gateway does not know this belongs to an AI Deep fake service Nudify.VIP.
Use Browser Developer Tools to Investigate Further
All modern browsers have some form of built-in developer tools. You can search online for your specific browser (e.g. Firefox, Chrome, Safari). If you are in Chrome, you can right-click anywhere on the screen to get a menu and an option to ‘Inspect.’ You can also use keyboard shortcuts which can vary between MacOS or Windows. For Windows, you can click CTRL + SHIFT + I and on MacOS you can click Option + Command + I on your keyboard. Any of these actions will open the developer tools which allows you to view the code of a webpage (such as HTML, CSS, and Javascript). This should appear on the right-hand side of your screen. While developer tools are designed to check for bugs or errors in a website, you can use them in your investigation.
There should be a list of tabbed options for you to view on the top menu bar. Clicking on ‘Sources’ shows you all the resources that the website is using.
This is a good place to start to look for any clues about what piece of code is being used in the checkout process. In the example below, one of the listed sources on the page is titled ‘js.stripe.com.’
Googling ‘“js.stripe.com” brings up documentation from the company, Stripe.
The documentation shows that ‘js.stripe.com’ is Stripe’s JavaScript library which is the code needed to facilitate payment processing.
This confirms that Stripe is the payment gateway being used by Nudify.VIP. In this case, Stripe was the payment gateway that facilitated transactions via credit card, US banks, and Cash App.
Using Browser Developer tools and following these simple steps, we were able to learn that Nudify.VIP created a decoy website to which they were redirecting their credit card payments to make Stripe think they were processing sales for a company called “Aiphotos.art.”
As you investigate payment gateways, you can begin to recognise the Javascript libraries used by companies.
Rummaging around the ‘Sources’ tab via the Google Chrome Inspect tool is a useful starting point to find out details about what sources a seller or organisation is relying on to run its website and process payment.
For example, we investigated the payment gateway for a candle company, Patriot Candle Co. At first glance at the Sources tab, it may look like they are only using WordPress related scripts. WordPress is one of the most common website building tools available. However, if you click through to expand the contents of the folders, in this case, if you click ‘wp-content’ and then click ‘plugins,’ we see a few libraries using ‘woocommerce.’ WooCommerce is WordPress’s open source payment gateway.
Some sites may have multiple payment gateways, so it is important to investigate the entire site and all the sources being used on the website.
A Few Minutes Research, Rich Rewards
We have outlined some very simple steps that take only a few minutes of work and produce clear leads for an investigation. In the case of Nudify.VIP, we were able to show the company had created a decoy website to which they were redirecting their credit card payments in order to make Stripe think they were processing sales for a company called “Aiphotos.art.” Stripe shut down the account, when we contacted them about it. It may take only minutes to go through this process, but it can provide important starting points for your investigation.
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