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Seven Money Saving Tips - eCommerce Website Development

One of our Internet Experts has put together this list of things you can do to save time and money on the design and development of your eCommerce website.

Rename Your Images

First, rename your images to what they are actually pictures of. Instead of "P45347.jpg" rename it to "yellow-hat.jpg" or whatever your picture happens to be of. When renaming images make sure to not use leave any spaces (use dashes instead) and only use letters and numbers. This will make it easier for the designers and the easier you make their job the quicker your stuff will get done. Also, deliver large versions of all your images to the designers. Let them resize your images for you. This way you'll have high quality images on your site and the designer won't have to take extra time working with tiny, junky images.

Put All Your Products Into A Spreadsheet

Every cart requires the same information so make sure you create a spreadsheet with all your products in it whether it's 10 or 10,000. If your products are in Quickbooks or some other type of proprietary software you need to export it into a spreadsheet that anyone can open and read. At the very least have this information organized into columns:

• Product Name – keep each product name unique
• Product Number (if applicable)
• Price
• Keywords – no more than 10 words associated with the product
• Short Description – a one sentence description of the product
• Long Description – a full description of the product
• Image Name – the file name of the photo for this product
• Category – which category does this product go in
• Shipping Option – The usual options are Standard, 2-Day and Overnight
• Shipping Price
• Product Options – Does this product have options like size, material or color.

Now this is a bare minimum of the info actually required but just getting this stuff into a spreadsheet can save you hours upon hours of billable production time depending on how many products you have.

Have Real Time Shipping Info (Dimensions And Weights) Ready

If you are going to be using real time shipping quotes have all your box dimensions and weights written out and ready to be handed over to the designers. DO NOT just give some of the info and expect them to come up with your shipping rates for you. This can be a real time killer, especially if you have thousands of products with different shipping rates for each. It's your responsibility as the business owner to know what your shipping situation is. Have it ready to save money. Call the carriers you will be using and have them help you come up with your rates. They'll do it for free, your web designer will bill you for it.

Create An Outline

Once you have all your products in the spreadsheet create an outline just like the ones you did back in grade school. Organize your products into categories, sub-categories and sub-sub-categories. Make sure that every product, product option, category, and sub category is accounted for and organized. This is another time killer if not presented to the designer in a clear organized manner.

Write Descriptions For Your Categories And Sub Categories

Write a paragraph describing the items in your categories and sub categories.

Here is an example.

Olive Oils
We are very proud of our Extra Virgin Olive Oils. They are imported for us from all over the world, from as far away as Australia. Here is a listing of our 100% extra virgin olive oils, flavored and infused olive oils. We fill your order using our specially-designed 375 ml (12 oz.) bottles.

Address Any Option Based Pricing

If you have certain products in which the price will be determined by the options the user selects then you need to write that out for the web developers.

Here is an example.

Silver Rope Necklace
14"      $37.00
17"      $48.00
20"      $56.00

Write Down Any Volume Ordering Discounts

If you are giving any discounts for volume orders write down the product name as well as a description as to what the discount is. Make it as clear as possible.

For example if it is a product price discount

Tennis Balls
1 – 20              $1 each
21 – 30            $.75 each
31+                 $.50 each

If it is a volume based shipping discount.

Box of Nike Black Golf Balls
1 – 10 cases     $7.95 per case Standard Shipping
10+ cases        Free Shipping

Important Info About Multi Product Shipping

In the example above, note that the price is $7.95 per case. That means if someone orders 10 cases you would ship out 10 boxes. Sometimes, you may be able to pack multiple items into 1 box for shipment. This needs to be clarified by you to your designer. It is easier, and less expensive to you, to set up shipping each item separately. For example, you could ship up to 40 tennis balls in one box but if they add in a baseball glove then you can only ship 20 tennis balls. You have to remember that your shipping will be based on a mathematical equation that is assigned to each product. While it is possible to write a script that calculates each possible scenario of shipping based on your total inventory and size of your shipping containers the cost to do so may not be reasonable. Try to simplify your shipping as much as possible to avoid unnecessary production costs.