By: Dave Wood, Global Director of Supply Chain and Retail, Chetu Inc.
The online shopping market space grows with each passing year. People love the flexibility to search the web at all hours and comparison shop across several sites. For online retailers, this trend creates several challenges.
Online shoppers have a lower patience threshold than people in a brick-and-mortar store. Consumers know they can find most items on more than one site. If a website is challenging to navigate or frustrating to use, it will seek out a competitor. To be successful, e-commerce sites must be user-friendly and appealing.
Abandoned shopping carts are a chronic problem in the e-commerce world. A lengthy checkout process gives shoppers more time to change their minds and click away from a purchase. Online retailers need a checkout and payment system that is flexible and fast.
What BigCommerce Web Developers Can Do
BigCommerce offers businesses of all sizes the tools they need to make adequate online stores. The platform allows for broad customization and can work with most major payment gateways. For BigCommerce clients, working with an experienced web development team will improve a retail website’s look and functionality.
Frontend Development
Front-end developers focus on the look and feel of a website. They use HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to shape the features that the shopper will see. In a BigCommerce site, these developers can incorporate colors, images, and fonts that work with a client’s brand. They will also create a layout that makes it simple for users to find information and navigate the site.
Back-end Development
Back-end developers work with the logic and function of a website. The front-end may be stunning, but a poorly designed back-end will lead to a slow and frustrating shopping experience. The website passes client data to the store server in the back-end and sends updated information to the user’s computer. These developers use resources like the BigCommerce API PHP to provide seamless shopping and checkout experiences.
Full Stack Development
A full-stack developer is often a project leader who knows both front and back-end technologies. When a client starts a website from scratch, this expert will help the development team see how both sides of the site related.
Web Design for an Improved Customer Experience
There are unlimited possibilities for a website’s appearance. Some clients want a bold and flashy site, and others subscribe to a “less is more” philosophy. Such choices are often a reflection of a store’s brand and personality. However, the accurate measurement of a site’s success is its ability to convert potential shoppers into completed sales.
User-Friendly Functionality
Experienced developers know that the site cannot get in the way of the shopping experience. They will create a layout that makes sense with the client’s brand. These professionals know how to include dynamic content while still providing simple navigation and precise information.
Responsive Design
Users look at websites on a variety of devices. Responsive front-end development means adapting the site to the size of the display. Consumers looking at the website on a smartphone will see a different layout than someone on a PC. Yet, both versions of the site remain user-friendly and functional.
BigCommerce One-Page Checkout
Several important events happen during the checkout phase. The consumer enters payment and shipping information. The customer’s cart converts into an order. Finally, payment information travels securely to a payment gateway for processing.
Many online sites use BigCommerce One-Page Checkout as the template for their checkout page. However, developers can change the page’s appearance so that it retains a branded look. They can even create a custom front-end checkout page and link it to BigCommerce’s back-end logic.
BigCommerce Development Services for e-commerce
BigCommerce development includes more than what consumers will see on the page. By taking a full-stack approach, a development team will improve the customer experience and enhance the site’s performance for the client.
Conversion Rate Optimization
The development team will take a critical look at the current site, identifying friction points that disrupt a customer’s interaction. These problems might be front-end issues such as a confusing navigation system or back-end issues like poorly coded BigCommerce PHP. Anything that makes it easier to move from a full cart to checkout and payment will increase the site’s conversion rate.
SEO Services
In a competitive online market, showing up higher on search results gives a website a significant advantage. Consumers rarely search beyond the first page of results on Google or Bing. A BigCommerce development team crafts both the visual content and metadata to receive a higher score in search algorithms. They can also offer advice about regular content updates to keep the site current.
Mobile App Development
Some organizations want to give their customers a different experience on mobile devices. Rather than just reformatting the website’s display, they need another platform that consumers can download through an app store. A development team can code native and hybrid apps for Android and iOS devices. This approach offers greater functionality on smartphones and tablets.
Integration Services
Custom integrations streamline workflow and improve productivity. As customers make purchases on a site, they also provide data about themselves. Working with BigCommerce APIs, the development team will configure the site to send information to the business’s other software platforms automatically.
When a customer creates or updates an account, the data will flow directly to a CRM solution. Order information automatically registers with accounting and inventory management software. Removing extra steps like manual data entry frees up employee time.
Professional BigCommerce Development Services
As a certified BigCommerce development company, Chetu has the programming resources to help clients improve their online retail stores. Our team can enhance the front-end experience with attractive, branded storefronts and smooth user experiences. We can help a client move its current store to the BigCommerce platform with minimal interruption in the back-end. From there, our team can provide custom extensions, API integrations, and general BigCommerce support. With BigCommerce web development by Chetu, online retailers will reap the benefits of effective, user-friendly websites.
Author’s bio: Dave Wood is an industry expert within the supply chain and logistics technology landscape. He works at Chetu Inc., Plantation, Fla., a custom software development provider and thought-leader within the IT community. He offers commentary on changing tides within logistics and how inventory and warehouse management systems can propel all facets of retail and supply.
