E-Commerce Process

Developing an e-commerce solution for clients can be more involved than our standard Web Development Process. Therefore planning and developing the project scope may require more interaction whether you are starting from scratch or looking for a redesign.

Planning

The planning process or e-commerce project looks at your complete operation. We will look at what your daily and weekly operations involve including inventory and shipping before creating a plan on presenting and selling product so that we can develop a solution that gets product shipped out the door as quick and efficiently as possible.

Next we look at your product line and look at all the aspects of your products that your customers will need to use your website to get information. What options does the customer have when they place orders, what sort of detailed information and collateral does the client need to make a decision?

Finally we look at the type of marketing and sales strategy your team has and look for ways of incorporating that into the E-Commerce solution, before, during, and after purchase. We also want to look at the data and tracking information that your team requires about customers and clients.

Scope

When we develop an e-commerce project's scope, we will provide your with a list of all the features to be included, timelines for their delivery and pre-determined goals. This way we both know what is expected before we begin.

Site Mapping and Layout

A good e-commerce site must load quickly and present consistently to all users on different browsers. We strive to make our sites XHTML and CSS compliant and optimize all images while maintaining a focus on quick load times without sacrificing style and presentation.

Front and backend development phase

An e-commerce solution depends on a robust and efficient database solution on the back end so that the content is delivered quickly. Designing the database right the first time will allow the site and your business to grow.

Design Phase

We emphasize separating content from presentation. This means that the text and images are separated from the visual template for displaying them. This is important for two reasons. First, as your site scales up, new pages are added or existing pages are modified, there is no reason to adjust HTML code. Second, with the variety of browsers and devices such as PCs, PDAs, Phones as well as the variety of users from different countries or even physically impaired, separating content and presentation allows the information to be displayed in the best manner for the user.

Development Phase

Once we have developed a goal and drawn up a project scope, AgaveIS will develop your project according to clearly spelled out milestones. Depending on the project, we will present you with a number of concepts, based on your input, for your approval.

Deliverables

Once a specific layout and design is agreed upon that sets the right tone and delivers a professional appearance, we will begin working on the final design. Unless otherwise specified, we will deliver a site that is good-looking, fast and standards compliant, and one that is easy to manage going forward, whether it is by us, you or others in the future.