The eLearning Center for Gatlin Education Services

Ecommerce Web Design & Development
Learn how to set up your own e-commerce web site.

Shopping at Amazon.com may be easy, but building an e-commerce Web site is a serious challenge. What with business plans, technology, hosting, architecture, accounting, shopping cart, security, and legal issues, it's no wonder most designers leave e-commerce Web design to the pros. In this hands-on course, you'll learn how to build a well-conceived, fully functional e-commerce Web site for your own business or your small business clients. Studying with one of the leading voices in Web site design, will help you learn a systematic approach to e-commerce development. From initially validating your business plan, to building your shopping cart, to setting up quality customer service, and fulfillment after the launch, you will be address the skills required to tackle e-commerce Web projects. Class projects guide you step-by-step through the design and business decisions that are critical to success. By the end of the course, you'll have built a fully functional site and gained the confidence to build more.

Objectives:

Students can expect to learn how to:

  · Develop an understanding of how to define an e-commerce project, including defining your site's intent, budget, staffing, target audience, and hosting.
  · Write a site plan that includes company description, statement of intent, products and services, technology and hosting, staffing, and general budget.
  · Develop an understanding of the major goals for the primary pages of an e-commerce site, including the Home Page, About Us, Product Page, and Contact Us sections.
  · Write text content for the main areas of a site, including the Home Page, About Us, Product Page, and Contact Us sections.
  · Develop an understanding of standard approaches to structuring, designing, and producing content for an e-commerce site.
  · Design the appropriate color and navigation schemes for an e-commerce site.
  · Develop an understanding of how shopping carts and inventory databases operate and what users expect from shopping carts.
  · Configure a free shopping cart for site visitors and add it to an e-commerce site. Develop an understanding of different business account options used by e-commerce sites, including merchant accounts and alternative payment systems.
  · Research different business account options used by e-commerce sites, assessing the costs and features of each plan.
  · Develop an understanding of the importance of order fulfillment and customer service to customer retention and marketing.
  · Plan a customer service and order fulfillment strategy for an e-commerce site.

LESSON 1 Defining the Project
So you want to build an e-commerce site-what's your plan? In e-commerce development, planning can spell the difference between a total success and a train wreck. Lesson One explores the essentials that every e-commerce developer needs to consider at the get-go. Topics discussed include business planning, site audience research, technology and hosting options, budgeting, and staffing up for team-based development. In the first exercise you'll create a statement of intent and plan for a sample site or any site that you're planning to build.

LESSON 2 E-Commerce Essentials
E-commerce sites are built from certain fundamental components that every project must consider and address. Using a basic template, Lesson Two explores the business and content decisions you need to make throughout your site. The home page is of course key to defining your business, welcoming your visitors, and driving them smoothly toward a purchase. But you'll also learn the strategic issues for your site's about page, contact page, product page, and more. In the exercise, you'll demonstrate mastery of these essentials by customizing and writing copy for the home page and about page of your site.

LESSON 3 Designing for E-Commerce
Now that you've addressed key content and business decisions, you're ready to hone your site's architecture and visual design. Lesson Three addresses those usability factors that make e-commerce happen. Streamlining your site architecture prevents confusion and promotes easy browsing. Visual design and color choices must support clear navigation and instill customer confidence. Deft use of product images and copywriting must create the environment for an informed purchase. In the exercise, you'll put these principles into practice by designing online storefront and navigation schemes.

LESSON 4 Shopping Cart Logic
There's more to life than shopping, but not much. Lesson Four explores the many options for setting up a shopping cart at your e-commerce site. You'll look at free and open source tools, commercial out-of-the-box products, hosted solutions, and purchasing vendors. In the exercise, you'll set up a working shopping cart for other students to browse with all required code, functionality, buttons, and purchasing options.

LESSON 5 Merchant Accounts
Choosing a merchant account for your site can be a thorny business, but essential for handling online transactions. Lesson Five looks at how to select a merchant account. You'll learn about the pros and cons of traditional versus online merchant accounts, and where to find them. You'll explore alternative accounts including PayPal and check and cash services. In the exercise, you'll identify an account that makes sense for your e-commerce business.

LESSON 6 Fulfillment and Customer Service
Your site's done, now what? Lesson Six looks at the issues of order fulfillment and customer service that are critical to any e-commerce site's long-term success. You'll learn how to provide timely order fulfillment, and what customer service policies and processes to put in place before your site goes live. You'll wrap up with a look at some of the marketing and strategic planning issues to consider so that your site continues to thrive and grow. In the final project (what else?) you'll determine a fulfillment strategy, prepare customer service communications, and add the finishing touches to your fully functional e-commerce site.