Every day, we receive numerous requests for custom e-commerce development and general online sales consulting. We've noticed that clients very often jump straight into visual web design or sales maximization tactics, completely ignoring the strategic preparation that a successful e-commerce platform requires.

For this reason, we thought it would be highly useful to publish a top-10 list of crucial things you must know and prepare BEFORE building an e-commerce website.

1. Target Audience

You must think carefully about who you want to sell your products to and ask yourself questions about their behavior: Do they buy more from smartphones or desktops? What are their browsing habits? Do they shop during work hours or in their free time? Do they live in big cities? In which country? Knowing your target is step one.

2. Brand Identity

Is your brand truly ready to enter the competitive digital market? It is always useful to analyze the modernity of your Brand Identity, respecting the company's tradition but without being held back by nostalgia.

3. Product Catalog Organization

Is your warehouse organized and your database complete? To build an effective online store, you need to structure things like this:

  • Understand exactly how many and which products you want to sell online.
  • Define the categories and subcategories these items will be divided into (navigation tree).
  • Define the product variations available for each item (size, dimension, weight, color, etc.).
  • Up-selling and Cross-selling: define which products are related to a specific item so you can suggest new purchases to the user and increase the average cart value.

4. UX/UI Web Design

Finally, the design phase! Only when the product tree is well-organized, the brand is up-to-date, and the target audience is clearly identified, can you start the actual visual design process, creating a tailored User Experience (UX) and User Interface (UI) for your brand.

5. Technical Web Development

Once the design is approved, the most technical part begins. This phase is essential for developing a responsive e-commerce site that is fast, secure, and technically optimized to rank well on search engines.

6. E-Commerce Platform Potential

The management potential of professional CMS platforms like WooCommerce, Prestashop, Magento, or Shopify is often underestimated. Through the admin panel, you can manage products, track orders, handle returns, apply discounts, and create bundles... all completely autonomously, without needing any coding skills!

7. Digital Marketing & Budget

Before building an e-shop, you should draft a dedicated business plan. The costs of developing an e-commerce site do not stop at its launch! Once the store is live, you often need to spend a budget (sometimes larger than the website cost itself) to promote it via Facebook, Instagram, and Google Ads, focusing on brand awareness, lead generation, or direct sales. Keep this in mind when allocating your digital budget.

8. SEO Reality Check

Organic ranking on Google (SEO) is a formidable tool that can massively boost sales. However, people often place unrealistic short-term hopes on it. For B2C consumer products, competition on the first page of search results is fierce. It could take months or even years to reach a satisfying position—be prepared for the long game!

9. Offline Promotion Integration

The digital world is not an island, and it often still needs good old-fashioned offline support. It can be highly effective to plan PR activities, events, flyers, billboards, or TV commercials. They still work incredibly well: digital marketing performs best when properly integrated with physical, local efforts.

10. The Investment Mindset

Many are blinded by the shiny success stories of people becoming overnight millionaires on the web. Needless to say, in 99% of cases, it doesn't work like that. You must treat this as a serious corporate investment and realize it will likely take months to see a positive R.O.I.
We often hear: "I'll spend a little at the beginning, then when I start selling a lot, I'll spend more." Unfortunately, a tiny investment usually results in tiny sales, creating a useless vicious circle. The goal is to find the right budget together—one that is neither an exaggerated gamble nor too timid.

BONUS: You Are Not Alone!

You don't have to face this investment entirely on your own! Always keep an eye out for digital transformation grants offered by the State or your local region. You might be surprised by the non-repayable financial support provided by institutions. Here is an Italian example: Digital Transformation Incentives (MISE).

A Look at Our Custom E-Commerce Portfolio

Here are a few tailored online stores developed by our agency:

If you like our work or if you're ready to launch your own online store... drop us an email!