TECH 42 remmuany 2015 coe"tospend? When do L want my business tostart becoming operational? Flow armesome do [want my site tob HereSaquick guide tobuildingan e-commerce website ‘BUILDING THE ONLINE STORE ‘TCPP founders chose to setup their tethemselvesand were able to build a functioningsite in three months. Ifyou optfor asimilar DIY approach, there are websites offering coding lessons and seininars fo startups. Oryou can have your onli upand running by joining ont builders tke Shopif; Biz Commerce, and 181, toname a few, says Tan, Apart from hosting your store, these store builders allow elients to organize their products, customize layout, design their storefronts, secep payments and trackand respond to ‘orders. Monthly fees range anywhere from $1010 $200, on average. However, using store builders does have its limits.“The problem with these store builders is usually the limited payment options. Since they are generally US-centrc, they do not accept Joeal forms of payments other than eredit cards” says Chiang, Jonathan Chua, BeamAndGo.com co-founder saysonline store builders, ‘which come with customerrelationship ‘management and aecountingsoftwares, are good for basie sales and fulfillment mocessingonly. Adding features and functionality beyond the parameters offered by the store builder would require advanced programming support on top of the monthly store builder fees {yoxtreoptingfor the DIY route, ‘onsiderfindinga partner witha technology !wackground says Tan, whose co-founder, Chua, specializes in online and digital services and hasa track record of builing ‘operating online and tal platforms. Alternatively, you ean also hire freelance or fll-time website developers. “Hiringyour own development team willbe very costy, bt they ean work on our idea full-time. They would know ‘whats goingon and ean change features ‘directions quite easily. full-time tlveloperalsohas tobe someone who can ‘tin your eompany culture,” says Ta. Some e-commerce companies “utsourcethejobs to web developers to “stomize the site during the initial phase, then maintain it in-house afterwards, ‘Ourweb developer helped us create THE ABCs OF E-COMMERCE What are the basic elements of a ‘Good e-commerce site? Mtshould be trusted ‘With the prevatence of security breaches ‘and scams on te internet, customers will not automatically trust your ste and ‘make a purchase, Oftentimes, displaying your contact details and pasting customer testimonials can help boost your image,” says BeamAndGo.com co-founder Marliese Tan. Legal protection Seek advice from a lawyer when drafting your site's terms and conditions as well as the company's privacy policy to protect both the business and your customers. You must also safeguard your customers passwords, says Tan. Comprehensive product information Toattract consumers, your website should ‘contain clear images and descrintion of your products and services “Since people cannot ‘ee you physically and touch your goods, your website their ony basis for [decicing] ‘whether to buy your product or nat, so thas tolook good,” says Dragonpay co-founder Robertson Chiang Varied payment options Your website should also support several payment methods that are commonly ‘used inthe Philippines. These include credit. card payments, PayPal, e-wallet payments, over-the-counter deposit in banks and ather payment centers, and online bank transfers. You should also offer a ‘eash-on-delivery option. Take advantage of search ‘engine optimization tactics “Most new e-commerce sites are nat placed at ‘the top of search engines. SED can help postion your site at the top. Coming up with a unique name wil iso almost guarantee that youll end ‘pat the top of thelist says Tan. things we otherwise wouldn't have been able to achieve if we depended on standard ‘emplatesand such,” says Michelle Chan ‘of Quirks Novelties & Curiosities, which sells gifts and novelty tems from both their physical and onlineshops. Chua says going DIY can cost anywhere froma few thousand to hundreds of thousands in US. dollarsbased on factors like functionality user experience, payment method, third-party integration, inventory ment, and flillment process. ‘APAYMENT OPTION FOR EVERYONE You also need to think about payment options foryoursite. With majority of Filipinos not having a bank account You have to look at alternative payment methods that don't require the use of credit cards or bank accounts. According to the Bangko Sentral ng Plip only two outof 10 Flipinoshad bank accounts asof 2012, Meanehile, credit card penetration stood at mere 7 million in 2015, aecordingto the Credit Assocation of the Philippines “That's why TCPP also accepts over the- counter payments at couriers and ppavnshops like LBC and Cebuana Lnulier, inaddition to basic ered ear payment options to reach customers outside the metro. “Direct bank-to-bank deposits are still quite common fora lt of smal sites. “They do notscale very wel, though, once you go into fll peaduetion,” says Chiang Ifyou want to tap the global market youshouldalso take into account digital ‘curreney and payment methods similar toChinase-wallet system. “I's aways better to offer as [many] payment options tocustomers tomakeit easy for them to complete their transaction,” says Cha, INVENTORY TRACKING Toxlay: most physical and online stores manage their inventory ina database, which, is tightly integrated with the store's point-of sale system, says Chua. “Ina physical store, theproduetsare usually tagyed and tracked with codes via RFID or barcodes, These databases andl systems are mature, [so] the differences between an online store and physical store are not that big” he explains, ‘Chua says coordination iskey. “People ‘who manage the site have to ahvays coordinate with operations to makesure ‘customers from both our offline and online stores are satisfied,” he says Both BeamAndGo.com and TCPP ‘monitor their daily supply levels diligently ReanAniGacmmstercsinberatie about its gift certificates in a databa mnonly beaccessed by high clear ds that generally adheres to the “first in, first out” inventory accountingsystem to ensure that “none of the SKUs [stock keeping Units) get stuck instorage fora very long time,” adds Jao, ‘wrentrepreneurcom phithemagazine FEBRUARY 2018 43