Building an ecommerce store can be a daunting experience. Suddenly you're not just working with content anymore, now it's taxes and shipping and customers that need to be kept happy. Fortunately it doesn't have to be scary. We'll look at a number of steps you can take to remove the uncertainty from building ecommerce websites, so that you can move forward with confidence.

1. Build Ecommerce Sites With
Confidence
Demystifying Ecommerce
Presenter Date
Topher DeRosia June 1, 2020

2. Topher DeRosia
● Senior Developer Advocate at
BigCommerce
○ #BC4WP
● @topher1kenobe
● My Background
○ 25 years in Web Development
○ 10 years as a WordPress
Developer

3. Agenda
Demystifying Ecommerce
A simple, straightforward look at the
basics. Learn how ecommerce works
end to end during a transaction.
Solutions to Common Concerns
Exploring solutions and building
confidence. You can do this.
@topher1kenobe #BC4WP
Ecommerce Misconceptions
Confused? Worried? Afraid to get
ecommerce wrong? You’re not alone.
Long Term Solutions
Set yourself up for long term success
using these tools and resources.

4. Ecommerce
Misconceptions

6. I’m nervous I won’t set up and manage taxes correctly.
I worry that I won’t have all my I's dotted and T's crossed
-- from all the little settings, payment processing, taxes,
shipping, AND inventory!
What if I get sued because we’re hacked and things go south?!
I’m nervous I won’t set up and manage taxes correctly.
Taxes would be the death of me.

7. Common Fears & Concerns
◿ There will be computer coding involved
◿ It has many moving parts
◿ Other people’s money is at risk
◿ Hackers will target you
◿ Taxes!
@topher1kenobe #BC4WP

8. Demystifying
Ecommerce

9. Customer Facing Process
Customer tracks shipment
Awareness
Customer finds website
Find products inside store
Purchase Delivery Post-Delivery Service
Payment is made
● Directly via card
● Digital payments
● Services offering flexible
payments
Customer chooses product
Selection Shipping
Customer receives
product
Customer communication
● Thank you emails
● Return/exchange options
● Discount coupons for next
time
@topher1kenobe #BC4WP

10. Behind The Scenes
◿ The payment is processed
● Money is taken from the customer’s account
● Taxes are paid
● Money is transferred to the merchant’s account
◿ Custom events like pinging accounting or
inventory software
◿ Products are shipped (if physical)
@topher1kenobe #BC4WP

11. Solutions to Common
Concerns

12. “How Do I Ensure Ecommerce Security?”
◿ All the normal website security standards
◿ Get a host with good engineering and good
support
◿ Check your PCI compliance
◿ Don’t store sensitive data on the web server
◿ Enable fraud protection
◿ Enable DDoS protection
@topher1kenobe #BC4WP

13. “How Do I Manage Taxes Correctly?”
◿ Taxes can be difficult to set up properly
and costly if you make a mistake
◿ Tax calculation apps are relatively
inexpensive and readily available
● Avalara
● TaxJar
◿ Consult a business tax professional for
your geographic area
@topher1kenobe #BC4WP

14. “What about Payments Processing?!”
◿ Features and costs vary between
payment processors. Look at your
options
● Stripe
● Paypal
● Authorize.net
● Many others
◿ Compare processing fees
◿ Make sure they work with your bank
◿ Look at what currencies are handled
@topher1kenobe #BC4WP

15. “How Do I Set Up the Right Shipping Options?”
◿ Use a shipper you’re already familiar
with
◿ Shop around for rates
◿ Form a relationship with the shipper
◿ Leverage what your platform offers
● Rates are often discounted
● Many setup procedures are
streamlined
@topher1kenobe #BC4WP

16. “Inventory Management Seems Complicated”
Simple Options
◿ All decent platforms let you enter how many
items you have, and count down by sale
◿ Many platforms offer addons to get a little more
elaborate
Advanced Options
◿ Some platforms offer addons to integrate with
common inventory systems
◿ Quality platforms offer an API so you can write
custom code for your in-house inventory system
@topher1kenobe #BC4WP

17. Building Long Term
Confidence

18. Get a Good Support Structure
◿ Choose an ecommerce platform with
strong support beyond the technical.
● Financial advice
● Business advice
● Marketing help
◿ Make use of the training and education
provided by the platform
@topher1kenobe #BC4WP

19. Get a Good Team
◿ For custom work, a developer can save
both time and money.
◿ Rely on trusted sources like your
ecommerce platform to make quality
recommendations.
◿ A good developer will help you know
what questions are good to ask.
@topher1kenobe #BC4WP

20. Summary

21. You can do this
◿ Help is available, whether in docs or in
personal support.
◿ Every service, vendor, and addon
maker in ecommerce benefits from
your success. If you’re successful,
they’re ALL successful. They want to
help you, don’t be afraid to talk to
them.
◿ Feel free to contact me at any time.
topher@bigcommerce.com @topher1kenobe
Resources
◿ BigCommerce Blog:
https://www.bigcommerce.com/blog/
◿ BigCommerce Partners:
https://www.bigcommerce.com/partner
s/#partners
◿ Bonus reading:
https://www.bigcommerce.com/blog/ec
ommerce-customer-experience/

22. Why Customer Experience Matters
◿ Strong customer retention and customer loyalty.
● On average, 43% of U.S. customers report spending
more with the brands and retailers they are loyal to.
● It can be up to five times more expensive to acquire a new
customer than to retain the shoppers you already have.
◿ Customer Lifetime Value.
● Loyal customers spend 67% more, on average, than new
customers.
◿ Free promotion.
@topher1kenobe #BC4WP

23. Know your customers.
◿ Watch what they do — not just what
they say.
● Track how they use your site
● Track what they buy
◿ Engage with your customers
● Communicate with them personally
● Use surveys and invite comments
@topher1kenobe #BC4WP

24. Make products easy to find.
◿ High Quality Search
● “Type Ahead Find” reveals
results as the customer types
● Weighted results
◿ Product Organization
● Categorization
● Filtering
@topher1kenobe #BC4WP

25. Educate your shoppers.
◿ Create high quality content on your
own website.
◿ Create an educational newsletter
◿ Become an authority
● Submit content to other sites.
● Take part in Forums and Social Media
@topher1kenobe #BC4WP

26. Optimize for mobile
◿ Mobile ecommerce sales account for
34.5% of total ecommerce sales in 2017,
and that number is growing.
◿ By 2021, mobile ecommerce sales are
expected to account for 54% of total
ecommerce sales.
◿ One-third of our decision to purchase is
influenced by looking up additional
information on a product via our mobile
device.
@topher1kenobe #BC4WP