Commissioning an online store: how to make your ecommerce project a success
- A successful ecommerce project is decided before the first product is added to the store.
- Product data and integrations often take more time than the design.
- Launch is just the beginning: the store needs maintenance, measurement and ongoing development.
Commissioning an online store succeeds when the goals, product data, payment and shipping methods, integrations and maintenance are decided before development begins. Design matters, but most ecommerce projects run late for other reasons: the product data isn’t ready, stock levels don’t sync, or nobody has thought about who will run the store after launch. We’ve gathered five things to settle first.
1. What does the store need to achieve?
“Online store” can mean a consumer store, a B2B ordering channel for resellers, or both. The goal determines a lot: do you need customer-specific price lists, login, invoice payment or quick ordering by product code? Write your goal down in one sentence, for example “80% of reseller orders come through the online store within a year”, and evaluate every feature against it.
2. Product data sets the schedule
Products, images, descriptions, variations and prices are the raw material of an online store. They’re also the most common cause of delays. Find out early:
- Where is your product data now: in your ERP, in Excel, or in an old store?
- Who writes the descriptions and takes the photos?
- How are variations, such as sizes, colors and pack sizes, structured?
Well-structured product data also shows up in search engines: every product and category page is a potential search result.
3. Payment and shipping methods
Finnish shoppers expect online banking, card payments, mobile payments and often invoice or installment options too. Your choice of payment provider, such as Paytrail or Adyen, also affects your accounting: plan payment reconciliation from the start so it doesn’t become manual work for your finance team. The same principle applies to shipping: pickup points, home delivery and freight are different things, and freight for large items is calculated differently than for letters.
4. Integrations: the store is not an island
As order volumes grow, moving data by hand becomes a bottleneck. An integration with your ERP transfers orders automatically and updates prices and stock levels in the store. We cover the benefits in more detail in our article ERP and online store in sync. Plan the integration from the start, even if it’s implemented later.
5. Who runs the store after launch?
An online store isn’t finished on launch day. It needs updates, security and backups, plus someone who tracks sales and develops the store based on what they see. Agree at the quote stage on how maintenance will be handled and who owns marketing.
The best e-commerce project is the one where all the hard questions get asked before the first line of code.
Why WooCommerce?
We build most of our online stores on WooCommerce. It’s an open platform built on top of WordPress, so your store and content live in one place, the store is yours, and it can integrate with almost any system. Take a look at our e-commerce services and, for example, the Nokian Panimo online store.
FAQ
How long does it take to build an online store?
The timeline depends mostly on how ready your product data is and on integrations. Design typically takes 2 to 4 weeks and development 4 to 10 weeks. A large number of products and integrations can extend this.
How much does an online store cost?
The price depends on features, the number of products and integrations. After a discovery phase we give you a fixed quote, so you know the total price before we start.
Should you integrate your online store with an ERP system?
Yes, if you get orders regularly or have a lot of products. Integration eliminates manual transfer errors and keeps prices and stock levels up to date automatically.
