Here is a look into some of the qualities that all successful ecommerce solutions have.

Easy to Understand UI

Not many ecommerce websites have a visually striking user interface. What they do have, however, is the kind of UI that is very easy to understand. When a visitor comes to the site, they don’t have to take time out to try and understand what the site is all about and what to do and where to go next.  The UI is not only logical but also practical, which means the website visitors can conduct their business quickly and effectively.

Convenient Shopping Cycle

An ecommerce shopping cart usually works because it has a shopping cycle that is extremely easy to use. The product images have sufficient size, enough to give website visitors a clear idea of the product; the description is clear and readable enough to help make the right choice; and the product selection and payment can be accomplished easily without any hassles.

Satisfying User Experience

When a customer visits a shop, he/she expects to be served satisfactorily. It is the responsibility of the attendants of the shop, to ensure that the customer is take care of and is able to buy the products of his/her choice without facing any problems. The same is the case for an ecommerce shopping cart. When a visitor lands on the site, they expect to conduct their shopping easily and quickly. They don’t want to face any problems. What this means is that they are looking for a highly satisfying user experience. If the website can offer them that, they appreciate it and such customers have a better chance of becoming repeat customers.

As can be imagined, this is not the entire list of qualities that successful ecommerce solutions have, but these are the basic qualities that each one of them absolutely needs to have. By ensuring that the online shopping solution has such qualities designers and website owners ensure that the customers have a successful shopping experience – the kind of experience that they would love coming back to again and again.

Let’s take a look at some of these factors.

Focus on User Experience

Whether it’s an ordinary website or an ecommerce website, the design must focus on offering an optimal user experience. This is only possible if the website designers take time out to understand the needs of the target users and what they expect from the website of this kind. What’s more, the focus must always be on the kind of design that doesn’t hamper the delivery of the message of the website and the kind of navigation that is extremely simple to use. Online shoppers don’t like wasting time and want to get in and out of the website in quick time.

Shopper Friendly Features

No doubt the design of the landing page of any and every ecommerce solution must be really good and must be able to draw in the website visitors. But, what is of even more importance is that the design of the website must be extremely shopper friendly. So, the focus should be on the product details page and the whole shopping cycle that takes the online shopper through the whole process of shopping on the ecommerce website. It must be such that users are able to optimize its use and ensure that they are not confused by any facet of the shopping process.

No Design Clutter

And last but not the least – it is only minimal design clutter that ensures the design of the website looks professional. This is what will make sure that the design projects credibility and the shopper believes that all products available on the site are worth a purchase. This is why the focus of the design more than anything else should be on projecting clarity of purpose and zero complexities.

These are not the only factors that contribute toward ensuring a successful ecommerce solution, but they are enough to ensure that the ecommerce solutions are on the right track.

Custom Software Development

The reason why custom software development is the popular choice of businesses is because they can ensure that it is user centric. More often than not, it’s the user who makes use of the functionalities of the software to perform a certain task. If the software is not aligned with his needs and requirements than there is a good chance that he won’t be able to optimize its use. Such software is of no use at all.

The process of custom software development seeks to understand the needs and requirements of the user and their technical competency. It also zeroes in on the specific expectations of the target users from the software. It is only after understanding the user and his needs specific to the software in great detail that developers begin the process of development. While doing so, they make it a point to implement all those features and components that they think the user will appreciate.

Whether the software is successful or not, is completely determined by the user; if the software has not been customized to suit his requirements there is a very good chance that it will fail. This is the reason why most businesses who are looking to get software developed want the software development to be user centric rather than anything else.

1 – Firebug

Indispensable tool for any web developer who is working on the client side. This fantastic tool allows us to modify the source code of the rendered page, modifying structure, styles and behaviors in the same (obviously these changes are not permanent). In addition, we can select the various elements of the DOM and so see why CSS rules are affected.
An excellent feature that Firebug also gives us the ability to measure the load time of a web page and to analyze the load times of different elements, including HTML, style sheets, images and scripts. A utility really necessary if we optimize our site.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox/addon/firebug/

2 – FirePHP

A supplement that works with Firebug (you need this installed) that allows us to make debugging of web applications built with PHP as server-side language. By simply adding a class to our schedule and making a call to a method we can use this comprehensive tool to analyze tag values and all those things that make the debugging. This addition is very useful when you do not have a treatment system as the other provided by Netbeans.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox/addon/firephp/

3 – Web Developer

Essential tool that allows us to modify and analyze our site. This tool allows validation of pages against the W3C standards, see the site in different resolutions, see the site with or without CSS or JavaScript, etc. The utility allows us to analyze behavior under different situations. Tool can not miss.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/web-developer/

4 – Measure It

A simple utility that lets you measure the pixel size of any element of a website. It is a simple tool that generates a layer on the site you’re visiting and based on this we can establish a box on an item then tell us the dimensions of this. It is not essential but very comfortable.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/measureit/

5 – Google Analytics?
If we work with the popular Google Web metrics, this tool can be very useful. We simply indicated by an icon in the status bar if the page you are visiting has the Google Analytics Tracking Code installed. Ideal for a correct implementation of the statistics.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/5631/

6 – Do not Follow

This small utility allows us to know if the links of a page containing or not the nofollow attribute. A good idea if we link it to sites whose content can not control or can not be responsible. It is also useful if we want to prevent the escape of pagerank.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/nodofollow/

Conclusion

With these tools you can make your favorite web browser to become a true center of debugging, optimization and analysis of our site or Web application. These are the things that make Firefox the monster he is today.

Web development

1. Create great requirements document: The key to successful software development and web application development project is to create a great requirements document. Research has shown that one of the biggest factors for the success of IT project is having clear and comprehensive requirements. Take the time to build the document that lists everything you want built. The key is to focus on the interactions between the system users and the system itself within the context of your business processes. Using flowcharts is a great way to determine straight who does what and what the system is expected to do throughout the process.
2. Group your requirements into logical milestones: When you have your requirements documented, figure out how you can break up your processes into logical groups. Start with the most basic functionality and work your way out from there. These groups can be used as milestones in your project. It will allow you to see how the project is progressing without needing to have the whole system built before you know if it’s coming up the way you want it. This reduces your risk and allows you to make mid-project corrections or to back out if the work wasn’t up to your standards.
3. Evaluate your developers before fully committing: Give a new development team a small part of the project before committing to the entire project. When evaluating potential development teams, always verify at least two references before committing to a project. When talking to references, focus on asking questions that address how fit the development team is at handling the entire development process and how adaptable it is to any changes that occurred along the way.

If you keep these three tips in mind when you are having your custom software built, you will be on your way to a successful project.