Want to learn how to build an online store that actually scales?
You’re in the right place.
Most ecommerce stores have a growth ceiling they simply cannot crack. They have traffic coming into their online store. They attract visitors… but when it comes to conversions and making sales those numbers never rise to meet expectations.
Typically it comes down to technical decisions.
The technical decisions you made when setting up your store can often determine how well your store will be able to scale.
Let’s be honest.
Building an ecommerce store with scaling in mind:
- Costs you little to nothing extra when done correctly from the get-go
- Is hard (sometimes impossible) to implement AFTER your store is live
- Will make or break your long-term growth
Within this post you’ll learn:
- Why Technical Decisions Impact Conversion Rate Optimisation
- The Platform Decision That Changes EVERYTHING
- 5x Technical Decisions That Allow Your Store to SCALE
- How To Prioritise What’s Important
Let’s jump in.
Why Technical Decisions Impact Conversion Rate Optimisation
One thing store owners tend to miss…
Every technical decision you make has an impact on your conversion rate optimisation.
Yes, from site speed. To check out flow. To product page design. Each technical decision you make impacts your bottom line by dictating whether a visitor becomes a customer or not.
Think about conversion rates.
The average ecommerce store converts anywhere from 2% to 4% of visitors into customers.
ONLY 2 TO 4 OUT OF 100 PEOPLE WILL BUY FROM YOUR STORE
If your store doesn’t fall within that range you’re leaving money on the table.
That means when 100 people visit your store, ONLY 2-4 of those customers will make a purchase.
Double that conversion rate to 4% and suddenly you double your revenue with the same traffic.
Getting your conversion rate optimisation correct starts with technical decisions. Your platform choice, hosting choice, checkout flow – these building blocks determine whether your store can scale or not.
If you’re looking for a fully managed ecommerce platform built with scalability in mind that allows you to focus on maximising conversions, try a Bigcommerce development agency that understands how to build stores optimised for performance and scale from the ground up.
The Platform Decision That Changes EVERYTHING
Picking the right ecommerce platform is the number 1 technical decision any ecommerce business owner can make.
Simple as.
Why? Well, platforms dictate:
- Site speed
- Checkout flow
- Scalability
- Integration opportunities
- Everything in between
Picking the wrong ecommerce platform means you’ll spend ages trying to customise and workaround limitations instead of actually growing your business.
So when choosing an ecommerce platform you want to look for a few key traits.
Your platform of choice should:
- Have insanely fast page load times. Period.
- Offer flexible and optimised checkout options. The less steps, the better.
- Have SEO built into the fabric of the platform. You should be able to find all your products in organic search.
- Be built with scalable infrastructure from the ground up.
Your platform decision should support you where your business wants to go, not hold you back.
5x Technical Decisions That Help Your Store Scale
Alright, let’s dive into the nitty-gritty.
Here are the technical decisions that can help your ecommerce store scale or severely limit your growth.
Site Speed Optimisation
This one is a big deal.
Did you know that around 70% of online shopping carts are abandoned before checkout? A large chunk of cart abandonment is caused by slow page load times and poor site performance.
Here’s a hard reality.
If your site takes longer than 3 seconds to load on mobile you will lose over HALF of your potential customers before they ever see a product.
Here are some quick tips to help improve your site speed.
- Make sure you compress any images you upload to your store
- Utilise a CDN (Content Delivery Network)
- Minimise JS and CSS bloat
- Invest in quality hosting that can handle your traffic spikes
Site speed is often the easiest fix that will have a direct impact on your conversion rates. Optimise your site speed before spending another dime on advertising.
Mobile First Design
Think your store looks good on mobile? Think again.
With well over 70% of ecommerce traffic coming from mobile devices you’d think more stores would prioritise mobile experience.
Think of it this way. If your site doesn’t load quickly and look fantastic on mobile you’re leaving money on the table.
Designing with mobile in mind means designing your entire online shopping experience for smaller screens first and then expanding layouts for desktop. Increase your tap targets. Simplify navigation. Clean up your product pages.
Mobile-first design is non-negotiable these days.
Checkout Flow Optimisation
There’s no money to be made at a complicated checkout.
Lengthy or complicated checkout processes are one of the top reasons shoppers abandon their carts before converting.
Research from Shopify highlights that roughly 22% of shoppers are abandoning their carts because the checkout process takes too long or asks for too much information.
Shorten that checkout. Aim for checkout flows that have around 12 to 14 form elements. Offer guest checkout. Have digital wallet options. Make it as easy as possible for your customers.
Structured Data + Technical SEO
Want Google to actually know what your store sells?
Structured data allows you to communicate directly to Google what is displayed on your website.
Want your product names, prices and reviews showing up right on SERPs? Use structured data.
Most online store owners focus so much time and money on producing content and acquiring backlinks they neglect technical signals from within their own website code. Implement structured data (Schema markup) on every product page. You’ll thank yourself later.
Scalable Hosting + Infrastructure
Here’s one many online store owners don’t think about until it’s too late…
What happens when your online store suddenly gets a ton of traffic?
Whether it’s a viral blog post, a successful ecommerce advertising campaign, or a seasonal traffic spike your site needs to be able to handle it.
If your hosting can’t handle the spike. Those are lost sales.
Make sure you use scalable cloud hosting from day one. That way your store will be able to handle 10x the traffic should the need arise.
How To Prioritise What’s Important
Don’t forget, you don’t need to knock all of these out right away. Start with optimising your site speed and building mobile into the DNA of your store. These two factors alone will drastically help your conversion rate optimisation. From there you can look into tweaking your checkout flow and diving deeper into technical SEO.
Remember, each technical decision you make compounds. Get the fundamentals correct early and it’ll make your life (and your bank account) a lot easier down the road.
Conclusion
Choosing to build an online store that scales from the start isn’t about having the shiniest website or biggest ad budget.
It comes down to a few key technical decisions store owners tend to overlook.
Let’s go over them again.
- Pick an ecommerce platform built with scaling in mind
- Optimise your site speed ASAP
- Design mobile-first
- Simplify checkout flows to limit cart abandonment
- Use structured data to your advantage
- Invest in scalable infrastructure and hosting
Every technical decision you make either helps or hurts your conversion rate optimisation.
The stores that nail down these foundations are the ones that scale. Determine where you can make the biggest impact right now and start chipping away. Pretty soon you’ll have a store that is built to scale.
