Month: May 2020

How eCommerce Helps To Overcome Businesses From Covid-19

Posted on by Jay

The outbreak of the coronavirus disease has disrupted the lives of the people around the world. And the global cases of this pandemic have surpassed the 2 million mark.

And due to this, it has impacted many business sectors and affected the economy of many countries. This is because people are advised to maintain social distance and stay at home.

Since the official announcement from WHO declaring the COVID-19 a global pandemic, many countries have put restrictions and lockdowns.

This has left businesses to work from home, which is possible for IT and eCommerce companies. It is the only option business owners have and has put eCommerce in to pressure to maintain social distancing.

Due to its fast spread, the shops are closed down since the end of the mid-February month, which has left people to shop from eCommerce stores.

So, this has suddenly spiked the number of orders coming to eCommerce stores exponentially. The behavior of online shoppers has changed as well.

Ecommerce sectors like grocery, food, health care, and entertainment websites have seen a spike in traffic.

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“ECommerce sales have increased by 52% YOY.  Also, the number of shoppers has been increased by 8.8%. Alternatively, the travel and airline sectors along with other sectors such as apparel, sports goods, arts and crafts, toys, and other eCommerce sectors have been suffering due to this pandemic.”

eCommerce Increased Sale

Source: Statista-2020

In the time of crisis, the big question emerges is how the eCommerce sector could help to overcome all of this?

Well, we have got some tips on how business owners would overcome this crisis with minimum effects on their eCommerce business.

eCommerce, How Small Businesses Can Get Most of It?

This is the most suitable situation and has presented a great opportunity for small business owners to go digital and benefit eCommerce business.

Due to social distancing, the closure of small and large retail shops has significantly affected the revenue of their business negatively.

But with certain and wise investments, they can recall their business digitally. With a smart eCommerce Development Strategy, they can increase their sales and generate some revenue from their business.

There might be some challenges due to ongoing supply chain disruption and delays in delivery, which may affect your business reputation and customer loyalty at the very beginning stages.

But as the situation has been changing continuously, these issues can be dealt with on a rolling basis.

The eCommerce Ideas That could help businesses to overcome the impact of COVID-19

The business owners may take a few steps right away, monitor the situation from the ground, and see what’s possible.

  • Make a round-up of your inventory because the supply chain can be disrupted at any time
  • Know the rules, regulations, and laws applicable to businesses nationally and locally
  • Prepare a team for solving any queries of customers
  • Expand the supply base so that your business doesn’t have to rely on one supplier

Well, these are basic strategies to follow before switching to eCommerce. Now let’s deep dive into the selling niche. Just like;

Sell Digita/ Virtual Products

People all around the world are bound to stay at home due to the fast spread of this disease. Also, most countries have put down restrictions for people to come out, which leaves you to sell virtual digital products on your eCommerce store. And the best thing is that you don’t have to rely on the supply chain.

You can come up with ideas on how to effectively sell them. Because there is no fear of selling virtual products as there will be no in-person contact and products will get delivered online. 

Come up with ebooks, tutorials, e-classes, music classes, learning classes, etc. virtual products that sell like a charm.

Andolasoft has come-up with the idea that could help both buyer and merchant to fulfill their daily requirements such as;

Grocery App

There’s a growing demand for online grocery delivery. The grocery industry is huge by all measures and is constantly developing. Grocery delivery systems and grocery startups making on-demand delivery arrangements have been regularly popping up, and some of them have managed to become tremendously successful. The feature includes:

  • A customer creates a list of groceries and pays instantly.
  • A personal shopper gets this order and collects the groceries.
  • The shopper pays the bill via an Instacart prepaid debit card.
  • The shopper delivers these products to the customer.

Make the Pre-Order and Let’s See How it Works

Salon App

Taking advantage of customers with web app form to book appointments in the salon not only shows that you are ready for the next and the next trends, but also offers them what they need: a technology available to make life easier and easier.

And with no certainty about the length of the quarantine period, your customers would not wish to go a long time without their timely haircuts and beauty treatments. You can capitalize on this by providing on-demand salon services to your customers through a salon app.

The features are included:

  • Pre-Reservations
  • Quick Glance at the Services Available
  • Special Offers
  • Style Libraries
  • Haircut of the Week
  • Appointment Reminders
  • Updo of the Week

Make the Pre-Order and Let’s See How it Works

Come up with a cost-effective shipping method.

People are mostly staying at home, and most of the people have little money to spend on important items. So, allow people to order products online and pick it up from the store.

This way they don’t have to pay much for shipping charges and save their money to spend on important items.

Also, you need to manage your orders during this situation. And to do that you have to heavily rely on the supply chain to ship orders with proper management of logistics. Therefore, ordering online and picking up in-store models works best in this scenario.

Try to Revive the Supply Chain for Your Business:

In these hard times, the supply chain is getting disrupted due to the restrictions and lockdowns put up by most countries.

To revive and restore the supply chain is very important, so alleviate the seriousness of the problem before it gets worse for your business.

Get in touch with manufacturing units and try to expand their operations if possible. And on the other hand, try to build up fulfillment units.

The manufacturing of the goods will take up the most time. But fulfilling orders can be achieved faster, which helps to mitigate the surge of demand.

Sell Human Survival Products

The unfortunate events have unfolded itself, which is threatening the survival of the human race. To help curb the issue, sell essential items that are important for the survival of humans.

Products like grocery, food items, and healthcare items are a necessity in the wake of a global pandemic.

Sell those products at minimum profit margins on your eCommerce store. Because in these trying times people are stranded without much money to spend and without any job to work. And they have little money to spend only on essential items.

So, it will be beneficial for your business as well as the people of your country, if you sell those essential items.

Pro-Tip: 

If your eCommerce store is on Magento, then set up a multi-store website with the help of Magento 2 extensions.

I’ve worked with the team at Andolasoft on multiple websites. They are professional, responsive, & easy to work with. I’ve had great experiences & would recommend their services to anyone.

Ruthie Miller, Sr. Mktg. Specialist

Salesforce, Houston, Texas

LEARN MORE

Thus, your current operations do not get affected by this new eCommerce venture. So, all in all, selling these items will keep profits coming in for your online business.

Conclusion

The COVID-19 has affected many people around the globe and disrupted their lives for several weeks now. And there will be after-effects of the same when all of these things are over.

But one thing we can do is to help each other out during this pandemic.

Small businesses are the worst affected by the spread of COVID-19. But you can take the necessary steps to lessen the blow on your business.

Being transparent, optimistic, and positive will help your eCommerce business and the people around you.

Want to launch your eCommerce store? Let’s Discuss!

Smart Guidelines for Planning a Perfect Website for E-commerce Businesses

Posted on by Jignesh Vaghasiya

These days people are finding online shopping very comfortable. They shop and place orders on these sites then they receive the order after some days according to location. This process of buying products and useful items has become an essential part of life.

However, it becomes vital for the site owner to lead and circulate their site rules properly so that people find their site affectionate and surprising.

The trend of E-commerce business is rising day by day, and it has become one of the profitable companies in the world. If you are thinking of producing an online E-commerce site for your customers, then it is one of the best ideas for any business planner.

Therefore, it becomes crucial to decide how to plan a website structure for essential growth?

Planning for E-commerce website

Every owner needs to design the perfect site for customers because customers nowadays require a lot more from online business planners.

It may seem to many business planners that building an online business is challenging; however, it is not much difficult task; you just need to keep some ideas in kind before selling online products.

There is a great importance of website planning because it will help you to understand the necessities of the E-commerce business and customer’s requirements.

Various planners do not have any knowledge; however, you should not worry about anything because below given facts will help you to build your online E-commerce website.

You first have to prepare a proper website planning checklist because it will help you to know about the e-commerce site requirements.

You all know that every business needs new tools and technologies to lead the proper growth of the company.

Thus, you should include website planning features in such a way that the technology involved in the e-commerce site should be new and familiar for customer usage.

Individual steps to organize a proper e-commerce site

Many e-commerce site business planners ask that how to plan a website structure for the best result? Surely, you are going to know the best steps that can help in designing a focused website efficiently.

Let’s discuss some of the listed points that have given below:

The objective of the e-commerce site:

You should never forget the primary goal of your site. You should concentrate on e-commerce product selling and purchasing modes. It will help you in designing a perfect plan for the website.

You should know on which platform you want to consider your website plan because the platform can lead to the correct direction of business growth with time.

Teamwork:

You should start managing the best team that can help you in maintaining a website planning checklist. Every e-commerce site needs a large number of operators because it helps in controlling the whole system of the site properly.

One person can focus on the delivery part, others can concentrate on purchasing a part, and left ones can focus on the website working procedure such as order placements.

Requirements of an audience:

It becomes one of the crucial website planning steps because the growth and productivity of your site belong to the users. More people start using your site more; you grow among other businesses.

Mainly, the audience should understand your site features correctly, and they can efficiently operate those features at any time.

Update versions:

It becomes very crucial for e-commerce business planners that they should keep updating their site after some time. It will help in attracting more users towards the site because they will find more exciting features on the website to go through while purchasing.

It is the importance of website planning that leads the business planner in the correct direction of the growth.

Smart features:

Every business leader needs to plan a perfect site with a large number of features. The website planning checklist must contain this fact that your website should look more attractive to the viewers.

You should include a proper cart box on the site so that people can easily add new items in the box and select the usable items later on. You should try to include every product with natural pictures and videos on the website.

The website should have proper graphic features and various animated designs.

Quality of the product:

Now, the business works on the quality of the products you provide to your customers. Your e-commerce site can grow efficiently, but you have to satisfy the customer needs by offering a smart quality of a product.

You should also provide them special discounts and offers because in this way they will rely more on your site and purchase more goods from your online site rather than from the market place.

Strategy with profit:

You can quickly start gaining advantage with the specially designed website by including the online payment method. It becomes essential to choose every smart technology with the perfect website planning steps in an e-commerce site for the best results.

The online payment method can help you to get ensured about the payment, and you can quickly receive money on time without facing any hurdles.

Also, set the delivery date for the customer because it helps in knowing about the delivery date of the item. Thus it becomes necessary to choose the best delivery team that can help in packaging and delivering the products to your loyal customers.

Conclusion

The e-commerce website planning is not much exhausting work, but it requires proper knowledge and customer satisfaction points. You should build an appropriate site for online business in which users can easily manage their shopping items and place orders.

They can also place their favorite things in the cart so that they can buy them, later on, when comfortable. The importance of website planning also includes that you should update the version of your site after some months so that users find it interesting to use.

You should also include offers and discounts for customers. It will undoubtedly lead to loyal customers, and the productivity of your business increases gradually.

Don’t stop just start planning your smart e-commerce site with amazing and profitable features.

How To Robust eCommerce Store Using WordPress

Posted on by Jay

Ecommerce is poised to become a major player in the global retail market, and the global eCommerce industry may make up as much as 6.7% of all retail sales by 2025.

And it’s not just giants like Amazon or Walmart that contribute to this figure, as the local marketplace features a multitude of stores selling everything online.

One of the best parts about entering the eCommerce world is that it’s easier than ever to do so. There’s a huge array of services that can give you everything you need to set up your online store with only a few clicks. Find a suitable eCommerce platform, you’re off to a good start!

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In our previous article about what you should consider before building an eCommerce store, we covered several of the best eCommerce platforms to choose from. This time, we zero in on building an online store with WordPress, one of the most popular and flexible solutions for eCommerce.

Why Use WordPress?

WordPress is a free-and-open-source content management system that is developed by both a core group of lead developers and a community composed entirely of volunteers.

About one-quarter of all the websites on the Internet have WordPress as their content management system, and for good reason—it combines ease of use that allows it to be applied to even the most basic websites and plugin-based modularity that allows its functionality to be extended to meet virtually any needs.

Its open-source, community-managed nature also ensures that WordPress is constantly up-to-date with security patches and new features. Tutorials and documentation to do just about anything can also be found all over the Web—if you have a question about WordPress, it’s almost certainly been answered already.

WordPress is particularly useful when building an eCommerce website because there are plenty of premade themes suited to an online storefront. It also features plugins that add complete eCommerce functionality to a site, from product display to shopping cart and checkout.

Finally, one of the top reasons to go with WordPress is that it’s a flexible platform that offers you complete control over what your website does and how it appears. On top of your storefront, you can also include a blog, a forum, and any other pages you need.

All this comes without any ongoing fees to make use of the WordPress platform. Your monthly fees come from your hosting company and domain registrar, with WordPress itself being free to use, and certain plugins and themes being one-time purchases.

Planning to create an online store with WordPress? This blog post will help you along every step of the process.

Step 1: Choose Your Domain Name And Hosting Provider.

The first step in WordPress eCommerce setup starts with your domain name. This will become the address of your future website. A domain name is what you enter into the address bar of your browser to access a website.

While WordPress itself is free, you’ll need to pay for your domain name, which starts at US$10 per year. The cost is well worth it, as having your own domain name (i.e. yourbusinessname.com) is far more professional-looking than having your name on someone else’s domain (i.e. yourbusinessname.otherdomain.com)

You will also need a hosting provider, a service that will host your website on the Internet. By having a dedicated hosting provider, you’re assured that your website will load quickly and not suffer from extended periods of downtime.

You have the option of a shared or dedicated host. With a shared host, your website is on the same server as several other websites, which is cheaper, but often provides you with less control over your website as well as potentially smaller storage and bandwidth availability. Meanwhile, a dedicated host is more expensive, but gives your website a whole server exclusively for your use, and gives you a wide degree of control, storage, and bandwidth.

After snagging your domain and host, you can now install WordPress, and there are two ways to go about it:

One-Click Install

In the one-click install, you register your domain name and get your WordPress site hosted from the same provider. WordPress recommends your host supports PHP 7, MySQL v5.6+ or MariaDB v10.0+, and HTTPS.

You can also use hosting providers trusted by WordPress, which will make installation easier and ensure that your chosen host is supported. WordPress itself recommends Pressable, BlueHost, Dreamhost, Flywheel, and Site Ground.

Manual install

With the manual option, you set up a server manually, then install the WordPress platform on your server, and configure it. You’ll need to have an FTP client, a database set up through cPanel or PHPMyAdmin, and access to your web server. As such, this option is recommended only for advanced users. WordPress has extensive documentation that can walk you through the process.

Step 2: Select An ECommerce Plugin.

What will separate your WordPress eCommerce website from a standard WordPress website will be the means by which you sell products directly from your site. There are no native WordPress eCommerce features, so to add this functionality to your website, you’ll need to install an eCommerce plugin.

WooCommerce

Once a mere eCommerce plugin, WooCommerce has now morphed into a whole platform with its own plugin system since it was acquired by Automattic two years ago. It’s a highly customizable platform that gives you total control over your online store. About 30% of all online stores use WooCommerce as their platform; some local stores that use it are Beauty Choice and Green Point Flowers.

WooCommerce features a complete eCommerce backend that helps you build and organize product pages, and provides a shopping cart and checkout process.

Easily manage and track customer discounts with the powerful WooCommerce plugin.

Download Plugin

It’s free to use, but you can extend its functionality even further with various paid and free extensions. Extensions can do anything from serving AI-driven recommendations to customers on product landing pages to providing the option for scheduled group and daily deals that trigger when a predefined number of people purchase an item.

Easy Digital Downloads

While most eCommerce plugins and platforms revolve around the sale of physical products, Easy Digital Downloads or EDD is specifically designed to help you sell digital products.

EDD allows you to create discount codes, place restrictions on downloads, and provides full tracking and data reporting of downloads, sales, and other statistics. You can also add new features to your EDD storefront with extensions, which give you the ability to sell software licenses and subscriptions, add payment processors like PayPal, and more.

EDD is free, with various paid extensions you can purchase.

WP eCommerce

WP eCommerce isn’t quite as fully-featured as WooCommerce, but it’s another popular and robust choice for creating an online store with WordPress.

It has all the basic features, including product pages, shopping cart, and checkout functionality, and comes with excellent data reporting capabilities and inventory management. Like the other plugins, it’s free but provides optional paid and free extensions that can add functionality. It also comes in a paid Gold Cart package option that adds more advanced tools, layouts, and features. You can also purchase premium payment gateways like Stripe and Authorize.net.

Step 3: Install Your eCommerce Plugin.

Once you’ve chosen an eCommerce plugin for your WordPress site, it’s time to install it through your WordPress backend. For convenience’s sake, the following steps assume that you chose the WooCommerce platform:

Log in to your WordPress dashboard.

On the sidebar, go to the Plugins section and click “Add New”.

In the search bar, type “WooCommerce” and hit Enter. Click “Install Now” on WooCommerce by WooThemes.

If you’re still at the stage where you’re looking for a hosting provider, you may want to check out Bluehost’s partnership with WooCommerce. Bluehost offers an all-in-one solution for WordPress eCommerce setup, which includes a domain name, WordPress with WooCommerce pre-installed, and SSL certification to keep your online store secure.

Step 4: Set Up The Product Pages.

Now that you have your plugin set up, it’s time to start adding products and their product pages. Every plugin does things differently, so we’ll cover the steps for doing this in WooCommerce.

At the very least, every product you add must have the following features:

  • Product name
  • Price
  • Image
  • Brief description

Begin by entering your WordPress admin panel, then select “Products” on the sidebar and select “Add Product”. WooCommerce allows you to add both physical and virtual products to your store.

a) Adding Physical Products

You’ll be greeted with an interface very similar to that of publishing a blog post on WordPress. Insert your product name where a post title would normally be, and add a description where post content would be. Then, on the right sidebar, add a product image for your product (analogous to a featured image), and then optionally insert more images in the product gallery.

Next, in the Product Data section, add more details about your product. The first thing to pay attention to is the Product Type drop-down box. The applicable product types for physical products are the following:

Simple: A simple product with no SKU options

Grouped: Multiple related products, which consist of several related “child” products, each of which is a Simple product

Variable: A product with different SKUs, for example, shirts or shoes that have different size options

External/Affiliate: Items sold outside of your store

For now, let’s go with a Simple product.

You’ll also see “Virtual” and “Downloadable” check boxes next to the Product Type. Leave these unchecked for physical products.
Let’s move on to the components on the left of Product Data, and what goes on in each:

The Attributes section is where you can assign special details to each product. You can add as many attribute fields as you like. Just make sure to keep the attribute consistent among similar products being sold.

b) Adding Virtual Products

Virtual products are products that are not sold physically, while downloadable products are downloaded from your store. Some products are both virtual and downloadable, such as eBooks.

Adding virtual products features the same process as physical products for the most part. However, with virtual products, you’ll check the “Virtual” or “Downloadable” boxes next to Product Type. When you select either option, you lose the Shipping tab in Product Data. You should also go to the Inventory tab and uncheck “Manage stock?”

For downloadable products, the General tab gets more options:

Downloadable files: Insert file links here for large files or files you’ve previously uploaded. Alternatively, click the “Choose file” to upload a file.

Download limit: Maximum number of times this file can be downloaded

Download expiry: Buyers can only download the file for a certain number of days.

Other than these changes, the process remains the same for physical products.

After the Product Data part, you’ll find the Product Short Description. This will appear at the top of your product landing page.

Your shoppers will see this short description before the full description that you’ve already written.

Once this is done, click “Update” and the product will be added.

WordPress eCommerce Product Uploading Tips

The following tips ensure that your products are attractive to customers, and can be located easily either from your storefront or through a search engine.

a) Don’t Forget Your Titles!

Your product should always be named in the title bar when you add a product to your store. You should also use SEO tools such as Yoast to determine the best possible title for your product based on SEO.

b) Create Catchy Product Descriptions.

Don’t copy descriptions from the product’s manufacturer. Be unique and creative with your descriptions. Also, use very specific, long-tail keywords that will ensure your product appears in search engine results. Finally, be short—limit descriptions to 150-250 words.

c) Mind The Quality Of Your Images.

Use a square-shaped featured product image to conform to WooCommerce standards. Also, use large, high-quality images to attract more customers.

d) Categorize And Tag Accordingly.

Place your products under categories and tags. The effect is twofold: Customers will have an easier time browsing for them, and Google will also consider them similar to keywords.

Step 5: Payment

Just as it is the last step in the shopping process, both online and offline, the last step in any WordPress eCommerce setup relates to payment. Your eCommerce site needs a means of receiving payments from customers.

Most online retail financial transactions take place over payment gateways, which are services that act as a middleman between you and your customer.

Upon checkout from your site, a customer is directed to the payment gateway’s website, where they input financial information or sign in to their account with the gateway. Money is exchanged securely from the customer to the payment gateway, and then the payment gateway transfers the money into your merchant account. Some payment gateways also host payment accounts as well.

PayPal is one of the leading payment gateways available, but it’s not necessarily everyone’s preference. Thankfully, WooCommerce supports a wide variety of other gateways, and adding them is as easy as a trip to the Payment Gateways section of the WooCommerce Extensions store, from which you can add the gateway of your choice with a single click. Payment gateways come in both free and paid forms.

To make use of most features of payment gateways, you’ll need to have an SSL certificate. This ensures that all transactions, and thus exchanges of financial information, between you and your customer are safe from the prying eyes of hackers. Getting an SSL certificate can usually be achieved through your hosting provider for a fee.

In Singapore, certain payment gateways are favored by both customers and local eCommerce sites. Here are some of the top that is in use:

2Checkout

2Checkout allows eCommerce merchants to accept payments seamlessly from all over the world, whether from mobile or online. eCommerce sites have the option of using 2Checkout as a hosted solution, where buyers are directed to the 2Checkout website to complete payment. More advanced site owners can choose to integrate their storefront directly with the 2Checkout Payment API.

Asia Pay

One of the largest payment gateways in Asia, Asia Pay is also among the top choices for payment processors in Malaysia, Vietnam, and the Philippines.

Paypal Express

Fast and efficient, PayPal Express lets users check out and pay for their items in three clicks. Users can store their financial information easily within PayPal, making the process quick and easy.

Avoid hidden charges and choose the correct payment gateways for your store.

Considerations when choosing a payment gateway

1. Cost

Every payment gateway charges a certain percentage fee per transaction. Check out the service charges for each gateway you plan on using. Sometimes, a higher fee is justifiable if a gateway has excellent service.

2. eCommerce Compatibility

Not all payment gateways are supported by every eCommerce plugin. Ensure that your payment gateway of choice is included in the list of extensions of your eCommerce plugin.

3. Financial Information Input

Payment gateways will offer two options for receiving financial information from customers. One is the hosted page, which redirects customers to the payment gateway’s website after checkout, where they enter their information. This is the most secure method, but it’s also a little unwieldy and is not likely to match your store’s visual theme.

The other method is integration, where customers input their financial information in a series of fields directly on your website, which will then be sent to your payment gateway. This method is much more seamless and convenient but is less secure.

4. Mobile compatibility

More and more online transactions are taking place over mobile devices. It’s imperative that users be allowed to purchase and pay for items from your store even if they’re using their smartphones. Choose a payment gateway that not only supports transactions over mobile but also has an optimized mobile experience with a good UI.

5. Security And Support

Few things are as important as the safety of your customers’ information. To ensure this, make sure that your payment gateway features encryption, support for SSL certificates, and anything else to do with the protection of data.

I’ve worked with the team at Andolasoft on multiple websites. They are professional, responsive, & easy to work with. I’ve had great experiences & would recommend their services to anyone.

Ruthie Miller, Sr. Mktg. Specialist

Salesforce, Houston, Texas

LEARN MORE

You should also be able to respond to problems with payment, refunds, and other concerns about transactions. Your payment processor of choice should have efficient and timely support that responds to your needs effectively.

For more information about setting up a payment gateway with WooCommerce, check out this detailed guide.

Conclusion

This article is a WordPress eCommerce how-to guide that has walked you through every step of building your own online store on one of the biggest platforms on the Web. You’ve learned how to choose your hosting provider, decide what plugin to use, install your plugin of choice, add your very first product, and set up a payment gateway for your site.

Want to launch your own eCommerce Store? Let’s Discuss!

How to Recognize a True Partner Among Web Development Agencies?

Posted on by Jay

Looking for the right website development agency can be very difficult. Although there are some handy tips when searching for the right eCommerce web development agency, one of the most underrated questions is: How to recognize an agency that wants to be a partner?

Let’s explain why this question is essential.

There are two types of agencies in the world. First is the one that tries to do the job you agreed upon. The second wants to go beyond that.

An agency that wants to be your partner wants to think about results that are above their “scope of work.” In simple words, they are always having in mind your broader business objective. Having that common goal allows for a deeper connection between an agency and the client that results in the best possible outcome.

How to recognize that agency?

In this post, you can find useful information on how you can recognize an eCommerce website agency that wants to become your business partner.

How to Recognize a True Partner Among Web Development Agencies?

Our Products

orangescrum

Wakeupsales

We transform your ideas into engaging Web and Mobile Apps

andolasoft
Source:
https://hackr.io/blog/top-10-web-development-frameworks-in-2020

How about you? What is your approach to conversations about eCommerce development costs? Would you like to share some of your tricks of the trade?

Let’s learn from each other, and we may even influence the way some of our future clients approach us.

Key Steps To Developing A Successful SaaS MVP

Posted on by Jay

In times past, you bought something once and it was yours forever.

A few years back, you bought something once and it was yours forever. But today, you pay for the regular access.

Especially, when it comes to the use of software, vehicle, and even clothes.

But this comes with distinct advantages for both the vendor and the customer.

As the demand increases, the software and its platforms are constantly developed and improved. If you turn around you can see several well-equipped solutions that have all the mechanisms to deliver the best solution. But they are still adding more wings on it.

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As a new player, it will be a difficult journey for you to figure out what should be in your Software As A Service MVP (Minimum Viable Product). The questions like;

  • What feature to focus on?
  • What to Include?
  • Is it worth the cost?

may be speculating on your mind.

Let’s have a deep dive into it and build a SaaS MVP that customers will buy, use, and recommend as well.

SaaS Product, What Is It?

Software as a service (also known as subscribeware or rentware) is a software licensing and delivery model in which software is licensed on a subscription basis and is centrally hosted by a company.

SaaS applications are also known as Web-based software, on-demand software, and hosted software.

For example;

Orangescrum (The Project Collaboration Tool) is a SaaS product that is hosted on the company servers and customers pay a monthly or yearly fee to access it.

And of course, you can find variations in this model.

Some companies allow their customers to deploy the on-premise model as well but still charge a regular fee.

As per Gartner Forecast; “The saas industry is expected to reach $85.1 billion by the end of 2019. This is only slated to grow as more companies use saas products regularly. An average organization uses 16 saas apps as part of its regular workflow.”Granter Forecast

Tech & Marketing giant Hubspot believes;

“for a successful launch of an MVP for a saas product, it is important to have strong support for media and specialized platforms and confirm demand for your product. The first aspect will give you a stream of constant leads and the second will give you an understanding of what you can invest in media while remaining profitable.”

Yes, it sounds like there is lots of potential in SaaS Development but there is lots of competition as well.

So, there are many factors to consider for developing a SaaS MVP that could springboard you to success.

Let’s have a look at how to confirm the demand for your idea before you start to build a saas MVP.

Get A Deep Understanding Of The Audiences Pain, Wants, And Needs

Many entrepreneurs come with an idea, they do the basic market research, through a website and start developing the features that will go into their SaaS MVP.

But this is complete wrongdoing process, reasons are:

This is a mistake for several reasons such as:

  • There’s no feature prioritization
  • Product demand is uncertain
  • Don’t have a clear customer persona
  • Not addressing a well-defined pain point

And the list goes on.

An efficient route would be talking to the people who you think as your target customer. And you should engage on this before launching your website, before the first lines of code, and even before you solidify your idea.

Why?

Why?

Because practically the market’s demand could be completely different from your imagination. If the market does not want this (your idea) then they are not going to buy it.

Let’s take the example from Buffer – the popular social media scheduling app.

When the founder got his idea, he didn’t start development right away. Instead, he tested demand by creating a landing page and a simple checkout flow that didn’t work. Instead, he collected email addresses and started conversations with the people who tried to sign up.

When the founder got his idea, he didn’t just directly jump to the development. He tested demands by creating a simple and engaging landing page with a checkout flow that did not work (deliberately). Then he collected the email Address and started the conversation with those users who tried to sign up previously.

His objective was to understand the aspect of the product, and what features they needed to make it work for their business.

After engaging with several peoples, the founder had a clear vision of the features for his SaaS product development. Then we started building the product and the rest is history. Buffer is making 10 million dollars in a year.

Another approach could identify your potential customers, reach out to them, and hold interviews. Through the open-ended questions, you could able to understand the problems and their needed solutions.

Prioritize Your Product Roadmap

After finishing the customer interview, you will have a clear view of what solution your market is looking for and how to reach a valuable proposition. It is completely up to you to decide which feature will be the best for fulfilling the market needs.

For example, if your users want to get more leads and uncover insights about their audience, there are many ways to go about it. You could create a survey tool, quiz software, popups that also ask questions, etc.

The interviews would’ve given you insights into how important aspects of the solution were. Maybe people want to generate leads the most and segmenting those leads was secondary. Maybe they need to be able to send those leads to their CRM.

A product roadmap will help you organize the features or aspects of your saas MVP. Some of them will make it into the initial version and others will be pushed back because they’re not as important.

The major benefit of a product roadmap is the clarity it gives you. You and your team know exactly where you are and what’s left to be done at any given point. If something becomes more important based on user feedback or changing priorities, you can update your product roadmap in a few moments.

Build The Single Most Important Core Feature

Feature creep is real.

It robs your product of its simplicity.

It destroys your focus.

Deadlines get shattered.

It turns your elegant solution into a slow unwieldy hulk.

Needless to say, feature creep should be avoided at all costs. The benefits of adding a marginally useful feature are outweighed by the downsides.

There are several simple ways to avoid feature creep in your MVP and the final product.

Consider Each Feature Carefully

Many organizations think up great features and start implementing them. This can work in some cases but most of the time it doesn’t. If there isn’t a demand from existing customers or it’s not part of the original product vision then think long and hard before adding it.

Consider setting up a feature approval process. Every new feature has to meet specific criteria such as:

  • It’s been requested a certain number of times
  • It’s part of the original product vision (use this if the feature hasn’t been requested too often)
  • The feature will have a tangible impact on revenue or product usage

The criteria used to evaluate new features will be peculiar to your business but the most important thing is to have an approval process. You can improve it over time.

Differentiate Between Nice-To-Have & Must-To-Have Features

Every product has essential features that make it what it is. In a list building software, popups are an essential feature.
There are also headline features. These are the features that you can put on a landing page and people will look for but they’re not necessarily used often. In our product, one of the headline features is A/B testing but a small fraction of users take advantage of it.

Nice to have features are what they sound like. They’re interesting and may help with conversions but they’re far from necessary. When you differentiate your features in this way, it makes it easier to understand what you need to focus your energy on.

Keep An Eye On Usability

If people can’t use your software then they won’t. Usability should be at the top of the list for a saas MVP. The more features you add, the more screens, clicks, and buttons you’ll need to add. It reduces usability.

Always consider how difficult or easy a new feature will be to take advantage of. If it has a marked impact on a customer’s ability to get the most out of your software then it may be better to leave it off.

Launch It And Stop Developing

This is where many founders have issues. They launch a product and don’t get a lot of traction. They think it’s because their product isn’t ready yet. It may not be the best in the world but if you’ve built a great core feature, you can sell it.

That is why it’s an MVP.

There’s a temptation to start writing more code because the next feature will turn everything around.
It won’t.

I’ve worked with the team at Andolasoft on multiple websites. They are professional, responsive, & easy to work with. I’ve had great experiences & would recommend their services to anyone.

Ruthie Miller, Sr. Mktg. Specialist

Salesforce, Houston, Texas

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If you have a stable product, have launched it, and it has gotten at least one customer then stop focusing on development.

Instead, focus on getting more customers through sales or marketing. There are countless ways to go about this and many books, blog posts, and courses have been dedicated to the subject.

Here are a few methods to build awareness and acquire your first customers:

  • Host a podcast or become a guest on a podcast
  • Start blogging to build traffic
  • Focus on a single social media channel to generate leads
  • Reach out to your target customers
  • Tap your immediate network
  • Develop strategic partnerships
  • Use Quora connect with your audience and establish authority
  • Submit to startup aggregators like BetaList or Product hunt

These are just a few ideas and there are countless more. You were creative enough to start a business so I’m confident that you’ll be creative enough to get a few customers.

Conclusion

A SaaS MVP, when done right, can be the first step to building a successful company. When done incorrectly, it’s the beginning of a long road that may not yield much return.

There are multiple steps you can take to increase your odds of success.

  • Talk to your potential customers
  • Prioritize the right features with your product roadmap
  • Build the most important feature first
  • Launch and focus on getting new customers before you continue development

Do you have a SaaS Idea? Let’s Discuss. We will Monetize it!

6 Common Mistakes Python Developers Should Avoid

Posted on by Beatrix Potter

Because Python has such user-friendly syntax, developers sometimes miss out on the scope of the diverse Python language. Here are 6 common mistakes that developers typically make.

1. Expressions that are incorrectly used as defaults for function arguments

A great thing that Python does is that it lets you specify that a function argument is option. It does this by creating a default value for it.

However, confusion can manifest when the default value is mutable. A mistake that happens regularly is to assume that the optional argument will be set to the specified expression every time the function is called.

This is done without supplying the optional argument with a value.

2. Error handling and Incorrect Indentation

A traceback is a very specific form of error in Python. Forgetting a colon at the end of a line, forgetting a parenthesis, or by mistake, when working on an if statement, adding one extra space, will lead to a syntax error.

Even if a seemingly small error, if this happens Python cannot understand how to read the program you created.

To create a block code, you need to indicate each line of the block. Each block code must be indicated by the exact same amount to work.

Python is unique compared to other languages, in that indentation has more of a role than making code look clean. Indentation is required for illuminating what block of code a statement belongs to.

Indentation is depended on by many characteristics. Something difficult to deal with is that some indentation errors are more problematic to spot than others.

An example: differentiating spaces and tabs in code, and what the error associated with it is. Python and the editor may see different things when the tabs are counted by a number of spaces.

You must use either all spaces or all tabs within the entire code block.

3. Variable binding

Python, with its late-binding behavior, creates confusion among developers on how Python binds its variables.

It binds its variables in closures or surrounding global scope. This leads to values of variables in closures looking up at the time the inner function is called upon.

4. Incorrectly using the __init__ method

A reserved method called init, it is a constructor and is utilized when python allocates memory to a class object that is new.

If you try to explicitly return a value from the init method, this will make it seem that the person using it is trying to diverge from the actual purpose.

5. Having a clashing name with Python Standard Library modules

Library modules that come with “out of the box” are plentiful in Python and is one of best features of it.

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However, the result of this can be creating a name clash between one of the module names in the Python Standard Library and the name you created for on of your modules.

An example of this is naming a module email.py in your code. There then is the same name within the standard library module, creating a clashing of names.

The name clash leads to a multitude of different problems, including problems like importing another library which in turn tries to start importing the Python Standard Library version of a module, but instead starts importing your version of the same name. Yours will be imported instead of the one within the Python Standard Library.

This is a slippery slope as it will create even more problems for you.

It goes without saying, but make sure you use extra caution when naming. Do not use the same names as items within the Python Standard Library modules.

Always take the easier route of renaming the module within your package then trying to take the inefficient steps of requesting a name change by filing a Python Enhancement Proposal.

6. LEGB Rule

Local, Enclosing, Global, Built-in, if a user makes an assignment to a variable in a scope, Python automatically considers that variable to be local to that scope.

It shadows any similarly named variables in the outer scope. The most common time this is a mistake is when using lists.

A high-level programming language with dynamic semantics, Python is very attractive for Rapid Application Development. Avoid mistakes with these tips.

Experience top-notch Python development services at Andolasoft! Our seasoned team of Python experts delivers custom solutions for web and mobile app development.

Leverage the power of Python’s versatility, speed, and reliability for your projects. From concept to deployment, we ensure seamless functionality and optimal performance. Elevate your business with our Python expertise.