How to Set Up a Home Improvement Supplies Website

Selling any product online comes with risks attached, what with massive competition and the rise and fall of trends, and if you want to guarantee you are selling products that are always in demand, the home improvement sector is an attractive proposition. People will always want to improve their living space, also adding value to their investment. Knowing that, if you would like to move into the home improvements sector, here are a few tips.

Web Design

Of course, you will need a professional website, which is very much your shop window, and by approaching a leading web developer, you can obtain the following services:

• Web domain name registration – You choose you web address, with either a .com, .net, or .org extension, and providing the name is not taken, you can register the URL as your own.
• Web hosting service – Your website must be hosted, which is something the web designer can handle, and there are several packages on offer, with varying bandwidth capacity. It is important to have enough bandwidth to have fast page loading, so mention this to the web designer.
• Website design & build – There are a few web applications that are suitable for a home improvements website, which is something to discuss with the web developer. You will need to decide exactly what products you are going to sell; you could, for example, focus on either kitchen or bathroom renovations, as the home improvement sector is very wide and you would need a huge warehouse to stock everything. If you would like to see a very professional home improvement website, check out Amber Tiles, a leading Australian provider of ceramics and stone for the building industry.

Supplier Agreements

The ideal set up is to have the supplier send the product directly to the customer, and that means you do not have to come into contact with any product or material. This is much preferred to purchasing stock and storing it in a warehouse, which would add to your outgoings considerably. It is worth noting that you should investigate potential suppliers to ensure that they can meet a high volume of orders, and some suppliers would be happy to offer you a 30-day line of credit.

Focusing on Specifics

As mentioned above, rather than offering thousands of products, you are advised to stick to certain fields, such as bathroom or kitchen renovations, and by making an agreement with hi-end appliance manufacturers, you can offer top quality materials and appliances. Forging alliances with brand name products will ensure that your customers are happy with their purchases, and you can become an agent for their product line.

Digital Marketing

The only way that you will receive adequate site visits is if you engage the services of a digital marketing agency, who would create an aggressive digital marketing plan that will deliver results. Of course, you need to be very price competitive, as the online consumer can very quickly compare prices and if you are too expensive, this will be reflected in the low number of orders. If your website is optimised for Google searches, this will result in a lot of web traffic and that is exactly what you need if you are going to be successful. Here is a complete guide to setting up an SEO strategy for your business, which makes for an interesting read.

Logistics

This would be a major aspect of your business, and home improvement products are large and heavy, which means you need to forge an alliance with a third-party logistics provider who would deliver products to customers.

Payment Gateways

Every e-commerce website needs to have numerous payment methods, such as:

• Major Credit Cards
• PayPal
• Direct Bank Transfer
• Bitcoin

You could join a finance company promotion that will enable your customers to buy now-pay later, which is an attractive offer as they charge little or no interest. The more payment options you have, the greater the choice for your customers, so do make sure you have that covered.

Cyber-Security

If your website handles financial transactions, you need to have a good SSL Certificate, which is symbolised by a small padlock icon at the far right of the URL window. A secure website has the prefix – https, and it is the ‘s’ that denoted secure, otherwise an unsecure website address will begin with http: without the ‘s’.  Your web developer would also offer cyber-security for your platform, plus they would be happy to administrate the site, should you not wish to do so yourself. Click here for further reading on cyber-security from the Australian government.

Improving the Customer Experience

As the owner of the business, it is your task to do what you can to enhance the purchasing experience, and with professional product images and descriptions, you can concentrate on providing a smooth and trouble-free buying experience.

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