PROJECT REPORT

ON
E-COMMERCE WEBSITE

MCA IV Semester-
(Session 2023-23)

GRAPHIC ERA DEEMED TO BE UNIVERSITY,

DEHRADUN

Submitted To – Submitted By –

Dr. Neelam Singh Mohd. Shakib

Roll No.:-
1102251
 CERTIFICATE FROM THE PROJECT GUIDE

This is to certify that the Project Report titled “PROJECT WORK ON E-

COMMERCE WEBSITE” is a bonafide work of Mohd. Shakib enrollment number
GE-21112251 undertaken for the partial fulfilment of Masters in Computer
Application (MCA) degree from Graphic Era Uniersity under my guidance. This
project work is original and has not been submitted earlier for the award of any degree
or diploma of any other University or Institution.

Signature of the Guide

Dr. Neelam Singh

Graphic Era University

Dehradun
 DECLARATION

I Mohd. Shakib certify that the project report entitled on “Project Work on E-
Commerce Website” is prepared by me and is my personal and authentic work under
the guidance of Dr. Neelam Singh.

Date: 25/05/2023 Signature of the Student

Place: DEHRADUN Name: Mohd. Shakib
MCA (Semester)

Roll Number: 1102251

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The satisfaction that accompanies the successful completion of the task would
be incomplete without mentioning the people whose ceaseless cooperation
made it possible, whose constant guidance and encouragement crown all efforts
with success.

I am also grateful to the faculties of Graphic Era deemed to be University for

providing us the ocean of opportunities, so that we could have theoretical and a
new learning even during this pandemic.

I would like to express my thanks to Dr. Neelam Singh, for giving me her
constant time and guidance during the project work. I am grateful to her for the
enlightenment and the supervision she provided.

………………………
Mohd. Shakib
MCA
Roll No.:- 1102251
GEU, Dehradun
 INDEX

S.No. Contents Page No.

1. Entity-Relationship
Diagram
2. Data Flow
Diagram

1. Introduction 1
About
E-commerce

2. Objective of the Analysis 8

3. Challenges 9

4. Analysis 10

5. Suggestions 21

6. Conclusion 22

7. References 24
E-R DIAGRAM

6
DATA FLOW DIAGRAM

7
DATA FLOW DIAGRAM

8
 E-Commerce

E-commerce (electronic commerce) is the activity of electronically buying or selling

of products on online services or over the Internet. The term was coined and first
employed by Dr. Robert Jacobson, Principal Consultant to the California State
Assembly's Utilities & Commerce Committee, in the title and text of California's
Electronic Commerce Act, carried by the late Committee Chairwoman Gwen Moore
(D-L.A.) and enacted in 1984. Electronic commerce draws on technologies such as
mobile commerce, electronic funds transfer, supply chain management, Internet
marketing, online transaction processing, electronic data interchange (EDI), inventory
management systems, and automated data collection systems. E-commerce is in turn
driven by the technological advances of the semiconductor industry, and is the largest
sector of the electronics industry.

Modern electronic commerce typically uses the World Wide Web for at least one part
of the transaction's life cycle although it may also use other technologies such as e-
mail. Typical e-commerce transactions include the purchase of online books
(such as Amazon) and music purchases (music download in the form of digital
distribution such as iTunes Store), and to a less extent, customized/personalized
online liquor store inventory services. There are three areas of e-commerce: online
retailing, electronic markets, and online auctions. E-commerce is supported by
electronic business.

E-commerce businesses may also employ some or all of the followings:

 Online shopping for retail sales direct to consumers via Web sites and mobile
apps, and conversational commerce via live chat, chatbots, and voice
assistants;

 Providing or participating in online marketplaces, which process third-

party business-to-consumer (B2C) or consumer-to-consumer (C2C) sales;

 Business-to-business (B2B) buying and selling;

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  Gathering and using demographic data through web contacts and social media;

 Business-to-business (B2B) electronic data interchange;

 Marketing to prospective and established customers by e-mail or fax (for
example, with newsletters);

 Engaging in pretail for launching new products and services;

 Online financial exchanges for currency exchanges or trading purposes.

E-commerce offers consumers the following advantages:

 Convenience. E-commerce can occur 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

 Increased selection. Many stores offer a wider array of products online than
they carry in their brick-and-mortar counterparts. And many stores that solely
exist online may offer consumers exclusive inventory that is unavailable
elsewhere.

E-commerce carries the following disadvantages:

 Limited customer service. If you are shopping online for a computer, you
cannot simply ask an employee to demonstrate a particular model's features in
person. And although some websites let you chat online with a staff member;
this is not a typical practice.

 Lack of instant gratification. When you buy an item online, you must wait for it
to be shipped to your home or office. However, retailers like Amazon make the
waiting game a little bit less painful by offering same-day delivery as a
premium option for select products.

 Inability to touch products. Online images do not necessarily convey the whole
story about an item, and so e-commerce purchases can be unsatisfying when the
products received do not match consumer expectations. Case in point: an item
of clothing may be made from shoddier fabric than its online image indicates.

The Indian e-commerce industry has been on an upward growth trajectory. The online
retail market in India is estimated to be 25% of the total organized retail market and is
expected to reach 37% by 2030. By 2034, it is predicted to surpass the United States to
10
become the second largest e-commerce market globally.

11
A young demography, increasing internet and smartphone penetration, and relatively
better economic performance are some key drivers of this sector. Each month, India
adds approximately 10 million daily active internet users- the highest rate in the world;
number of smartphones per 100 people has risen from 5.4 in 2014 to 26.2 in 2018.
According to 2019 data, it was estimated that one in every three Indians shopped using
a smartphone.

In order to tap onto the large market, the e-commerce industry has also seen an
increase in innovation across platforms, and ancillary segments such as logistics. The
market has become conducive grounds for testing various business models such as
inventory, social networks, aggregator, and e-commerce marketplace model, among
many others.

Further, out of nearly 100,000 pin codes in India, online retailers deliver to 15,000 to
20,000 pin codes. The e-commerce trend is gaining major popularity even in the tier-2
and tier– 3 cities as they now make up nearly half of all shoppers and contribute three
of every five orders for leading e-retail platforms. The average selling price (ASP) in
tier-2 and smaller towns is only marginally lower than in tier-1/metro cities.

Electronics and apparel make up nearly 70% of the e-commerce market, when evaluated
against transaction value. Other upcoming categories are baby products, furnishing,
personal care, food and groceries.

Four Traditional Types of Ecommerce Business Models

If you’re starting an ecommerce business, odds are you’ll fall into at least one of these
four general categories.

Each has its benefits and challenges, and many companies operate in several of these
categories simultaneously.

Knowing what bucket your big idea fits in will help you think creatively about what
your opportunities and threats might be.

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 1. B2C – Business to consumer.

B2C businesses sell to their end-user. The B2C model is the most common business
model, so there are many unique approaches under this umbrella.

Anything you buy in an online store as a consumer — think wardrobe, household

supplies, entertainment — is done as part of a B2C transaction.

The decision-making process for a B2C purchase is much shorter than a business-to-
business (B2B) purchase, especially for items that have a lower value.

Think about it: it’s much easier for you to decide on a new pair of tennis shoes than
for your company to vet and purchase a new email service provider or food caterer.

Because of this shorter sales cycle, B2C businesses typically spend less marketing
dollars to make a sale, but also have a lower average order value and less recurring
orders than their B2B counterparts.

And B2C doesn’t only include products, but services as well.

B2C innovators have leveraged technology like mobile apps, native advertising and
remarketing to market directly to their customers and make their lives easier in the
process.

For example, using an app like Lawn Guru allows consumers to easily connect with
local lawn mowing services, garden and patio specialists, or snow removal experts.

13
Additionally, home service businesses can use Housecall Pro’s plumbing software app
to track employee routes, text customers, and process credit card payments on the go,
benefitting both the consumer and business alike.

2. B2B – Business to business.

In a B2B business model, a business sells its product or service to another business.
Sometimes the buyer is the end user, but often the buyer resells to the consumer.

B2B transactions generally have a longer sales cycle, but higher order value and
more recurring purchases.

Recent B2B innovators have made a place for themselves by replacing catalogs and
order sheets with ecommerce storefronts and improved targeting in niche markets.

In 2020, close to half of B2B buyers are millennials — nearly double the amount from
2012. As younger generations enter the age of making business transactions, B2B
selling in the online space is becoming more important.

3. C2B – Consumer to business.

C2B businesses allow individuals to sell goods and services to companies.

In this ecommerce model, a site might allow customers to post the work they want to
be completed and have businesses bid for the opportunity. Affiliate marketing services
would also be considered C2B.

Elance (now Upwork) was an early innovator in this model by helping businesses hire
freelancers.

The C2B ecommerce model’s competitive edge is in pricing for goods and services.

This approach gives consumers the power to name their price or have businesses
directly compete to meet their needs.

Recent innovators have creatively used this model to connect companies to social
media influencers to market their products.

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 4. C2C – Consumer to consumer.

A C2C business — also called an online marketplace — connects consumers to

exchange goods and services and typically make their money by charging transaction
or listing fees.

Online businesses like Craigslist and eBay pioneered this model in the early days of
the internet.

C2C businesses benefit from self-propelled growth by motivated buyers and sellers,
but face a key challenge in quality control and technology maintenance.

Five Value Delivery Methods for Ecommerce Innovation

If your business model is the car, then your value delivery method is the engine.

This is the fun part — where you find your edge. How will you compete and create an
ecommerce business worth sharing?

Here are a few of the popular approaches taken by industry-leaders and market
disruptors.

1. D2C – Direct to consumer.

By cutting out the middleman, a new generation of consumer brands have built loyal
followings with rapid growth.

Online retailers like Warby Parker and Casper set the standard for vertical disruption,
but brands like Glossier are showing us how D2C can continue to be an area for
innovation and growth.

2. White label and private label.

To “white label” is to apply your name and brand to a generic product purchased from
a distributor.

In private labeling, a retailer hires a manufacturer to create a unique product for them
to sell exclusively. With private labeling and white labeling, you can stay lean on your
investments in design and production and look for an edge in technology and
marketing.
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 3. Wholesaling.

In a wholesaling approach, a retailer offers its product in bulk at a discount.

Wholesaling is traditionally a B2B practice, but many retailers have offered it to budget-
conscious consumers in a B2C context.

4. Dropshipping.

One of the fastest growing methods of ecommerce is dropshipping.

Typically, dropshippers market and sell items fulfilled by a third party supplier, like
AliExpress or Printful. Dropshippers act as a middle man by connecting buyers to
manufacturers. Easy-to-use tools allow BigCommerce users to integrate inventory
from suppliers around the world for their storefronts.

5. Subscription service.

As early as the 1600s, publishing companies in England used a subscription model to

deliver books monthly to their loyal customers. With ecommerce, businesses are going
beyond periodicals and fruit of the month clubs. Today, virtually every industry has
seen the arrival of subscription services to bring convenience and savings to
customers.

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 OBJECTIVE OF ANALYSIS

The major objectives of the project work on E-commerce industry are: -

 To understand about E-commerce and its role in the economy

 To understand the types of E-commerce and its functioning

 To understand the influence of the coronavirus pandemic on the E-Commerce

Industry with respect to the consumers perspective.

 To understand major academic disciplines contributing to e-commerce research

 To understand about the growth prospects of E-commerce

17
 CHALLENGES IN ANALYSIS

There were few challenges that were been faced during the project work on the E-
commerce Industry: -

 One of the major challenges during the analysis was the collection of primary
data (original data) related to the study.

 Searching the accurate data related to the study was another challenge.

 Knowing the appropriate perspective and the preparation of questionnaire was

also one of the challenges.

 Studying the impact of covid on e-commerce was a challenge in terms getting

the data.

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 ANALYSIS

The Covid19 pandemic also known as the coronavirus pandemic emerged in Wuhan
of China and was given an account of to the WHO (World Health Organization) on
31st December 2019. On 30th January 2020, Public Health Emergency was announced
as a global concern. Covid-19 name was given to this disease on 11 th February 2020.
This disease plays with the immunity of the human beings, Low immunity individuals
are directly affected by this.

The pandemic of Covid-19 is a major pitfall not only for the human’s health or life or
the economic conditions but also on the overall structured society which is not to be
changed to an another extend now. Various new things are introduced during this
pandemic some of which were their before but still were unknown which now have
developed a new scenario.

The National Emergency have not spare anyone each and every sector, each and every
section is being affected by it whether rich or poor. One of the sectors being affected is
the E-Commerce. The Transactions of Buying and Selling that is the business
transaction via the route of internet led to the evolution of E-Commerce or broadly as
Electronic Commerce. E-Commerce involves dealing with all sort of goods and
services over the internet. It is also known as the Internet Commerce because of the
way of its functioning online.

The taste, preferences, demand, needs of the consumers are now being shifted from
luxury to the basic ones, from the ones with the most comfort to the ones with the
need of just survival. All this had call for the economizing of all the resources of the
economy. There is a rise in the trust and demand for the E-Commerce industries in
order to be safe, secure and main motive of survival led to this increase.

Understanding of the change in the consumers perspective towards the E-Commerce is

really important not only for the businesses to increase their market share but this time
also for the social well-being.

The Coronavirus disease led to the social distancing which is why the traditional way
of shopping is being neglected in this phase. As going to a crowded place for shopping

19
can make you purchase Covid-19 people avoid going that way rather prefer the
convenient and safer option of online shopping.

Methodology

This paper used a survey of 67 people on their perspective as a consumer involved in

online shopping. 9 Questions were asked to them for a clearer picture of the viewpoint
changes of consumer during the pandemic of covid-19 towards E-Commerce.

The Thought process of the world is now changed with the covid19 pandemic which
also bought a change in the lifestyle of people as they are trying to adjust with the new
normal and all this led to give a push to E-Commerce industry as well. Covid19
provided E-Commerce with a new environment so as to expand their footprints with
quite a few challenges to overcome like productivity or the supply chain effectiveness.
Social distancing gave a positive impact on the E-commerce industries growth.

The following Table 1 shows the revenue earned by the companies in the Quarter 1 of
the previous and current year that is 2019 and 2020 has witness an increase even
though the economy is facing a downfall.

S.No. Company Revenue 2019 (Q1) Revenue 2020 Increase

(Q1)

1 Amazon 59.7 Billion US 75.45 Billion US 15.75

(USA) dollars dollars Billion US
dollars

2 Alibaba 93,498 Million Yuan 1,14,314 Million 20,816

(China) Yuan Million
Yuan

3 Rakuten 113.9 Billion Yen 140 Billion Yen 26.1 Billion

(Japan) Yen

Table 1

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The paper studied the perspective of 67 people out of which 70.1% are females and
29.9% males. 11.9% people are below the age of 20 years, 41.8% between 20-30
years,
28.4% between 30-40 years and 17.9% are above 40 years. The survey had 17.9%
Respondents of business class, 20.9% of service sector, 44.8% students and 16.4%
home makers. According to the family income of the respondents 1.5% had below
10k, 10.4% between 10k-20k, 16.4% between 20k-30k, 22.4% between 30k-40k and
49.3% above 40k.

The following Table 2 shows the first two questions asked to the respondents
according to which 73.1% people prefer online shopping and 46.3% people faced
problems while shopping online during covid19.

S,No. Question Yes No

1 Do you Prefer Online shopping? 73.1% 26.9%

2 Did You face any problem with respect to the supply 46.3% 53.7%
of the products while shopping online during covid-
19?
Table 2

Further the respondents were asked regarding the change in the frequency of their
purchasing online during covid19.The graph 1 represents that 37.3% ensured that it
has increased whereas 6% shopped online for the first time, 29.9% said there is
decrease in their online purchases and 26.9% believed that there is no change.

21
Graph 1

22
Another aspect that was covered was related to the problem’s consumers faced while
shopping online due to coronavirus breakdown. The Graph 2 represent that 71.4%
faced the issue of late delivery, 23.2% found the hike in prices, 3.6% believed that
their product is not available online and 1.8% received defective product.

What is the problem you faced during cronavirus breakdown While shopping online?

4 %2 %
23%

Defective Product Late

Delivery High Prices
71% Product not available

Graph 2

The respondents were also asked about the element which influenced them to make an
online purchase. The graph 3 represents that 50.7% found it safer than traditional
shopping, 4.5% found it fast and convenient and 6% were attracted by the Brand
reputation.

Graph 3

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The respondents were asked about their preference during and after covid19 which has
shown a significant difference. Graph 4 shows their preference during covid19 and
graph 5 shows their preference after covid19.

Graph 4

Graph 5

This shows how much e-commerce is evolving even during covid19 pandemic as people
are preferring it more these days, whereas after all this clears more people will be
opting for traditional shopping. One of the reasons for this difference can be the social
distancing which is to be followed during these days.

The E-Commerce is now being opted more than ever it has shown a growth in the
frequency and number of purchases during the pandemic times. As people now
wanted a new and safer way for engaging, entertaining and saving themselves.

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INDIAN E-COMMERCE INDUSTRY REPORT

Introduction

E-commerce has transformed the way business is done in India. The Indian E-commerce
market is expected to grow to US$ 200 billion by 2026 from US$ 38.5 billion as of
2017. Much of the growth for the industry has been triggered by an increase in internet
and smartphone penetration. As of September 2020, the number of internet
connections in India significantly increased to 776.45 million, driven by the ‘Digital
India’ programme. Out of the total internet connections, ~61% connections were in
urban areas, of which 97% connections were wireless.

Market Size

The Indian online grocery market is estimated to reach US$ 18.2 billion in 2024 from
US $1.9 billion in 2019, expanding at a CAGR of 57%. India's e-commerce orders
volume increased by 36% in the last quarter of 2020, with the personal care, beauty
and wellness (PCB&W) segment being the largest beneficiary.

Propelled by rising smartphone penetration, launch of 4G network and increasing

consumer wealth, the Indian E-commerce market is expected to grow to US$ 200 billion
by 2026 from US$ 38.5 billion in 2017. Online retail sales in India is expected to grow
31% to touch US$ 32.70 billion in 2018, led by Flipkart, Amazon India and Paytm Mall.

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In India, smartphone shipments reached 150 million units and 5G smartphone
shipments crossed 4 million in 2020, driven by high consumer demand post-
lockdown.

In festive season CY20, the Indian e-commerce GMV was recorded at US$ 8.3 billion,
a significant jump of 66% over the previous festive season. Similarly, the Indian e-
commerce market recorded ~88 million users in festive season CY20, a significant jump
of 87% over the previous festive season.

Investments/ Developments

Some of the major developments in the Indian e-commerce sector are as follows:

 In February 2021, Flipkart partnered with Maharashtra State Khadi & Village
Industries Board and Maharashtra Small Scale Industries Development
Corporation to bring local artisans and small and medium businesses into the e-
commerce ecosystem.

 In February 2021, Zomato entered into an agreement with the Ministry of

Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) to introduce 300 street food vendors on
its portal.

 In February 2021, Flipkart Wholesale, the digital B2B marketplace of Flipkart

Group will offer grocery on its app with an aim to provide kiranas and small
retailers one-stop access to a wide selection of products.

 In February 2021, Udaan, a B2B e-commerce firm, announced to expand its

warehouse capacity (by 5x) to 50 million sq. ft. across several states in the next
7-8 years.

 In January 2021, Flipkart introduced SuperCoin Pay to strengthen its

SuperCoin rewards programme by allowing customers to pay through
SuperCoins at >5,000 retail outlets across the country.

26
 In January 2021, The Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC)
unveiled eKhadiIndia.com, an e-commerce portal, which will comprise
>50,000 products, ranging from apparel to home décor.

 In January 2021, the B2B e-commerce platform, Udaan raised US$ 280 million
(~Rs. 2,048 crore) in additional financing from new investors—Octahedron
Capital and Moonstone Capital. Prior to this, in October 2019, the company
raised US$ 585 million (~Rs. 4,280 crore) from Tencent, Altimeter, Footpath
Ventures, Hillhouse, GGV Capital and Citi Ventures. It is likely to deploy the
latest fund towards continued market creation of B2B e-commerce in India and
digitise more small businesses across the country.

 Flipkart partnered with PayTM for its annual Big Billion Days Sale event in
October 2020, offering customers the convenience of making payments directly
through the latter's application with the bonus of receiving PayTM cashbacks
over and above Flipkart discounts.

 Infibeam Avenues signed a contract with Oman’s second-largest bank, the

Bank of Muscat, to process the bank’s online card transactions of various
payment networks through its digital payment solution—CCAvenue Payment
Gateway Service in November 2020.

 In November 2020, Amazon India announced collaboration with Hindustan

Petroleum Corporation Limited. Under this partnership, customers will be able
to book and pay for their LPG cylinders until the delivery.

 In November 2020, Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd. (RRVL), a subsidiary of

Reliance Industries (RIL), acquired a minority stake of Urban Ladder Home
Decor Solutions Pvt. Ltd. for Rs. 182.12 crore (US$ 24.67 million).

 In November 2020, Flipkart acquired Scapic, an Augmented Reality (AR) firm,

to boost user experience.

 In November 2020, Amazon India has opened 'Made in India' toy store, in line
with the government's ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ vision. The store will allow

27
 thousands of manufacturers and vendors to sell toys driven by the Indian
culture, folk tales and toys that promote creative thinking and are locally
crafted & manufactured.

Government initiatives

Since 2014, the Government of India has announced various initiatives, namely
Digital India, Make in India, Start-up India, Skill India and Innovation Fund. The
timely and effective implementation of such programs will likely support growth of E-
commerce in the country. Some of the major initiatives taken by the Government to
promote E- commerce in India are as follows:

 As of February 15, 2020, the Government eMarketplace (GeM), listed

1,071,747 sellers and service providers across over 13,899 product and 176
service categories. For the financial year 2020-21, government procurement
from micro and small enterprises was worth Rs. 23,424 crore (US$ 3.2 billion).

 In a bid to systematise the onboarding process of retailers on e-commerce

platforms, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade
(DPIIT) is reportedly planning to utilise the Open Network for Digital
Commerce (ONDC) to set protocols for cataloguing, vendor discovery and
price discovery. The department aims to provide equal opportunities to all
marketplace players to make optimum use of the e-commerce ecosystem in the
larger interest of the country and its citizen.

 National Retail Policy: The government had identified five areas in its proposed
national retail policy—ease of doing business, rationalisation of the licence
process, digitisation of retail, focus on reforms and an open network for digital
commerce—stating that offline retail and e-commerce need to be administered
in an integral manner.

 The Consumer Protection (e-commerce) Rules 2020 notified by the Consumer

Affairs Ministry in July directed e-commerce companies to display the country
of origin alongside the product listings. In addition, the companies will also
have

28
 to reveal parameters that go behind determining product listings on their
platforms.

 Government e-Marketplace (GeM) signed a Memorandum of Understanding

(MoU) with Union Bank of India to facilitate a cashless, paperless and
transparent payment system for an array of services in October 2019.

 Under the Digital India movement, Government launched various initiatives

like Umang, Start-up India Portal, Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM) etc. to
boost digitisation.

 In October 2020, Minister of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Piyush Goyal

invited start-ups to register at public procurement portal, GeM, and offer goods
and services to government organisations and PSUs.

 In October 2020, amending the equalisation levy rules of 2016, the government
mandated foreign companies operating e-commerce platforms in India to have
permanent account numbers (PAN). It imposed a 2% tax in the FY21 budget on
the sale of goods or delivery of services through a non-resident ecommerce
operator.

 In order to increase the participation of foreign players in E-commerce, Indian

Government hiked the limit of FDI in E-commerce marketplace model to up to
100% (in B2B models).

 Heavy investment made by the Government in rolling out fiber network for 5G
will help boost E-commerce in India.

29
 Validation checks

Data validation is a data management practice that ensures the quality, accuracy, and
integrity of information. It is carried out in accordance with specific rules or check routines.
Types Of Data Validation
Every piece of information undergoes multiple checks in process of validation. Here is a list
of all the common data validation types:

Data type check. The first is the field type check, which ensures that, for example, letters are
not inserted in a field for numbers only. Another constituent of this check is input validation
— making sure that the input is error-free and does not have logical mistakes.
Code check. This includes checks for required fields (ensuring that all the mandatory fields
are filled) and attributes validation (verifying information against a list of attributes and
seeing if the required attributes match).
Range check. Also known as an attributes range check, this ensures that attributes stay
within a certain range of values.
Format check. This type of check ensures that inputted records precisely fit the predefined
format. For example, an international phone number has a fixed format: + country code –
(area code) – 3- digit prefix – 4-digit subscriber number. Any deviations, like the absence of
a country code, are considered errors.
Consistency check. This involves verifying data against a list of values that contain
formatting rules and seeing if specified properties match. This check confirms that the input
is logically consistent.
Uniqueness check. This includes checking the uniqueness of specific attributes, such as
brands, serial numbers, or MPN (Manufacturer Part Number), and making sure they are not
entered into a database more than once.
Data validation tools perform essential quality reviews that ensure correct information
processing.

Impact Of Data Validation On Your eCommerce Business

The eCommerce industry widely incorporates automated systems that gather information
with minimal to no human involvement. But errors are not unheard of, and they interfere
with providing quality services to customers.
Let’s review ways in which data validation benefits business operations.

Cost Impact
Clean records help reduce unnecessary expenses in two major ways. The first way is by
improving last-mile delivery — getting orders to the customer’s doorstep, which is the final
stage of the supply chain. A courier service might deliver goods to the wrong destination if a
customer’s contact details are inputted incorrectly and not verified.

Moreover, efficient product data validation helps prevent cases of fraud by checking the
authenticity of a client’s ID, email address, and phone number. This procedure ensures that
30
one customer doesn’t get another customer’s package or intentionally claim the loss of a
delivered package. KYC and AML procedures that customers undergo provide an additional
layer of protection against payment fraud.

Increased Earnings
The data validation process can increase the revenue of an eCommerce business in several
ways. It improves the effectiveness of email and promotional campaigns by reducing the
number of wrongly addressed or poorly targeted advertisements. It also leads to a higher
return per dollar invested (ROI)
— a financial indicator showing how well market initiatives impact a company’s revenue.

Another way to increase eCommerce business revenue is audience segmentation. This is

simply dividing people into subgroups as per predefined criteria: age, preferences, location,
etc. This can be done as part of product data validation. As a rule of thumb, consumers
respond better to more customized offers. Segmenting the audience will improve outcomes
for targeted marketing campaigns.

Customer Satisfaction
Implementing data validation techniques is a great way to improve customer satisfaction.
One such technique is managing holistic customer profiles. These profiles contain relevant
information about a customer’s interactions with your business, from the placement of the
first order to service incidents. Ensuring the accuracy of personal information contributes to
the effectiveness of
advanced analytics, such as determining the customer’s behavioral patterns or tracking
changes in preferences. As a result, it helps you generate better marketing offers, improving
your service.

Validating client records also improves customer satisfaction. Sending personalized emails
with smart offers can enhance brand loyalty. If client information is correct, you can avoid
mistakes like
misspelled names or referring to a male customer as “miss,” which also enhances customer
experience.

7 Best Tips For Validating Product Data

Customers tend to guide their purchase decisions based on the completeness of item
information. That’s why it’s essential to validate item descriptions so that they are accurate
and comprehensive. Complete product details also help draw more attention to your
business and rank your online store higher in search engine results.

Let’s review the top seven tips for data quality validation:

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1. Search for and prioritize additional data sources.
Perform constant checks of new sources while verifying the completeness of product
information. For this purpose, search for external sources of data in addition to the supplier’s
specifications. These may include descriptions of similar goods that you already have and
even websites of other online stores.

Your choice of sources should be guided by density indicators. Rank sources based on their
credibility and usefulness while reviewing sites manually. This way you can filter sites that
should not be used for collecting information and prioritize those that benefit your business
the most.

2. Take format into consideration.

It’s common for websites to post product information in PDF or image formats. They are
inconvenient for the user and difficult to scan. Make sure your web resources contain data in
text formats such as HTML or XML.

How To Validate My Product Data?

3. Optimize data feeds.

Product descriptions must be easily scannable for internet search engines, as their accuracy
impacts the number of visits to your online store. You should provide proper data feeds to
achieve the best rankings in search engines. Data feeds are simply CSV or XML files that
contain information about your products or services updated in real-time. It is shown in
search engines to tell readers what you offer. How to validate data of this type? You may
use Google Merchant Center to learn more about the appearance of your data feeds and how
you can optimize them.

4. Define search-relevant product attributes and ensure their presence in data feeds.

While searching for a product, customers may look for a specific weight, size, color, etc.
Data validation techniques check for specific product attributes in your online store’s data
feeds.

5. Use common product designations.

In some cases, your products may not have a self-explanatory designation. For example, a
supplier may state that a product is a gaming control device, while it is more commonly
known as a game controller. Using more relevant names will help you get more customers.
You may use software to generate the most common designations automatically to validate
data in this way.

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6. Standardize attributes.
Standardizing and maintaining the consistency of attributes throughout the entire range of
products is also essential. The goods in your online store should be standardized according
to a single size system: US, UK, or EU. All shades should be carefully attributed to their
basic colors, and all measurements should be consistent with a single system.

7. Employ enhancement and optimization software solutions.

If you have difficulty with optimizing data feeds, you should use product information
management (PIM) software that automatically extracts data. It can seamlessly integrate
with all possible sources like manufacturing sites, online stores, and databases and provides
you with the most accurate product information gathered in a single catalog. You can use it
to create both product descriptions and corresponding data feeds.

PIM solutions effectively address issues of data optimization and syndication. They reduce
errors, enhance information management, and ensure continuous monitoring of quality
across sales channels and your online store.

Product Data Validation Is The Life-Blood Of PIM

What’s even more important is that PIM tools advance your company towards compliance
with the single source of truth (SSOT) concept. This framework is focused on keeping data
sources across all channels up to date and relevant.
Other benefits of PIM-assisted data cleansing are the following:
Improved data management during checkout. Validation of product descriptions guarantees
the accuracy and quality of information at each stage of the checkout process, from initial
login and inputting billing details to payment confirmation.

Reduction of non-delivery instances. PIM helps minimize or eliminate cases when a product
was not delivered because of incorrect personal information.
Enhancement of customer satisfaction. As the quality of your services improves, customers
become more satisfied with using them.
Standardization of data for analysis. The consistency of records across all channels makes
advanced analytics possible.
Accessibility of useful behavioral & attitudinal information. With PIM, you can gather and
make decisions based on more accurate information about your customers’ behavioral and
attitudinal patterns to successfully target marketing campaigns and create personalized
offers.
Customized database management. Your database management responds to your company’s
needs
and fits your business model.

Data Cleansing With PIM

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What Is The Difference Between Data Verification And Data Validation?
Validating data means ensuring the correctness and completeness of data based on a set of
requirements. This means either checking compliance with predefined, valid measures (like
if it’s the age, it shouldn’t be negative) or checking the accuracy of data against stored,
previously validated records.

Data verification has a different goal. Verification checks if the data is consistent, correct,
and matches the source.

Why Is Data Quality Important?

The clarity, accuracy, and integrity of product information directly influence customer
satisfaction from purchasing goods via your online store. Higher data quality typically
results in greater sales.

What Is Data Enhancement?

It is complementing first-party information — typically a supplier’s specifications — with
additional information taken from external sources.

What Should You Make Of Data Validation?

Validating data in a business environment is an essential practice that ensures better service
quality. Managing and verifying data manually is challenging and ineffective. It distracts the
business from its strategic goals, leads to various errors in records, and causes business
slowdown.

Gepard is an eCommerce platform that offers to streamline and automate your data
workflow. Our software solutions can perform constant data validation, verify data
reliability, and enhance data. This will improve your customers’ experience, generating
more sales and increasing your company’s operating profit.
Request a personalized demo and Gepard will provide your business with top-level
assistance.
System Testing
IMPLEMENTATION AND MAINTAINANCE
System Testing E-Commerce testing is defined as testing of an eCommerce (online
shopping) application. It helps in the prevention of errors and adds value to the product by
ensuring conformity to client requirements.

Two Category of Software Testing

• Software reliability
• Software quality
• System Assurance
• Optimum performance and capacity utilization

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Setting up an E-commerce system is a complex process and subject to many market-specific
variables. To maintain the integrity of the E Commerce system, testing becomes
compulsory.

ECommerce Domain Knowledge is important for testing.

ECommerce implementation consists of all the steps related to the launch, update, and
maintenance of an online store. eCommerce allows businesses to sell products from
anywhere at any time, and it connects businesses to new customers who were previously
unreachable due to distance and hours of operation.
Furthermore, implementing eCommerce solutions enables the collection of better customer
data and demographic information that can be used to increase the conversions of marketing
and sales leads.
The rapid, global rise in eCommerce has led nearly every industry to implement it in some
form in order to provide more modern, efficient customer experiences.

Objectives of Your eCommerce Implementation

Most often, the objectives of an eCommerce implementation is to meet the modern needs of
your customers, share your products in meaningful ways, integrate smoothly with your
existing systems, effectively and efficiently manage company resources, facilitate a strong
return on investment (ROI), support future business growth, and implement an
organizational change management process.

6. Steps in eCommerce Implementation

As previously mentioned, eCommerce implementation activities can include building new
eCommerce sites, or upgrading and maintaining existing online stores. If you are refreshing
your existing online commerce site, begin by evaluating your current sites and goals, and
then proceed with the actionable steps to accomplish your objectives. If you are starting
from scratch, it can be helpful to follow the complete set of steps detailed below.

Understanding your customers’ needs

The first and most important step of your eCommerce implementation is understanding your
customers. The whole goal of your eCommerce strategy should be to make their lives easier.
If the new, online processes are more frustrating than they are intuitive, then the entire
strategy can backfire - both internally and externally. Ask yourself important questions like:

What info is required to make an informed purchase?

What type of shopping/checkout experience is best suited for your product? A standard
shopping cart experience? Ordering portal? Configure-Price-Quote (CPQ)? Custom process?
What do customers need in their login/self-service portal?
How can we make everything easier and more intuitive for the customer than it is “the old
way”?
Strategic Pre-Implementation Planning
The second step in eCommerce implementation is to create a clear roadmap with specific,
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measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely objectives. This is the stage in which resources
and constraints must be defined. Getting buy-in on the vision from all stakeholders is critical
in this stage, and the mission and goals of the company will shape the proceeding actions.

Solution Evaluation
The third step is to choose your actual eCommerce solution. The platform should be
compatible with your existing systems, customizable to your current and future needs,
scalable, and must create experiences appropriate for your business. Various technologies
may offer different functionalities, like B2B vs. B2C, and it is important that the capabilities
complement your industry, target audience, and business model.

Go-to-market strategy
The fourth step is to determine how you’ll make your eCommerce presence known. Are
your core pages optimized for online SEO? What are the best keywords to include on your
product pages? How can you entice existing customers to start purchasing online? Are there
other online marketplaces your products should be on? What promotional strategies can you
run to make noise about the new site?

Digital marketing is an important part of eCommerce implementation. There are many tools
for reaching new and existing customers and drawing them to your site. Multi-channel
approaches include search engine optimization, paid advertisements, social media
marketing, email campaigns, referral programs, retargeting campaigns, and display
advertisements.

Retention and loyalty building

The fifth step is customer retention. This is an important extension of the fourth step, where
you’ll
now be turning new and existing customers into fans.
Consider implementing loyalty programs like redeemable points, volume discounts,
customer tiers, or free shipping incentives. You can also personalize customer experiences
based on purchase history or website behavior, and enable automated cross-selling with
features like related products. And don’t forget, the number one tool cited by marketers for
customer retention remains email marketing - a critical component of the eCommerce
experience. Build automated, personalized email campaigns based on customer behaviors to
stay relevant, top-of-mind, and to continue offering additional value to your customers
through tailored promotions.

Analysis and Optimization

The sixth step in eCommerce implementation is analysis and optimization, and this one is
ongoing. The actions involved in optimizing your online store include analyzing key metrics
that measure the cost of customer acquisition, % of customers converted, % of customers
entering the site through different channels, % of revenue contributed by each profitable
customer, the gross revenue generated, and more.
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You’ll also want to collect and analyze all customer feedback, both quantifiable and
anecdotal.

In this final step, it is important to return to your list of objectives as pertinent metrics may
vary depending on your business goals. As needed, actions can be taken to refine and
enhance your eCommerce solutions to better attain your defined goals.
Tips for Successful eCommerce Implementation Choose a Strong eCommerce Partner The
right digital commerce provider can support your business in attaining all of your
implementation goals. Make sure the platform you choose is capable of integrating
processes between your website and your ERP, as automation and efficiency is a critical
component to your
overall ROI and internal adoption of your eCommerce strategy. The partner’s platform
should be easy to manage, deliver robust capacity and capabilities, be compatible with your
existing ERP, be complementary to your industry, come with reliable and long-term
customer support, and more.

DynamicWeb delivers an all-in-one eCommerce suite containing CMS, PIM, eCommerce

and Marketing
- reducing eCommerce complexity without zero compromise to functionality.

Attend to Product Content

When product content includes detailed descriptions and specifications, compelling images
and videos, and pertinent supporting documents, it is more searchable and useful for online
buyers. Using a PIM system to orchestrate your product data and content across all your
selling channels enables you to ensure that your audience finds the accurate product or
content they are searching for. In short, optimized content is attractive to both consumers
and search engines.

The structure of the site is also important, and a well-designed site must be filled with
quality products and enriched content to generate sales. According to a survey conducted
among SEO professionals across the globe in 2021, on-page elements like meta titles and
descriptions are most important, followed closely by deep and accurate content.

Take Action to Enhance Your Performance Metrics

Your online revenue is directly impacted by the number of sessions, conversion rate, and
average order value (AOV). Increasing just one of these variables can lead to higher
revenue, so it is important to make these performance metrics a priority for your business.

To drive increases in the number of interactions your customers have with your site, you
need to develop a strong, organic SEO strategy. Your site needs to be optimized for mobile
use, and your digital marketing campaigns should be powerful.

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To increase the percentage of visits that end with an online purchase, you can leverage
analytics tools to pinpoint where customers are dropping off the conversion funnel. Refining
your website design, enhancing the content, and eliminating broken links can improve
conversion rates.

To increase AOV, tactics such as up-sell and cross-sell strategies, promotional offers, and
customer personalizations can be useful.

Avoid Common Mistakes

It is important to avoid the common mistakes that can lead some eCommerce
implementations to fall short of their goals. Implementing an eCommerce website is a
journey, not a one-time event. Jumping ahead in the process can lead to errors. Websites
evolve and it is important to thoughtfully attend to each stage in the process.
Communication gaps can hinder progress. It’s critical that your entire team understands your
site so that it drives the business impact you desire. You must spend time to onboard staff
and acquaint customers with any newly implemented or enhanced eCommerce solutions.

An Excellent Tool for Fast, Efficient eCommerce Implementation

Sometimes you just want to have a webstore that looks good and performs well. An
excellent tool for fast, efficient eCommerce implementation is DynamicWeb Swift.
DynamicWeb Swift delivers a ready- to-launch storefront with standard modern design
templates that build on eCommerce best practices. The no/low code approach makes it
possible to configure your storefront and reduce risk and development time. The user-
friendly interface comes with compelling design templates that are easy to configure and
fully customizable with complete access to code for developers.

More than 4,000 brands worldwide trust DynamicWeb with digital solutions. Our customers
include leading brands like Lego Wear, Vredestein, Unilever, Winnebago, L’Oréal, Flying
Tiger, Toyota, Europcar, and Skanska. Built on DynamicWeb, these customers are
empowered to gain lifelong customer relations, increase revenue and grow their brands.

To see what successful eCommerce implementation can do for your business, contact
DynamicWeb today!

IMPORTANCE OF SOFTWARE TESTING

o System Testing gives hundred percent assurance of system performance as it covers

end to end function of the system.
o It includes testing of System software architecture and business requirements.
o It helps in mitigating live issues and bugs even after production.
o System testing uses both existing system and a new system to feed same data in both
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and then compare the differences in functionalities of added and existing functions so, the
user can understand benefits of new added functions of the system.

E-Commerce Testing – How to Test an eCommerce Website/Application

In today’s world, I bet you won’t find anyone who hasn’t shopped online.
E-commerce/Retail is a business that thrives on its online customers. Shopping in person vs.
shopping online has many advantages. Convenience, time-saving and easy access to
products worldwide, etc.

A good E-commerce/Retail site is key to its success. It must be a worthy counterpart to the
storefront. Because, when you go shopping at a physical store, the customer has already
made a commitment to visit and might give the brand a chance.
Online, choices are many. So, unless there is engagement from the beginning, the user might
just leave.

Types of Testing for E-commerce System

1 Browser compatibility Lack of support for early browsers Browser specific

extensions Browser testing should cover the main platforms (Linux, Windows, Mac etc.)
2 Page display Incorrect display of pages Runtime error messages Poor page download
time Dead hyperlink, plugin dependency, font sizing, etc.
3 Session Management Session Expiration Session storage
4 Usability
Non-intuitive design Poor site navigation Catalog navigation Lack of help-support
5 Content Analysis
Misleading, offensive and litigious content Royalty free images and copyright infringement
Personalization functionality
Availability 24/7

Maintainance
Our website is your first impression to those looking for your products and or services.
Thus, you need to focus on website maintenance to not only make an excellent first
impression but a lasting one. Keeping the websites updated can be a considerable challenge
for any business owner. Plus, your customers are happy if the website is updated and has
something new to offer. Also, the Google search engine keeps your site on top of the listing
and ensures that the customers always get what they want.
• Update WordPress, themes, and plugins. ...
• Back up your store regularly. ...

• Keep an eye on analytics. ...

• Maintain site security. ...
• Know if your site ever goes down. ...
• Check for broken links. ...
• Monitor and optimize site speed. ...
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• Test your checkout regularly.

The benefits of maintaining your eCommerce website

1. A safer, more secure store

A secure, safe website allows customers to shop with confidence. They can trust that their
credit card and other personal information is safe and, therefore, are more likely to make a
purchase.

Plus, if your site is secure, they show that you care about the safety of shoppers. This may
also communicate that you’ll take care of them in other ways — reliable shipping, quality
products, and good customer service. And, ultimately, if people trust you, they’ll keep
coming back.
2. A better user experience
When you regularly maintain your eCommerce site, you ensure that visitors can easily get
around and find what they’re looking for. If they arrive on your store with the intention of
purchasing a specific product, they can get to it quickly. Pages load in a couple of seconds,
so they’re not stuck waiting around. And they also have access to updated, relevant content
that will keep them informed and drive them to make a purchase.
3. More sales
If you regularly examine the functionality on your site — ensuring the checkout experience
works well, making sure links go where they’re supposed to, etc. — then shoppers are
always able to make a purchase.

Accurate inventory numbers help them know what’s available and that they’ll actually get
the item they want. And new content and products ensure that they have something to get
excited about! All of this ultimately leads to more conversions and sales.
4. Better search engine rankings

Google loves new and updated content! It shows them that you’re an expert in your industry
and provide value for searchers. They also put a lot of value on site speed, user experience,
and working links.

Maintaining all of these aspects can boost your search engine rankings, leading to more site
visits and more revenue.
What happens if you don’t maintain your online store?

1. Your site is less secure

If you don’t regularly maintain your site, you leave gaping holes that hackers can take
advantage of. And if your website goes down or has malware, that can negatively affect
your reputation, cause you to lose sales, and even result in stolen customer data.

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Plus, if you don’t regularly update your site, you could have plugin and theme conflicts that
lead to
vulnerabilities and broken functionality.

2. Things are more difficult for shoppers

Without proper site maintenance, your customers will have to deal with things like broken
links, slow load times, and old, outdated content. They may end up purchasing a product
that’s out of stock and need to be refunded. Any of these challenges could result in unhappy
customers and fewer sales.

3. You’ll get fewer site visitors

Bad user experience, slow load time, outdated content, and broken links can all cause your
site to slip in search engine rankings. And since people very rarely go beyond the first page
of search results, this slip could lead to fewer clicks, site visits, and purchases.

Ways to maintain your eCommerce site

These 12 tasks are essential to properly maintaining your eCommerce site:

1. Update WordPress, themes, and plugins

There are several reasons that you need to keep WordPress, themes, and plugins up to date.
With each new release, developers include patches for security vulnerabilities, bug fixes,
and new functionality. By failing to perform regular updates, you put your site and your
customers’ data at risk from hackers using loopholes in outdated plugins. You’ll also be
missing out on improved performance and new features.
Manually updating plugins can be a hassle, so you might prefer to automate your updates
with Jetpack. Jetpack includes an auto-update feature that gives you control over which
plugins you want

automatically or manually updated. If you use Jetpack on multiple websites, you can
manage all updates from your WordPress.com dashboard.

If you choose to manually update your plugins, make sure you create a backup of your store
before you perform updates, so that you can revert if you encounter problems during the
process.
2. Back up your store regularly

Right before an update isn’t the only time you’ll want to back up your store. You’re getting
41
orders
throughout the day, so it’s essential you back up your customer data in real-time. In fact, one
of the most important things you can do to protect your data is to do it in real-time
throughout the day.
Besides customer data, it ensures you limit data loss and downtime if you’re hacked,
experience
major problems after code changes, or accidentally delete something important.

Make sure your real-time eCommerce backup plugin includes your site’s content, plugins,
and database. Keep multiple copies of these files on a different server than your host in case
your server is ever compromised.
options for restoring your site with Jetpack Backup

Besides real-time backups specifically built for eCommerce, another helpful tool that
Jetpack Backup offers is an activity log to see precisely what event caused your site to
break. You can even restore backups through the Jetpack mobile app so you don’t have to
drop what you’re doing and rush back to your desk.

3. Keep an eye on analytics

Your store’s analytics can be used for more than just determining if your marketing tactics
are working. They can also help you identify problem areas on your site. If you’re using
WooCommerce, then you’ll already have some data that you can review under Analytics in
your WordPress dashboard. These analytics

cover sales data but won’t tell you details like traffic volume and source or search engine
terms
customers used to find your site.

If you want a simple solution to monitor traffic volume, get an understanding of where your
shoppers are coming from, and learn what keywords they use to find you, site stats are
included for free with Jetpack.

site stats dashboard in Jetpack

How to use analytics to improve your online store:

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Keep an eye on traffic volume: If you’re seeing a big dip in traffic volume, you might want
to make sure urls in your ads and emails are correct. You can also use traffic volume
patterns to identify days of the week and times of day that are most popular for visitors and
schedule marketing campaigns, product releases, and blog posts to maximize their impact.

Review the geographic location of shoppers: Knowing what countries your shoppers are
coming from can help you determine whether to offer prices in different currencies. If you
ship worldwide and get traffic from a certain country but not many sales, you might want to
allow customers to purchase using their local currency. If you get a lot of visitors from
countries whose primary language differs from yours, you might want to translate your
website.

Understand the search engine terms used to find you: Review the most popular terms
customers are using to find your products and consider including them in your product
descriptions and other website copy.

Look at your most popular products and posts: Look at what products and blog posts are
most popular with your visitors and feature those in your marketing. When it’s time to offer
new products or publish new articles, you’ll have a better idea of what your audience is
interested in.

4. Maintain site security

In 2020, cyberattacks jumped by 300%. Some people might think that hackers wouldn’t
bother with a small online retailer, but 43% of hacking attempts are targeted at small
businesses. It’s absolutely critical that you prevent your store from falling prey to an attack.

One of the easiest and best ways to accomplish this is to install a WordPress security plugin.
The free version of Jetpack offers brute force attack protection, but upgrading to Jetpack
Security will give you important features like anti-spam protection and malware scanning.

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5. Know if your site ever goes down

You can’t be expected to be on your website 24 hours a day. Sometimes, the only way you
know that your site is down is if a customer emails you or your web host notifies you (and
not all hosting companies will).

Downtime monitoring is included free with Jetpack. It checks your site every five minutes
and you’ll
receive email notifications if it goes down.

7.1 Testing

Over the past decade, the entire shopping ecosystem has undergone a massive change.
Where people once enjoyed shopping at local brick-and-mortar stores for all their needs,
today they’re happy browsing through wide varieties of commodities online and making
purchases as per their comfort and convenience. The shift has brought much good to the
eCommerce companies in terms of incremental revenue growth, global customer base, and
faster business expansion. However, it has also put them in a critical position of keeping
pace with the ever-increasing, ever-evolving needs, and demands of the people.

Experience optimizers across the globe suggest that the best way eCommerce businesses can
survive today’s market heat, maintain their customer base, and ensure revenue growth is by
investing much into modern marketing activities and focusing their energies on testing and
optimization. These have the prowess to provide seamless and frictionless customer
experiences and help businesses succeed.

Assuming you’re already familiar with modern marketing activities and their importance in
today’s time, we’d like to jump directly to the benefits of eCommerce testing and
optimization, key challenges, and website areas and elements that you must test.

What is eCommerce testing? Why is it important?

eCommerce testing can be defined as the process of testing various eCommerce website
elements such as design, specifications, functionalities, pages, and features to check their
44
sanity and ens ure they’re not harming the performance of the site in any manner possible.

When done correctly and continuously, testing can not only improve your site visitors’
overall experience but significantly increase conversions as well. Mentioned below are some
r easons explaining the importance of testing and optimization.

1. Improve user engagement

As stated above, testing helps check the hygiene of a page element. It tells us which page
element or process affects a user’s onsite journey and helps us rectify the issues faster. The
better the user experience, the more shall be the onsite engagement.

2. Generate marketing strategies

Testing and optimization allow you to make effective plans for your website. By reiterating
your site’s
problematic areas, you can engage more people and also increase their stay.

3. Reduce risks

Many times, making major and considerable changes to your site can cause notable strategic
changes or even trigger significant losses. However, testing these changes in a planne d
manner can help eliminate the chances of these uncertain losses.

4. Increase conversion rates

Since you’re testing almost every aspect of your website and ensuring a smooth visitor
experience
through site optimization, your conversion rate is bound to increase.

5. Better understanding of visitor behavior

It’s often difficult to map your website visitors’ needs and preferences and optimize your
site
accordingly. But with testing, everything is possible. It’s one of the best and quickest ways
to confirm
what your visitors like.
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What should you know before you run an eCommerce test?

From the source code to product pages, you can test the viability of every element of your
website using an extensive range of testing methods. Some of the most common method s
are as follows:

• Functional testing
• Usability testing
• Security testing
• Performance testing
• Database testing
• Mobile application testing

While each of these methods has its own rules and regulations, running multiple tests using
multiple testing methods at the same time can cause chaos as well as disrupt test results.
Hence, it’s always advised to run one test at a time or use a good testing tool like VWO that
enables you to run multiple tests simultaneously without one overlapping the other.

Given this fact, you must prioritize the order in which you want to run tests based on the
test’s
impact on your brand’s overall conversion rate. Theories like agile testing, which is used by
teams
conducting software testing, can help you find the balance.

Logically, focus on significant bugs and software flaws that impact everyone through
mobile app
testing and website testing first. Once you’ve addressed these issues, then look at the minor
bugs.

ReQtest – Agile testing

Furthermore, it’s always a good idea to evaluate your test ideas and testing techniques on a
regular basis because a poor website testing strategy can lead to loss of customers, revenue,
and even jeopardize your brand’s reputation in the market. You must always carefully
outline the testing scope, set the objectives, check it’s viability or chances of success, and
estimate efforts in a time frame.

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What are some key issues related to eCommerce testing?

The underlying principle behind a good user experience (UX) is to make life easy for your
visitors. Every task on your website should be intuitive. You want people to be able to
navigate around your website or application with minimum fuss.

While these principles are straightforward, it’s their implementation where things get tricky.
A lot of factors play into the user experience. Think of all the stages of a user’s journey and
test them from the first click on a product to the shopping cart.

For example, through form analysis, you can track how people are interacting with various
input fields. This information provides you with insights on where users are experiencing
problems. You

can use this data to develop a hypothesis and run a test to check whether your assumptions
or assertions are correct.

Analysis of a typical SaaS website form

1. Testing for bugs

Regardless of how well you develop your website, there shall always remain some bugs in
your
wireframe that may disrupt your site’s functionality or hinder the visitor’s journey. While
developers once couldn’t do anything about these bugs, today, they can use testing to fix
these issues and create seamless UI/UX designs.

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Qualitest : Most common website bug

Some of the most common bugs that you may find on your eCommerce website are as
follows:

• Browser compatibility problems

• Broken links
• Inconsistencies in the catalog
• Shopping cart issues
• Checkout bugs

According to a study by QualiTest, most of the bugs that sites encounter are of medium
severity. These do not impair the usability of the site. However, they do have the potential to
impact the eCommerce conversion rate and overall business sales.

Image Source: Impactplus

When managing an eCommerce store, it’s essential to put a system to identify bugs and
eliminate them as soon as possible. It is especially important to have a quality assurance
strategy in place when undertaking any sustained eCommerce testing.

2. Testing conversion rates

Your eCommerce conversion rate ultimately defines the success of your business. The
higher the conversion rate, the higher shall be your business’ revenue. Understandably,
given the importance of sales to any business, conversion rates focus on extensive
eCommerce testing.

There are various stages to any conversion rate optimization test. The first stage is to set
objectives and determine the most suitable type of test. Your choice must always be based
on data, rather th an pure intuitions. For example, if you decide to review your brand’s
purchase cycle, ensure to data back all your decisions.

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The next step is to test and gather available data and form a hypothesis. Tools like heatmaps,
form analytics, scroll maps, session recordings etc. can help analyze user behavior and
provide useful information. Always gather enough information before running a test to
ensure you’re moving in the
right direction.

Standard statistical testing methods include A/B testing, split testing, and multivariate
testing. You can use this A/B duration calculator to determine how long a test on your site
will take.

Which site areas and elements should you test?

The ultimate goal of every test is to increase the conversions and revenue of your
eCommerce business. You want to focus on running conversion optimization tests that
provide the maximum return on investment. There are certain areas of your eCommerce
website that you will naturally target to ensure a seamless visitor experience. Some of these
are as follows:

1. Search and navigation

Site search and navigation are two of your website’s primary elements extensively used by
your visitors to explore your website or mobile app. Ensuring they’re free of bugs and
promise a frictionless experience must always be your top priority.

Best Choice Products, an eCommerce website selling garden, music, children, and fitness
products, illustrates the importance of testing your navigation. As part of a round of
eCommerce A/B testing, they ran a test on their mobile navigation and search bar. They
hypothesised that by improving the visibility of the search bar on the header will improve
user penetration into the website. The control and variation version of the test are as follows

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Control version (left) with no search bar. Variation version (right) with a prominently visible
search bar.

Running the test for about 7 days, the execs at Best Choice Products witnessed that visitors
were engaging more with the search functionality. A minor change on the header resulted in
a 0.1% increase in site revenue. It may not have been a game changer, but it did help the
company get more revenue than before.

2. Homepage design and features

The homepage is one of the most important pages of any website, for it represents the face
of your brand. Even if it’s not your primary landing page, it still deserves to be one of the
most intricately designed pages. You need to offer great user experience and ensure that
everything works as it should.

There are numerous forms of eCommerce testing you can run on your homepage. One thing
which is becoming increasingly accessible to sites across content management systems is
website personalization. The Very Group’s website is a perfect example to quote here.

Based on a visitor’s geographic and demographic information, the site shows personalized
homepages to each of its visitors. For instance, and as visible in the image below, if a
customer lands on Very’s homepage during the winters, it displays a collection accordingly.
Meanwhile, if the customer belongs to a country experiencing summers, the website
personalizes user experience accordingly.

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PROJECT WEBSITE

PRODUCT PAGE

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PRODUCT PAGE

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PRODUCT PAGE

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PRODUCT PAGE

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Road Ahead

The E-commerce industry has been directly impacting micro, small & medium
enterprises (MSME) in India by providing means of financing, technology and
training and has a favourable cascading effect on other industries as well. Indian E-
commerce industry has been on an upward growth trajectory and is expected to
surpass the US to become the second largest E-commerce market in the world by
2034. Technology enabled innovations like digital payments, hyper-local logistics,
analytics driven customer engagement and digital advertisements will likely support
the growth in the sector. The growth in E-commerce sector will also boost
employment, increase revenues from export, increase tax collection by ex-chequers,
and provide better products and services to customers in the long-term. Rise in
smartphone usage is expected to rise 84% to reach 859 million by 2022.

E-retail market is expected to continue its strong growth - it registered a CAGR of

over 35% to reach Rs. 1.8 trillion (US$ 25.75 billion) in FY20. Over the next five
years, the Indian e-retail industry is projected to exceed ~300-350 million shoppers,
propelling the online Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) to US$ 100-120 billion by
2025.

According to Bain & Company report, India’s social commerce gross merchandise
value (GMV) stood at ~US$ 2 billion in 2020. By 2025, it is expected to reach US$ 20
billion, with a potentially monumental jump to US$ 70 billion by 2030, owing to high
mobile usage.

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 SUGGESTIONS

 Close existing digital divides among individuals, for example by expanding

affordable and quality broadband to rural and underserved areas, enhancing
financial inclusion, and fostering trust and the acquisition of skills to participate
in e-commerce.

 Foster e-commerce participation by the most vulnerable, for example by

introducing community-based delivery programmes for elderly and reserved
delivery slots. Ensure that vulnerable consumers are protected from unfair
business practices and unsafe products.

 Support the creation of innovative e-commerce business models, ensuring that

regulatory frameworks remain flexible enough to accommodate combinations
of online and offline business functions. Reduce regulatory uncertainty and
promote transparency through information sharing.

 Ensure that SMEs can participate in e-commerce, for example by providing

policy, regulatory or financial incentives for sales diversification and
establishing a level playing for SMEs relying on the services of online platforms.

 Reduce bottlenecks in the enabling environment for e-commerce, including areas

such as connectivity, trade, logistics and postal services.

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 CONCLUSION

E-Commerce industry is that force which cannot be ignored by any element of the
economy. Coronavirus pandemic proved that one of the major tools that can help
consumers during crisis is e-commerce. In order to maintain social distancing and self-
quarantine the consumers have become more reliable on the e-commerce industry.

In the questionnaire the respondents were asked to rate their experience of online
shopping before covid19 and also during covid19. The graph 6 shows the ratings of
consumers according to their experience before covid19. According to which 35.8%
rated 4 whereas 3% rated 1 and 3.9% as 5.

Graph 6

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The graph 7 shows the ratings of consumers according to their experience during
covid19. According to which 41.8% rated it as 3, 11.9% as 5 and 4.5% as 1.

Graph 7

The Commanders of E-Commerce needs to figure out the ways and means of not only
surviving but staying ahead for whole of the community. This pandemic led people to
get engaged with technology to deeper extend and so it paved a way for the E-
Commerce growth as well. Electronic Commerce is Intensified by Covid19.

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 REFERENCES

 Hasanat, M. W., Hoque, A., Shikha, F. A., Anwar, M., Hamid, A. B. A., & Tat,
H. H. (2020). The Impact of Coronavirus (Covid-19) on EBusiness in Malaysia.
Asian Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies, 3(1), 85-90.

 Nakhate, S. B., & Jain, N. (2020). The Effect of Coronavirus on E Commerce.

Studies in Indian Place Names, 40(68), 516-518.

 Alber, N. (2020). The Effect of Coronavirus Spread on Stock Markets: The

Case of the Worst 6 Countries. Available at SSRN 3578080

 https://retail.economictimes.indiatimes.com/re-tales/impact-of-covid-19-on-
online-shopping-in-india/4115

 https://www.bigcommerce.com/blog/covid-19-ecommerce/

 https://www.indiainfoline.com/article/general-editors-choice/the-impact-of-
covid-19-on-indian-e-commerce-sector-120040700090_1.html

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-commerce

 https://www.bigcommerce.com/articles/ecommerce/types-of-business-models/

 https://www.ibef.org/industry/ecommerce.aspx

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