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As coronavirus continues to spread across the globe, food and beverage eCommerce websites have never been more popular due to lockdowns and social distancing.
If you already run a food and beverage business e.g. a fast food business, this makes it a lot easier to start a food and beverage eCommerce business. It is because you know everything from production to shipping as well as food safety rules and regulations which can be daunting to newbies.
According to Statista, the U.S. food and beverage retail e-commerce sales revenue grew from US$6.8 billion from 2017 to US$7.3 billion in 2019. The figure is expected to grow to 8.5 billion by 2024.
Why I Need a Food & Beverage eCommerce Website
First, you can sell food and beverage online to anyone anywhere anytime. This can boost your sales by leaps and bounds.
Secondly, you can keep your overheads to a minimum while growing your sales.
Thirdly, a food and beverage eCommerce website with the right content can keep your online store at the top of search results pages i.e. higher SEO ranking on search engines like Google.
Fourthly, many people only shop online. You can reach new audience whom you will not have reached by just selling offline.
Fifthly, you can enhance your customer experience by letting them read other customer reviews and download product information, answering their feedback, posting how-to videos, webinars, FAQs, etc. from your food and beverage eCommerce website.
Additionally, you may share your blog posts on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube, etc. This can funnel your social media visitors and followers back to your online consumer electronics store.
Finally, you can improve your corporate image and brand awareness by having an online presence.
What Should a Food & Beverage eCommerce Website Have?
Fundamentals
First, you should ensure the following on your food and beverage eCommerce website.
- Good UI/UX in terms of design, colors, fonts, and navigation
- bright, clean, and visually-driven with enticing product images
- Short and concise calls-to-action that stand out with compelling words
- Website performance optimization
- Mobile-friendly responsive design
- HTTPS secure website
Pages
Secondly, your food and beverage eCommerce website should include the following pages.
- Home
- A slider of high-quality professional product images with high-value messaging
- Product packaging and close-up product details to show texture and true-to-life color
- Lifestyle images like serving and pairing
- Clear and direct CTAs to buy your products like Free Shipping, Best Sellers, Favorites, and Special Offers with high-quality professional images
- A newsletter sign-up form to stay in touch with your consumers by email about new products, offers, and reviews
- Social media icons
- A slider of high-quality professional product images with high-value messaging
- About
- Write your story and business values that sets you apart from others by conveying your personality to build trust
- Products
- Product titles and descriptions
- Compelling and persuasive
- Health benefits with statistics and facts
- Nutrition values, ingredients, and allergy information
- Taste and texture in detail
- Expert reviews
- Product FAQs on ingredients, dietary information, and production methods
- Product images
- Professional and high-quality
- Clear and in focus
- Eye-catching
- A white background plus lifestyle images like serving and pairing
- In a well-lit environment
- Displayed from different angles
- Customer product reviews to share their buying experience with links to your social media channels
- Filter products by category, sub-category, brand, specialty (e.g. vegetarian), price, etc. if you are selling a large variety of products for better conversions
- Product titles and descriptions
- Returns & Shipping
- Many shoppers would reconsider buying on the same website if product returns are easy so customers need to know if and how they can exchange or return the products.
- Shipping policy ensures that your customer’s order arrives on time
- Contacts
- Multiple ways that your customers can reach you on like email, phone, instant chat, social media
Features
Thirdly, you may consider the below features on your food and beverage eCommerce website.
- Cross-selling allows you to incorporate relevant products to those already in your customer’s cart
- Multiple payment options for better user experience like credit card, debit card, internet banking (depending on the countries you sell to), Apple Pay, Google Pay, Paypal, Stripe, Afterpay, etc.
- Wishlist does not only allow customers to save the products they want to buy later but also allow store owners to find out what your customers’ preferences for marketing purposes.
- Online Food Ordering features and/or apps if your website offers food delivery service
Content Marketing
Lastly, you can use content to market your food and beverage eCommerce website. They include blog posts, videos, podcasts, whitepapers, case studies, eBooks, webinars, guides, and checklists about the products you are selling.
What eCommerce Platforms Are Available?
Deciding which eCommerce platforms to use to create a food and beverage eCommerce website is the very first and yet the most critical step. However, there are tons of options available. Below is a summary of the most popular eCommerce platforms you may use to create your food and beverage eCommerce website.
- Marketplaces like Amazon, eBay and Etsy
- Hosted platforms like Shopify, Squarespace, Wix, and Weebly
- Self-hosted platforms like WooCommerce, Magento, OpenCart, and PrestaShop
WooCommerce is the world’s leading eCommerce platform for online stores. According to Datanyze, WooCommerce is used by more than 28% of all the eCommerce websites.
Most importantly, WooCommerce is built on WordPress, the world’s leading online content management system that powers over 35% of the websites around the world. WooCommerce is simply the best of the best as far as an eCommerce platform.
Besides, regularly audited by Sucuri, an industry leader in security, WooCommerce online stores are in good hands.
Here are the features of a WooCommerce online store.
How To Create a Food & Beverage eCommerce Website
If you want to create a WooCommerce website, you may follow these simple steps.
- Think of an online store name that is creative and easy to remember
- Get a domain that matches your blog name
- Get a hosting plan
- Install WordPress
- Install and set up WooCommerce
- Customize online store design
- Set up products in your store
- Set up shipping
- Connect a payment gateway e.g. Paypal or Stripe
- Start selling
- Manage orders
- Analyze sales data
Conclusion
To create a food and beverage eCommerce website, what is the best eCommerce platform out there? In fact, there is no definitive answer which depends very much on what you are looking for on a food and beverage eCommerce website.
For instance, as a startup with not much budget and time, you may try Amazon. First, it is because according to Statista, there were over 2 billion visits to Amazon per month from May 2019 to February 2020. This gives your products great exposure but lots of competition too. Secondly, Amazon can manage your inventory, packing and shipping. This lowers your upfront and operating costs as a startup.
If you have time and a bit more budget, you may consider building a Shopify online store from scratch by using their online store templates and purchase a domain at Shopify.
However, if you are a discerning businessperson with long-term goals, you may want to scale up your food and beverage eCommerce website project with customizations and add-on features to grow your audience and boost your sales using WooCommerce.
