eCommerce Checklist
The items below are questions which any web developer will need to have answered. You might not know the answers to all of these, so it's OK to ask your web developer as well.
Your Website StoreName:
Your Domain Name(s):
Type of Sale:
___Retail (sale to consumer)
___Wholesale, business-to-business (to resellers or manufacturers)
Products
Type(s) of Products:___________________
How many products (separate SKUs) will you offer online? _____
Do different SKUs represent different colors or sizes for the same product? Yes___ No___
Options (color, size,
etc. in a drop-down menu).
This number of products ________ has an average of _____ options each.
Did you count each of the options as a different product above?___Yes
___No
What are some options that you offer:____________
Product Photos
A substantial part of the time of developing a store is in preparing
the photos. They are often what motivate people to finalize a purchase.
Number of product photos ________
Format: ___Prints
___Transparencies ___Digital
___Web Ready (digital, sized, optional border, JPEG or GIF format)
Do you want large versions
of product photos? Yes___ No___
If so,
___ In a popup window
___ On a product detail page
Do you want more than one photo per SKU? Yes___ No___
Product Information
Format
Typical product information needed (depending upon the complexity of
your site): SKU, Product Name, Product Description, Weight, Price, Picture
File Name, Category, Subcategory, Related product SKUs for cross-selling,
color/size option of SKU, other descriptive fields (such as ISBN for
books), etc. These will usually be fields in a spreadsheet or database.
What additional information is important with your products:______________
Database Format
__Not currently in database or spreadsheet
__Excel __FileMaker Pro __Access __Foxpro __Sybase __Oracle __Other_________________
Categories of Products
The larger the store, the more categories you'll need. Site menus and
search engines use these categories to group products so shoppers can
find them quickly. We'll need a list of these from you. You'll also
need to put the category and subcategory(ies) in fields in your database.
Number of Main Categories
or "Departments" ______
Examples:_______________________________
Total number of Subcategories
in all "departments _____
Examples:_______________________________
Sketch Your Preferred Category Page and Product Page Layout(s) on the other side of this form. Show preferred placement of: (1) product photo, (2) product name, (3) product SKU, (4) product description, (5) price, and (6) order button.
Shipping
Shipping Options Offered
___Ground ___2nd Day ___Overnight
Carrier:
___UPS ___FedEx ___Airborne ___Postal Service __Other
Shipping Calculation
Method
___Flat Rate
___Base Cost plus per item charge
___Per item charges only
___Determined by order total dollar amount
___Base Cost plus per item's weight charge
___Determined by total weight only
___Other_________________
___Disable shipping calculation
Sales Tax
States or County(ies) where collection is required: ___
Percent Sales Tax_____
___ Tax is calculated on shipping
Payment Transaction
Payment Methods Allowed
___Visa ___MasterCard ___American Express ___Discover
___Check __Mail/Fax __COD ___Purchase Order ___Reseller Account No.
Other:___________________________________
Credit Card Authorization
___Real-time on-line credit card authorization
___Desktop credit card processing after order is received (begin here
if you have an existing Merchant Credit Card Account)
Accounting and
Inventory
Accounting Program Used
___QuickBooks ___Peachtree ___Mail Order Manager ___Other
Do you want to integrate Web orders with accounting program? (custom programming required) ___Yes ___Maybe Later ___No
Do you want to integrate Web orders with a separate inventory program? ___Yes ___No
Do you offer unique (only 1 exists) products that need to be removed from the site immediately after a sale? ___Yes ___No
Do you need the website to show products based on limited inventory? ___Yes ___No
Do you want to retain some customer information between visits using passwords for each customer? ___Yes ___No
Special Order Form
Instructions
___Gift wrapping
___Gift card inscription
___Shipping instructions
___Other
Additional Information
Do you have customer service with email access? ___Yes ___No
What are your online and offline marketing plans?
Will you do Pay-Per-Click Advertising? ___Yes ___No
Do you want an affiliate program? ___Yes ___No
Do you have a different fulfillment location(s)? ___Yes ___No
Do you want to offer gift certificates? ___Yes ___No
How often does your product information change or new products get added?
Who are your competitors?
What eCommerce websites do you like and why?
What other information is important to your online store?
