Top 5 challenges when building E-commerce websites in Dubai

Imagine that you want to build an E-commerce websites in Dubai. You find competent developers located in the country. They understand the brief quickly. The website ends up meeting the set budget and finishes within the agreed time frame. It requires minimum effort to upkeep and preserve the website. — does this sound like the total opposite of what you’re currently going through?

Building an E-commerce website anywhere is no easy task, however building an E-commerce website in Dubai comes with its own unique set of challenges.

Here are the top 5 reasons why your E-commerce website project might have failed.

Your brief is not clear enough

Describing your website to people who will build it
source : https://dilbert.com/strip/1999-12-03

When writing a brief for your website, take the time to read it thoroughly, and make sure that it is easy to understand. Don’t assume that whoever is reading it will be able to understand the requirements as clearly as you have them in your head. Break them down into smaller fragments that are clear and concise and easy to read. If you think something is hard to understand then it probably is. If you think something might be misunderstood then in most cases it would be. Include example of how you imagine things would function or look and supply links to your examples.

Always remember that in most cases you’re dealing with multinational companies whose staff’s mother tongue, might not be the same as yours. So make sure the language you use is easy to read by everyone.

This might seem like a lot of work to put into a brief. However, it is a determining factor to the success of your project.

You didn’t research the right platform

Platform choice
Too many platforms to choose from

Today the market is flooded with website building platforms to choose from. Apart from the big players in the market. There are so many technology stacks to choose from that might make or break your website project.

Here is a list of the top 10 platforms used today

Do your homework in choosing the correct platform for your business. If your website requires a lot of customization and extra features. Make sure to go with open source platform that is easy to customize. Try to stay away from a one size fits all platform with an easy-to-use page builder. Most of these platforms make website building seem like writing a word document or making a PowerPoint presentation. But always remember a website is far more than a pretty interface and cool graphics. Make sure the platform supports Ecommerce natively or with minimal setup. And make sure that adding/removing features is not subscription based. Such features will add up very quickly and in no time you’ll be paying hundreds if not thousands of dollars to maintain certain features. Always try to consult people who have done similar projects and ask them about the issues they faced.

You didn’t choose the right partner

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source : https://dilbert.com/strip/2011-08-10

This is one of the most important steps that contribute to the failure of most websites before they even launch. Your choice of technology partner in most cases depends on your budget and time. In most cases many people are involved inmaking that decision which makes it very hard to choose the correct one.

Be patient and take your time in reviewing each proposal. Validate their offering by going through the details with your IT department or whoever has more experience in your team. Go through the websites of the companies submitting these proposals. After all if their website is broken or doesn’t look good then chances are yours is going to be the same. Take your time and go through their portfolio as well. Make sure what they claim they have done is actually true and not just some screenshots form random websites. Verify their claims about the websites they built. Contact their customers for reviews if they don’t offer any. Does their portfolio consist of big brand names that they claim they worked for? Make sure the work they did for these brands is relevant to web development and not just business cards or flyers. Many companies in Dubai choose to go an alternative way by outsourcing their projects to companies outside the country. While this approach might save you some money initially, in most cases you will not be satisfied with the results. Remember that cheaper doesn’t mean better especially in the service world.

Your budget is too small but your dream is too big

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Photo by Atikah Akhtar on Unsplash

Do you dream of building a website that looks like the most elegant website you’ve seen from a known luxury brand? But your budget is only a few hundred dollars then you might want to rethink how you’re approaching your project. When you consider your website a detrimental part of your business’s success, consider allocating more of your budget towards it. I’m not saying that you should spend everything you have building a website. But if your business is a purely online business and all of your customers are online. Then its worthwhile giving them a far better online experience that would encourage them to come back for more. If you run a brick and mortar business and your website is just an extension of that. Make sure that your customers will have a pleasant journey online. Also make sure it reflects the same experience you’d like them to have when dealing with you in person. Always remember that a global event can shut down brick and mortar business and force businesses to move 100% of their operations online.

You underestimate what goes into building successful website

Marketing your website
source : https://dilbert.com/

Ok so now you’re done building your website and everything went according to plan. What comes next is the crucial element of creating and updating content for your website. Like most of us you don’t have enough time to create content for your website, or you lack the knowledge/skills to do so. This doesn’t mean that you should neglect this aspect. Your better off outsourcing it to someone who can help you with that. Make sure you account for that in your budget. There are a lot of talented content writes in the market. They can help you by coming up with amazing and engaging content for your visitors. When you go about choosing one make sure they actually live in the country or city you are targeting. This way you ensure that what they write is relatable to your target audience.

Thank you for reading we hope you enjoyed our article.

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