Are you planning to create or redesign your e-commerce site?
An e-commerce site specification is an essential document for this.
In this article, you’ll find out what an e-commerce specification is and how to create one.
You’ll also see what it’s all about, and what you need to include.
The benefits of e-commerce specifications
What are specifications?
How do you draw up specifications for your e-commerce site, and why are they useful?
Find out the answers to these questions. 
What are specifications?
A specification is a reference document that helps ensure the smooth running of a project.
It contains all the information needed to create an e-commerce site:
- data about your company and your products,
- objectives,
- technical requirements,
- functionalities,
- graphic charter,
- lead times,
- etc.
The specifications are drawn up in-house by the company wishing to outsource the creation or redesign of its e-commerce site.
It can be drawn up by a project manager, or by someone who is familiar with the market in which the company is positioned, as well as its e-commerce site project.
Ideally, this document should be drawn up before contacting a subcontractor, as it remains the same regardless of the service provider chosen.
The final document should then be reviewed with the web developer in charge of creating the website, so that both parties can agree on the content.
Why create e-commerce specifications?
The specifications provide the service provider with a clear vision of what you’re looking for in an e-commerce site.
It also helps them to shape the site according to your objectives, your customer profile and your business. NB: Remember to have your service provider sign a confidentiality agreement, as the specifications will contain confidential information about your company.
NB: The specifications themselves must be signed by both parties to prove their agreement on the information they contain.
The content of e-commerce site specifications
Find out step-by-step how to draw up the specifications for an e-commerce site, what elements need to be included, and why this is necessary for the realization of an e-commerce site.
Company presentation
Some information about the company may be considered unnecessary, but should be included in the specifications.
This information helps to contextualize and structure your e-commerce site project.
- Present your company in detail: its history, workforce, sales, values, etc.
Among other things, this will help you position your company in relation to your competitors. - You should also present at least two of your competitors.
Provide links to their websites, and explain what makes them different from you. - Specify your products: range width and depth, variety, etc.
Indicate how you handle storage, purchasing and procurement, as well as shipping and order processing. - Present your customer profile(s).
You can categorize them, while indicating a “buyer persona” for each one.
This is a fictitious but plausible profile of a person who represents your customer. - Finally, talk about your objectives, both qualitative and quantitative: number of traffic to be reached, forecast sales, return on investment, etc.
Specify the timeframe for achieving these objectives.
Graphic identity and site ergonomics
This includes the colors that represent your company and your products.
It also includes the visual elements you want to appear on the site: logo, specific graphic style, etc.
You’ll also need to specify the type of font you’d like and its color.
In terms of ergonomics, you need to indicate what you want to see on the e-commerce site: a vertical or horizontal menu, the depth of a menu, search filters for the product page, etc. Example: an e-commerce site selling shoes can set up the following filters: gender, size, brand, price, etc. For the product page, specify the various elements you wish to include and their location on the page: title, description, price, photos, video, brand, number in stock, etc.
In terms of design and ergonomics, visit inspiration galleries and successful e-commerce sites.
Make a note of what you find interesting, and take screenshots or links from the sites to show and explain to your supplier what you want.
Features and integrations
An e-commerce site often has several features that make it easy to navigate.
The different functionalities also enhance the user experience on the site.
To start building it into your e-commerce site’s specifications, specify whether you want your site to be available in a single or multiple languages.
Specify the currency to be used and the different payment solutions to be integrated.
The work the service provider will do depends on these elements.
To make sure you don’t forget any important elements in your specifications, visit other e-commerce sites and note all the elements you feel are essential.
Among the integrations you’ll need to manage your e-commerce site, you’ll need :
- a tool for tracking visit and sales statistics;
- an inventory management tool ;
- an email management tool, if you want to manage a newsletter ;
- CRM, to better manage your customer relationships;
- etc.
Deliverables
Depending on your internal schedule, you’ll need to let the service provider know your deadlines: presentation of a first mock-up, first online test, final delivery date, etc.
You need to purchase a domain name and web hosting for your e-commerce site.
After that, you need to decide whether to entrust site maintenance to your service provider or bring it in-house.
An e-commerce site needs textual content and search engine optimization.
You need to decide whether to carry out this task in-house, outsource it to an SEO agency or let your service provider do it for you.
Similarly, you need to know whether you can provide the photos that will go on the site yourself, or whether you’ll hire a photographer.
Finally, you need to decide in which format to design the texts and photos.
This can be discussed with your service provider, so that he can advise you and adapt the site design to the formats you require.
To conclude on the “e-commerce site” specifications
Now that the question “How do I create specifications for an e-commerce site?” has been answered for you, and you’re now familiar with its content and its relevance to your e-commerce site, you can get in touch with me to discuss it.
I’ll let you know what can and can’t be done, what will take the most time, and which elements are particularly important to include in your own e-commerce specifications.
