Thinking about turning your lead capture or enquiry website into a full e-commerce platform? It’s a big step, but one that can unlock new opportunities, save your team hours, and help your business scale. Here’s what you need to know to make the leap successfully.

1. Choosing the Right Platform

Not all e-commerce platforms are created equal. The first decision is whether to go with an industry-specific vendor (think platforms built for your sector, with all the right fields and workflows baked in) or to build something custom WordPress with WooCommerce is a popular choice.

Key tip:
Some industries need to capture specific information at checkout like artwork files for print, or compliance details for regulated products. Make sure your chosen platform can handle these requirements without awkward workarounds.

2. Integrating with Your Order Processing or ERP System

Manual data entry is a killer for productivity (and accuracy). Your e-commerce site should hook directly into your order processing or ERP system. This way, orders flow straight from your website into your business systems no more re-keying, no more errors.

Ask yourself:

• Can your website push orders into your ERP automatically?
• Will your team need to touch every order, or can the process be hands-off?

3. Deciding What Information to Show

Product data is non-negotiable, but what else should your site display?

• Do you want to show live stock figures, pulled from your ERP?
• Should your clients log in and see their order history, or even update orders themselves?
• Is there sensitive information that only certain users should see?

Modern e-commerce isn’t just about selling it’s about giving your clients control and transparency.

4. Getting Your Product Data Right

This is where many projects stumble. If your product data prices, descriptions, images, names, and any add-on costs aren’t spot on, you’ll run into trouble. Wrong prices or missing details can lead to incorrect orders and unhappy customers.

Pro tip:
Invest time in cleaning and structuring your product data before you launch. It’ll save you headaches later.

5. Why This Matters: The Real Benefits

Done well, this transformation makes it easy for your clients to buy from you, helps you win new business, and frees up your team from repetitive admin. It’s about scalability, growing your business without growing your workload.

In short:

• Make it easy for clients to purchase
• Enable global reach
• Save time for sales and admin teams
• Reduce errors and manual work

Ready to take your website to the next level? Let’s have a chat.