Rampurhat, West BengalWeb developer in Rampurhat

Web developer in Rampurhat for regional traders and wholesalers

I'm a web developer in Rampurhat for traders whose buyers haven't dealt with them before. A new buyer wants figures first, so I build a trade site with your stock and terms written out exactly, and the name of the person who agrees an order. What goes on it is settled in a written scope before any design starts.

Rampurhat, West Bengal

Overview

How an order reaches you today

Before anything is drafted, I ask how an order reaches you today. The contact line on the site then matches the habit your buyers already have, whether that's a call or a message.

A buyer reading a trade site is deciding whether to ring at all. Exact figures make that an easy decision, so I'd rather leave a line off than guess at it.

The stock page is written with your office. Each category has to carry the name your buyers use for it, and that list goes to your office and back until it reads right.

Side by side

What a buyer can do with each line

Three lines that save a new buyer a call.

On the trade siteWhat a buyer can do with itWithout it
Stock, one line per categoryCheck you carry what they needRing to ask, or look elsewhere
Your termsSee whether an order fits themWait to hear back
How far you send an orderKnow whether to ask at allAsk first, and maybe find it's too far

Where this runs over

Where your part of the work comes in

These depend on you more than on me, and each one decides whether the site stays right after launch.

  • Stock moves at your end first. Whoever in your office tracks it updates the stock page from the editor.
  • Delivery limits are yours to set. If you start sending further, the one line on delivery says so.
  • Any certificate or registration you mention has to be one you can show a buyer on request, such as your GST registration.
  • Photographs of your stock have to be taken where it is kept, by you or someone on your staff.

What gets built here

What a buyer should see on the first screen

Put these where a buyer lands, before any photograph. None of them needs more than a line.

  • What you stock, by category — with the units each one is sold in.
  • The smallest order you'll take — one figure per category, if it differs.
  • Who agrees an order — a name and a direct number.
  • The days your office takes orders — and what happens to a message sent on a closed day.
  • The address on Google — the same one the site gives, for the buyer who does visit.
Open laptop beside a monitor of code, on the desk in Kolkata, India

What moves the number

What adds to a trade site

A trade site with many stock categories is the largest version of this job. One with a handful of lines and a contact page is the smallest.

  • How many stock categories need a page each — every one is written up and checked with your office
  • A stock list to download, if buyers ask for one — it has to match the stock page line for line
  • A Google listing to correct, or one to create
  • Photographs that exist already, and ones still to take — a shoot at the godown is a line of its own

Where this comes from

The stack behind the sites

For a trade site like this, I'd suggest WordPress, because your office can then edit the stock page itself. If a different stack suits you better, I'll explain why before we start. The choice is written into the scope, so nothing about it is decided later without you.

Whichever it is, your name goes on the domain, the hosting and each account. The projects page lists finished builds, if you want to see the stack at work.

Plants on the desk and the office chair behind them, Kolkata, India
Plants on the desk and the office chair behind them, Kolkata, India

FAQ

Settling the details of a trade site

These come up before a trader agrees to a scope.

Does a trade site need a directions page?

A trade site needs your address and a contact, but it does not need a page of directions. A buyer ordering from elsewhere has little use for a route, so that space goes to the stock page. A map link at the foot of the site covers the buyer who does visit.

Can one site serve traders and travellers together?

One site for traders and travellers would put stock tables next to directions, and each visitor would have to skip half of it. I'd build two small sites, each about one customer, and quote them separately. A stop on the pilgrimage route gets its own site, built around the address and the way in.

Should a wholesale site show the rate?

Units and minimum order sizes go on a wholesale site, with how to ask for the current rate. If your rate changes often, I'd leave the figure off, and a buyer gets today's rate from you on WhatsApp.

How much should a trade site say about delivery?

A trade site says how far you'll send an order, in one plain line. If delivery depends on the size of the order, the line says so, and the details are agreed when a buyer gets in touch.

Can buyers order through the site?

Buyers order the way they do today, by ringing or messaging you after reading the site. An order form can come later, once buyers ask for one, and it is scoped as a job of its own.

Should a trade site name the brands we stock?

Brands you stock can be named on the stock page if your suppliers are happy for you to name them. If they'd rather you didn't, the category name does the job just as well.

Next step

A first call about your customers

We spend the call on who buys from you and how they find you. If many of your customers turn out to be travellers, we'll talk about a second site then.

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