The Points To Consider When Selecting An eCommerce Platform
Digital transformation is happening in all types of business, whether they are B2B, D2C, or B2C. The eCommerce market as a whole is experiencing rapid growth.
This article will explain everything you need to know about eCommerce platforms.
Our expert insight will help you make the right decision to increase your company’s growth and maximize opportunities.
The Questions to Ask Before Selecting an eCommerce Platform
It can be challenging to pick the right eCommerce platform that is right for you. There are many factors every business owner should consider when choosing the right eCommerce platform. Here are some questions you should ask to help you make an informed decision.
Which products/services are you selling?
It may surprise you how important your product inventory is when choosing an eCommerce platform. It is noteworthy to consider what you are selling, how big your inventory is, and how complex your products are.
- Are you looking for a small or large inventory?
An eCommerce platform that is able to handle a large number of products and doesn’t charge per product will be a must for those who have many products.
- Are you digital or physical?
An eCommerce platform may be required for digital product and service sellers. Some businesses offer digital subscriptions, and they will need to bill their customers on a monthly basis. It is not possible to charge customers on a regular basis with all eCommerce platforms.
What Growth Do You Expect?
You will need an eCommerce platform that scales if your business is expanding quickly or you expect growth. Although it may seem difficult to predict the growth of your company, this is crucial to your online success. Online stores that are successful end up stuck with an eCommerce platform that doesn’t have the right capabilities to handle their success.
What level of control do you want?
Are you willing to have complete control over your eCommerce website? Or are you happy with certain limitations in return for easy use and bug fixes? You will have to choose between a self-hosted or hosted eCommerce platform when choosing one.
Hosted solutions are software that is hosted on servers to which you don’t have direct access. A hosted eCommerce solution offers many benefits, including technical support whenever you need it and automatic bug fixes.
In Self-Hosted, The owner hosts the site on their own server with self-hosted solutions. Although this may be more expensive upfront, self-hosted solutions allow you to customize your site and provide support for larger and more complex eCommerce stores. Self-hosted solutions might be better if you are looking for complete control.
What is your budget?
Small businesses often start with a limited budget, which can limit the eCommerce platform they choose. Keep in mind that hosted eCommerce platforms usually have a monthly cost that is based on the size of your catalog. Although a self-hosted solution will cost more upfront, you can control many additional costs by doing the work yourself. Large retailers shouldn’t compromise when selecting an eCommerce platform.
What are you expecting customers to pay?
Make sure your eCommerce platform supports credit card payments when choosing an eCommerce platform. You will need to apply to a merchant account if your business wants to accept credit cards payments directly from your eCommerce website.
Is it SEO-Friendly
Many business owners underestimate the power of search engine optimization (SEO). It is essential that your eCommerce website has SEO-friendly features if you want customers to find your products easily on the Internet.
How secure is your site?
To do business with your company, customers need to feel confident in their eCommerce site. If you have a self-hosted solution, all data security issues are your responsibility, even if it is included in your package. Hosted solutions are managed by the cloud-based provider. Data security is their responsibility.
Hosted solutions offer security, but you have limited control over the process and may be charged high transaction fees.
What flexibility do you want web design to be?
A responsive and flexible web design is essential if you want your eCommerce website to grow. Each eCommerce website owner wants a beautiful store that drives sales and traffic. While a generic website design is fine for people who just want to maintain a web presence, business owners looking to grow their businesses need an eCommerce platform that can be customized.
Is it possible to allow customer product reviews?
Your eCommerce platform will allow customers to review products. You are missing an important aspect of SEO if you do not allow customers to submit product reviews. Your customers can review your product and create unique content that will rank higher in search engines. Your site can benefit even from bad product reviews, as they help customers decide whether to invest in the product. You should ensure that your eCommerce platform allows customers to leave reviews.
What key plug-ins and integrations does it allow?
It is a good idea to research the features and plug-ins offered by each platform before you decide on an eCommerce platform.
The right integration solutions will help your business run more smoothly by allowing you to centralize information. There are many extensions and integrations.
There are many extensions and integrations that can be used to enhance your eCommerce website. Open-source software users can either use extensions created by others or create their own extensions if necessary.
There are so many plug-ins available, that it can be difficult for business owners to choose the best one to use on their eCommerce site. Plug-in recommendations are not helpful because every eCommerce site is unique.
What marketing features does it offer?
After your eCommerce website is live, you’ll want more customers to grow your business. Marketing is essential for growing and increasing sales. It doesn’t matter if you have amazing products. Customers need to find them on the internet.
What Does it Mean for Your Site’s Speed and Performance?
Your site visitors are very important, and studies have shown that slow loading times can lead to lost sales. Magento and other eCommerce websites are optimized for speed because they know how important it is to have a site load quickly. Some websites are not flexible enough to allow for a fast loading speed and all of the features you need. You should look for an eCommerce platform that does not sacrifice functionality for speed and vice versa.
Is there a free trial?
Business owners should take advantage of the free trial offered by eCommerce platforms. You can test the platform for free and see if it is a good fit. This is a serious decision that you should make. It is a good idea to test an eCommerce platform before you commit.
Is it compatible with mobile devices?
An eCommerce website that is mobile-friendly has become a necessity for all online stores due to the increase in mobile users. How your eCommerce software can be used by mobile users is the question. Your sales will suffer if your eCommerce platform does not offer mobile-optimized features. It doesn’t matter if the site is viewed on a mobile device or tablet, it should be mobile-friendly. Your web design should be mobile-friendly to create a great shopping experience.
# It’s not easy to choose an eCommerce platform
Before choosing an eCommerce platform, there are many factors that business owners need to consider. Each business is unique and each has its own requirements. It’s difficult to recommend one eCommerce platform. Online store owners can make an informed decision by asking these questions before selecting their eCommerce platform.
# The best eCommerce platform for SEO
SEO is more significant than you realize for an eCommerce website. Your products will be more prominently displayed if you rank higher in search engines. This brings more traffic to your site than your competitors and increases the conversion rate.
An SEO-optimized eCommerce site can significantly increase your revenues and profits. It’s wise to choose an eCommerce platform that offers search engine optimization (SEO).
BigCommerce, however, is the most popular platform for its SEO capabilities. Even for those who don’t know how to code, this software-as-a-service (SaaS eCommerce platform) is very easy to use. It is user-friendly and has many features that will provide an amazing user experience.
BigCommerce allows you to customize meta information and HTML tags, which includes titles and descriptions.
BigCommerce also features mobile-friendly designs and indexing control. It has built-in 301 redirects, file edit access, SEO-friendly URLs, sitemap features, and txt file editing access.
These all make BigCommerce a top choice when it comes down to choosing the best eCommerce platform for SEO.
Shopify is also available for beginners. Shopify has a variety of plugins that allow you to add more features. SEO plugins are great for improving your website’s SEO.
# Expert support to help you get started with your eCommerce store
Your business goals and customer requirements are the most important factors in choosing an eCommerce platform. Do not be overwhelmed by all of the options. Choose the platform that offers the best features and functionality for your business. – Never compromise!
