6 Things to Consider Before Choosing an e-Commerce Platform
Although there is a lot of excitement and expectations, when you decide to buy an ecommerce platform, powering your online store isn’t as easy as it sounds. No matter what products you sell, the success of your business totally depends upon the type of platform you choose for your ecommerce website. Either you can go for a dedicated platform that is built and designed specifically to suit your needs or you can choose from several online content management systems to fire up your ecommerce website. You can also go for the system that offers you the best of both platforms. Regardless of what you choose in the end, there are several things that you need to take care of when shopping for a good e-Commerce platform.
- Should Allow Online Transaction
Unlike the 90s, when people were extremely cautious of buying online products, eCommerce websites drive a major portion of their revenue though online purchases. Hence, there is no point of choosing a platform where you can only post your products but not allow the users to directly buy them. In case your business is driven by a majority of offline sales, it is much more convenient to use an online CMS to make your products available for online shoppers than going for a dedicated ecommerce platform. You can also seek the advice of a professional hosting agency for managed VPS hosting for your ecommerce website.
- High Performance
The faster your website is the higher will be the number of visitors. Today’s shoppers do not want to spend a lot of time waiting for a website to load. For this, the ecommerce platform must be able to deliver a high quality performance and deliver the content efficiently to the customer. According to market researches and surveys, it was found that more than 40% of the online purchases are abandoned midway due to the slow speed of the website. Hence, all your pages must be carefully optimized for use across various devices and internet speeds.
- Mobile Friendly
We all know that the future of every internet based business lies in mobile technology. With the increasing number of Smartphone users, the business owners must also realize the potential of the untapped market and make sure that the platform also supports mobile devices and the content can be displayed across tablets and smartphones.
- Customizable Design
When building an ecommerce website, the looks are as important as the functionality. You certainly do not want to shop on a website that is bad to look at and hence, it is important to make the website’s design more attractive and appealing. Even though you’re a part of the larger market, there is no reason why you should distinguish yourself from your competitors to create a brand image. Choosing a unique website design is an important factor that can affect your sales and thus, it is essential to know whether the platform you chose can be customized or not.
- Scalability
It is important to get the bigger picture in your head when buying an ecommerce platform. As years go by, there will certainly be a higher number of visitors on your website and it is important that the platform should be able to handle high volume traffic. Choosing a platform with lower visitor capacity can only stall your growth and one must always choose the options with the best scalability. Choosing the right platform will allow your website to grow along with your business.
- Security
Shoppers will never buy from an unsecure website due to the risk of exposing their important details. Whenever you buy a platform, make sure it allows adequate security to allow payments and other transactions. They should be compliant with the PCI and PA-DSS standards, ensuring that the customer’s payment details are secure and safe from hackers.
Setting up an ecommerce website is not an easy task, as one need to take several things into consideration. Make sure you look for the above qualities in the platform you choose for your business to get the best out of it.
Photo by Fosforix, CC BY-ND 2.0
