With so many choices available, how do you select the best ecommerce platform that suits your business needs? This depends on how much control you wish to have over your online business and how much online growth you anticipate. Think beyond your current business reach and consider things like international expansion and mobile commerce. There are 3 main types of ecommerce platforms: Open Source Open source platforms are free to download and use. Magento is the most popular open source ecommerce platform solution. Other examples include osCommerce, OpenCart, SpreeCommerce, PrestaShop, VirtueMart, Ubercart, Zuescart, AFCommerce, Zen Cart, Simplcart js, Tomato Cart, CubeCart, RockQuickCart, StoreSprite. The popular open source platforms have a strong user community, which can be beneficial for providing answers to questions. The downfall is that there is no customer support. Custom Custom build sites require a large budget and retention of adequate developers and IT staff to build the site and provide ongoing maintenance support. If there are any bugs or the site crashes, hiring a contractor to fix it can be an added cost. But once the site is built, you own it. There are no other licensing or monthly fees to be paid. You control the exact features and functions offered by your platform and how often it is updated. Hosted If you are looking for a low maintenance ecommerce platform that can be easily and quickly deployed, a hosted option may be a good choice. Many of the open source platforms listed above offer a hosted and enterprise version. With a hosted platform, you pay a monthly fee and can be up and ready to go within 30 minutes or less. A hosted solution is an attractive option for small business. Examples of hosted solutions are: Shopify, BigCommerce. Some factors to consider when selecting an ecommerce platform:
1. What is the budget?
2. What will you be selling?
3. How many different products will you have?
4. What encryption tools and security features will you need?
5. How customizable is it? Here is a short video clip from one our recent workshops on ecommerce platforms: With so many choices available, how do you select the best ecommerce platform that suits your business needs? This depends on how much control you wish to have over your online business and how much online growth you anticipate. Think beyond your current business reach and consider things like international expansion and mobile commerce. There are 3 main types of ecommerce platforms: Open Source Open source platforms are free to download and use. Magento is the most popular open source ecommerce platform solution. Other examples include osCommerce, OpenCart, SpreeCommerce, PrestaShop, VirtueMart, Ubercart, Zuescart, AFCommerce, Zen Cart, Simplcart js, Tomato Cart, CubeCart, RockQuickCart, StoreSprite. The popular open source platforms have a strong user community, which can be beneficial for providing answers to questions. The downfall is that there is no customer support. Custom Custom build sites require a large budget and retention of adequate developers and IT staff to build the site and provide ongoing maintenance support. If there are any bugs or the site crashes, hiring a contractor to fix it can be an added cost. But once the site is built, you own it. There are no other licensing or monthly fees to be paid. You control the exact features and functions offered by your platform and how often it is updated. Hosted If you are looking for a low maintenance ecommerce platform that can be easily and quickly deployed, a hosted option may be a good choice. Many of the open source platforms listed above offer a hosted and enterprise version. With a hosted platform, you pay a monthly fee and can be up and ready to go within 30 minutes or less. A hosted solution is an attractive option for small business. Examples of hosted solutions are: Shopify, BigCommerce. Some factors to consider when selecting an ecommerce platform:
1. What is the budget?
2. What will you be selling?
3. How many different products will you have?
4. What encryption tools and security features will you need?
5. How customizable is it? Here is a short video clip from one our recent workshops on ecommerce platforms: