Tips to consider when selecting an ecommerce platform

Tips to Consider when Selecting an Ecommerce Platform

A pre-requisite to succeed in online business is to choose an appropriate Ecommerce platform that will handle all the aspects of online shopping in the most effective manner. Various factors come into play when it comes to choosing the right online platform. It is much more than getting a store with economical pricing or one that provides a great shopping experience.

Following are the 3 main parameters that should be kept in mind when choosing the right Online ecommerce solution.

Speed It is proven that the speed of your site has an impact on your sales. Slow page load time can drastically reduce conversions. For instance, online shoppers tend to abandon sites that do not load in less than 3 seconds. Moreover, website speed is also an important factor in Google ranking algorithms. So it won’t be wrong to conclude that every second your site takes to load is costing you. How fast your site loads can make a huge difference in your conversion rate. So make sure that the ecommerce platform you choose has a fast loading time. Also do all that is necessary in order to reduce your load times.

Built-in Modules Apart from offering basic features like customization, shopping cart functionality and integration with payment gateways, the B2C or B2B ecommerce software should also come with a range of built-in modules like CRM. This will ensure that you no longer have to adopt and then integrate a third-party CRM system into your platform. Integration is a complicated task, so save your time and money by using platforms that come with built-in CRM module.

Many also look for platforms that come with built-in SEO and marketing tools as they help to achieve higher search rank. These tools help to increase awareness and drive more visitors to your site. Some platforms offer add-on features that allow you to place your product catalog into shopping comparison sites which can also contribute to bring more traffic.

Open Source Vs. Cloud-based With open source B2B or B2C ecommerce software solution giving complete access to source code, you can customize it the way you want. Moreover, you don’t have to depend on any expert as you can yourself change the code and fix bugs.

However, it has major drawbacks; for instance unskilled users are unlikely to make changes in source code, which mean expert assistance is a must. Moreover, you will require your own servers and additional infrastructure in order to run and manage the platform.

On the other hand, cloud-based platforms are much easier to manage and maintain. This is because all the infrastructure to support the platform resides on the vendor side. You just need Internet connectivity to your device (desktop and even smartphones) for using the platform.