Choosing the best eCommerce platform is not as easy as it seems. This is one of the most important decisions you make when starting your eCommerce journey. To make the decision process easier for you, we, as an eCommerce development company with extensive experience, have compiled this guide that details all the factors you need to consider.
Why choosing the best eCommerce platform matters
Creating an e-commerce business is more than just putting your product listings online. It’s a lot more difficult than you imagine. Actually, it is quite similar to running a physical retail or manufacturing business. You require strategic thinking and planning to build and manage your e-commerce business.
And if you understand this core point, you can benefit from the digital environment, which lets you automate and streamline lots of different tasks that would usually need human intervention.
But when it comes to choosing an eCommerce platform, you must keep in mind that the following four things will be important for your eCommerce site:
- Growth
- Running costs
- Customer engagement
- Objectives
Note that many eCommerce providers usually focus on deeper issues such as design, UX branding, and content. But the real challenges of e-commerce lie in the business processes, customer acquisition, and generating leads. All of these processes can help you determine if you are getting good ROI on your eCommerce platform.
How to Choose the Best eCommerce Platform
To choose the best eCommerce platform for your business you need to consider the following factors.
1 Mobile-friendliness
Let’s be honest, most people today are constantly on the go and rely heavily on mobile devices. Always consider mobile optimization when building an eCommerce store. Keep in mind that your clients will be making a big portion of their purchases using their phones. You need the e-commerce platform of your choice to provide secure payments through phones or tablets.
Some eCommerce platforms offer mobile optimization as a standard feature. But, other e-commerce platforms present it as an additional fee. In addition, mobile-friendliness can be a core feature of your online store. For example, Shopify lets you monitor and edit your eCommerce site from your mobile device.
2 Flexible pricing
You as an eCommerce business owner will need to run promotions, sales, or discounts easily. Another consideration is multi-currency support, although you may also be charged different fees for various locations.
3 Website personalization
Online shoppers these days need a personalized experience. Chose an e-commerce platform that has a recommendation engine that provides personalized purchase suggestions to customers based on their previous buying history and the product they were looking for.
4 SEO-friendliness
As an eCommerce business owner, you need an SEO-optimized eCommerce platform. Customers should be capable of finding your eCommerce site with minimum effort. In addition, you should have the opportunity to add content that will be chosen by Google and placed on the first pages of search results. Plus, your products, categories, and more should be highly customizable, because the custom settings make it easier to find them in any browser.
5 Security
To be successful eCommerce websites should follow particular guidelines and rules. These rules ensure security for your eCommerce store and your customers. The security issue is relying heavily on transactions. Transaction processes in the online space have to follow guidelines and protocols. To gain customer trust, the eCommerce platform that you’ll choose should include the following:
- Privacy – preventing data transfer to third parties
- Integrity – information shared by the client remains confidential and unaltered
- Authentication – proof that the seller and buyer are real via ID check
- Non-repudiation – the buyer completes the transaction that he initiated.
6 Page speed and performance
A slow eCommerce store reflects badly on your business. This might cause a decrease in profits. You need an online store that loads quickly for these particular reasons:
- Fast eCommerce stores rank high on browsers like Google.
- eCommerce platforms with high-speed performance provide higher conversion rates.
- The right e-commerce platform for your business contributes to customer loyalty.
7 Support
Customer support is crucial for all kinds of eCommerce brands. By using this feature you get a chance to earn user loyalty. It is very important how fast customer support is able to respond to any request. Most eCommerce website platforms have a live chat option to just communicate in order to avoid any issues with the website design or development.
8 Flexible shipping
Shipping requirements have changed a lot in the past years. The customer wants the goods to be delivered on the day that they made a purchase or the next day. Make sure the eCommerce website development platform is equipped with a powerful distribution and logistics company.
9 eCommerce analytics
There are a number of eCommerce vital metrics and KPIs that you should track. Therefore, it is a good idea to look for an eCommerce platform with a built-in analytics system.
10 Storage
Ecommerce platforms provide you with a space on their server according to the subscription you have. Accordingly, with these subscriptions, you only have a certain amount of space to run your eCommerce store. It can affect your “Inventory” appearance and how your customer will view and fill their cart.
Also, you need to check the “Database Management Features” that the eCommerce platform that you consider offers. The size of your eCommerce website also determines the response time when loading and using your website to make purchases. Remember that most of the shopping is done on mobile, so your site should be responsive to small screens. And there is much more data than what is presented on the front-end of your site.
Conclusion
By taking into account the above factors, you will be able to evaluate all the main parameters of an e-commerce platform, while avoiding the mistakes that we often see when choosing software. Always keep your business needs and goals in mind to make the perfect decision.
