What Have We Learned About eCommerce Platforms?

These days, eCommerce platforms are the lifesavers for many online business owners. Based on the reports released by eMarketer, the forecast of the global eCommerce industry will exceed $5 trillion, and it is expected to surpass over $7 trillion in the next 3 years.

This article elaborates on what we have learned about eCommerce platforms and shares the best eCommerce platforms in the current market, along with tips for choosing the right one.

What Do You Need to Know About an Ecommerce Platform?

An eCommerce platform is an inevitable thing for businesses involved in commerce activities. It enables an online store to purchase and sell products/services over the internet. Also, the eCommerce platform allows store owners to manage their assets digitally, digital marketing tactics, and digital sales on a central platform.

It is an end-to-end software solution that enables business owners to manage their online business. Ecommerce platforms encompass website builder, inventory management, accounting process, and customer service infrastructure.

Why Should We Use an Ecommerce Platform?

In today’s digital era, running an eCommerce store isn’t an easy thing. You need to do many complex process rights, from hiring eCommerce website designers for building a website, virtual stock maintenance, handling payment processing, and site maintenance. It will give you a lot of headaches if you deal with those aspects individually.

This is where eCommerce platforms come to the rescue. These platforms inherit all the essential components an online business requires to carry out day-to-day operations. Moreover, by using the eCommerce platform, you can easily and cheaply build an online store from scratch with the help of various tools and plug-ins.

Here are some key features of the eCommerce platform that makes it a worthy investment for your online business.

• Intuitive User Interface
• User-friendly Designs
• Hassle-free Management System for Store & Stocks
• Seamless Payment Processing
• High Security & Maintenance
• Data Consolidation
• Easy to Promote
• Professional Customer Support

Ecommerce Platform – Types

In the current market, you can find numerous eCommerce platforms among those that come in a website builder format. Using such platforms, you can easily build websites quickly with simple drag-and-drop features.

However, in general, there are 3 main eCommerce platforms that you can take a look at:

• Subscription-based Ecommerce Platform: These platforms are fully loaded with various helpful features and are more expensive when compared with others. For effective handling, this platform requires tech-savvy people to configure and manage things with perfection.

• Open-source eCommerce Platform: Open-source eCommerce platforms are free to use and offer a lot of benefits to larger companies. Usually, these eCommerce platforms come with various features and customization options. However, the main thing to worry about is that companies may avail of community support but not customer support services by using this platform.

• Headless eCommerce Platform: It is the most preferred eCommerce platform for companies involved in B2C eCommerce activities can keep up with their customer demands. By using this headless eCommerce platform companies satisfy their customers through multiple touchpoints without using store frontends. However, the configuration of this platform is a bit complicated and requires a skilled person.

How to Choose The Right Ecommerce Platform for Your Business?

It is important to research the eCommerce platforms and plans offered by them before choosing to avail of full benefits. Here are a few things to consider for selecting the right eCommerce platform for your online store.

• Cost: Always check with the eCommerce platform's plans that come within your budget limit. Paying more or choosing the higher plans always won't be ended up with a better experience. Do some research on plans and check whether the platform allows add-ons and plug-ins for site building; this will saves more cost.

• Program & Functional Features: When it comes to building a website for your online store, it is important to look out for what features and functions it requires. Based on that, choose a platform that offers such a facility to build a strong website.

• Security: When it comes to online business, protecting your customer data is an important and foremost thing to do. It is necessary to choose the right platform which you feel more comfortable & secure while dealing with payment processing and handling customer data. Else, you may lose your customer loyalty.

• Maintenance: Building an eCommerce store can’t be completed overnight. As a store owner, you need to pay for proper & professional eCommerce website maintenance. By doing so, you can ensure your site runs smoothly and satisfy all the demands of consumers. Before selecting an eCommerce platform you need to consider the annual fee, maintenance cost, SSL certificate fee, subscription fee, and so.

Question to Ask Yourself Before You Prefer Ecommerce Platform

Here are the lists of questions that you should ask yourself before gaining clear taught on selecting the right eCommerce platform for your eCommerce business.

1. What’s Your Business Requirement?

It is essential to have an awareness of your business needs and go after the eCommerce solution offering a perfect solution for those needs. By doing so, you can able to reap full benefits.

2. Do You Have Enough Resource To Manage Ecommerce Platforms?

Before choosing an eCommerce platform make sure you have adequate offline and online resources to manage it. For example, if you are about to utilize the Magento platform for your business means make sure you have the desired person for Magento eCommerce development and management.

3. Whether You Need a Scalable Platform For Your Business?

Make sure to prefer a scalable eCommerce platform if you have a vision of business growth in the future. This will save you a lot of money in the future by avoiding the purchase of a new platform.

4. How Much Can You Afford For an Ecommerce Platform?

It might be the last question but is the most important one. First, have a clear mindset on the budget limit for the eCommerce platform based on the revenue of your business.

Bottom Line

When it comes to eCommerce, every business has its own priorities for eCommerce features, and there’s no single platform to satisfy all the needs of every business. So, to pick the ‘best eCommerce platform’ for your business, it is essential to understand your business needs and choose a platform accordingly.