For many brick-and-mortar businesses looking to set up shop online, the effort of moving from analog to digital can be daunting if not completely overwhelming, especially if business owners are not that tech savvy. Thankfully, these days, many eCommerce software has become more and more intuitive to entice new users to shift their businesses online.
Things get more complicated, though, once the marketing of an online business enters the picture. In these cases, the help of a Magento, BigCommerce, or Shopify SEO agency are a helpful means of support. Each of these eCommerce platforms has their pros and cons. The question is, how can you tell which platform best suits your business’ needs?
For that reason, we’ve compiled a short list of factors that you can take into consideration if you’re just about to launch your eCommerce website.
What Features Should You Consider for Your eCommerce Website?
More than the pricing, the first thing every ecommerce business needs to consider are the features of the platform they’re going to use. These features can range from the website hosting that goes with your plan such as in Shopify and Wix’s case to the user-friendliness of the platform, particularly for new users.
Other than that, here are some other features that you should take into consideration when choosing an eCommerce platform:
1. Integration
The last thing any business owner wants is more headaches. As much as possible you want customer check-outs to be as easy and seamless as can be. This is where integration is important.
As you canvas each eCommerce platform, look at what payment gateways and sales channels they integrate with. With Shopify, for example, you can leverage over 100 payment gateways while at the same time integrate with the following sales channels: Google, Facebook, Instagram, Amazon, Walmart Marketplace, and eBay.
Consider who your customers are, which channels you’ll most likely find them in, and choose accordingly.
2. Ability to Scale
When considering which eCommerce software to use, don’t just look at the short term benefits. Consider your long-term goals as well. It can be taxing and difficult to shift from one platform to another. That’s why it’s best to consider, right at the start, which platform can support your growth.
Consider the tools, add-ons, and plugins available in each platform and how you might be able to use them at present, or in the future for your business. If you’re planning on someday integrating most of your systems, inventory, and sales data into one platform, then find one that can service all your needs as a business.
3. Point-of-Sale
For the not-so-tech-savvy entrepreneurs looking to DIY their eCommerce website, using software that already has a built-in point-of-sale (POS) system in place will mean less work and complications while setting up your online store. Platforms like Shopify, BigCommerce, or Wix have a POS available on their systems.
For WordPress users, although WooCommerce has a native POS available, you’ll have to install the plugin onto your site. Magento and PrestaShop are more suited for the tech-savvy folks as they’re more complicated to actually setup.
4. Customer Support
Last, 24-7 customer support is critical, especially for small businesses that are just getting started online. Should you encounter any problems with your website, you want to get in touch with technical support right away so that you don’t lose out on any potential sales and revenue.
Leave the Marketing to the Experts
Once you’ve gotten your eCommerce website up and running, the next step, of course, is your marketing strategy. Studying up and getting into search ads and search engine optimization (SEO) is another complicated beast to conquer.
SEO, for example, is one of the primary marketing must for any eCommerce business. You want your website and your products to be searchable and discoverable on search engines. It may be a good idea to leave the digital marketing to the experts. A Shopify SEO Agency like Genius Ecommerce, for example, can help you optimize and scale your website so that you’re primed for success.
