How To Choose The Right Ecommerce Platform For Your Business

Summary- Choosing the best ecommerce software for your business is not as straightforward as it seems. It is one of the most important decisions that you make very early on in your ecommerce journey. We’ve put together few factors which you need to keep in mind. Happy reading!

Body- To simply put it out there, if you don’t have an ecommerce platform, it is not possible for you to compete online. An ecommerce platform is like the backbone of an online retail enterprise, whether it’s for B2B or B2C company. Before we even had specialized ecommerce solution, business had to build their IT and development team. This was a costly affair. Selecting an ecommerce platform based on their popularity is not the best way. Truth to be told, the best ecommerce service provider in Europe, SMD Techno successfully delivers the outcomes and objectives you have set for your business. Also, the right ecommerce platform should fit well with the current technical expertise of your team. For example, if you select an ecommerce platform that is very popular but has a high barrier to entry, this will result in losing a lot of potential customers plus this won’t sit well with the team who have low technical expertise. Our pro tip is, understand your business goals before you begin your search for your platform. There are many different types of ecommerce platforms:

1. SaaS ecommerce

2. Cloud ecommerce

3. Open-source ecommerce

4. Traditional ecommerce platform

5. Build your own

Why cloud-hosted and SaaS ecommerce platforms aren’t the same? Many assume that the cloud-hosted platform is a SaaS product. That’s not true. For SaaS platform, you’re not required to maintain either cloud-based hosting provider or a physical server. You just pay a monthly subscription to access the already developed software application through your browser. And unlike cloud hosted solution, you don’t have to worry about maintaining the software, because the SaaS provider maintains it for you. Let’s talk about the cost. In deciding on an ecommerce platform, a lot of people tend to underestimate the actual costs of running an ecommerce site. Top ecommerce website development service provider in Europe like SMD Techno, keeps these hidden costs in open. For example,

• Maintenance Cost

• Upgrades

• New features or improvement

• UX changes

1. Maintenance Cost

If you decide to go for a traditional/open-source platform, then it is your responsibility in looking after maintenance so your eCommerce site performs to its requirements. And counting on the dimensions and complexity of your eCommerce site, these maintenance costs can vary and can require you to rent technical help. With SaaS platforms, on the opposite hand, maintenance is taken care off in exchange for the fixed monthly fee.

2. Upgrades

Open-source platforms, in particular, require you to download and install updates whenever they are released. If you don’t install these updates in time, then your platform is at risk to hackers and cyber-attacks. Installing these updates does require some level of technical knowledge, so again, you will need to hire outside help. With SaaS platforms, just like maintenance, any updates are covered in the monthly fee.

3. New features or improvement

Consumer behavior changes over time. That’s why you would like to make sure your eCommerce site maintains its relevancy by implementing improvements and adding features whenever it's required.

4. UX changes

Besides adding features and enhancements, you would possibly need to change the general user experience of your eCommerce platform. Again, this comes right down to changes in consumer trends and behaviour. If your current eCommerce becomes too rigid, then you would possibly need to re-platform onto another system that permits you create these UX changes - this will be a costly affair.

Coming to the most important question, what factors should you consider when selecting an ecommerce experience? Besides looking at development and operating, there are other factors that you need consider when selecting your ecommerce platform-

1. Vendor experience and Expertise

2. Support

3. Scalability

4. SEO- friendliness

5. Mobile- friendliness

6. Security

By following the guide above, you should be able to evaluate some of the dimensions of ecommerce platform. That’s why SMD Techno advocates customizable ecommerce platform, so you can adopt to any new device or channel that emerges in the market. We eagerly invite all our clients and visitors to have a word with us in any query. Interested individuals can contact us anytime for any kind of assistance related to our products and top ecommerce services provided in Estonia, France, Sweden, Poland, Russia, Germany, Switzerland, Netherlands, Spain, Italy. For more information visit our website at https://smdtechno.com/ecommerce/ or email us at [email protected]