Top 10 Questions to Ask When Selecting an eCommerce Platform
With more and more people preferring to do their shopping online, the eCommerce sector has gone from strength to strength in the last couple of years as per discussions on the same over at runrex.com. What this means is that any business worth its salt should really be looking to hop onto the eCommerce bandwagon. However, as per the subject matter experts over at guttulus.com, choosing the eCommerce platform that will be the right fit for you is not always easy, particularly with so many different options to choose from. To help with that, this article will look to highlight the top 10 questions you should ask when selecting an eCommerce platform.
Will it align with your budget?
This is one of the most important questions you should ask when selecting an eCommerce platform, as per the gurus over at runrex.com, as you want a platform that will give you the best possible results while still ensuring that you are living within your means. As per discussions on the same over at guttulus.com, you should look for the sweet spot as far as budgetary concerns go, not just looking for the cheapest option which may save you money but won’t have all the important features to give you the best possible results.
What products or services are you selling?
This is yet another important question to ask when selecting an eCommerce platform as specific products or services do well when sold on specific platforms. This is because, as per the folks over at runrex.com, all products and services have got their own specific set of requirements. For instance, if you are selling digital products or services, you will need specific features such as a system to send your customers a unique link to enable them to retrieve their purchased download and as such you should look for an eCommerce platform with such features.
What is the size of your inventory?
It goes without saying that the size of your inventory will also govern the eCommerce platform you end up selecting and therefore, this is yet another very important question to ask yourself. If you have a large inventory with lots of product, you want an eCommerce platform that can handle your large inventory. As per the gurus over at guttulus.com, if you have a large inventory, you also want to select an eCommerce platform that doesn’t charge by how many products you have listed.
What sort of plug-ins and integrations do you need?
As per the subject matter experts over at runrex.com, it is important to ensure that you select an eCommerce platform that has all the tools in terms of plug-ins and integrations your business requires. It is important that the eCommerce platform you select has all the tools you need to build a website that will have all the features you need, both for now and for the future when your business grows. As covered in detail over at guttulus.com, it is also important that you choose a platform that has all the essential plug-ins already integrated and not one that has additional charges once you integrate the plug-ins you want.
How much do you expect your business to grow?
This is yet another very important question to ask yourself as you don’t want to find yourself in a situation where you have to migrate to another eCommerce platform down the line since your business has grown so much and the platform can’t handle it any more. According to the folks over at runrex.com, if you anticipate your business to grow, you should select an eCommerce platform that is scalable to accommodate this growth to avoid having to migrate in the future.
What levels of control are you looking for?
As discussed in more detail over at guttulus.com, when choosing an eCommerce platform, you have to choose between hosted and self-hosted. In the hosted, the software is hosted on a server to which you don’t have direct access to while self-hosted platforms are those where you host your site on your own server. While both of the them have their pros and cons, it goes without saying that you will have more control of your site when dealing with a self-hosted platform as you will have the freedom to customize your website as you deem fit. Therefore, the level of control you are looking for is a key barometer when selecting an eCommerce platform.
What are your preferred payment methods?
It is also important to ask yourself how you expect your customers to pay for your products and services and then selecting an eCommerce platform that supports your business’s preferred payment methods. Therefore, as per the gurus over at runrex.com, if you want your business to support payment through credit cards then you should choose a platform that supports the same, and likewise if you want payment to be done through third-party payment providers like PayPal.
What are the platform’s marketing features?
Once you launch your eCommerce website, you will have to grow it, and the only way to do so is through marketing as per the subject matter experts over at guttulus.com. You should therefore ask yourself if the eCommerce platform you are considering has got all the requisite marketing tools and features such as newsletter, email marketing tools, coupon code and discounts, social media integration among others. All of which will ensure that you are able to pull traffic to your website.
What are the platform’s security levels?
Another very important question you should ask yourself when selecting an eCommerce platform is how secure your website will be if you go with a certain platform. According to the gurus over at runrex.com, no customer wants to shop on a site where they are not sure if their financial and personal details will be secure. It is therefore crucial that you check and see if the platform supports HTTPS/SSL to ensure safe and secure checkout.
Is the platform mobile-friendly?
As per discussions on the same over at guttulus.com, with the number of mobile users going up by the day, making sure that your eCommerce website is mobile-friendly is a must in the current climate, particularly since majority of searches are done through mobile devices now. Therefore, when selecting an eCommerce platform, ask yourself how mobile-friendly it is and only select the platform that has the capability to optimize and make your website as mobile-friendly as possible.
Remember, if you are looking for more information on this topic or have questions that you need answered, then the subject matter experts over at runrex.com have you covered.