By So you’ve made the decision to create your own online store. Congratulations! The sector is expected to be valued $6.4 trillion in 2024, therefore it is unquestionably lucrative. The second question is, of course, what kind of platform you’ll utilise to run your company.
This is a strategic decision that demands just as much thinking and consideration as your actual product and marketing strategy. It’s natural to feel intimidated by the prospect of starting an eCommerce business in any domain, whether it’s a B2C or B2B platform.
That’s why we’ve put together this simple guide to assist you in selecting the best digital commerce platform:
What is the significance of an eCommerce company platform?
A software application that provides many frontend and backend tasks like as order fulfilment, inventory management, mobile transactions, and customer relationship management is known as an eCommerce platform (CRM).
An eCommerce platform, like a real production house or shop, serves as both the public face and the backbone of your online business.
You offer your items to your target market, assist them in securely placing orders, manage your warehouses from the backend, initiate delivery, and ensure that they fulfilled orders on time.
Furthermore, you have the benefit of automating numerous of these jobs that would otherwise they have to do it manually, ensuring that procedures move more quickly and for less money.
Your platform also serves as the public face of your company; the better the experience potential customers have on it, the better your reputation will be. The foundation of your business idea is an eCommerce platform.
What are the different types of eCommerce platforms?
Businesses who wanted to get into eCommerce in the past had to rely on their IT departments to build an in-house platform from the ground up. However, this is a time-consuming and inefficient procedure that is rarely scalable. It’s also pricey.
As a result, the ‘conventional’ crop of eCommerce platforms emerged, such as IBM Digital Commerce, which required the IT team to create functionality on top of a basic platform for which they charged the licence fee. This, too, can be expensive and inconvenient, particularly for small enterprises.
Furthermore, what if your IT department lacks the necessary expertise? So, what do you do now? On-premise technology is quickly becoming a thing of the past as eCommerce technologies advance.
BigCommerce, Wix Stores, and Shopify, for example, are all moving forward with their SaaS eCommerce systems. Furthermore, there has been a major transition to headless commerce as businesses desire more native UI/UX features, product or backend optimizations.
However, you have the option of selecting the most beneficial solution for your eCommerce business. In reality, depending on how much time you’re willing to invest in setup and how much control you want, we recommend choosing one of the three alternatives below:
Platforms for open-source eCommerce and marketplaces
There are various open-source eCommerce systems available, which means you can have them customised to your specifications and just pay for upgrades and data migrations.
Open-source online marketplaces benefit from the confidence and brand name of the solution provider (such as Walmart or Amazon), while also allowing you to customise the platform, making them a far more efficient option than constructing a platform from the ground up.
Furthermore, unlike a ‘conventional’ platform, there are no significant upfront licence payments. To gain a sense of the market, compare competitor pricing. If you have a limited budget but still want to take advantage of all of the primary features, this is a wonderful alternative for you.
Platforms for SaaS eCommerce
These are often based on a single codebase and include a set of eCommerce capabilities that all businesses may use in exchange for a monthly charge that covers the features as well as any maintenance or upgrade work.
As you upgrade your subscription, you able to ‘unlock’ additional features. This is great as a plug-and-play option with everything you need to get started, especially if you are new to eCommerce. This is ideal if you don’t have a large IT department to assist you.
Environment for hosting (Cloud)
They use traditional and open-source platforms in cloud eCommerce platforms. They could even be legacy platforms that have been moved to the cloud. This alternative needs you to perform your own maintenance and upgrades, but unlike a SaaS eCommerce platform, you own the environment with cloud solutions.
Consider these factors while selecting an eCommerce platform.
When it comes to choosing an eCommerce company platform, many new firms prioritise aesthetics and user experience, which is understandable.
Lead creation, business process management, and customer relations, on the other hand, are critical for creating ROI.
The greatest eCommerce business platform is one that assists you in achieving your business objectives profitably and on schedule, and the decision may differ for different businesses in different industries.
Source: ecommerce platforms , online selling platform
