A Quick And Simple Guide To Choosing The Right E-Commerce Platform For Your Business

Innovation A Quick And Simple Guide To Choosing The Right E-Commerce Platform For Your Business Chintan Shah Forbes Councils Member Forbes Technology Council COUNCIL POST Expertise from Forbes Councils members, operated under license. Opinions expressed are those of the author. | Membership (fee-based) Jun 10, 2022, 06:30am EDT | Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Chintan is a serial entrepreneur and currently the CEO and Founder of Brainvire .

getty Picking the right e-commerce platform for your business is like establishing the right foundation for a house. It dictates how much value your business will be able to obtain from a hosting service. Every platform offers different features, benefits and costs, but choosing an incompatible platform can lead to wasted budgets, extra costs and missed opportunities for growth.

On the other hand, putting careful thought into choosing the right platform for your business can bring you several benefits. These include creating a reliable online presence, consistent user experience, rapid lead generation and increased ROI. Choosing An E-Commerce Platform That Is Best Suited For Your Business When you establish your e-commerce store, the idea is to design an online experience that involves selling products to your customers no matter their location or preferred shopping destinations.

An e-commerce platform can help you do that but also offer you so much more. It is not just a tool to accomplish online selling but an entire ecosystem supporting and giving you better control of your business. Several aspects—from web hosting and bandwidth to inventory management and shipping partners—factor in when making the final decision on choosing an e-commerce platform.

Here are a few points that warrant deliberation in this regard. MORE FOR YOU Google Issues Warning For 2 Billion Chrome Users Forget The MacBook Pro, Apple Has Bigger Plans Google Discounts Pixel 6, Nest & Pixel Buds In Limited-Time Sale Event 1. Security.

Just as the way people shop is changing, so too is the demand for online security. E-commerce platforms must protect the customer by ensuring their privacy and data protection. In 2022, it will be imperative that e-commerce platforms have strong security measures in place to address these concerns and to make sure they are doing everything they can to protect their customers’ privacy.

See to it that the platform you select has features like SSL certification, fraud prevention, data backups and PCI compliance in place. Because of the built-in security protocols that object-oriented programming languages provide, it is recommended that you use one of these platforms. 2.

SEO capabilities. The majority of online shoppers start their online shopping journeys with a search engine. Make it a priority when choosing an e-commerce platform so that you can easily optimize your content for search.

This includes everything from URLs and metadata to adding blogs and customer reviews. 3. Responsive website design.

According to research from Google, 46% of customers use smartphones throughout their purchase process. Modern e-commerce stores would be better off adopting a responsive web design for their e-commerce platforms. This can save you the trouble of working on multiple websites.

With a responsive web design, your e-commerce store website can be accessible on any device, including laptops, smartphones and tablets. 4. Scalability.

Your e-commerce store should be scalable, especially if you are looking to grow your business in the future. Even if, at the outset, your store is small, make sure the e-commerce platform you select can scale along with your business. 5.

Omnichannel marketing. Omnichannel marketing is the most effective way to reach your customers and drive sales, especially since modern customers are already accustomed to an omnichannel experience. Make sure the platform you choose allows you to leverage different channels and, in turn, increase customer engagement, retention, conversion rates and revenue.

Weighing Your Options Before Deciding As of April 2021, some of the top e-commerce platforms and technologies by market share globally include Squarespace Online Stores, WooCommerce, Wix Stores, Amazon, Shopify and Magento. Each platform offers a wide range of unique features, and you can choose based on the different considerations that apply to your business. For instance, new-age D2C brands can look at factors such as pricing, customer support, availability of knowledge and learning resources, and ease of use.

Traditional businesses migrating to an online platform should consider inventory management, offline store integration and analytics. Businesses that are looking to scale in the near future must look for headless commerce, sales channel integration, availability of platform and app customization features. Even when it comes to some of the more widely used platforms, they’re not perfect, and there may be certain disadvantages to consider as well.

• Some platforms might offer great flexibility, limitless customization options and a thriving community. However, you might only be able to use it on certain systems, and there may be additional costs involved in getting extensions for optimum functioning. • Other platforms might be strong in terms of ease of use and might offer a large number of themes and features, but you could also incur payment processing and transaction fees for each sale you make.

They might also lack certain features such as email hosting. • Others might include optimal scalability, SEO capabilities and mobile friendliness. However, these solutions could be expensive in comparison to other platforms as well as demanding in terms of the skills and time needed to integrate the necessary customizations for your business.

There are also many platforms outside of the top options, and many retailers tend to choose a platform that is easiest and most affordable. However, holding on to these as the only considerations in choosing an e-commerce platform for your business can be a mistake and could cost you dearly in the long run. You should look for a platform that continually invests in its technology and stays ahead of the curve.

E-commerce platforms can be much more than simply a means to sell your products; they can be a vehicle for fast-tracking and strengthening your organization’s journey to the future. Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify? Follow me on LinkedIn .

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