In a world that lives, speaks and believes in digital concepts and information; choosing the eCommerce platforms for showcasing your product, serves great purposes. Where it helps you to reach your audience directly with your brand offerings; it also teaches you the various ways to connect with your visitors and build good rapport. Keeping in mind your business objective and your product profile, you must go for an appropriate eCommerce site that will provide all the features and services, essential for a successful brand presence in the online platforms.
And to make it happen, you must consider the following factors and question yourself to arrive at the best solution for your business.
- Product Range
The range and categories of your products are the first factors to determine the prospective eCommerce platforms. In order to bring all your products in a single platform, you need to maintain a product database. Whether you are a single brand with few products or have multiple brands operating in diverse product categories; look for an eCommerce solution that easily fits-in your entire product. The platform must also maintain your database and allow you to makes frequent updates in your product database.
- Quality of Content
Consider platforms that provide specific content models, suited to your product profiles and range. The data model should be equipped with vital product information that will create interest within your visitors and attract them towards your product. Integrating a customized CMS with the e-commerce site will take you further by displaying customised information, based on your audience profile. Thus, a rich and high-quality content framework is a must-have feature within your eCommerce platform.
- Product Search and Purchase Process
Have a look at your product search history and the purchase procedure adapted by your consumers. Based on your findings, look for ways to integrate a system within the eCommerce platform, through which you can track your visitors’ activities and can map their presence at real-time. Thus, you can know when your visitors are more likely to be online and take this opportunity to boost engagement and influence your product.
- Site Design
The e-commerce site design must go well with your product profile. It should be easy-to-navigate, and have high user-interface. Presence of site search shall be more effective in enabling your consumers to search different products, under your umbrella brand. Thus, you increase their awareness. Good site performance, quick page loading by 3-5 seconds, high ranking in search engine page, and attractive product presentation are some other aspects of a good eCommerce platform. Above all, the site has to be responsive, meaning it must easily adapt to all screen sizes (desktops, laptops, mobiles, tablets, iPAD, etc.).
- Marketing Campaigns Integration
Based on your frequency of marketing campaigns; ensure that your chosen e-commerce site has the important features and capabilities and provides good support in optimizing your campaigns. The platform must well integrate with your CMS and allow your campaign and content managers to seamlessly boost interactions and direct your audience, who are live and active in the platform; towards your products, which are already there in the site. Also, you must be able to track the effectiveness of your campaigns and assess your results.
- Cost
Cost is undoubtedly a crucial factor that is largely dependent on your marketing budget. Different e-commerce services run different solutions. In order to suit an e-commerce for your business, first try assessing its features and benefits and weigh them against your requirements. If you have settled for the e-commerce site, which comes at an expensive cost; prioritize your needs and focus on the significant requirements. Most eCommerce businesses offer hybrid solutions, which are more cost-efficient than the conventional software systems. It’s best to fish around for hybrid models and concise your costs, within your stipulated budget.
- Hosting
There are different ways of hosting your eCommerce section. Usually, eCommerce platforms are hosted in SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) platform, which works well for all kinds of products and businesses. And if you are someone from the web hosting industry; you can also host your section in your servers. Reliability, speed and connectivity of servers are the primary factors for considering a good hosting service. Nowadays, some eCommerce sections also offer hybrid hosting. The hybrid models are cost-efficient and you end up paying only for what you have consumed.
- Security
Security is as important for you as for your customers. Since your business fortune will be largely dependent on the e-commerce portals; therefore, it must keep away from bugs, spams and online threats. Thus, before making the final deal, enquire about the security provisions and measures of the e-commerce site. Do a little research with the brands that are already present in the eCommerce platform. And finally consider the security ratings and standard of the site.
Conclusion
After minutely considering the above factors; gather all data, analyze the characteristics and advantages, map them against your business requirements and then take a call on the most appropriate eCommerce software for your brand.
