It is not an easy feat to select an E-commerce platform that would best suit your business. Many things may influence your choices, such as the kind of customer you wish to reach out to, your business goals, your budget… etc; with all this in mind, making a choice might be confusing. So here we have organized a list of things you should look out for when choosing the best E-commerce platform for your business.
An e-commerce platform is software that allows online retailers to manage their business. It is buying and selling over the internet. Unfortunately, data and transactions over the internet are very vulnerable to attacks and exploitation, this brings us to number 1 on our list :
1. Security and Trust
Online shoppers are more likely to abandon a platform that does not guarantee the security of their privacy and credit card information. Customers expect that the platform they purchase from has encryption codes and other security measures like SSL certificates.
In other words, your E-commerce platform must have security barriers in place to prevent SQL injection and cross-site scripting as well as other kinds of manipulation and exploitation of sensitive data.
2. Hosting Features
A platform with hosting features comes with in-built functionality which makes it easy to catalogue your activities on other software. They have built-in security that prevents cyber attacks and data exploitation.
This means that you wouldn’t have to spend extra money on maintenance. It will give room for you to focus on more tasking issues in your business.
You may also develop your self-hosting features by employing a professional. However, this may be expensive and time-consuming.
3. The Cost
The price of an E-commerce platform may differ depending on the features and catalogue it provides. Some E-commerce platforms are cheaper but have limited features and functionality. Others may require you to pay a monthly cost to give you access to premium features which help you run your business more smoothly. Others may require a limited payment for an initial setup but will provide full access to impressive features.
It is advisable not to go for a cheap platform. What is most important is to maintain the reputation of your business and going for cheap platforms will put your business at risk of attack and exploitation.
4. Payment Process
This is a rather important issue in E-commerce. It has to do with selling products online and receiving payment from customers. This is the major essence of a business and should be considered to a high degree.
The E-commerce platform you wish to choose should have as many payment methods as possible, so it would cover methods that your customers are likely to be familiar with.
The platform you choose should be able to provide methods your company offers as well as methods that your customers are familiar with- That means major payment methods and other modes of possible, especially if you’re buying and selling at a worldwide range.
Additionally, look for platforms which have built-in toolkits to manage shipping taxes, different kinds of taxes and VAT.
5. Social Media Exposure
An E-commerce platform should have a direct connection to social media networks and should allow you to publish product catalogues on social media. This makes it easier for customers as they can make purchases directly while browsing the app.
6. SEO Features
When your products are easily searchable online, customers will visit your sites more often. If you want your site to rank higher in search engines then SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the way to go.
The platform you select should have SEO features like features that will allow you to write a description of your product, make blogs, allow your customers to leave pictures and reviews on your product, Google map support.. etc.
Platforms like Wix, Shopify, Square and a few others have In Built SEO-related features,.
7. Scalability
Your business is bound to grow with time. So choose a platform that will easily adapt to the growth of your business. The platform mustn't have exaggerated prices for adding extra features that might be beneficial to the growth of your business.
8. Compatible Web-design
Recent research shows that 50% of customers use their mobile phones throughout their online shopping. E-commerce platforms of this modern time should have a web design that will cater to this customer behaviour. This will prevent moving from one device to another when your E-Commerce website can be accessible on any device.
There are several E-commerce platforms, and it might not be possible to find one with every single one of these features. But you can find one that will best suit your business and serve as a good experience for your customers. Finding a good E-commerce platform will save you from a lot of extra work and it will improve your sales and reputation which is most beneficial to your business.
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