Choosing the Right E-commerce Solution
When creating an online store, a merchant has three major options: One, create,
maintain and host your own web store or hire a web developer to create a custom
store for you. Two, purchase shopping cart software and host independently. Or three,
use a hosted shopping cart service.
For programmers or merchants with deep pockets, creating, maintaining and hosting
your own web store is a valid option. If you have programming knowledge, you can
create your own store, but it’s time consuming. If you don’t, you’ll have to hire
a programmer to create a custom store, which will take a lot of time and money.
Either way, you’ll need a lot of expensive equipment and a webmaster to host your
own web store.
Shopping Cart Software
Because of this expense, and because most merchants aren’t programmers, many merchants
use shopping cart software to create their web stores. Shopping cart software and
services can be purchased in two ways.
You can buy a licensed e-commerce software package. This is usually sold as a one-time
purchase. It’s up to you to find someone to host the software and maintain it. Licensed
e-commerce software can be a big upfront investment. You also have to factor in
maintenance costs, such as installing upgrades. This can cost you valuable time
and money. In addition, it’s up to you to find a suitable web host and make sure
the shopping cart software you’ve chosen is compatible with the hosting environment.
Hosted E-commerce Solutions
The last and often best choice is using a fully managed hosted shopping cart service.
A hosted shopping cart service provides both your shopping cart and your hosting.
These services will also usually offer other services, such as design and internet
marketing. Advantages of a hosted shopping cart service include:
There’s no big upfront investment. There is a low cost of entry. Many services don’t
have yearly contracts, so you can cancel at any time if you’re not happy with the
service.
There’s no maintenance. You don’t have to worry about installing bug fixes or upgrades
or paying someone else additional money to do it. Also, you can receive upgrades
and bug fixes as soon as they become available.
E-commerce hosting straight from the source. Why use a middleman when you can go
straight to your e-commerce source for hosting?
Free upgrades. You won’t have to
pay additional money for upgrades. Your costs stay the same every month, and you
get new features as soon as they become available.
One stop shop. Hosted shopping cart service providers usually offer all the services
you need to run to your web store, including e-commerce design, marketing, programming
and training.
Beware!
Beware of companies that take a percentage of each sale. Although this payment option
sounds great when you’re small, you won’t like it when you’re making lots of sales.
You will be penalized for success. And many of these providers make it difficult
to for you to leave when you’ve outgrown their payment model.
Have a BV Signature e-commerce professional contact me.