As consumers have switched to smart devices to purchase groceries, apparel, furniture, the demand for online shopping stores has increased drastically. Today most businesses have embraced digital structure to grab the attention of their potential clients and boost sales.
According to a survey, US retail e-commerce sales will increase by 16.1%, generating revenue of $1.06 trillion in 2022.
The convenience offered by E-Commerce is certainly the reason behind this massive growth. It also acts as an encouragement for other small to medium-scaled businesses to make their digital footprint.
If you are on the verge of making your digital footprint, all you need is the right E-commerce platform. But the problem here is that there are tons of e-commerce platforms available, it is difficult to choose the right one among them.
Hopefully, this blog will guide you by highlighting essential factors that you should consider while selecting the right e-commerce platform for your business.
1) Pricing and Payment
Pricing of the e-commerce platform is the first and foremost thing that you must consider. Whether you own a small business or an established one, a budget has to be there for everything.
Most e-commerce platforms charge a monthly fee. The charges vary depending on the platform and its features. The processing fee associated with the platform also should be calculated while fixing the budget.
But one thing that you should keep in mind is never to compromise on the features for the budget. Try to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of each platform before selecting the right one fitting the budget.
Also, check how customers will be paying as some e-commerce platforms do not provide the ability to pay through third-party vendors. Go for a platform that has proper payment gateways. Otherwise, it can turn out to be disadvantageous for your customers, leading them to abandon your shopping cart. So never take this kind of risk as it could ruin your business.
2) Security
Security is another vital thing to consider while selecting an e-commerce platform. If customers don't feel safe while buying anything from your website, they will abandon your cart, and sales will fall. Gaining back trust becomes difficult once lost.
So make sure to choose a platform that is well-equipped with necessary security features like PCI(Payment card industry)compliance, SSL certificate, data backups, and fraud prevention.
Also, check whether the platform performs security audits or not, to identify vital security risks. This way, the required arrangements can be done to protect customers' data.
We recommend you go for a platform developed in an object-oriented programming language for better security. Magento and Shopify are the two best-known e-commerce platforms that focus on two-factor authentication, minimizing the vulnerability of websites.
3) SEO
Customers can only visit your website if they can find your e-commerce store in popular search engines while looking for products that you offer. It is crucial to rank your website in search engines, and for that hiring, SEO service is of utmost importance.
Also, it is necessary to check whether the e-commerce platform you are choosing for website development, is equipped with SEO-related features. If the platform has it all, it will surely help to improve the website ranking on search engines.
Some of the reputed SEO-friendly e-commerce platforms are Magento, OpenCart, and WooCommerce.
4) Customer Service
A major aspect of any business is its customer service. In the case of online business, a customer-friendly experience is offered by developing an impeccable website with a responsive design.
But online businesses often face challenges like software outages and server downtimes. This prevents customers from accessing your websites for hours.
So it is wiser to go for a platform that supports you and fix issues at the earliest if any.
5) Mobile-friendliness
Almost 60% of searches are done from mobile devices every day, and sometimes those searches lead to a purchase from a mobile device. From this, we can understand that it is vital to choose a platform that will allow your customers to access your website from their mobile device and continue with the purchase. So make sure to go for mobile-friendly platforms.
6) Supports multiple selling channels
An e-commerce store can increase its revenue by offering products or services on various selling channels. Always go for an e-commerce platform that will allow you to sell your products or services through multiple selling channels like FB, messenger, Instagram, Amazon, etc. The few best multi-channel e-commerce platforms are Shopify, BigCommerce, Magento, and Prestashop.
These platforms will allow you to create varied selling options in digital marketplaces and earn high revenue from them by enabling centralized management of your inventory data.
Conclusion,
Starting a new business is always challenging, but moving from a traditional store to an online version is even more difficult, especially when you have too many options to get started with. A wrong decision can harm your online business. So why take the chance?
It is advisable to reach out to the top e-commerce website development company in India for professional guidance. Based on your business goals, the expert developers will be able to guide you on the platform you must consider to grow your business in leaps and bounds.
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