Power Up: The Online Retail Entrepreneur’s Guide – The Platformers (Part Two)

When it comes to building a webstore, there are plenty of e-commerce platforms to choose from. This instalment of Power Up will orientate any online retailer hoping to make sense of the muddle.

As a new-to-online retail business, it takes a lot of nerves, time and resources to get to the point where your products are converting consistently online. For most entrepreneur’s, this usually happens after the setup of a marketplace merchant store, or a simple shopping cart.
At the opposite end of the scale, big businesses require more advanced platforms to sell from. These more advanced e-commerce solutions come with enterprise-level price tags, so they’re generally not for a garage-warehouse level merchant. However, if you have a significant bricks-and-mortar retail business, or if it makes sense to you to keep an eye on the horizon (you can never be too prepared), then this article will help to fill in the details.
WARNING: If you do not have the basics of shipping, logistics and fulfillment planned out, or if you are yet to bone-up on the basics of selling online via a virtual marketplace like eBay, then it would be best to read the relevant Power Up articles on these issues first.

Enterprise-level or Advanced e-Commerce Platforms

There are roughly two kinds of high-end e-commerce platforms, with obvious pros and cons for each. Nominally, they are proprietary solutions versus open-source solutions.
Some of these details were previously discussed in the previous installment.
Proprietary solutions, like Volusion or Netsuite, are developed by the firms that administrate them. They usually afford the client little direct control over the ‘nuts and bolts’ workings of the software. Alternatively, an open-source solution, made popular by software systems like Magento, are usually free to get started, but require the user to develop and implement the website.
For example, ChannelAdvisor offers a proprietary enterprise-level e-commerce platform that its staff will tailor to the needs of their clients. However, ChannelAdvisor also offer a Magento connector software, allowing clients who have already developed an offering via Magento to later integrate with ChannelAdvisor’s proprietary softwares.
Mark Gray, Managing Director of ChannelAdvisor Asia-Pacific discusses the key differences between the two solution types.
“Unlike a proprietary enterprise platform, Magento requires a lot of development in the early stages of its implementation by an IT specialist,” says Gray. “I see it as not being a great place to start, particularly for businesses with limited funds.”
“Unless you’re a web developer, or can afford to hire one, be very careful about using Magento as a start up solution. The thing about Magento is that it’s open-source, so any developer can go in and add upgrades. There’s a lot that you can do because of that, but that means there are also inherent risks if you don’t have an IT professional who understands how to code properly and how to get the most of the functionality.”
Gray also highlights the fact that Magento, while being extremely popular, isn’t the only open-source e-commerce solution.
“Magento is just one example of a popular open-source cart, but there are also a lot of other well-known providers out there, such as Shopify and BigCommerce.”
The bottom line when choosing any software solution or developer to partner with is simply to do you homework before spending any money. Try to discover other retailers who have experience with that particular solution and try to identify any problems you may face in using the solution.

Dungeon Crawl's fast, secure checkout. An integral feature to appraise when considering e-commerce platforms.

Taking the Plunge

Forking out potentially thousands of dollars, or locking yourself into a year long contract with a developer can represent a lot of risk for a small business and it is worth asking how your business would benefit by taking the plunge. It seems a lot cheaper and easier to stick with eBay, doesn’t it?
There are literally dozens of quality e-commerce solutions to consider, so before signing any contracts be sure to research them all to ensure you find the perfect match for your business.

Building a Dream Webstore

Even if you’re not quite ready for that step up into an enterprise solution, it never hurts to dream. In fact, if you have a clear path for scaling up your online offering, you are much more likely to succeed and far less likely to run into a catastrophic period of down-time, which has the potential to kill off small-medium businesses entirely.
“As revenue begins to build from that online channel,” says Gray, “more money can be invested to upgrade or grow that website into a more robust solution like Volusion or Netsuite.”
“It’s important not to spend that sort of money or think about that level of tailored solution right from day one. It’s better to build traffic to a simple site and then worry about the more niggly parts later on,” he advises.

There are many e-commerce platform softwares available when creating a webstore.

When shopping for the right solution, ensure that you have a thorough understanding of what you are getting for your dollar. Create a checklist that is specific to your business and use it to compare various solutions across the elements that your store needs the most. This may require you to read reviews of web development firms and their softwares online, to speak with other retailers at every opportunity and even to pick up the phone and call a solutions provider.

The Essentials Checklist

There are certain fundamental elements that any successful webstore will require their e-commerce software solutions to provide.
Chris Hogan, e-Commerce Evangelist at website design and development company MeMedia, presents these major elements for any growing online retailer to consider:
A thorough e-commerce solution must provide the following:

• User-friendly shopping experience and the ability to change / innovate if the need arises
• Company friendly administration. Not overly time consuming to manage products, produce orders and ship
• Must be iPad and iPhone friendly. Yes the other brands matter as well but Apple products are picky, so cross these off and the others will come easily
• Secure system and secure shopping. This comes down to ensuring your entire system – including add-ons – are installed by a professional and experienced programmer
• Integrates with my existing accounting system
• Can leverage portals such as Facebook, Google shopping, eBay etc to enhance reach
• Service and support is only a local phone call away

These points aren’t necessarily restricted only to the higher-end software solutions, but represent the key areas that any online offering should try and include. By providing your customers with the best in each of these areas, your business stands to gain trust and increase customer loyalty.
The most simple webstore owner should be aware of how each element of the site operates, as certain things will influence customers more than others.
Stay posted for further instalments of Power Up for further advice on developing a great webstore.
For more information on e-commerce platforms and how you can build out the best online retail operation, visit our Solution Providers page.