E-Commerce for All

Starting an online store has become the very trendy thing to do recently, however, most new shop owners are misguided, make rash decisions and lack the understanding and research necessary to be successful in their online business. This series of 5 posts will hopefully serve as a guide to developing your own online store as painlessly and successfully as possible.

So you want to be a Shop Owner Part 3

Today we will cover some options you have for the development of your shopping cart and the hosting resources you will need to run your business properly.

With most e commerce platforms you can do the initial shopping cart configuration and set up yourself.  However, unless you are using a hosted e-commerce solution I would highly recommend you at least get a consult from an e-commerce developer who specializes in the software/platform you have chosen.  A developer who knows the online shopping business and the software you are using can make your store successful with their experience and knowledge.  Its okay to do this “in house” so to speak, but there will be a great deal of research and learning involved to do an adequate job.

Not all shopping cart software is created equal… Remember back in Part 2 of this series we covered the different types of platforms.  Hopefully now, since you have decided on a shopping cart platform you have made certain your choice of software “can” do everything you need. This is where that e commerce developer comes in… They have a much greater understanding of the software’s capabilities and e-commerce trends.

Here are some questions you might ask a shopping cart developer BEFORE you choose them.

• What are your greatest strengths as an ecommerce shop developer?
• What other shopping cart platforms do you develop?
• Do you have some examples of stores you have developed for me to view?
• Do you have a few business references I can contact?
• How long have you been in business and have you always specialized in e-commerce?
• Do I “HAVE TO” host my website with you?
• What don’t you do in the development process (what will we “have to” do ourselves”)?
• Do you provide ongoing support and what is the cost?

Working with an e-commerce expert will help you avoid some of the pitfalls and ensure that your new store has everything it needs to succeed.  Many times in business we absorb a cost up front and expect the investment returned to us in sales/success. Retaining a ecommerce development firm is a better choice if you will require extensive integration or customization.

Web stores, like any other website rely heavily on their ability to rank organically in the search engines.  You can make mistakes with your website, which not only hinder organic results, but can be very costly down the line to repair your organic standing.  I would suggest you do a deep read in to the “help” section or forum of your shopping cart software and look for things like content duplication, url structure, load speed, title tags and other website anomalies related to your specific ecommerce software.

If you have qualified technical person on staff with relative experience in ecommerce development, you can save some money by doing some or all of the shop development in house.

Starting an online store has become the very trendy thing to do recently, however, most new shop owners are misguided, make rash decisions and lack the understanding and research necessary to be successful in their online business.  This series of 5 posts will hopefully serve as a guide to developing your own online store as painlessly and successfully as possible.

So you want to be a Shop Owner Part 2

There are basically 3 options for choosing the software or platform to run your online store…

1. Hosted E-commerce Solutions - These are shopping carts such as Yahoo Stores, eBay Stores and Nexternal.  These platforms have at least the catalog end of your business hosted on their own servers.
2. Self Hosted Static Carts - This is a cart you host and build using a static catalog and for example the PayPal shopping cart system. You maintain this store.
3. Self Hosted Shopping Cart Software - These platforms may be open source or purchased software, but you host and maintain the site yourself.

Each platform has some pros and cons to consider.  So lets dig in to how these solutions will work for you…

The truth of the shopping cart decision is that MOST businesses need more from their online store.  Things like enhanced shopping cart functionality and cross selling, order processing and shipping tracking systems and even multiple product options are generally required.