E-Commerce for All

So You Want to be a Shop Owner Part 2 of 5

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…

Platform PROS CONS
Hosted Carts
  • Easy to use
  • Support
  • Low or no development cost
  • Little coding or html knowledge necessary
  • Most process credit cards
  • Cost for Service
  • Lack of customization options
  • Lower conversions when switching url when checkout/catalog
  • Lack of server side control for hosted pages
  • Page Ads with some platforms
  • Some lack the ability to have domain based email accounts
  • Very hard to move your products/site to another solution
  • In many cases you cannot add peripherals such as blogs and
    feeds
Static Carts
  • Low or no cost of development
  • Use your hosting
  • Have server/account control
  • Domain based professional looking email addresses
  • Create your own style/page themes
  • Generally no monthly fees
  • Your site wholly belongs to you
  • Cannot process credit cards in a normal fashion
  • Lack of dynamic editing features
  • Are generally unprofessional looking
  • Lower conversions with less functionality
Hosted Software
  • One time or free software cost upfront
  • Use your hosting
  • Have server/account control
  • Domain based professional looking email addresses
  • Many customizations and modifications available
  • Many themes and styles to use
  • No monthly fees
  • Process credit cards normally
  • Your store belongs to you
  • Need some programming/coding knowledge in many cases
  • Development cost
  • Cost of future upgrades
There are certainly a great deal more involved than the basics I have covered above. Aside from deciding IF e commerce is right for you and your business this is the MOST important decision you will make. Choosing your platform requires using proper research to make informed decisions about your business’ ability, need and budget for your online store.

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.

Many store products will involve multiple options, such as size and color to properly and easily serve their shoppers. Many static carts and some hosted carts lack the ability to set options within your products, much less track the inventory properly with the options… You might even have to create separate products for each option added.

Being able to process credit cards as well as PayPal type payment options will significantly increase your ability to convert shoppers to sales.  You will most likely require the ability to streamline and improve your checkout process to suit your needs.  Keep it short and sweet!

The ability to cross sell or suggestive sell related products is a huge advantage for any shop.  Making a sale for one item is really not a big accomplishment… But building that same shoppers order up with the additional products he/she needs or are related in nature will provide better sales and more returning shoppers.

Very likely your products are shipped… Shoppers have become very wary of the shipping scams on eBay and such.  You will want to provide a very transparent and upfront shipping estimation and rate feature to be successful.

Are your products digital or down loadable… Few shopping cart platforms handle virtual products well and this requires a great deal of investigation on your part.  Can you easily upload, allow multiple downloads, track downloads, set a time limit, require payment verification, launch automatic download links…. Yep, this one is a challenge for MOST shopping carts.

What about navigation?  I can tell you with 100% confidence that there is NOTHING more important to your store.  You will need the ability to create, add and edit your categories and internal navigation as often as you like.  Tweaking your site flow and navigation are a never ending task.  You will need an accurate and prominent search function… But NOT in place of great navigation, in addition to.

Many shops need greater functionality in the accounting and administrative ends.  The ability to properly charge sales tax only when applicable is a highly important and commonly missing feature.  You might need tighter inventory controls and sales/cost reports… Do your homework here so your don’t get burned.

What about sales, discounts and coupons… Even if you believe you will not need these effective marketing tools right now, I would have to suggest at some point you will want to turn to them and be very happy you have the ability.

Ask a ton of questions of any software solution you are considering… and if they do not have the answers, move on!

Next… Part 3 Development Options and Choosing Proper Web Hosting – Due 8/13/2008

Part 4 Shop Necessities, Integration and Functionality – Due 8/15/2008

Part 5 Got My Store in Development, Now What? – Due 8/18/2008

Melanie

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