4 Platforms To Help You Launch Your First Ecommerce Site
When starting an online retailer there are now more options then ever. This creates a wide variety of choice and customization that simply did not exist in the past. This means you can find a platform that is better suited to your needs but that the process of figuring out what that is can be daunting. Over the years I have used a number of different tools and I have decided to list a few of my favorites here. Keep in mind that there are a number of solutions out there and I encourage everyone to do the research to determine what will fit your specific needs.
1. SQUARESPACE
Price:$18 to $40 a month depends on features (slight discount yearly sub).
Transaction Fees: 2.9% plus 30 cents per transaction (Uses Stripe)
Overview: If you are looking to only sell a few items and are not concerned about running complicated marketing or sales campaigns this is a great option. All of your basic eCommerce needs can be met through this platform.
Pros: This is a fantastic option for those of you who are looking to sell a few items. The ease of use of the platform requires very little technology know-how to get things off the ground. The integration with Stripe for payments is pretty seamless and you can use ship station to manage shipments. The relatively low price to get started is also a plus.
Cons: Without certain level of web development knowledge you are somewhat limited in terms of functionality. Changing the design and adding and removing things from the web page itself is relatively easy however plugging in additional functions such a accounting and fulfillment software can be somewhat tricky. A lot of these services do not have a pre-developed plug in for SquareSpace. However, if you are using Xero for accounting (this is integrated) and want to ship items yourself (not through a 3rd party fulfillment center) or use ShipStation (also integrated) this is an excellent option. If you want to do something other than just sell and track a small group of items at a set price this may not be robust enough for your needs.
Learn more:You can sign up for a free SquareSpace Trial at: http://www.squarespace.com/ Still want to know more?
Check out the Website Builder Expert review: http://www.websitebuilderexpert.com/squarespace-e-commerce-business-review/
2. AMAZON SELLER CENTRAL REVIEW
http://services.amazon.com/selling/benefits.htm
Price:$39.99 a month for professional plans 99 cents per item for individual plans.
Transaction Fees: Varies Based on Item See the Amazon Pricing Page for more details.
Overview:A fantastic way to gain access to a large base of customers and a great addition to any eCommerce strategy.
Pros: The major advantage here is access to customers. As I write this Amazon has an active user base of over 300+ million people. These people are all searching for products to purchase through Amazon.com. To ignore this sort of purchase power would be a great mistake.I recommend most small businesses list on Amazon even if they already have their own eCommerce platform. How deep you want to get into bed with Amazon is up to you. For our Loloz product we chose to use Fulfillment by Amazon for our stand alone eCommerce site as well as list under Amazon Seller Central and Amazon Vendor Central (invite only and a conversation for another post). This allowed us to outsource our fulfillment and part of our customer service / return process to an entity that has perfected the model. Although the cost is a little higher we found that taking that part of the process off of our hands was well worth the cost.
Cons: Amazon is very focused on its customer base and spends the majority of their time and resources on helping their everyday visitors have a customized and user-friendly experience. This is fantastic if you are shopping on Amazon.com but not so great if you are trying to sell on Amazon,com. Their back end systems for sellers is clunky and not very user-friendly.Without a certain level of web development knowledge, you are somewhat limited in terms of functionality. Changing the design and adding and removing things from the web page itself is relatively easy however plugging in additional functions such as accounting and fulfillment software can be somewhat tricky. Final Thoughts:The bonus here is that Amazon’s customer service is very helpful but I found myself having to call them more than I would like to. If you use fulfillment by Amazon their pricing structure can seem a bit high but again it’s really the access to their customers and network of fulfillment centers you are paying for here. In the end it is well worth the hassle of getting set up and if you manage your store correctly this partnership can easily pay for itself.
3. BIGCOMMERCE REVIEW
Price:$29.95 – $79.95 per month
Transaction Fees: An additional 1.5% on top of payment gateway fee for the standard plan. Payment gateways are typically ~2.9% depending on type. No additional transaction fee for the plus plan.
Overview: Bigcommerce is a great platform to get your feet wet in ecommerce. The price is right and it has a number of plugins that can really easily add to the functionality for users requiring their platform to do more than just take credit cards and track inventory.
Pros: Like SquareSpace or Shopify, Bigcommerce lets you pick a template that you can then relatively easily build a shop off of. Unlike SquareSpace its list of application vendors cover a number of different avenues including sourcing, accounting, fulfillment and marketing. For the more technically savvy user BigCommerce also has an open API that allows for additional customization.
Cons: Although the options are more robust in terms of plug ins BigCommerce still lacks some of the functionality you would hope to get from a robust eCommerce platform. The sale structure is somewhat limited (We couldn’t set up BOGO’s by category for instance, it had to be a one to one ratio). Also, you have to pay for the plus plan to get abandon cart emails and at times the user interface can be confusing. I also found the chat support to be lacking and recommend sticking with the phone support which is fantastic. Some things that I would consider basic features like integration with fulfillment by Amazon seem to be left out intentionally to allow for 3rd party vendors to fill the gap. This can be frustrating as the price tag can rise quickly for functions that are included in platforms like Shopify.Final Thoughts: BigCommerce is a great platform for small business as it offers just enough functionality to do what you need and a few ad-ons that can help you scale. However if you are doing high volume sale and want to get into more complicated marketing campaigns then this may not be the platform for you.
4. SHOPIFY REVIEW
Price:$29.99 to $179 per month
Transaction Fees: 2.4% + 30 cents per transaction to 2.9% + 30 cents per transaction
Overview: Probably one of the more robust platforms for small business out there Shopify is a fantastic choice for businesses that want a little more flexibility in their platform. Although there is an additional 30 cent transaction fee added to this platform that you won’t get in some of the higher packages in Bigcommerce the additional functionality and ease of use of Shopify makes up for it in my mind.
Pros: Shopify has a large amount of plugins to choose from and the installation is relatively easy. Shopify has the additional bonus of providing an option for brick and mortar point of sale. With an iPad or iPhone and a few clicks of the mouse you can leverage Shopify to run your business both on and offline. I have found this to be exceptionally helpful with our Lolozproduct when selling at conferences. The ability to add a number of different payment systems is also an advantage here.
Cons: Price is the obvious con here. With an additional 30 cents per transaction if you are selling low priced or low margin products this can add up. However, you do get a little more functionality out of the price than you would for the lower priced Bigcommerce. Final Thoughts: Shopify is a fantastic option for companies just getting started that are willing to pay a little more for additional functionality they may need as they mature. If you plan to sell in store and online then this is a fantastic option as you can leverage one platform to do both.
