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What could be the best ecommerce platform for small business?
salmonjames21
subscriber Posts: 22 Bronze Level Member
I know there are so many platforms and are working fine enough, people are using it though.
Still, I would like an honest opinion with the valid reasons that which one should you suggest and why?
Still, I would like an honest opinion with the valid reasons that which one should you suggest and why?
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You can hire Magento certify developer easily for your customization requirement.
I recommend talking to a consultant that will discuss your business and recommend the right solution. Not just the solution they provide.
Dear James,
When you are looking for an e-commerce platform, you firstly need to understand your business requirements i.e.
After answering these questions next step is to list down all the features you want to add in your e-commerce. Creating a business model and revenue model will be the right thing to do. Your business model will answer how things will work and revenue model will describe what will be the sources of income.
The next step will be finding a platform completely or somewhat similar to your requirements. Check the features and prices of the platforms. Don’t forget to check the extra benefits you will be getting with the software i.e. free hosting, Technical support etc.
This article from Inc. Magazine will help you getting the overview of best 5 e-commerce platforms http://www.inc.com/bill-carmody/top-5-ecommerce-platforms-for-2017.html
PS. I would recommend you to check websites of all these platforms and make a list of features and benefits they are offering, only then make the final decision.
Regards,
Tiered pricing depending on the business. It’s can cost nothing (Magento Community) , it is Free to download , you can download at this link
Why Magento is cool for your store?
This is for serious large-scale retailers who want a high-end ecommerce store. They want the best of the best and have the capital to pay for it. They also have the revenue to hire on-going top developers to manage their system.
Ease of use - The least user friendly on this list - It’s a more complex product and can take some getting use, as mentioned above, you’ll need an experienced programmer on-board to manage the platform.
Performance - High level of security. Can have delayed loading speed. Can also have trouble with mobile friendliness. Perfect for scaling a large business
Features - Full of all the bells and whistles any business could want and fully customizable. Customer segmentation and targeted promotions. Private sales feature. Multiple wish list. Multiple storefront option. Multi-language, multi-currency support, detailed content and information on stock
Good and various extensions for your choice such as:
Magento 2 dropship extension,Magento Affiliate Module
Magento Website Development,Magento Affiliate Module
Magento Plugins
Magento 2 Plugins
Magento 2 Modules
Magento 2 Social Login,Magento Plugin Development
Magento 2 Gift Card
The only thing is, the time wave of their trial period is really weird. Just 14 days or a month and that's all? Seriously. In a month, you will barely be able to understand any platform and would get faimilar with it.
Why is that, these eCommerce website builders are not free or at least they should be offering at least 3 to 4 months free.
What do you guys say?
Trials are generally for short periods on purpose, because it familiarizes you with the product, and then right when you're getting used to it, the company either takes it away or auto-bills you at the end of the cycle. So basically the hope is you either loved the product enough to purchase it, and if not, you are sneakily auto-enrolled into it after the trial expires. Even if you cancel before the deadline, the company has captured your name, email and other personal info.
Free trials are quite deceiving, though they may be helpful when you're trying to find the correct product for your needs.
Here is an article on the subject from the Federal Trade Commission: https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0101-free-trial-offers
Community Manager
StartupNation, LLC
But couple of my friends have been advocating about an eCommerce platform and they got very good online store too. They say that it is almost like zero risk, zero investment and one of my friends even got a mobile application for his online store too. What do you think, Can it be a tactic too? and if not, so should I give them the try?
But if you test it out and like it, and you're certain it can accomplish what you need it to, then of course you should go with it.
Community Manager
StartupNation, LLC
Why? I’m guessing that since you are a shop owner, you’re not a technical person. This means you need to either outsource the development/setup of the site in the beginning, or you use a hosted “all-in-one” platform to just do it’s thing, with disregard for complete control of customization. As a technology provider, our number one suggestion is to use Magento.
It’s simple, super customizable, automated, and provides enterprise level control at a startup price, using smarter software. Most often you will choose to have a company create the website for you, but you still need complete control to edit each aspect of the site itself. This is done within the admin panel of the system itself. Each of the systems you mentioned do offer some sort of admin control panel, but as others have pointed out Shopify is very limited in the customization of your site without extensive programming knowledge or Shopify Plus.
Magento:
WooCommerce eCommerce store is free to download and it doesn’t charge transaction fees also. It’s a free plugin of WordPress. The prices in WooCommerce are in the form of the type & number of extensions that you would need to install on online store.
OpenCart is also free to download, use and upgrade. You can download it from the official website of OpenCart. However, you need to pay additional amounts like any other eCommerce development platform for extended features.
Recently it has launched support plans that are worth taking a look at. It provides two plans that are: a $99/month premium support plan and a one-time fix (pricing varies). The premium support plan of OpenCart ort issues like installations and bug fixes, but without unlimited support. You will receive help only up to 5 installations and 3 bug fixes every month.
Shopify’s starter plan, Shopify Lite costs $9 per month, represents a cheaper ways to sell online while Shopify gold is designed for fast growing brands and online sellers by providing world-class enterprise commerce technology at a fraction of the cost.