Choosing an eCommerce Solution

Published on September 17, 2020 by Adam Buckeridge, Director of Client Experience

With so many options, businesses are bound to be overwhelmed and make mistakes when choosing an eCommerce solution. It is easy to jump to a quick solution, but without the proper evaluation of your business goals and needs when it comes to eCommerce, that quick solution could lead to unnecessary waste of resources.

There is no one size that fits all and the right solution for you should really be based on what features your business needs, along with where in the eCommerce journey you and your business are in.

Common eCommerce Mistakes

With so many eCommerce options, businesses are bound to be overwhelmed and make mistakes in choosing the best option. Common mistakes include:

Price-only based decision
Overly robust solution
Not determining eCommerce goals

Companies that selected a solution based on price are often misled. The price may not be set, may not include the features needed, or could lock you into a closed solution that doesn’t integrate with your other digital solutions. While budget should be a factor in the eCommerce decision, it should not be the leading factor in selecting your solution.

Selecting the solution with every bell and whistle available may seem like the best most comprehensive solution, but there is a reason we suggest beginning with an assessment of your business and eCommerce goals. Excessive plugins and features can weigh the website down and create more hassle for your team to use. We suggest implementing a solution that meets your eCommerce needs, that can be utilized by your team and that allows expansion and growth. A good systems architect can build solutions and integrate your current digital profile without the bloat of the large eCommerce platform solutions.

Without clear goals for your eCommerce solution, it is easy to get persuaded by every new solution available. It is critical that you understand your business goals, the needs your business has to the eCommerce solution and a clear understanding of how your customers and team will utilize the platform. Without that understanding, companies can end up selecting a novice agency who are a jack of all trades but a master of none; solutions that are overrun with plugins and performance issues, or worse, choosing a platform based on the salesperson promises, to later find out that the solution cannot handle basic tasks such as handling more than one credit card for wholesale customers.

What are the key eCommerce features your business needs?

While it is common practice, it is premature to offer a solution or platform before understanding the core needs of your business. A business should have a clear understanding of their business goals, the needs that are driving this decision, their customers and budget, before deciding on the tool that is needed. This information provides a better understanding of the journey that the company is on and what is important to them. This information allows you to select the right solution, as the needs and goals are clearly defined, allowing an agency or partner to help architect the right solution based directly on the outlined goals.

Remembering to start with your eCommerce goals can keep you on the right track for your digital transformation. Click To Tweet

Endless eCommerce Options

There are many options for eCommerce, and that number continues to grow. It can be overwhelming to know what decision would be best for your business. Remembering to start with your eCommerce goals can keep you on the right track for your digital transformation. A trusted partner with experience in many digital platforms can be your guide in determining the right path for your business. The end result should be a well thought out plan that covers your overall business requirements, includes measurable goals, and a plan of action for implementing this.

If there is one thing that we recommend you do to solve this problem, it is starting off with an experienced architect and a well thought out digital strategy. An architect with experience will ensure that the proposed solution is stable, well engineered and follows best practices. They will bring their experience to the table, point out important decisions and what the knock on effects of those will be.