HOW TO CHOOSE THE

BEST ECOMMERCE
PLATFORM
Table of Contents

1. Introduction 03

2. The Importance of Choosing the Right eCommerce Platform 04

3. The Best eCommerce Platform: Does it Exist? 05

4. 5 Factors to Consider While Choosing an eCommerce Platform 06

5. Pricing and Payment 07

6. Integrations 08

7. Themes & User Experience 09

8. Platform Security 10

9. Platform Speed & Scalability 11

10. Closing the Loop with the Must-Have Features 12

11. Choose the Right eCommerce Platform for a Future-ready Business 14

12. How Net Solutions can Help? 15

Introduction
With a plethora of eCommerce platforms to choose from, it’s now easier than ever to
create an online shopping experience for consumers. However, like everything else
in life, too much choice can sometimes be overwhelming. Failure to choose the right
eCommerce platform for your B2C website could potentially damage your reputation
and even deter consumers from visiting your store.

The eCommerce market is growing steeply, with the

global retail eCommerce sales projected to grow by
about 85% from 3.53 trillion US$ in 2019 to as high
as 6.54 trillion US$ in 2022.

This enormous potential growth of the market

signifies the crucial need to have a competitive
eCommerce platform for your business to stay
ahead of the curve.

The good news is that choosing the right

platform is easy once you have a well-defined
eCommerce strategy. Also, there are a handful
of critical factors that need to be considered
to pick the right eCommerce platform for your
growing business. This document lists precisely
the same to help you choose the perfect
eCommerce platform for your business.

3
The Importance of Choosing
the Right eCommerce Platform
The right digital commerce platform can dramatically transform how you do business.
A fast, flexible, cloud-based solution delivers memorable customer experiences,
streamlines your operational efficiency, and creates phenomenal growth opportunities.

But it also doesn’t mean that you use some hefty budget and get the best storefront for
your business. Your choice has to be wise and balanced.

When it comes to selecting an eCommerce

platform, you have to remember that your
eCommerce site will dictate and determine
the four essential things that you can’t
afford to risk: Growth: how quickly your
business can grow?; Running costs: the
cost of building your eCommerce platform
and ongoing maintenance costs; Customer
engagement: how you engage and interact
with your customers; Service: will you be able
to deliver the service you set out to achieve?

Thus, choosing the perfect eCommerce

platform for your business is much more
critical than you ever thought it to be.

4
The Best eCommerce Platform:
Does it Exist?
Selecting an eCommerce platform based on its popularity is not the best way.

The best eCommerce platform is the one that

successfully delivers the outcomes and objectives that
you have set and not necessarily the popular one.

Your business goals can be like increasing revenue, improving customer engagement, or
entering or creating a new market. Also, if you compete in a fast-paced industry, you might
want to have a platform that can move and adjust at the same speed as your competitors.

Look at all your business goals sequentially and list your business objectives clearly before
setting on to search for your eCommerce platform.

5
5 Factors to
Consider While
Choosing an
eCommerce
Platform

6
 01

Pricing and Payment

The first thing you should consider
when searching for an eCommerce
platform is the price. Whether you’re
a small business just getting started or
an already established brick & mortar
business moving online, you precisely
need to know what you’ll be paying.
Almost all platforms will have a monthly
fee. You should also consider the
processing fees that will be associated
with the platform. Don’t sacrifice the
things you’ll definitely need for a lower
price. Try to weigh the pros and cons of
each to get the best for your budget.

Below is a chart showing pricing samples of just a few of the top platforms.1

PLATFORM LAUNCH FREE STARTING DOMAIN EP

NAME YEAR TRIAL FROM AUTHORITY RATING

Shopify 2004 Yes $14/month 91 4.5*

Bigcommerce 2009 Yes $29.95/month 88 3.5*

Volusion 1999 Yes $15/month 87 3.5*

Woocommerce 2011 Free Free 94 3*

Magento 2001 Demo Free 89 4.5*

It would help if you also considered how

your customers would be paying. Some
platforms don’t offer the ability to pay via
third-party vendors (such as PayPal). This
could end up being a huge inconvenience
for your customers – a  frustration which
can lead to shopping cart abandonment.

7
1
Source: eCommerce Platforms
 02

Integrations
Another critical factor you should consider when looking at eCommerce platforms is
integrations and plugins.

The seamless integration of eCommerce sites with other channels throughout the
customer journey is the key to success. Many platforms offer plenty of integration tools
to you. When looking at the different platforms, think of what tools you’ll need or already
use for your business.

Here are some of the most popular plugins that you should look out for:

Accounting: Payment & Shipping:

To help with sales, taxes, revenues, To help with the payment processing
and profits and shipping of your products

Email Marketing: 3rd Party Digital Tools:

To help you keep in contact with Integrations with tools like marketing
your customers automation systems, CRMs, and ERPs
to allow for additional customization

Custom Reward:
To help you reward your customers
for using your products

xxlm-2

8
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1-Hour Long,
1:1 Consultation.
Get 1:1 free consultation to help you choose
your eCommerce platform

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9
 03

Themes & User Experience

In today’s online marketplaces, consumers aren’t just looking to buy products; they
want to experience engaging, immersive shopping environments. To meet such
demands, your platform solution must offer a unique shopping experience.

A theme defines the design of your online store.  Most eCommerce platforms offer a
variety of themes to choose from. Some themes are free with the subscription, while
others are premium and require an additional fee to use.

The premium themes will often set your website apart and deliver a differentiated
shopping experience. On the other hand, if the eCommerce platform offers only a few
free themes, customers could find the experience dull and boring, giving an edge to
your competitors.

Consider the list of themes that various platforms offer.  Also, consider how much effort
you want to put into customizing your page. The platform selected should align with
the experience you wish to deliver to your customers.

By 2020, the quality of user

experience provided by a brand
will be more important than
“ price and product as a key
differentiator.2

10
2
Source: Guardian
 04

Platform Security
It pretty much goes without saying that security is a massive issue in eCommerce. It’s critical
that your store and the sensitive data it handles, is kept safe and secure at all times.

A recent study shows, the most common types of online

eCommerce frauds are identity theft (71%), phishing (66%)
and account theft (63%) 3

Hence, it’s critical to check out the security credentials of your chosen eCommerce platform
before going any further. E.g., whichever platform you choose, you need to make sure that it
is PCI (Payment Card Industry) compliant - a set of requirements that ensures that companies
processing or transmitting credit card information maintain a secure environment.

Some of the Major eCommerce Some Trending eCommerce

Security Threats & Issues Security Reels

Financial Frauds Switch to HTTPS

Spam Secure Your Servers and Admin Panels

Phishing Payment Gateway Security

Bots Antivirus and Anti-Malware Software

DDoS Attacks Use Firewalls

Brute Force Attacks Secure your website with SSL certificates

SQL Injections Multi-Layer Security

XSS eCommerce Security Plugins

A secure online store promises enhanced customer experience, which leads to increased

conversions. So pick your eCommerce platform wisely to help you build a secure store
that regularly updates itself and offers top-notch security.

11
3
Source: Javelin Research
 05

Platform Speed & Scalability

Finally, speed and scalability are critical to be considered when choosing an eCommerce
platform. Online shoppers are impatient and accustomed to quick experiences. Only if
you deliver speed and scalability, it’s possible that your business will grow and will be
future-ready.

Recent research shows that the bounce rate increases, the longer it takes to load, even
by each second4. Devices can help improve the network, but if your platform offers a
sluggish speed, everything goes in vain.

Further, don’t let a static eCommerce platform dictate your definition of a good
eCommerce experience. Search for a scalable solution with out-of-the-box features and
functionalities which satisfy the needs of your growing business from day one.

Think about scalability before it happens and choose the right eCommerce platform that
can promise such results.

Chase the vision, not the

money; the money will
“ end up following you.
–Tony Hsieh, CEO, Zappos

12
4
Source: Think with Google
Closing the Loop with the
Must-Have Features
Once you have carefully considered the critical factors for choosing an eCommerce
platform for your business, you are practically on the brink of picking the right platform.

However, the loop stays open-ended until you parallelly list out the must-have features of
your eCommerce solution.

Every eCommerce platform has its own set of unique features

and functions. But for your business, you need to make sure that
the platform you pick has all the essential features as listed here.

Robust Flexible Product Website

Catalog Pricing Personalization

Flexible eCommerce Google Merchant

Shipping Analytics Integration

Facebook Business Built-in/Third Party Automatic Tax and

Integration Customer Review Systerm Account Calculations

Multiple Payment Single Customer Headless

Gateways View Commerce

13
 Choose the Right eCommerce
Platform for a Future-Ready
Business
Deciding on your eCommerce platform
is the first essential step when starting
an online store. Make sure you do your
research beforehand because switching
eCommerce platforms can be frustrating,
time-consuming, and expensive.  There are already
as many as 120
By following the list of factors mentioned eCommerce platforms5
in this document, you should be able
available in the
to evaluate every major dimension of a
platform, to pick the best one for your
market, underlining
business. the burning need
to consider each of
When you are using the right eCommerce
the above-discussed
solution for your business, it facilitates
factors carefully to
the day-to-day task of processing online
sales. Further, using a platform that fully
pick your perfect
integrates all aspects of your business eCommerce platform.
allows smoother operations, and gives
you a limitless opportunity to grow your
business.

Remember to get the inputs from the

entire team and to keep your customers
and the future goals at the forefront while
choosing an eCommerce platform, and
you are all set to build your next-gen
eCommerce store.

14
5
Source: eCommerce Platforms
How Net Solutions can Help?
Net Solutions is one of the leading B2B and B2C eCommerce development and
consulting companies trusted by many brands and eCommerce retailers across the
globe.

Net Solutions is not only a domain expert when it comes to eCommerce website

development services and online retail consultation but also your growth partner.

Besides looking into all elements of your eCommerce processes, including strategy,
design, and engineering, we also use advanced data tracking & analytics to help you
identify potential growth areas.

Explore how one of the UK’s Top 500 Retailers increased conversions from 1.46% to
5.42% over the years through their multi-channel eCommerce platform development
with Net Solutions.

15
Contact Us
Scale your Business with
Next-Gen eCommerce Development

Helping you grow your business is our priority.

Our team of friendly eCommerce experts is
ready to answer any questions you might have.

Request Free Consultation

www.netsolutions.com

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