About Ecommerce Solutions

Ecommerce is common aspect of many digital strategies as a means to broaden customers awareness of products and choice of buying methods. Choices are good for customers, but when it comes to choosing an ecommerce solution, well that’s not so easy.

The assumption I’ll follow for the rest of this entry is that you can no longer get by with standard Paypal buttons on your site.

You’ve decided to offer your products in a more formal method, one that demonstrates the credibility of your company and displays your products in the best possible light. Good for you!

If you have a small set of products, it would be wise to make the purchase process as familiar as possible.  No sense in putting any obstacles in the way. 

As to ecommerce, there are many possible paths to take. There are too many to list but all solutions offer the run of the mill features you’d expect.  Shipping methods, inventory control, payment gateways etc., etc. I won’t go into features here, but focus on some fundamental choices you must make well before you setup your first product.

Despite the variable costs of the ecommerce solutions, they all have one thing in common: setting up the store, integrating the design look and feel, editing content—thats where the real costs of ecommerce reside. There are no truly cheap options. For software, some are free, others are pay by the month while others integrate with a Content Management System. Here are the three basic approaches to ecommerce these days. 

1.  Hosted Ecommerce Solutions

Hosted solutions are low entry cost, pay by the month and will be a typical, feature-rich shopping experience for the buyer and offer all the expected management features for the  store admins.  Design integratiton is usually the issue here as separating the information look and feel from the store itself is not easy. For instance, ratings and reviews are common features here ala the Amazon model. So if you really want your customers to be able to provide useful feedback for other buyers, this is a good solution.  But more than likely, your site will look like a store without an overpowering will to configure the site the way you’d like it to look.

In terms of costs, the entry costs are relatively low, but perpetual—$30-$70/mo (or more) forever.  Design/ setup costs: $1800 and up. 

2. Self Hosted Solutions

Same feature set applies as above, but initial costs depend on the chosen ecommerce solution. Some are free, others range from a few hundred dollars and up.  For instance, Magento is a very strong contender,they have a free, or “Community” version but its very complicated and over the top with features a small boutique store may never need. Again, there is a huge amount of variability with self hosted solutions and each has its own learning curve for designers, developers and administrators. 

As to costs, the longterm software expense for a self-hosted solution will likely be the lowest of all options.  Again, its the design integration and setup that add up. Design/ setup costs: $2000 and up. 

3. CMS Hybrid

This option blends a content management system with ecommerce functionality and is perfect for boutique stores where there is an equal focus on information and sales.  Here we have higher entry costs, but they are one-time costs. For instance, the software costs for an ExpressionEnginge ecommerce store are $300 for EE (the CMS), $100 for the Cartthrob (the ecommerce module) and allow another $300 for other modules that enhance the admin of the site. 

In this solution scenario, products are just content. So learning how to administer products is the same as administering content.  Here you get the best of both worlds—the site can look exactly the way you want it and products can be treated in a non-ecommerce fashion. Remember, its a CMS with ecommerce—lots of possibilities. This is definitely our recommendation for any boutique type store. As to development and setup costs, expect $2500 and up.  

Conclusion

Setting up an ecommerce site is a substantial investment in your overall business strategy.  A little research will go along towards making your investment a wise one.  We know from experience, these choices are all daunting, but they need to viewed as long-term investments in your digital strategy. Once a long-term perspective is taken, your path will be clear and the choice will be much easier.