Though I have built and sold over 100 online stores, the first store I ever operated was a brick and mortar store. I took over the reigns when my dad retired and my family still runs that little sports shoe store.
When I decided to expand the business, I wanted to do it in a way which would not require the business to take a loan even though it would have no problem securing financing for such a venture.
The only way to I could think of was to expand through the internet via a virtual store. But there were so many ecommerce solutions for small business available. Here is how I made my choice.
Free Or Paid Solution
Naturally, I looked at the free solutions first. That would be the obvious move. Why pay for something which you can get for free?
I joined a few forums and looked at the pros and cons of free ecommerce solutions. I found out that free ecommerce software would be more suited to those who have a bit of programming knowledge and have more time to spend tweaking the software to suit their needs.
Unfortunately, I did not fit that bracket so I had to choose from a number of paid solutions. Of course, if you are more tech savvy, give free ecommerce solutions a try. If it works for you, you would end up saving about $60 a month in subscription fees.
Value For Money
Most of the top ecommerce companies offer about the same features to their merchants. Since I was starting out small, I was more interested in what I could get from their plans for beginners. There are a few ecommerce solutions providers which offer quite a lot of the features even with their entry-level plans. You would be surprised at what you can get for around $40 to $60 a month.
For the price you pay, you not only get fantastic features like a Facebook app which would allow you to sell on Facebook, you also get free updates. Take note that some ecommerce solutions charge for updates after a year so read the fine print before you subscribe.
Be sure to also test their support system. Most offer email, live chat, phone call and support tickets. I prefer the support ticket system because everything is documented and my messages will never end up in the spam folder. Also, tickets are usually answered within 24 hours of a normal business day.
Ease Of Use
This one is down to the individual. One solution might be the bees knees to one person but a thorn in the side to another. I would highly recommend that you shortlist and try out the solution which interests you. After all, that is what the Free Trial period is for.
Most ecommerce solutions offer a 30-day free trial period which was more than enough time for me to fiddle with the vast amount of tools and features on offer. I spent about an hour a day for a week and a half before I made my decision.
I found out that if you need an extension, they would be more than happy to add-on a week for you. After all, it is of no lost to them if you end up subscribing to their solution.
Harry Goldberg is a retired ecommerce entrepreneur who has built and sold over 100 online stores. He now shares his ideas and tips on how to make full use of affordable ecommerce solutions for small business ventures.
