Sponsored: Choosing an e-commerce platform
There’s plenty of choice out there when it comes to e-commerce platforms. Ultimately, a decision will come down to the business’s size, development expertise and budget.
Here are two e-commerce platforms to consider when launching an online store.
E-commerce platform for small business: Shopify
Shopify is a hosted e-commerce solution that is often cited as one of the best on the market. With a hosted e-commerce solution like Shopify, there’s no need to set up a dedicated server and install the software yourself – everything comes out of the box, ready-to-go.
Shopify offers plenty of themes, apps and features which can easily be set up with little to no knowledge of web development. The cost is affordable as well, with packages coming in for as little as $9 a month.
The simplicity of Shopify makes it perfect for a small or medium enterprise business.
E-commerce platform for enterprise: Magento
Magento is one of the most widely used e-commerce platforms. Estimates vary, but up to 20 per cent of e-commerce stores use a version of Magento. So, what’s the appeal?
Magento is open-source code, meaning anyone can download, install and develop the software. Businesses with an extensive inventory list will benefit from this level of customisation.
The downside of this complexity is that is beginners will not find Magento easy to use. While the level of customisation opens up unlimited possibilities, the development learning curve and investment costs can be high.
Magento is an e-commerce solution suited to large enterprises with a budgets and expertise set aside for development.
Case study: Blossom Costumes
Blossom Costumes is a large online costume retailer in Australia. In 2015, Magento was chosen as the platform to build a new e-commerce store.
Magento offered an extensive list of features that improved a customer’s experience online, such as live chat integration. Web page customisation also allowed Blossom to compete on competitive keywords in search engine rankings, such as Halloween costumes.
Within one year, the number of transactions increased by 338.53 per cent. Other essential metrics such as abandonment rate and average time on site also improved across the board.
Blossom Costume’s experience shows the return on investment when an e-commerce platform matches the needs of a business.
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James Horne
Good article and agree that Magento is a great choice. The market share of Magento in Australia is now closer to 40% and many retailers are now upgrading to Magento 2.0. The team @BalanceInternet look after over 50 retailers on the platform and we love it ! Cheers James