Examining Characteristics
When looking for an ecommerce platform, you’ll almost certainly assess them based on three criteria: feature set, performance, and vendor knowledge. Instead of comparing yourself to other firms, make your decision based on your unique goals and pain areas. Let’s take a look at seven topics to consider while evaluating your ecommerce platform options.
Development and design
One of the first things you’ll want to think about is how easy it will be to set up your shop. The ultimate software-as-a-service platform (software as a service allows customers to subscribe to this software allowing them to use it over the internet). In only a few hours, you can have your company up and operating. It will allow you to sign up and set up your store without the need for any coding skills. Platforms like these frequently include a variety of themes, making it simple to choose or change the style and feel of your website. You may need to enlist the help of a developer to further personalise them. If you think you’ll need to go this path, remember to factor in the expenses of customizations in your budget, as customised templates require a lot more time and work to maintain.
You should also make sure that the design of your website is responsive and mobile-friendly. The majority of shoppers shop on their smartphones, and you don’t want to miss out on a bargain because your site is difficult to use on a mobile device.
Zoho Commerce makes sure that all of the templates are mobile-friendly. Furthermore, because most template features are configurable, most templates may be adjusted to suit any business type.
Categories and products
The basic feature of an ecommerce platform is found in product management. To begin, find out how many products an ecommerce platform permits you to sell. Some platforms enable an infinite number of users, while others have a limit. You should avoid paying for additional product listings if at all possible. You may build an orderly hierarchy and make it easy for online customers to navigate and search for items by mapping products into categories.
An ecommerce platform should enable you to develop pages that appeal to clients and encourage them to complete a purchase. Product attributes that allow you to keep track of product variations are essential for some industries, such as fashion, but not for others. Another feature that could be useful is the option to optimise visual clarity while maintaining speed. Customers will not buy if they can’t see what they’re buying or if the page loads too slowly.
Zoho Commerce can assist you in arranging your products exactly how you want them. We built Categories and Collections within the product to make browsing easier for your clients. It would be much easier to sort and arrange different products depending on different parameters this way.
Administration
There will be a lot of activity in your command centre. What’s in stock, what’s out of stock and needs to be reordered, and what’s no longer available and can’t be advertised as available for purchase—all of these are decisions your ecommerce platform should be able to automate to a great extent. Imagine the disappointment of a consumer who invests time and effort deciding to buy from you over your competitors, only to discover that the product is out of stock and they’ll have to cancel their order!
Return management is another aspect of administration. Is it possible to return a specific item? What are the prerequisites? Is there a time limit? Will there be a complete refund, a partial refund, or only a product exchange? Customers will value your credibility if you automate this function.
Many business owners focus on the front end of their websites, but overlook the backend, which is where their employees must work on a daily basis. Your administrators will become lost in a maze if the interface is clumsy or confusing, wasting time on strategies rather than revenue-generating operations. As a result, make sure the backend interface is basic and easy to use. You’ll probably have (or require) tools like a CRM, so look for an ecommerce platform that works well with them.
Within Zoho Commerce, merchants have access to real-time order status. You can also cancel orders from the backend for any reason. If you are a customer, you have the option to cancel your entire order or a portion of it. This blog will teach you more about our Member Portal feature.
Capabilities in marketing, SEO, and omni-channel distribution
Ecommerce platforms use technology to help organisations expand their marketing possibilities. These capabilities are integrated into the platform to enhance your company development operations, from allowing you to conduct targeted promotions to product bundling and giving customers an area to evaluate products.
For good reason, SEO is all the rage in marketing: the higher you rank in search results, the more likely you are to get discovered. And, of course, you want shoppers to find your store when they’re looking for things online. For better search engine rankings, you’ll need your own unique domain name, a Google sitemap, and meta-information for your products. Some platforms allow you to create a blog, which allows you to engage your customers in a more dynamic and conversational manner.
Having omnichannel capability is also a benefit. Managing your business on several channels, such as Amazon, eBay, or Etsy, as well as your own website, may be a lot of work. An ecommerce platform with multi-channel marketplace extensions will allow you to manage everything from a single location, centralise all data, and gain channel-specific insights.
Source: ecommerce platforms , online selling platform
