There’s plenty of thought and effort required after deciding to set up an online store. The design and feel of the customer’s experience should be the primary consideration for most ecommerce ventures.
Therefore, it’s important to choose the right ecommerce portal, as it can make all the difference between success and failure.
What is an ecommerce portal?
An ecommerce portal helps marketers turn leads into sales. The platform manages the interactions between customers and suppliers for your business. Ecommerce portals function as a merchant service for online retailers.
Modern platforms come with a variety of features and pricing options. Ultimately, the goal is still to process payments securely and efficiently.
Converting leads into sales relies on a robust and effective marketing strategy, and using the wrong ecommerce portal can lead to your customers experiencing frustration during checkout. It’s important to keep in mind that conversion rates from different social media platforms vary, and, if you’re not optimizing the finalization stage of a purchase, it’ll reduce your online sales significantly.
Source: Campaign Monitor
Top-performing ecommerce portal
Shopify arrived on the scene in 2004. Since then, it’s grown to serve over 800,000 online stores around the globe. The company (originally founded to serve as an online store for snowboards in Canada) grew to become the world’s leading ecommerce portal.
In 2019, Shopify added fulfillment networks, customer-facing software tools, 11 new languages, and new software development kits to their platform.
When it comes to building an online retail venture from scratch, Shopify clearly wins the race. However, some customers find their services come at a steep cost. The company’s entry-level subscription package costs $26 per month. If you don’t use the Shopify Payments solution, they also charge a 2% transaction fee on every purchase.
It’s important to note that, while it may seem like a steep price for an online retail portal, you’re getting real value for money. Shopify rates as the best ecommerce portal in ease of use, design flexibility, and customer support. It also provides the best sales and website features for online retailers.
Alternatives to Shopify
WiX and Magento are Shopify’s main competitors. They provide similar services with slightly different features. Of these two, Wix’s ecommerce solution works best for small businesses. You can set up your website and build the ecommerce components using a free subscription. Once you’re ready to start processing payments, Wix will charge you $23 without any additional transaction fees.
Magento focuses on larger ecommerce ventures. The platform still uses the PHP programming language, also making it more difficult to use. Designing and building a Magento site may require professionals to assist you in your journey. This makes Magento better suited to large enterprises looking to extend their online retail business.
Additionally, plugins like WooCommerce work with WordPress sites exclusively. If you’ve already built your online store using WordPress, you can add WooCommerce to the site quickly and easily.
How to measure the success of your ecommerce portal
Every portal will provide you with key analytics, and how you design and implement your finalization and fulfillment process will determine the success of your online retail business. If customers frequently abandon their carts during checkout, it could point a flaw in the process, so keep a close eye on the number of abandoned carts to help you determine if your ecommerce portal is successful or not.
Does it really matter?
Which ecommerce portal you use depends on the types of transactions and customers you serve. Everything from the design and layout of the site to the finalization process will influence whether customers return to your online store. This means deciding on the right ecommerce portal that serves both you and your customers is vitally important for success.
What now?
Just like every other online venture, ecommerce portals require a variety of considerations before settling on a specific one. Now that you know the best platforms for building your online store, it would benefit you to read this article on CM Commerce’s new automation capabilities.