So you want to get online with your own e-commerce website?
There are plenty of online operations that will tell you how easy it is to get your shop up and running on the Web, but how easy is it really? To find out, an independent research company took a close look at seven different Web-based alternatives to determine which is the easiest and best.
What are you waiting for? There are plenty of optionsâ€"in fact, so many, that we thought it time to take a close look at some of the Web-based tools that small-to-medium enterprises can use to get their store online. These tools are designed to make it easy for companies without Web experience to create a Web site. They typically have a low pay-per-month fee structure, instead of a large single software purchase that can range anywhere from a few hundred dollars to AU$250,000 for some of the high-end e-commerce tools.
Although dotcoms have recently taken a beating for a whole variety of reasons, there is no doubt about the many advantages to having an online store. Two of the most difficult things to achieve when doing this, however, are (1) making sure that Web site is well integrated into the company's business and marketing strategy, and (2) managing customers' experience on the site.
Just like other elements of a business, the e-commerce Web site must satisfy the organisation's strategy. It must have a clear return on investment for customers, staff, the business, and shareholders. Performance indicators must be measured regularly so you know where you stand and how to improve your site over time.
Unfortunately, as a marketing and distribution channel, e-commerce sites often miss out on the discipline of marketing. Some of the issues we considered while doing this review are: how will it support a range of products and services? Can the site be designed consistently with an existing image and identity in the marketplace?
How easy is for customer to select and purchase products?
Once the customer has made a choice, the fulfilment strategy must have an appropriate turnaround time so the customer gets what they've paid for.
For this review, we focused on how easy it is to get started using these products, how easy it is to integrate with the business, and the overall quality of the resulting Web site.
This final point is critical because the Web site is visible to anyone, around the world. Potential customers can be fickle at the best of times, and will all have different expectations from your site. Designing an effective Web site that gives a positive customer experience requires a good understanding of consumer behaviour and psychology. This helps understand the reasons behind people's behaviour and their preferences.
The design of the underlying sales processes and supporting information contributes to perceptions of trust. Their confidence in their choice is critical, after all, there's no salesperson to answer customers' questions, or reassure them that they've made the right choice. If it doesn't work well, customers will simply go to competitors.
In this review
EditLive
GoBizGo
LiveBuilder
OpenMalls
Peakhour
SiteSuite
Zen115
E-Commerce Solutions
Other Solutions
Editors' Choice
4%
1%
This article misses out on a great solution.
http://www.shopbuilder.com.au/