Opening an online store in 2023 is an exciting opportunity, but it can also be intimidating. You need to complete certain tasks, such as creating product listings, finding a payment solution, selecting a carrier, marketing your store, and choosing an e-commerce platform.
While all of these steps are essential, finding the right ecommerce platform is the most crucial.
When looking for ecommerce platforms, here are ten criteria you should look for:
Responsive design
Your online store needs a responsive website design to ensure customers can shop on their phone and desktop. When looking for ecommerce platforms, make sure the one you select offers responsive designs optimized for desktop and mobile. Volusion offers responsive designs to ensure your customers can easily access your store.
Low (or NO) transaction fees
In addition to considering the price of the e-commerce platform, you should also consider the transaction fees for purchases made on your online store. While these fees may seem small, they can easily add up, especially as you process more orders. Volusion actually offers no transaction fees through its signature payment processing platform: Volusion Payments Powered by Stripe.
Integration capabilities
As your store grows, you’ll need more features by adding CRM, accounting software, payment and shipping capabilities, order management platforms, chat tools and more to ensure the smooth running of your business. Make sure your platform allows you to expand your online store’s capabilities to add new vendors as you grow via integrations.
Security
Your e-commerce platform should keep your customer data private and secure. When researching e-commerce platforms, prioritize the platform’s security measures. Check the solution’s SSL certification, data backup offerings, fraud protection capabilities, and PCI compliance.
SEO Options
Your customers probably access your online store through a search engine. It is therefore essential to use an ecommerce platform that can optimize your content for search results, including the URL you use, the metadata added to your pages, the blogs on your site and even the reviews and testimonials from your customers. Volusion offers many SEO tools to ensure your store appears online. The platform allows you to manage metadata, offers content optimization, allows you to modify the robots.txt file of your Volusion site and offers SEO audits.
Creative templates
When looking for ecommerce platforms, look for a solution that offers unique and easy-to-use templates. Volusion offers 300 templates that you can use and adapt to your unique brand. According to Volusion’s partner marketing agency, Marketing360This is essential as it gives your brand an identity through your online store, creating a look and feel that your customers will associate with your brand.
Scalable options
When selecting an ecommerce platform, you want to find a solution that can scale with your store. Find a platform that can grow with your business so that it gives you the features you need now and in the future, whether you have ten products or one thousand two hundred.
Competitive prices
When you start an online store, you need to stick to your budget. Make price one of your criteria when researching e-commerce platforms. Volusion is one of the cheapest e-commerce platforms on the market. It offers four subscription plans ranging from $31.50 per month (when paying annually) to custom pricing based on gross merchandise volume. Volusion offers a 14-day free trial to explore the platform before committing. Start yours here.
Reporting tools
Make sure you know how your online store is performing. Select an ecommerce platform that provides effective reporting tools to help you track trends and metrics. Volusion’s platform provides analytics on purchases, shopping cart trends, product views and ROI. These metrics help you determine how your store is performing and what changes need to be made.
Support Options
When researching ecommerce platforms, consider the levels of support and training offered by the provider. This is essential when you launch your online store and run into problems later. Volusion offers support by phone, email, and online chats through a help center that includes detailed guides and video tutorials.
In conclusion
When looking for an ecommerce platform, it’s essential to select one that offers essential features and can grow with your online store. Make sure the platform is secure, affordable, offers plenty of design options, tracks your store’s performance, and includes ways to optimize your site for search engines.