A cloud e-commerce platform is a solution that takes advantage of remote servers to provide online business management solutions. Therefore, all data is stored in the cloud and access to services is online. Such platforms provide solutions to B2B or B2C businesses that operate a webshop.
They can manage your individual website, but most entrepreneurs purely run their businesses on such a platform. This includes making a product web page with customized themes, launching the products on the platform’s marketplace, using their payment processing systems, and using their marketing tools, among others.
Entrepreneurs who are looking forward to launching their business online should consider using a cloud e-commerce platform to enjoy a ready market. But there is a challenge in choosing one since there are already many on the market today. But with a guide like this one, the process will be easy.
Assessing Your Needs
Before you hit the market to look for an appropriate cloud e-commerce platform, take your time and assess your needs. Is your business a B2B or a B2C? Is it small or large? Do you want to target local or international clients? Do you want headless e-commerce or not? Answering these questions will help you list your needs.
A professional business consultant can help you make a road map for the business. With this, it is easy to choose the best launching pad and a platform to help you scale up within a short time. According to business experts, it is prudent to categorize your needs. This includes front and back-end needs, integration needs, customer management and marketing needs, inventory management needs, and payment needs, among others.
When you are all set, you can start reviewing different e-commerce platforms to see what will fit your needs. And this leads us to the next step of reviewing the features of the best cloud e-commerce platform.
Consider Features of the Best Cloud E-commerce Platform
Whether you are completely new in the world of e-commerce or just hunting for an alternative solution for your business, looking into these features will help you make an informed decision. Most online businesses fail for picking the wrong features, but with this list, you are far more likely to succeed.
- Headless commerce option – Entrepreneurs with experience might have come across this word and even know how it works. For online business beginners, an e-commerce platform that offers a headless e-commerce solution splits the services into two: front-end solutions such as product page management and marketing and back-end management such as payment processing inventory management and integrations. The headless e-commerce approach makes everything easy and it is very effective. It is worth considering for your business.
- Multivendor option – This simply means that every entrepreneur who is subscribed to the cloud e-commerce platform can edit and manage their product pages independently. Hence, you are given the username and password to log in and edit the products as you want. This is part of the management of the front-end operations we just mentioned. Most ASP.NET e-commerce platforms have a multi-seller capability and you should not settle for less. That said, you may want to consider Virto Commerce, which is a great example of an efficient platform.
- Multi-channel marketing option – Of course, every seller would like to influence the sales of their products. You can easily do this for your webshop if you pick an e-commerce platform with a multi-channel selling option. Many achieve this through integrations with Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, eBay, Amazon, Alibaba, and several other marketplaces. Sellers can now promote their products by launching various marketing strategies on these platforms and all over the web.
- Inventory management – Online businesses running on popular marketplaces should not run out of stock because the demand is high. As such, there is a need for an efficient inventory management system. So, choose a cloud e-commerce platform with this tool so you can keep an eye on your stock, replenish the stores, understand the sales trends, and a lot more. The good thing is that you can manage your inventory from anywhere because every operation is based online.
- Secure and accurate payment processing option – Whether you are into B2B or B2C, customers need to pay for goods efficiently. This is purely a back-end operation handled by the e-commerce platform you choose. There could be a commission for the third-party financial company, the marketplace platform, and the e-commerce platform while the rest should be channeled to your account. So, make sure that the platform you choose has a very efficient payment solution.
- Working search filters – It is crucial to have working search filters, especially for a big marketplace that lists hundreds of vendors if not thousands. It will help clients to quickly look for the product they want instead of perusing anything and everything on the platform. So, check and ensure that they have this engine.
- Affordable fee – Although many ASP.NET commerce platforms consider themselves free and open-source, this option has limited features that might not help your business efficiently. So, there is a fee for using all premium features. This should not leave a hole in your pocket, though. So, compare many platforms and pick one that suits your pocket.
Choose a Cloud E-commerce Platform for Scaling Up
If you have a dream to grow your business fast, you need a cloud e-commerce platform that will help you scale up fast. But do you know how to say this? Now that you know the top features to check, you have a clue of what an appropriate platform should look like.
An e-commerce platform that uses ASP.NET architecture has the potential to help you scale up because it can accommodate an online business of any nature and size. They also get numerous upgrades to perform better and this benefit trickles down to the users.
You might also want to look at the customer service and support. Do they offer the necessary support you need? If so, then they can serve your business well as it grows.
Final Thoughts
When looking for the best cloud e-commerce platform to launch your business, this guide will help you choose appropriately. It is detailed with all crucial insights for both beginners and those looking for an alternative platform for their existing business. Now that you have gone through it, you are ready to start the process of looking for a solution.