Demystifying e-commerce

What is the best platform for e-commerce?

First of all, all e-commerce or Website Builder solutions have advantages and disadvantages. They all meet a need for a specific clientele. Some are more expensive, and some are less expensive. This greatly influences their “quality”; it is certain that you will not have advanced features with a free or very affordable solution. That’s obvious. Otherwise, the company will go bankrupt!

One says it’s worthless, the other says it’s perfect! It is important to know that free versions may suit some businesses or startup projects, but they remain projects that cannot focus on the internet. Why? Because with the free version, the signature of these platforms is omnipresent. It affects the credibility of the company. As a customer, I think that business doesn’t work much, or its product/service is of lesser quality or doesn’t sell because it can’t afford a website. This is just an example to show that we need to go beyond just a “cheap” solution. However, this kind of solution certainly meets a clientele’s needs and serves a purpose. It is not a bad solution in itself.

Let’s start with the basics, a bit technical

There are mainly 2 families in the web domain: SaaS and Open Source. With SaaS, we find solutions that are easy to use, with monthly payments. More restrictive in the formula than its counterpart because we do not have access to the source code. But between you and me, most small businesses should not care because the source code is maintenance, infrastructure updates, etc. ($$$). We find platforms specialized in e-commerce, others not. You will be well served in terms of features to boost your sales with a platform whose “core business” is e-commerce.

Open Source gives access to a solution that must be used either by an agency or specialists. It offers more possibilities, but is also more expensive because we take a “naked” solution to dress it up. In the world of SaaS, we provide a pre-made, pre-configured product, with nuances in each of the solutions.

What’s next?

We focus on the platform, but we don’t talk at all about how to present a product, the conversion rate, tools to increase sales. And I’m not just talking about promotional codes here.

The e-commerce tool is one among others in a broader marketing strategy. Simply put, we build an online store like a house in a field. Then, how do we market our product? How do we differentiate ourselves from our competition? How do we reach our customers? These are important questions you need to think about, which will greatly influence your sales. The tool you choose will serve your strategy but will not do it for you. This is also one of the reasons why, for example, on Panierdachat, there are clients who sell a lot, others less. This is also the case for other online commerce solutions.

In conclusion, it is features, vision, a different offer that makes the difference between solutions. For Panierdachat, we have a local vision for our clientele, to boost their sales here, but also elsewhere. This means better optimization of pages for Google in bilingual mode, options that meet local needs (tax automation, suppliers, French service, etc.), and closer proximity to our merchants by offering marketing tools to boost sales, Advisory Service, etc. In this way, we aim to bring our expertise in e-commerce to help small businesses grow online.

Do you have any questions? Please feel free to contact us; we are here for that!