Looking for an custom Ecommerce Website or Online Store?
The rise of eCommerce over the last decade has changed traditional business. Factors including location and opening hours have in many cases been rendered irrelevant. For local, national and international business the playing field has been significantly levelled. A retail business without an online store or other eCommerce option may struggle.
I can produce a profitable, reputable, secure ecommerce website given well considered and thorough planning.
The success of any eCommerce website build depends on providing a first-to-last solution. From my initial consultations to quantify the needs of your business, through the design and secure implementation of the website, to post launch updating and maintenance.
Choosing the Best Ecommerce Solution for your Business
Regardless of the size of your business and range of your products, I can identify and deploy the best solution for you. Whether it’s putting Paypal buttons onto your existing site or building a full online store. Below are my favoured solutions, though this list is not comprehensive. There are many, many other options.
The various ecommerce website ‘systems’ include;
- Paypal: In cases where the product range is small then a full ecommerce system might be overkill. Paypal offers both single buttons and a shopping cart system which can be integrated into any brochure website and is ideal in circumstances like these, especially if you are not already using another online payment processing system . If you believe this may be enough in your situation then I can happily accommodate you. Full information on their fee structure can be found on their website.
- WordPress Plugin Solutions: WooCommerce is very much the alpha when it comes to the WordPress integration sector. Its in-built capabilities can be enhanced extensively due to the availability of many third-party extensions. If you require something that can handle a huge range of product, payment, tax, shipping and other options then WooCommerce has it covered. The downsides are that, along with the fact that many WooCommerce extensions require subscription fees which add an extra cost, the complexity involved in the set up and running of the plugin can be daunting for business owners trying to manage their own websites. Naturally, if your website is already managed by a specialist then this should prove no barrier. Another option worth looking at it WP EasyCart which in its basic form is much simpler for the beginner to operate. I have experience in deploying this for clients to run themselves without any problems. Unfortunately, their previous basic ‘free’ version now carries a 2% charge per transaction regardless of the payment processor used. It is still worth considering their ‘Pro’ and “Premium’ versions which currently cost $69 and $99 per year [ but obviously contain many more features than the basic version ]. Finally, if you are only going to be dealing with selling ‘virtual’ goods the Easy Digital Downloads is worth looking at. Although there is a free version it is of limited use but the wide range of paid versions they offer should provide something for everyone selling purely digital goods.
- Hosted and Standalone Online Stores: Many options available here including Magento, Shopify and even Wix and Squarespace. There really is too much to cover here in terms of their individual differences and similarities, but they all offer complete hosted solutions on a subscription model rather than integrating with your current website.
- Marketplaces: If you don’t want to sell directly from your own website but don’t want to stand the cost of Shopify/Magento etc then alternatively you might think of opening a virtual shop on ebay. Or if you deal in craft wares then perhaps selling via Etsy or its UK near-equivalent Folksy might be more suitable.
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