Following my last posts on the subject, what e-commerce platforms are out there?
Why
You’ve decided to go digital. All in or as a channel alongside your traditional brick n mortar store. What platforms are out there?
If you missed my other posts please go take a look as they provide insights into how I got to a point of deciding to look at e-commerce platforms. (Go look at Commerce 2022 - E-commerce and the new normal - Part one and Commerce 2022 - E-commerce and the new normal - Part two
What is an ecommerce platform?
An e-commerce platform is software that enables the commercial process of buying and selling over the internet. Adobe glossary
Also
An ecommerce platform is a software application that allows online businesses to manage their website, marketing, sales and operations. definition in the BigCommerce report on e-commerce platforms 2022
Business Model
Your business model is going to include digital channels and e-commerce, right? Tweet this
I assume as well that you will know if you’re DTC / B2C, B2B, C2B or C2C and how e-commerce will best suit your business and customers.
Kitchen sink
I’ve gone and taken a 10,000 foot view at the some of the platforms. I’m not suggesting these platforms may provide for all your business needs, but an assessment of your requirements will highlight which platforms serve which particular business service / function and which will be better served by retain your current systems (e.g. inventory/warehouse/payments) or alternatives.
That said you may find you need to look at how these platforms work in your location, how taxes, shipping and other aspects are taken care of and if the service will serve your business effectively in your location or have some limitations. Ensure you perform the necessary due diligence as you assess and select any technology platform. (see note at the bottom of this post)
As you look at these platforms, consider
- The features and functionality
- inventory management capabilities
- tax, shipping and other local issues that you should get specific advice on (from your accountant, tax advisor or local distributors)
- multi-channel selling (in store now and online; what about commerce on social media platforms?)
- easy of use
- ability to tailor and customise (data, pages, products, themes etc)
- price
Considerations for further refinement of options
We all expect enhanced ecommerce experiences. Quicker fulfilment and new delivery and fulfilment options.
How has your business model changed to adapt to the changing environment, market and consumer needs?
What is your strategy for retail stores and online?
Have you thought about the product mixes and how customers can transition between the physical and / digital commerce experience and back?
Have you thought about how to ensure the last mile provides that last step in contributing to the overall purchase experience and positively impacts customer loyalty and advocacy?
How does your e-commerce platform support and enable social selling and other channels as they discover/ search or research products, engage with, sell support and build community and advocacy.
E-commerce platforms and service options
Thankfully, finding reviews of Software as a Service and e-commerce platforms is easy.
Take a look at Forbe’s recent article Forbes advisor - Best ecommerce platforms
They analyzed the top services on the market and found a list including
- Squarespace
Everything to sell anything. Website builder, all in one content management system, templates, online store, booking services, marketing tools (email campaigns and social tools) - templates for online stores, local businesses, restaurants, portfolio sites, health / fitness and consulting services etc. Transaction costs will apply for sales
- Square Online
Square Online is a robust platform that covers your website, the items you sell online, online order fulfillment, and much more.
- Shopify
Shopify provides you with a variety of tools to help you to set up and run your business. Depending on the pricing plan that you choose, you can find everything you need to showcase your products online, to process payments, and to make your store work for you
Shopify offers you other insights at Shopify - The 12 Best Ecommerce Platforms for 2022. In that post Shopify provides insights into their own platform as well as Wix, BigCommerce, Adobe Commerce (formerly Magento), WooCommerce, PrestaShop, Squarespace, Big Cartel, Weebly, 3dcart, Volusion and OpenCart
Even BigCommerce has some insights on their article on ecommerce platforms.
As you look at these you will see that the options presented allow you to select from
- open source offerings
- SaaS (Software as a Service)
A number of these vendors are including headless commerce offerings, allowing you to leverage their APIs to build your own custom storefronts and experiences.
Selection
Having reviewed a few of those, through signing up / reading through their websites or other third party reviews, I reduced my own list of options down to Shopify and Squarespace. From there I further reduced my evaluation to Shopify -
According to a 2022 ecommerce-platforms.com article, over 1.75 millions merchants use Shopify as their primary platform for selling online.
According to the Shopify Annual Report filing at 16 Feb 2022, as of December 31, 2021, Shopify “had approximately 2,063,000 merchants from approximately 175 countries using the Shopify platform,geographically dispersed as follows: 55% North America, 25% Europe Middle East and Africa, 15% Asia Pacific, Australia and China and 5% in Latin America (Mexico and South America)”.
These factors played into this as well -
- Shopify caters to all types of businesses, and wants to help merchants sell in ways that suit their buyers.
- Shopify offers an online store, Point of Sale (POS) for in store and various options for selling on other channels such as Facebook, Instagram, Amazon and other options.
- Shopify offers flexible configuration and management of the store, store operations, shipping and fulfilment, customer management, marketing tools and analytics and reporting.
- Shopify has a number of plans for various budgets and features to suit merchants
- Shopify appears to have a healthy app and theme marketplace offering customisations to store front, administration and themes
- Depending on location and country, Shopify Payments and Shipping features are quite attractive
- Also depending on location Shopify has wholesale marketplace offerings
Learn more about Shopify at architectfwd™
Next steps
I’ll continue exploring and sharing more on the Shopify ecommerce platform and others in more detail in future posts.
As I’d mentioned above and previously, look at the technology, the people aspect (the consumer / customer, the staff, the supply chain), the processes and the transformation that may be required.
Perhaps you are already considering platforms such as online stores, booking and scheduling systems, website and content management systems, inventory tracking, marketing automation, the question is at what stage do you evaluate which, and how do you integrate, enable and move toward that goal of running, truly running?
If you have not yet, please sign up for the newsletter, think more about architecture and how it can help or reach out if you have any thoughts on this topic.
Disclosure
- No vendor provided any consideration or fee to be mentioned here.
- ArchitectFWD has signed up to the Shopify Partner program.
Disclaimer
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Use this information at your own risk. Perform your own evaluation and assessment prior to selecting any platforms and/or technologies. Under no circumstances will ArchitectFWD be responsible or liable in any way for any content, including but not limited to, any errors or omissions in the content, or for any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of any content communicated in this article, whether by yourself, ArchitectFWD or a third party.
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24+ years experience in solving business problems and maximising opportunities through technology in a variety of industries, public and private sector internationally. I founded architectFWD™ to provide knowledge and trusted advice in the areas of strategy, technology, cloud and digital to enable organisations to become Digital Leaders.