In today’s intense competition, having an online presence for businesses is non-negotiable. Every business wants to stand out and be known for something unique. The website is the first thing that comes to mind when we think of any business.
There are many ways to build eCommerce websites. For instance, custom eCommerce platforms, building a site from scratch, using no-code eCommerce platforms, etc.
In this blog, we explore custom eCommerce platforms, what they are, should businesses use them, and how to choose, among other aspects.
Let’s get started!
Benefits of custom ecommerce platforms
Custom eCommerce platforms offer tailored solutions to businesses to offer functionalities and integrations that are unique and customized to the business requirements. Let’s look at some of the benefits of custom eCommerce platforms.
1. High-level customization
Customization allows businesses to stand apart from the crowd. Businesses can create unique experiences on their website, stay flexible, and change functionalities based on trends and needs. Custom eCommerce platforms offer a high level of customization and tailored solutions to individual business requirements.
2. Integrations
To be able to offer various functionalities and features on their website, the in-built integration capabilities of website platforms may not be enough. Many eCommerce platforms offer limited integration capabilities, but some platforms offer extensive integration capabilities, making customization easier. Custom eCommerce platforms offer more flexibility and functionality.
3. Security
With rising concerns for security, threats of data theft, and increase of online fraud cases, security is the top priority for businesses choosing an eCommerce platform. The platforms should either have in-built security systems or third-party security system integration capabilities. The eCommerce platforms should be compliant with data and security regulations, such as PCI DSS-Compliance, etc. This is where custom eCommerce platforms help businesses ensure security compliance.
4. Offer a customized checkout experience
The checkout stage is one of the most important for eCommerce brands. It is a make or break stage, considering most customers drop off at the checkout stage. Ensuring a fast, responsive, easy, and clear checkout experience is critical. This is another benefit of custom eCommerce platforms. It allows customization of the checkout process as per the businesses requirements.
How to choose a customizable eCommerce platform?
One of the first things to understand before choosing a customizable eCommerce platform, is your business. Businesses have different models they operate on, and hence, their website needs may differ. For instance, a B2B business’s checkout process might be very different from that of a B2C business model that involves various payment methods, marketing and promotional features, etc.
How to choose a custom eCommerce platform: factors to consider
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The type of products and services offered: Are you selling physical goods, digital products, or services? The type of your products or services will affect your inventory management and needs, your checkout process requirements, etc. Getting an understanding of your products/services will help you get a clear picture of the requirements on your website.
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Sales cycles and sales timelines: Another important factor to consider is your sales cycle or timelines. For instance, if your sales cycle is longer, the way it is in most B2B industries, you may need features like lead-nurturing tools or advanced CRM integrations in your website. For that, you will need a custom eCommerce platform that enables these features.
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Purchasing and inventory management processes: Another important factor is your requirements around your inventory. Do you have an extensive inventory and are the needs going to be complex? If yes, you may need a custom eCommerce platform that allows easy integrations with other systems on your site. Also consider your business scalability needs.
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Marketing requirements: Marketing has become a key factor for the success of businesses. It is also an aspect that allows businesses to stand out from the crowd. And to be able to integrate advanced marketing features or stay flexible to adapt quickly to marketing trends, you will need an eCommerce platform that supports these features.
Is Shopify a custom eCommerce platform?
Shopify eCommerce platform has set templates and systems, but it also has customization capabilities. The platform’s comprehensive features cover all important requirements that a modern business may have.
Where Shopify’s in-built capabilities are not enough, the platform enables easy third-party tools integrations. These integrations allow work with all front and back-end systems.
Let’s look at some of the factors that make Shopify a preferred custom eCommerce platform across various industries and business models.
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Shopify offers flexibility: With Shopify’s flexible app ecosystem and APIs, businesses can add tailored functionalities based on their needs.
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Enables scalability and reliability: For ambitious businesses that want to scale, Shopify offers a scalable infrastructure that scales as businesses scale.
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Security and compliance features: Shopify complies with security requirements, such as PCI DSS, ensuring strong security measures. This makes it easy for businesses to work with confidence.
How to decide if you need a custom eCommerce platform?
To answer the question of whether you need a customized eCommerce platform or a third-party platform, you must understand a few basics. Let’s explore them:
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Your business needs: Everyone wants their business to stand out and be perceived as being unique. A custom eCommerce platform can help brands achieve this. However, you must first decide which of these is going to be more difficult for you - adding new features to your platform or building a customer website.
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Your long-term business goals: Planning, designing, and executing a customized eCommerce platform is a long term investment and strategy. When making this decision, you must consider if you have the capacity for scalability. Besides, you should also assess the responsiveness capability of third-party platforms.
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Your budget and costs involved: Custom eCommerce websites involve a lot of costs. For instance, not only do they include the cost of building or the monthly cost, but they may also involve ongoing costs, maintenance, upgrading, etc. All this requires dedicated resources and costs.
Best custom eCommerce platforms
If you’re wondering how to choose an eCommerce platform for your business, here’s a list of the best customer eCommerce platforms you could consider.
Shopify
Shopify is an eCommerce platform that offers advanced customization features. One of the most preferred and used eCommerce platforms for businesses of all sizes, it offers a wide range of features for all kinds of tasks. For example, for sales, marketing, social media, inventory management, payment, analytics, and more.
With its customizable themes, businesses can offer unique experiences, a user-friendly interface, and personalized experiences. The custom eCommerce platform also offers AI-driven product management systems and integrated payment processing with various options. The platform offers free trial and affordable monthly plans.
WooCommerce
WooCommerce is an eCommerce plugin for WordPress. It offers customization through themes and plugins. The platform offers flexibility in various factors, for example, supports multiple payment gateways, inventory management, shipping options, etc. It offers a free base plugin, but has paid premium versions.
BigCommerce
BigCommerce offers features for high-volume sales, SEO features, tools for marketing, analytics, and multi-channel selling. The platform does not charge transaction fees and offers scalable plans to help businesses grow.
Wix
Known for its drag-and-drop features, Wix offers a wide range of eCommerce templates and tools. It also has SEO and marketing features. The plans are available at affordable fees and help small brands set up visually-appealing websites.
Big Cartel
Big Cartel offers a simple setup for customizable themes. It offers basic inventory management features. The platform is suitable for small businesses due to its affordable plans.
OpenCart
An open-source platform, OpenCart offers features for building websites with customization. Its features offer multiple languages and currencies, making it suitable for international businesses. It also offers extensions, however it requires technical knowledge.
Squarespace
Squarespace offers hosting, domain registration, and marketing features. The platform offers user-friendly features, visually-appealing templates and eCommerce capabilities.
Shift4Shop
3dcart converted to Shift4Shop, this eCommerce platform offers customization features, SEO tools, and multi-channel selling options. It does not have transaction fees on any plan, and the affordable plans make it suitable to small businesses too.
Volusion
Volusion is another customizable eCommerce website platform that offers features such as inventory management and marketing tools. It supports multiple types of payment methods and has easy navigation features.
Launch your custom eCommerce platform in no time
Building a customized website on an eCommerce platform is much easier and convenient compared to building one from scratch. Good eCommerce platforms offer a lot of features and control. We’ve also explained how to choose a custom eCommerce platform. All you need is to zero in on the most efficient platform for your business.
Shopify’s eCommerce custom platform offers flexibility, efficiency, and a comprehensive set of features for all kinds of business needs. From in-built features to the capability to easily integrate third-party tools, Shopify offers a wide range of features for small and enterprise businesses.
If you’re still unsure and confused whether or not your business requires a custom eCommerce platform or not, our Shopify experts can help you evaluate.
Reach out to our experts at XgenTech.
FAQs
1. What is the best platform for a customer eCommerce website?
There are many platforms available in the market, however, Shopify stands out as the best custom eCommerce platform for its flexibility, extensive features, and third-party tools integration capability, among other features.
2. How long does it take to build a custom eCommerce website?
The time it takes to create a custom eCommerce website depends on the size, the features, the complexity, functionalities, etc. As platforms such as Shopify have pre-designed templates and pre-built features, the time taken may be less than building a custom website from scratch.
3. What are some of the common features available in eCommerce platforms?
Many eCommerce platforms have in-built basic features, such as customer account, checkout page, product pages, etc. For more detailed features and pages, businesses often have to use custom eCommerce platforms or build a website from scratch.
