So, you are all set to start your online store and looking for a great ecommerce platform to get the most out of your new venture. Choosing the right platform is crucial for attracting new customers and establishing your online presence. It’s like choosing a reliable business partner, mediator, or the agent whose job is to match you with the right customer. If you want to get your new entrepreneurial venture off the ground faster or looking to take your brick-and-mortar business into the virtual landscape, make sure to make an informed decision. You can go to https://alimart.ae/ right away to have a general idea of how an ideal ecommerce platform should look like. And then, familiarize yourself with some simple tips that will help you identify the best ecommerce platform and set up a successful storefront on it!
Hosting
First things first, you want to make sure that your preferred ecommerce platform can provide you with a fully-hosted service. In other words, instead of relying on some third-party providers, your platform should be able to store and safely manage your business data on its own.
Uptime Guarantees
Modern online shoppers want to be able to make purchases at any time of the day from their favorite store. With this in mind, you want to look for an ecommerce platform that can ensure that your website remains available to potential customers 24/7. Since downtime can be detrimental to any online business, your platform should employ the best solutions to prevent outages and be able to guarantee an uptime of at least 99, 9 %. This way, you’ll know that your business will be able accommodate your customer needs and won’t suffer any unnecessary financial losses.
Functionality
Long gone are the days when users needed to read miles of guidelines before starting using this or that tool. Today, customers are on the lookout for intuitive solutions that can address their pain points quickly. So, the odds are slim that your target audience will choose your website if you host it on some cumbersome platform whose cluttered interface and unintuitive dashboard get in the way of their smooth buying journey. So, the onus is on you to pick the intuitive ecommerce platform. Moreover, make sure your chosen platform can provide you with the tools necessary for customizing the look and feel of your storefront so you can make it more appealing to your clients.
Out-of-the-Box Tools
What’s the point of using a dedicated ecommerce platform if you still need to put together your website from scratch? No wonder, online business owners opt for handy ready-to-use solutions to set up their ecommerce store in no time. And these solutions should also be provided by your chosen ecommerce platform. Lots of platforms offer cool customizable themes, as well as editable templates for brands that want to stand out from the crowd.
App and Sales Channel Integrations
Undoubtedly, you want to drive as much traffic as possible to your newly created store. And if you already have loyal customers that follow you on Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest, you want to direct them to your online shop so that they can explore your rich assortment there. And it will be much easier to do that if your ecommerce platform comes with dedicated plugins and/or addons, which makes it possible to easily integrate with your favorite social media apps and other marketplaces. Pre-built integrations will also help you to conduct your marketing campaign more effectively, upsell your customers, and drive more sales.
Mobile-Friendliness
A great many people are now using their mobile device to look for and purchase items online. And it’s critical that your ecommerce platform can cater specifically to mobile users’ needs. So, before setting your sights on this or that platform, do some homework to make sure it offers mobile-optimized functionalities both for you and your customers.
SEO Capabilities
It’s a rare online business that doesn’t want to ingratiate itself with the omnipotent Google search algorithm. And a good ecommerce platform can facilitate your efforts by enabling you to optimize for search with ease.
Hopefully, these recommendations will help you set up a successful online store on your preferred ecommerce platform and turn it into a profitable venture!