As the global e-commerce market is mushrooming rapidly, there has been a tremendous growth in the count of e-commerce platforms and content management systems. If this is a scenario, finding out the right platform to be used when you are looking forward to set-up your own online store can be a veritably confusing task- especially if you are not technically sound person. This write-up will make your research work a lot easier and help you choose the best platform suiting your needs.
- Hosted-Platforms-or-Content-Management-Systems
First and foremost, there are two options available for creating an e-commerce website- you can either go for a managed (hosted) e-commerce platforms such as BigCommerce or for open-source content management systems like Magento.
Let’s understand both a bit deeper
As the name itself specifies, hosted e-commerce platform is the one hosted on a server that will not be accessible to you, on the other hand, CMS-based websites are the one self-hosted on a server space that you will purchase. “Which option to go for” – is the real concern that pops up in the mind of every person who wants to set-up his/her business online? Well, the last choice depends majorly on the specific business requirements as well as the technical involvement. Detailed below are the benefits of both the options so that you can easily make your choice among the two as per your specific needs.
Benefits with the Hosted Ecommerce Platforms
Low-cost Development and Maintenance: You don’t need any coding expertise that implies there is no need of any development team. Also, the hosting is of the shared type that means there will be lower server costs.
Enhanced Technical Support: Most of the online store creators have realised the importance of a strong technical support team that can assist users for any issues that may arise while browsing. Shopping or making payments. This helps to build a better relationship with the customers.
No More Complexities: Most of these platforms are backed by a user-friendly back-end support and are designed keeping ease of use in mind so that users with less technical knowledge can also work with these without any much difficulty.
Benefits with the Open Source Content Management Systems
Smooth Functionality: The content management systems offers flexibility to add more advanced functionalities due to the availability of a multitude of options in add-ons, themes and plugins. This is simply not possible with the hosted platforms.
Easy Customisation: Content management systems offers the ease of adding and modifying features as well as framing a customised design that is unique for every brand. These also give freedom for consistent changes and improvements for providing a better experience to the users on the site. This plays a vital role in the highly competitive e-commerce space.
Supportive to Large and Sophisticated Websites: Content Management Systems usually don’t have a limit for the number of products or categories to be listed, so they can easily handle much larger stores and also, the sophisticated websites.
Not to forget, the server is an important aspect in determining the overall quality of the e-commerce site you have built as it impacts speed and performance simultaneously. Lastly, make sure you have done complete analysis before making any final decision because switching between the chosen platform or the content management system once the store is up and running is simply not straightforward as it might appear; it is rather a nightmare. Hence, keeping a good amount of foresight would be sensible here in order to maintain your brand consistency and value among the target audience.
Author Bio
The author, Kristy Bernales, is currently working as a Senior Web Designer with Web Design Xperts, a leading company for web design Melbourne. Her designing skills are simply incomparable. She is so keen about researching new concepts that she is even referred as moving Investopedia by the co-workers. Follow her on @kristybernales.
