Choosing an E-Commerce Solution for your Business

Everyone needs an e-commerce tool, but there's no universal solution for every type of business. So if you're ready to choose the right e-commerce software for your business, let this blog post be your guide.

What do you need? What are the benefits? What solutions are available? These are all questions that will be answered in this article, and more.

There is no one 'right answer' when it comes to choosing a software solution for your business - that is why we have included our top five alternatives so you can get a better idea of which one would best suit your particular type of business and budget constraints.

But before we get to the meat and potatoes of this blog post, let's address a question that is always in the back of a business owner's mind: 'Why should I choose e-commerce software over just using my own website?'

We are living in a digital world, where consumers expect businesses to go digital. E-commerce has been steadily increasing over time as consumers' expectations increase. In fact, according to Forbes magazine , "e-commerce sales were projected to reach $1.2 trillion in 2015, and grow more than 10% annually from 2014-2019. This year, sales are expected to account for 7.1% of all retail spending in the U.S."

But it's not just about consumer expectations; business owners need to keep up too. E-commerce systems have numerous advantages over traditional brick and mortar stores, so if you want to compete against businesses that are implementing e-commerce into their strategy, now is the time.

The following are the top five benefits of e-commerce software solutions:

1. Integrate with Other Online Stores - Each e-commerce system has a robust API that allows integration with other e-commerce websites. This allows you to promote products from another business, which could be good for both of your businesses. For example, if a customer orders on your website and it's listed on the other site, you would receive a commission for each sale. It's like cross selling - but in reverse! It's a great way to increase sales and reach customers that may not be able to find what they are looking for at your store.

2. Integrated with Social Media - Many e-commerce systems allow you to integrate with Facebook, Twitter, and Google Plus so customers can interact with each other while shopping. This is beneficial in itself, but it also helps to improve your search results on Google. Customers will see your products in their favorite social media feeds as well as the search engine results page (SERP). If a customer searches for something related to what they are looking for on an e-commerce website, it will show up higher than if they pull up a traditional website. For example, let's say there is an e-commerce store that carries a certain type of scooter that has been trending on social media lately.

Conclusion: Social media is a HUGE catalyst for e-commerce website growth. It's important to make sure your e-commerce solution is integrated with some of the most popular social media sites, such as Facebook.

3. Mobile Responsiveness - According to the Internet Retailer article "Mobile Commerce Is About Where You Go, Not What You Buy," more than half of mobile traffic comes from smartphones rather than tablets as previously thought. The fact that more people use their smartphones to shop online means that businesses need to be responsive.