Seven Things to Consider When Choosing an eCommerce Platform

Moving your business online, or starting fresh online with a new business, can be a daunting task, especially when there are so many options available for eCommerce platforms out there. ECommerce has become one of the biggest markets for selling goods in the world to consumers, and it is only expected to grow further. The right eCommerce agency in China can help you deploy on the right platform for your company, and you should take the following points into consideration.

Pricing and Payments

Price point is a big selling point for choosing the best eCommerce platform an eCommerce agency in China to set up for your company in the Chinese marketplace. Every eCommerce platform has a different cost to it; normally a monthly fee for using their platform to sell your services and goods is just the starting point. Some eCommerce platforms will host the store for you; otherwise, you will have to pay for hosting separately and integrate their platform into your site through a plugin. As well, payments made to you through the platform will have a processing fee, so when you are choosing an eCommerce platform, consider the cost of processing, which may adjust your sale prices to customers if not your overall profits.

Integrating with Your Infrastructure

When it comes to integrating an eCommerce platform to your current company infrastructure, most platforms will have plugins to allow you to fully integrate their storefront into your current website (or a redesigned website.) An eCommerce agency in China will find the right platform to work with you, and they’ll find one that has integrated accounting plugins, email marketing tools, rewards programs, and even shipping plugins to help speed up your sales process.

Security

Security is an important part of online sales because your customer data must be treated with care so that the information that they provide you with, especially payment data, cannot be leaked to the public. An eCommerce agency in china will ensure that the eCommerce platform you choose has HTTPS/SSL support for safe and secure checkouts.

Ability to Scale with Growth

As your company grows in China, you’re going to need an eCommerce platform that can grow with you. Your eCommerce agency in China should tell you that scalability is a big consideration for which platform you choose. Some scale better than others. As well, there may be additional costs, or additional savings, as you scale higher (such as lower processing fees per transaction once you are past certain thresholds).

Mobile Friendly Layouts

Over 65% of online sales now come through mobile devices, so it is very important that your eCommerce agency in China sets you up with an eCommerce platform that is mobile friendly. You want your website to be fast and responsive over mobile data networks, and if you launch an app, you want to ensure that it is optimized for as many mobile devices as possible to offer smooth operation for your customers.

SEO Capable

Search engines are important when it comes to bringing in new and existing customers; as your prospects search for the products and services that you offer, you want to be showing up near the top of the results every time. Your eCommerce agency in China will tell you that a good eCommerce platform is going to allow you to use your own domain, allow customers to leave reviews, and even allow you to post blogs so that you have content for effective SEO.

Quality Customer Service

Having your online store go down can be devastating for an online business, especially if it is caused by something completely out of your control. When choosing an eCommerce platform, check out their guarantees when it comes to live customer support, as well as reviews for other people’s experiences with downtimes. How much support does your eCommerce agency in China offer, and what is the cost of that support?

If you are looking to launch an online store in China, then Westwin can help. Westwin is an experienced eCommerce agency in China that can help you get established with the right eCommerce platforms for your company.