Starting E-Commerce - Choosing a Web Shop System
We have four different options in e-commerce for selling on the internet; these are the following in increasing cost order: 1.
internet marketplaces, 2.
commercial off-the-shelf systems, 3.
individually customized web shops and 4.
individually developed web stores.
Besides the costs, the number of possibilities of individual consumption also increases in the same order.
We have collected the advantages and disadvantages of the different solutions to make it easier for you to decide before starting.
The internet marketplaces are web stores actually operated by others who sell the product of other people for commission or monthly fee.
Since these web shops usually sell a great number of products of many sellers, our products are not significantly highlighted and we do not really have an opportunity to help the commerce of our items (it depends on the traffic of the particular marketplace which is usually high at international level).
The commercial off-the-shelf systems where we buy software developed in advance and can fill it with products are better solutions than marketplaces.
Its advantage compared to the marketplace option, is that we can have an own domain name and we can apply our own marketing.
Its disadvantage is that these systems cannot be customized - without any programming knowledge - so they work the in same way no matter what the product line or the target market is and furthermore, they all have the same appearance.
The individually customized web shops that are also based on an already created web shop system could eliminate the previous problem, as this system can be changed to the product line and target market in content and appearance as well as giving a totally individual outlook.
Since the operation of this web shop requires a lot of human work these systems are usually more expensive than commercial off-the-shelf web shops but on the other hand they are more effective in selling our products to the potential customers than the commercial off-the-shelf shops without any customizing.
Finally, the most expensive solution is the individually developed web store where the developer company builds the system from 'zero' based on the needs of customers.
Since the development of even the middle level system (the same level as commercial off-the-shelf web shops) requires several thousands of working hours, only the multinational companies or the upper third of SMEs can afford these systems.
internet marketplaces, 2.
commercial off-the-shelf systems, 3.
individually customized web shops and 4.
individually developed web stores.
Besides the costs, the number of possibilities of individual consumption also increases in the same order.
We have collected the advantages and disadvantages of the different solutions to make it easier for you to decide before starting.
The internet marketplaces are web stores actually operated by others who sell the product of other people for commission or monthly fee.
Since these web shops usually sell a great number of products of many sellers, our products are not significantly highlighted and we do not really have an opportunity to help the commerce of our items (it depends on the traffic of the particular marketplace which is usually high at international level).
The commercial off-the-shelf systems where we buy software developed in advance and can fill it with products are better solutions than marketplaces.
Its advantage compared to the marketplace option, is that we can have an own domain name and we can apply our own marketing.
Its disadvantage is that these systems cannot be customized - without any programming knowledge - so they work the in same way no matter what the product line or the target market is and furthermore, they all have the same appearance.
The individually customized web shops that are also based on an already created web shop system could eliminate the previous problem, as this system can be changed to the product line and target market in content and appearance as well as giving a totally individual outlook.
Since the operation of this web shop requires a lot of human work these systems are usually more expensive than commercial off-the-shelf web shops but on the other hand they are more effective in selling our products to the potential customers than the commercial off-the-shelf shops without any customizing.
Finally, the most expensive solution is the individually developed web store where the developer company builds the system from 'zero' based on the needs of customers.
Since the development of even the middle level system (the same level as commercial off-the-shelf web shops) requires several thousands of working hours, only the multinational companies or the upper third of SMEs can afford these systems.
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