Retail moved online many years ago with limited choices initially to work with either eBay or Amazon platforms.
With increased demand and the increased capacity of the internet, ecommerce website builders have appeared to assist even the less technologically advanced organisations to sell online.
Do they offer the complete solution or should you go bespoke?
Building an e-commerce platform – add-on or dedicated?
If you already have a website, you might be tempted by an add-on approach, like Woocommerce for WordPress for example. Maybe you are looking for a dedicated online store with capabilities to manage the business and increase sales, like Shopify or the more robust Magento.
Commercial off-the shelf solutions (COTS) come with very attractive commercial terms at first glance: free, 1x time fee, or monthly fee. Many organisations are attracted to the 70-80% match with their initial requirements and the ability to develop bolt-on services to cover the missing parts using well-established technology stacks (PhP, Shopify, Dynamics).
Can e-commerce solutions cope with the variables of your retail offer?
What happens when services (SaaS) or products rely on unconventional ecommerce offerings such as renting or leasing?
Maybe products require customisation like a printed label? Maybe the sales process is unique in the way that revenue is split between multiple stakeholders (platform, owner, and consumer)?
So matching 70% of your e-commerce requirements is just the minimum you’ll need. Additional development is really necessary to connect the e-store to your Customer Resource Management (CRM) or to the inventory, warehouse, or logistics management system. That integration is where you really start to see the value and create a competitive advantage over everyone using the same platform.
E-commerce top tips
• Focus on your business requirements, not what the technology offers
• Identify the processes that are unique to your organisation and industry
• Understand how the platform will integrate with the rest of your systems
• Make the buyer’s journey an unforgettable user experience
How Amdaris supports your organisation
At Amdaris we align with our clients early to understand their requirements. We put together the software development team of experts that will develop, configure, or integrate the preferred e-commerce platform (bespoke or COTS with add-ons services) to deliver our clients’ vision.
Once the system is live and all the major add-ons are in place, we would typically transition to a managed service engagement where the key focus is to keep the system, which is a critical revenue generation channel for your organisation, up and running.
Any spare capacity is then used to bring enhancements or develop additional features, continuously improving the overall experience.
You can see one of our e-commerce case studies here.
Reach out for a chat with Amdaris
If you need a technology partner for your existing or future e-commerce platform, reach out and let’s have a conversation.