The information technology industry is evolving at a fast pace. Innovations are coming in every direction, and businesses must keep up. One of the newest industries that is taking the world by storm is e-commerce or online shopping.
This blog post will explore the various e-commerce solutions available and how they can benefit your business.
Why Should You Consider E-commerce For Your Business?
E-commerce has been a fast-growing industry for years, and the demand for online shopping is only continuing to increase. There are numerous advantages to implementing an e-commerce store within your company.
- E-commerce Allows You To Grow Your Business At A Fraction Of The Cost.
One of the biggest advantages of e-commerce is how much cheaper it is to launch and operate a store compared to traditional methods. The initial setup costs are significantly less, and there are fewer limits on the resources you can utilize. As a result, more and more businesses are opting to take this route.
- E-commerce Provides A More Personalized Shopping Experience.
Thanks to the prevalence of mobile devices and the explosion in online marketing, online shopping has become much more personalized. Having a store allows you to truly understand your customers’ wants and needs. You can use this information to better tailor your products and services to their interests. This improves the overall shopping experience and builds trust between the two of you.
- E-commerce Provides A Vast Market For Your Product.
The last point to consider is that with an e-commerce store, you have access to a vast market. You can sell your product to people all over the world, and you will not be limited by geographical boundaries. If your product is unique, creative, and innovative, you may find a customer in faraway lands.
- E-commerce Provides A Vast Amount Of Possibilities For Growth.
The final point to make is that with an e-commerce store, you have the ability to truly grow your business into something significant. If you have the required skills and know-how, you can utilize various tactics to increase your sales.
E-commerce Open-source Platforms
Even though we discussed how much cheaper e-commerce is compared to traditional methods, that does not mean that all businesses should rush out and create an e-commerce store.
Some may feel that they do not have the skills to properly operate a business, so they should stay away from taking this route.
However, that simply limits their options. If they truly want to grow their business, they should consider open-source platforms. With these types of platforms, you do not need to have any previous experience to get up and running. This makes them much more accessible to businesses of all sizes and across all industries.
Which E-commerce Software Should You Invest In?
Now that you know the advantages of having your own e-commerce store, it’s time to figure out which e-commerce software to invest in. There are a variety of solutions out there, all with their perks and quirks.
It’s important to figure out what makes your business unique and what type of software will allow you to properly serve your customers.
Shopify Vs Big Commerce
If your business is looking for a turnkey solution that can be used to create an e-commerce store, you should consider looking into Shopify. This is one of the most popular open-source platforms for e-commerce, if not the most popular. It is a well-liked solution for many businesses because it is incredibly easy to use and implement.
It has a robust ecosystem that provides everything your business needs to grow, from product management to e-commerce design and development. If you’re looking to create a fully functioning e-commerce store in just a few hours, you can consider using Shopify.
What Is Big Commerce?
Big Commerce is another popular open-source platform for e-commerce. It was originally designed for larger companies that need a more complex solution. What makes this solution different from Shopify is that Big Commerce was built with e-commerce shopping in mind.
It was built to provide a robust experience to customers so that they would want to come back for more. This solution is quite a bit more expensive than Shopify, but it provides more robust features and a more personalized experience.
If your business needs something more complex, Big Commerce may be the answer.
Which One Is Better: Price Or Features?
The fact that these platforms are open source means that you can get a good idea of what you’re purchasing. With these types of platforms, you are buying a support plan if you need help with installation or need someone to troubleshoot any issues that come up later on.
You should also review the documentation that comes with the software because it will answer all of your questions. This documentation will also provide you with all of the information you need to know about the platform.
The internet has created new opportunities for businesses, but also increased the complexity of operating a digital presence. In today’s digital landscape, successful e-commerce businesses leverage technology to keep up with the demands of online shoppers while minimizing operational overheads.
E-commerce sellers that lack the internal team necessary to support a robust e-commerce platform will struggle to keep up with the growth of their business. Unfortunately, these businesses are likely to be targeted by hackers and cyber-criminals who seek to disrupt online businesses by exploiting weak spots in the IT infrastructure.
To avoid falling victim to these cyber attacks, e-commerce businesses must dedicate an inordinate amount of time and effort to fortifying their information technology (IT) infrastructure.
This involves regular monitoring and maintenance of security patches, upgrading software, designing and implementing effective password policies, and more.
These efforts are all worth it in the end, though, since the right managed IT services can help keep your business secure while minimizing the load off your already overly taxed shoulders. Let’s take a closer look at some of the core benefits of managed IT services for e-commerce businesses.
1. Regular Monitoring Of Security Patches
One of the most important things that a managed IT services can offer is a regularly updated security scanner that watches for vulnerabilities in your website or online store. When one of these vulnerabilities is discovered the scanner will alert you so that you can patch it or take other corrective action as soon as possible.
You can’t expect your IT team to be on top of every security vulnerability in the meantime, so you’ll need to rely on a scanner to keep an eye out for newly discovered vulnerabilities. After all, it’s not reasonable to expect that your team will have the time to scan for vulnerabilities on a daily basis.
With a scanner monitoring your IT infrastructure, you’ll know when critical vulnerabilities are detected so that you can address them immediately. In the event that a hacker were to exploit one of these vulnerabilities, your business would still be safe since the scanner would have informed you of the problem in advance.
2. Effective Password Policy
Another important factor behind a successful digital business experience is an effective password policy. Passwords should be complex and unique and not shared with any other site or account.
Having a policy in place for password strength and complexity is an important step towards securing your IT infrastructure. In addition, you should always test your passwords against a password quality checker before using them and changing them regularly.
If you do not have an effective password policy in place and your employees are sharing their logins and passwords, then your business could be at risk of a data security breach. A breach of this nature could lead to the permanent loss of customer credentials, financial details, and even lawsuits.
3. Regular Backups And Version Control
Finally, no discussion of managed IT services for e-commerce businesses would be complete without mentioning regular backups and version control. It is essential that data is stored securely off-site and that it is always backed up. This way, in the event of a disaster or cyber-attack, you can simply restore your data from backups.
Regular backups of critical data help to ensure that your business can continue to operate with the minimal impact from a disaster. The importance of version control cannot be stressed enough when it comes to maintaining a secure business environment. This is especially relevant for e-commerce businesses that operate globally due to the wealth of information that can be contained in a single database.
Version control reduces the risk of data corruption and ensures that business-critical elements, such as pricing, product information and availability, remain accurate and up-to-date throughout the lifecycle of a project or purchase.
Final Takeaway
When choosing managed IT services for your business, it is important to look for a provider that is highly experienced in handling large-scale e-commerce platforms. A robust security policy, frequent backups, and version control mitigate the risk of a data security breach and ensure that your business can continue to operate smoothly even in the event of a disaster.
