The Success Factors of Today's e-Commerce Platforms

When it comes to selecting an e-commerce platform for your small business, it's all about the features that make it as simple as possible for customers to browse, purchase, and receive their products. Here are some aspects that help today's e-commerce platforms succeed:

Usability

The greatest e-commerce platforms are intuitive, which means that users should be able to use them with minimal guidance. This makes it easier to build and open a site. Usability can mean different things to different people, so look around until you find a platform you are comfortable with.

Easy to Find on the Web, Easy to Find on the Site

Once you set up, e-commerce platforms should make it easier for you to be found on the internet. This usually means helping you in your SEO journey as you find and use specific keywords that customers use to search. When they land on your site, they should be able to quickly find the products you are trying to sell, which is possible only with a well-designed website.

Instant Customer Service

You should seek assistance in order to develop your website and interact with your customers. Depending on the staff available or the plan you're subscribed to, many e-commerce platforms will offer this to varying degrees. In today's market, rapid responses or promises that issues will be addressed are essential, so choose a business that provides excellent customer service or encourages people to offer feedback. Above all, it should enable you to communicate with your customers using robust CRM tools.

Hitch-Free Payment

This is a no-brainer. Today’s e-commerce platforms should be able to process orders and payment with great speed, or seamlessly link with the external POS you attach. Payment gateways should have wide-ranging options for clients from all over the world. The best e-commerce systems include additional features such as shipping, data collection and analysis, insights, and accounting.

Mobile-Friendly Platforms

Almost three out of every four purchases today are done via mobile, so it pays to have a responsive design that is mobile-friendly or a mobile app. All features like POS, search, SEO, and CRM on today’s e-commerce platforms should have the accompanying mobile component.
E-commerce platforms are a constantly evolving combination of different factors that vary across industries, niche, and location, so success lies in staying ahead of the curve, or at least managing to catch up with it.

Coffee with Ally:

While this article aims to guide SMEs in their search for suitable platforms, business owners should also be mindful of the importance of choosing according to their niche, specific needs, target audience, and industry. Some of the top e-commerce platforms include Shopify, WooCommerce, Wix eCommerce, BigCommerce, and Magento but there are lots of other good options as well.