There are many online eCommerce systems readily available to download from the internet, such as Prestashop, Zen Cart, and many more.
Since there are so many options, we really need to understand which system to use and which one would be best suited for the businesses we run.
The purpose of this post is to provide you with five important qualities of an eCommerce system so that you can choose the system that best suits your online business.
What Are The Important Features In An Online ECommerce System?
Here are some important features in an online eCommerce system:
1. Catalog Management.
Catalog administration is an essential component of any successful eCommerce solution.
It controls all your goods in one central place, and ideally, it should come with functions of bulk import and export.
This is an important feature when you have a large number of products that need to be posted on the website.
By allowing you to mass upload or download products to your servers, this capability can save you a lot of time.
Imagine how much time would be wasted if you had to manually upload three thousand products to your server.
Catalogs also need to give you the ability to easily manage the prices of your products.
It additionally needs to come with a scheduler that enables you to program the prices of your products to be set automatically at fixed intervals.
When you’re browsing through your catalog, the software you’re using needs to provide you with a filter and an integrated search feature to make it easier to find the products you’re looking for.
2. Marketing And Promotions Tools.
You should put a lot of effort into marketing and advertising for your eCommerce website.
To maintain a successful eCommerce store, you need to run online marketing campaigns and specials on occasion.
This will encourage customers to return to your store and make that all-important purchase.
Check that your eCommerce platform gives you the option to create and manage discount coupons as well as design and manage different pricing policies for members and non-members.
You will have access to powerful tools that will enable you to upsell and cross-sell your products.
These features are absolutely necessary to keep customers coming back to your site.
3. Shipping And Delivery Features.
Your eCommerce website needs to have a shipping and delivery module that is both well designed and functional, however, the requirement for this component will vary depending on the type of goods you sell through your online store.
The delivery and shipping module is the feature that is considered as of utmost importance by the end customers.
Your customer should be able to choose from a variety of delivery options available for their order through the system, and the system should also automatically calculate the total cost of shipping for the customer.
In addition to these things, you need to find out which foreign carriers are supported and how easy it will be for you to incorporate those carriers into your system.
This information is really important.
For example, both DHL and FedEx offer real-time shipping prices; Therefore, you must be aware of how you can link your eCommerce platform with any of these shipping companies.
4. Payment Methods.
Just like the shipping and delivery modules, the payment module is one of the most essential components of the eCommerce platform.
Most e-commerce websites selling products and subscriptions consider making money online as their ultimate goal.
Your eCommerce platform needs to be compatible with the most popular payment gateways and systems currently in use.
Examples include PayPal, 2Checkout, etc.
Customers who visit your eCommerce website should also be provided with an option to select their preferred payment mode from the available options.
This is because different places on the Internet favor particular payment methods.
5. Search Engine Optimization.
The Search Engine Optimization (SEO) tool included in the eCommerce system comes up at number five on my list of the most important features.
Your goods and services need to be crawled and indexed by search engines, so Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is of utmost importance for all eCommerce websites.
Without Search Engine Optimization (SEO), no one will be able to locate the stuff they are looking for on the Internet, and your website will be unable to locate its target audience.
If you are unable to sell things to the world through other channels on your eCommerce site, no one will be able to trace your wares.
Your e-commerce platform should generate search-engine-friendly (SEF) URLs for you, and it should also help you generate sitemaps automatically so that you can submit your website to search engines.
Only then your eCommerce platform will be search engine optimized.
They should also give you the option to easily input meta-information about your products using the control panel of the eCommerce system.
Conclusion.
If you have a solid understanding of your online business, you should be able to determine for yourself which eCommerce platform is best suited for your operations.
Without these important elements in the eCommerce system, you may end up wasting a lot of unnecessary time and effort to maintain your eCommerce business.
These important features will help you manage and run your ecommerce website efficiently, which is why they are included in the eCommerce system.
If you are still unable to decide which option is best for your company’s needs, you should always seek professional advice in developing and customizing an eCommerce system.
These professionals can provide you with the best solution for you and ensure that your time will not be wasted on managing your site but on making more sales in the eCommerce industry.
If you are still not able to decide, then you should do it as soon as possible.
Find the right team to create the ideal ecommerce platform for your company’s products and services so you can sell them online and get the most out of your eCommerce design.
