You can sell direct from your home or place of business to people all over the world with minimal fuss. There are plenty of services to help you set up your e-commerce store, but which one works best for you? Make sure you consider the following points below when picking your ideal e-commerce website builder.
Who owns your data?
This is important because your data is the most valuable resource you've got. You'll want to know what you're keeping, who has access to it and who handles all the data. There are a lot of legal issues surrounding the use of accepting credit and debit cards online so make sure you're clear on who takes care of what.
Are there any limits?
Is the e-commerce website builder restricted in any way? Some website builders choose to provide a range of packages at different price points with different restrictions, like for example on the maximum amount of products you can list for sale. Check ahead of time and make sure you choose a suitable package for your business while leaving room for growth.
What happens if you go over the limits?
Likewise make sure you know what happens if you go over your limits. Some ecommerce website builders may simply not allow you to go over your limits at all, while others may allow it but charge you a premium rate for going over your limits.
Will this be able to support my store?
You'll want to make sure that the website builder is capable of building the e-commerce store that you want and can handle getting a lot of traffic. You don't want your e-commerce store to start slowing down just as you start to really pick up business.
Can I easily export my data?
Can you easily move your data about? This is a problem known as 'vendor lock in' in the IT industry. If you ever need to move your e-commerce website for whatever reason, you will want to be sure that you can export your data so you can take it all with you when you move. If you can't easily export your data then you're trapped into using that website builder forever or you risk permanently losing your data when better opportunities come up or the company goes out of business.
