So you’ve got a great product you’re sure the world would flock to buy? It sounds like you are probably ready to start selling online. You may be baffled by the array of choices facing you before you even start, or perhaps you had no idea they even existed. Unless you have already done extensive research and evaluated the many options, read on, this article is for you!
There are many ways to sell online
The countless e-commerce options available fall broadly in to three models, each with their pros and cons and each suitable for a particular set of circumstances. What do I recommend to my clients? Jump to the end to find out!
1. Online Marketplaces & Social Media
- How does it work
You join the platform and are able to list your products for sale on their website. Visitors to that website are able to purchase your products using the platform’s own payment system. You can have a URL that will lead directly to your products, but it will not be on your own domain. - Examples
Facebook, eBay, Amazon and Etsy
Pros
- Little or no upfront or continued financial investment required.
- Benefit from existing traffic to the platform as well as being able to drive traffic to your particular corner of the platform.
- This may allow you to reach a wider market than you could with your own website.
- Support available from platform itself and from community.
- All security and technical functionality is taken care of by the platform.
Cons
- Little control over the presentation of your products and brand.
- Competition and distraction from others on the same platform.
- May be perceived by customer as amateur.
- Platform takes a high cut of sales.
Curated Stores
These are a sub-set of marketplaces and share some of the same characteristics, though the rigorous selection process means they are not an option for most sellers. Usually, as with other marketplaces, they will not hold your stock and you will be directly responsible for fulfilling orders. A fascinating and growing sector to keep an eye on.
- Interesting reading
https://wwd.com/business-news/technology/think-tank-revcascade-josh-wexler-10800413 - Examples
Wolf & Badger (Worldwide), Trouva (Europe – only for those who have a bricks and mortar store), Aha Life (US only)
2. Turnkey Websites
- How does it work
You join the platform and are able to use it to create your own website with your own domain. Your website will be hosted on the platform’s servers and you will only be able to access your assets (images, product data, etc.) using the admin interface that they provide. - Examples
Shopify (specifically for e-commerce), BigCommerce (specifically for e-commerce), Squarespace / Wix / Etc. (general website tools with limited e-commerce functionality) - More info
https://www.websitebuilderexpert.com/ecommerce-website-builders/comparisons/ - I use
Shopify
Pros
- Your own website – looks like you mean business and once a visitor is on your site, you face no competition from other brands or their products. If you employ a professional web designer or developer, with Shopify at least, the possibilities for creativity and functionality are almost unlimited.
- Little upfront financial investment if you set it all up yourself (which most people can with some time, patience and just a little technical ability).
- Low ongoing costs.
- Highly customisable so you can control how your products and your brand are presented. This very much depends on your skills and may require the help of a professional to achieve.
- Add-on functionality available (usually at extra cost) to customise the site to meet your particular needs.
- Support available from platform itself and from community.
- All security and technical functionality is taken care of by the platform.*
*Customisations and third party add-ons are supported by their respective authors, and not by the platform.
Cons
- You have to drive traffic to your website. Lots of it! This is hard work and is where most websites fail.
- The platform takes a slightly higher cut of sales than if the website were self-hosted.
- Ongoing costs can escalate with a lot of add-on functionality.
- The functionality you require may be impossible to implement with some turnkey website platforms. In this case a self-hosted website may be your only option.
3. Self-Hosted Websites
- How does it work
You arrange your own domain and hosting with a web hosting company and install, configure and maintain the e-commerce platform software, usually with the assistance of a web designer or developer. You have direct access to all of your assets (images, database, etc.). - Examples
Woocommerce, Magento, Prestashop and OpenCart - More info
https://ecommerce-platforms.com/articles/open-source-ecommerce-platforms - I use
Woocommerce
Pros
- Your own website – looks like you mean business and once a visitor is on your site, you face no competition from other brands or their products. If you employ a professional (which you should), the possibilities for creativity and functionality are almost unlimited.
- Platform itself does not take a cut of your sales, so you only incur payment gateway fees with each sale.
- Highly customisable so you can control how your products and your brand are presented. This will require a skilled web designer / developer with particular experience with the platform in question.
- Add-on functionality available (may be at extra cost) to customise the site to meet your particular needs.
- Open source so your web developer has access to view and edit all files and database if they need to.
- Community support is often good.
Cons
- All security and technical functionality is your responsibility!
- You have to drive traffic to your website. Lots of it! This is hard work and is where most websites fail.
- Upfront cost likely to be high as you will require an experienced web designer / developer to set the site up for you. DIY is not recommended because of the challenges of implementing adequate security and technical functionality.
- Maintenance of the software is essential to keep it secure. Countless variables between server configuration and software can cause security problems and malfunctions.
- Ongoing costs likely to be high as you will be paying for web hosting, a support and maintenance package from your web designer / developer and possible licenses for add-on functionality.
- It is absolutely crucial to choose a good web host.
- Support from the platform itself is likely to be non-existent, especially when you have modified the core product in any way. You will require support from a web developer.
What do I recommend to my clients?
To answer this question, first I would have to get a feel for their products, their budget and their skills. The answer will be either an online marketplace, Shopify, Woocommerce, or perhaps a combination of approaches. It often makes sense to sell through more than one channel and Shopify, for example, makes it very easy to combine selling via your own store with other channels such as Facebook and other online marketplaces.
I would ask the following:
- What are / will you be selling and to whom?
- Have you any special design and / or functionality requirements?
- What’s your setup budget?
- How tech literate are you?
- How much time and money can you spend on an ongoing basis?
| Situation | Solution |
|---|---|
| Very low budget, low tech skills | Online marketplace Dip your toe in the water, test your market and take it to the next level when you’re in profit. |
| Very low budget, decent tech skills, plenty of time | Shopify or your choice of turnkey website without my help, possibly also online marketplace depending on your products and ability to generate traffic to your own site. |
| Low budget with low tech skills and / or little time | Shopify with my help to set up, possibly also online marketplace. |
| Moderate budget and requiring high quality design and / or particular functionality | Shopify with full set up and a custom theme developed by me, possibly also online marketplace. At this point you will be confident that your sales will soon cover the setup costs, you want things to be done properly and professionally and you expect every stage in the customer’s journey to be carefully managed. |
| Moderate budget and certain circumstances, such as an existing WordPress site or particular functionality (such as gift vouchers) that is not currently well catered for by Shopify | Woocommerce with full set up and a custom theme developed by me, possibly also online marketplace. At this point you will be confident that your sales will soon cover the setup costs, you want things to be done properly and professionally and you expect every stage in the customer’s journey to be carefully managed. |
| High budget (€15k +), large and complex catalogue, complex requirements for customisation, security, etc | This may require a larger web development agency. |
The primary reason I recommend Shopify over Woocommerce in most situations is this:
All security and technical functionality is taken care of by the platform
Only with bitter experience will the significance of this point become clear. The stress, expense and damage to sales that a malfunction or security breach can bring to a website owner should never be underestimated. To mitigate against this on a self hosted website requires expertise and some expense and is impossible to guarantee. Of course, problems can befall a platform like Shopify too, but when they do, you can be assured that they will have extensive backup systems in place and a large team of skilled professionals immediately on the case to resolve the problem. Additionally, Shopify is typically quicker to set up, easier to build custom themes for, and requires no ongoing maintenance, making both the initial and ongoing investment smaller than for a self-hosted website.
And finally
No article on e-commerce would be complete without mentioning the vital ground work that must be done before you can hope to make any sales online, and the enormous investment of time and usually money required to reach customers. Shopify provides an exceptional educational resource, full of well researched, well informed articles: https://www.shopify.co.uk/guides
Their blog is also well worth subscribing to, whether or not you choose to subscribe to their services: https://www.shopify.co.uk/blog
If you are ready to embark on the adventure that is e-commerce, or if you’re at the very beginning of your journey and just thinking about creating your brand, get in touch to find out how I can help you to make it all happen.