- How many products do I want to sell online Now? Is there a deadline I'm up against?
- How many products do I want to sell online in the future?
- Do I need to integrate with Shipping?
- Do I need to integrate with Inventory?
- Who is going to keep my e-commerce pages and products up-to-date?
- Do I want a turnkey solution -- where I just hire someone who maintains this for me for a set monthly fee -- or do I want a solution that I or a current employee will administer?
- Does this person have the technical or other skills they will need?
- Does this person have the knowledge of the business that they will need?
- How much am I willing to pay for e-commerce?
- What kind of Return on my investment (ROI) would I like to see from e-commerce?
- When do I want to implement this?
- What is the value of the labor involved to set this up?
Many of these questions are not about "E-Commerce" when you dig deeper.
They are really about what type of business you have, its industry, and what its business model is.
Your E-Commerce should compliment your business model. That can be done very well if you understand your business model as well as how you are going to integrate what you already have with E-Commerce.
We can't help but notice that there's a strong "penny-wise but pound-foolish" trend. If you are going to set up your own e-commerce for your business, we admire your ambition. But isn't your time better spent running your business?
- businesses that have large inventories need to outsource e-commerce solutions to be successful.
- We think that hobbyists can probably do very well with small-scale solutions, but things change with scale, types of products, and audience.
We get asked for advice for e-commerce -- even when some people have already contracted out to a solution provider.
If you have a solution provider that you are happy with, well, then you need to get them to earn their money.
It's pretty common for providers to have people sign up for "free" accounts. But then it's not long when the customer realizes the limitations of the "free" services. Those services aren't free. You invest your time, or your staff's time, and folks, time really is money.
The best way to do e-commerce is to have a PLAN for what you need and an understanding of why you need it.
We have solutions for the hobbyist, the small at home business person, charities, and schools.
We have solutions for brick and mortar businesses that really do have a 250-product catalog. (We know you need to integrate your retail POS, accounting, shipping, and inventory management. We know you have staff who can help with this -- but what solutions are best for you?)
Whoever you are, Our solutions allow you to get the best return on your modest investment, and allow your staff or you to manage your own store. (We can help with that too, as well as set up and design.)
