Small businesses have multiple goals: make their customers happy, reach their revenue targets and meet their customer service standards. And sometimes it’s hard to achieve all of them at once without sacrificing something. So in this article we’ll tell you why a flexible ecommerce platform can be the solution they need.
1. Easy product customization
Customers want to see what they’re buying before they buy it. With a flexible ecommerce platform, you can provide costumers with an interactive view of each product. This is particularly useful for retailers selling apparel and accessories because it allows customers to see how the garment fits them before making a purchase.
It also lets them adjust the colors and patterns of their chosen products to match their own tastes. This gives customers more control over their shopping experience and makes it easier for retailers to sell items that are custom-made.
2. Easy inventory management
A flexible ecommerce platform allows you to easily manage your inventory and orders from one place. You don’t have to log into multiple systems. Instead, everything is streamlined and centralized for easy access.
This allows you to keep track of everything without having to jump between different systems. This saves time, which means you can spend less time managing your inventory and more time running your business.
3. High-quality images
A great looking website is essential if you want to draw in potential customers and convert them into buyers. An ecommerce platform allows you to upload high-quality images of your products so that customers can see exactly what they are buying before they make the purchase. This is especially important for luxury brands. If your customers can’t see the quality of your products, they will be less likely to buy them.
4. Ability to expand
As a small business owner, you don’t want to be stuck with a technology solution that makes growing your business difficult — even worse, forces you into making expensive upgrades or leaving the platform altogether. A flexible ecommerce platform will scale with your growing needs without requiring extensive technical expertise or budgeting resources just to be effective. This applies to both selling tangible goods and digital products like eLearning and training courses.
5. Targeted marketing and product recommendations
Your online store is your storefront and a potential customer’s first impression of your business. If it doesn’t look good or feel intuitive, they’re not likely to stick around. A good ecommerce platform offers robust features that let you customize the look and feel of your store with ease, so you can create a unique brand experience that reflects who you are and what you do.
6. Support responsive design
One of the main advantages of using a flexible ecommerce platform is that they support responsive design. This means that they adapt themselves automatically depending on the device being used by the customer or potential customer. For example, if someone visits your site on their smartphone, the page will automatically resize itself so that it fits perfectly on the screen of their device. This makes it easier for them to navigate through your site and find what they want more quickly than if it were not optimized for mobile devices in this way.
7. Secure and reliable software updates
A secure platform that delivers updates regularly is essential for security and performance. If you’re using a software package that hasn’t been updated in years, it’s possible that there are vulnerabilities that could be exploited by hackers. A secure platform also provides updates so that you can enjoy the latest features without having to wait for them to be released into the wild.
8. Flexible pricing and shipping options
A lot of older ecommerce platforms have a rigid pricing structure that can make it difficult for retailers to control their costs and set prices that are fair for both themselves and their customers. For example, if your store doesn’t sell many products above $100, you don’t want customers shopping on Amazon instead because they’ll be able to save money by purchasing from there. With a flexible platform like Shopify Plus or BigCommerce Enterprise, you can customize your site so that products over $100 are offered at a discount or sold at full price. This lets you create a more competitive environment for customers who want to buy higher-priced items from you rather than elsewhere online.
Takeaway
With its flexibility and relative ease of use, a flexible e-commerce platform can help to streamline the way small businesses conduct business. It can also save them thousands of dollars that they would otherwise need to spend in custom development. So the next time you hear a small business owner saying they don’t know enough about e-commerce platforms, show them this article, and give them the gift of knowledge.