This last year, I’ve resolved myself to completing my master’s degree. My main motivation is that I really like teaching at Dixie State University. As luck would have it, one of my first courses was a research class. I’ve been working with online stores in a few different capacities in my career, and I’ve always been curious about what the preferences were in the market place for the various online E-Commerce Systems. Well, since my degree is in Graphic Information Technology, E-Commerce was a viable topic for me research final. I wrote a 37-page research report complete with a study and awesome graphics. Instead of boring you with all 37 pages, here are the highlights.
Why Do People Buy Stuff Online?
Buying online has never been easier. With the evolution of SmartPhone and mobile technology, we can take our shopping to any location and get virtually any item with the click of a button while in pajamas. As long as there is a decent wifi connection and a credit card handy, possibilities are endless.
Small businesses sell online because it’s smart. Selling online is lucrative, and allows small businesses to reach more people, sell more products, and engage with clientele that they would not be able to otherwise. The methodology behind selling online includes finding the right software and website combination.
E-Commerce Systems
The purpose of this study was to examine which systems are preferred for the small business owner conducting business online. The business model for companies that offer consumables, for instance, benefit greatly from having all of the product variations that include size, flavor, quantity, etc. They need all the necessary product customizations to display their customer’s options for the purchase.
More Features
When factoring in inventory control, payment processing, fees, and other learning curves, this whole business-meets-online-shopping-feature can be like finding a match made in heaven. Not to mention the investment of time, a shopping cart can be quite the endeavor to set up and get rolling for a small business online store.
So What’s Out There?
I found a lot of E-Commerce systems. Here are a few of them in alphabetical order:
| 1ShoppingCart |
| 3dCart |
| Big Cartel |
| Big Commerce |
| Cart Rocket |
| Comment Sold |
| Demandware |
| E-Junkie |
| Ecwid |
| GoDaddy eCommerce |
| Lemonade Stand |
| Magento |
| Open Cart |
| Pinnacle Cart |
| Prestashop |
| Selz |
| Shopify |
| Shoppacino |
| Squarespace |
| Volusion |
| Vtex |
| Wix |
| WooCommerce |
| X-Cart |
| Yokart |
| Zoe Commerce |
The experience of the shopping cart solution is significant to the success of the business owner to properly display, promote, and market their products online. Selling online is a great added bonus for brick and mortar shops, too. Move more inventory, make more money.
“Today, we know that 96% of Americans with access to the internet have made a purchase online at some point in their lives and 80% have made a purchase online in the past month…And not only do customers frequently use eCommerce sites to shop: 51% of Americans now prefer to shop online rather than in-store.” (Moore, n.d.)
Moore, K.(n.d.). “Ecommerce 101 + The History of Online Shopping: What the Past Says About Tomorrow’s Retail Challenges.” https://www.bigcommerce.com/blog/ecommerce/#types-of-ecommerce
Online Shopping
There’s no lack of E-Commerce platforms, but between you and me, businesses are always looking for the perfect system that meets all of their specifications. Some never find it and they hire a team of developers to make a proprietary system to solve their logistics troubles.
With the global pandemic of COVID-19, online shopping is even more at the forefront of everyone’s mind. I’m no longer joking to my class about how shopping online is my favorite past-time, now it’s becoming essential as we social distance to flatten the curve.
So what works? We’ll explore that in Part 2.