Online store software - what to choose?

Before opening an online store, you should take care of a number of details, without which its proper operation is virtually impossible. In addition to creating a business plan, defining the target and assortment and selecting suppliers, you need to take care of the e-store from its technical side, i.e. purchase, e.g. domain, hosting and online store software facilitating administration. There are many online shopping software companies on the market right now. The choice of such software, of course, cannot be a hasty decision made on the spur of the moment. You should carefully check what the offers contain and what you might need to buy.

Many types of software and their price differences make this choice difficult, so sometimes it is worth using a demo version of the software, because most companies offer such an option. So, at the beginning, we make an initial selection, and then we choose a few software that we test to finally choose the best one.

Online store software - types

In fact, there are three basic types of software:

1. Ready-made software - these, in turn, are divided into:
   • Boxed - this software model involves the installation of a ready-made system on a computer. Its main disadvantage is that any changes and improvements in the store have to be frequently introduced by specialists, and most of the system updates are paid. In the case of closed software, it is often not possible to modify the store at all.
   • Software As a Service - it is the most convenient form of software for e-commerce. You don't need to install any software because the entire service is provided online. All you need is Internet access and you can manage your online store from anywhere, at any time. Launching a store in this model is simple, because setting up an account takes a few minutes, and the system itself provides ready-made templates and integration with various tools, thanks to which adjusting the store to sale should not take too long.
2. Individual software, the creation of which is commissioned from scratch by an IT company. The most expensive and time-consuming solution (the more functions it will contain, the more expensive it will be), depending on our vision.

Advantages of software

1. Ready:
   • ready-made software often contain common functions, so we do not have to worry about whether our software will work properly, we have a specific offer that, depending on the price, has a number of additional options;
   • most stores offer free software testing, thanks to which we have a chance to evaluate the software based on our own experience before buying it;
   • before making a purchase, we can also see already implemented projects and pay attention to the opinions of existing users;
   • quick implementation and installation of software (without having to wait for software development from scratch), and constant technical support;
   • in the case of off-the-shelf software that has undergone a series of tests before it is released for sale, there is a really low risk that something will malfunction after installation.
2. Individual, custom-made:
   • we implement our own vision, i.e. we create software from scratch that will meet all our requirements;
   • software competitiveness, i.e. we decide to buy software that is not available on the market yet, there is no risk that we will create a store similar to another;
   • we focus only on the most necessary functions, we can skip the less important ones;
   • no license fees;

Software Defects

1. Ready:
   • little room for maneuver, a predetermined set of functions, not allowing the introduction of one's own visions;
   • often high license fees have to be added to ready-made software;
   • over time, improved solutions may appear on the market, the introduction of which into the finished software may prove either impossible or very expensive (in the case of boxed software)
2. Individual, custom-made:
   • long time of launching the store as well as testing and implementing the software, and the competition is still awake;
   • high development costs;
   • the risk of possible errors after commissioning;
   • no possibility to learn the opinions of previous users.

Online store software - what to choose?

More and more companies offer software, so it may take some time to analyze and test these offers. However, this in the future will result in software tailored to our expectations. Hasty decision-making can condemn our business to failure from the very beginning, because without efficient software, you can not move.

In turn, the choice of individual software should also be subject to prior analysis - whether it is needed for our business profile and whether we have the appropriate amount of money to create it. In addition, we must have a clearly outlined vision of how our store should look like.

Both solutions have different functions and meet different requirements. At the beginning, it is worth considering what we really want and on this basis, after conducting appropriate research, start choosing a specific software.