E-Commerce Software

A software for eCommerce websites, or simply eCommerce software, is a tool that drives all processes involved in an online store such as assisting owners to manage their product catalog, manage inventory, compute taxes, process payments, and fulfill orders, among others. It provides all the things required to operate an online retail site by simplifying online store management.

An eCommerce software can also be defined as the engine behind an online store, making it possible to easily manage a website and fulfill orders. eCommerce platforms simplify intricate processes with the help a user-friendly interface that allows users with no technical knowledge to handle a whole eCommerce operation. Despite the ease of use that e-commerce tools bring to an online business, it is a complex and multifaceted machine.

E-commerce software applications are important for businesses aiming online success. The purpose of eCommerce software is to put all the things you require to operate your store in one place. Here are some factors detailing the importance of software for eCommerce websites:

• Manage orders: Handling a customer’s order including item selection, payment, checkout, and delivery, is essential. Each order is a sales transaction that will affect your bottom line. Therefore, it must be done conveniently and efficiently. E-commerce tools will help you check the order status, manage orders, and making quick changes if required. With some other third-party service and app or on its own, eCommerce software can keep transaction records, manage payment processing, create billing and invoicing, manage customer information, provide reports and analytics, and undertake accurate accounting, among others.
• Manage customers: Many advanced eCommerce tools are AI powered, which means they can support virtual assistants. These virtual assistants would help you to solve customer queries and offer them assistance whenever or wherever they need it.
• Improved customer experience: Software for eCommerce websites are meant to enable customers efficiently and quickly find what they require in your store. Hosted solutions provide service-level agreements to ensure 100% uptime and easy but strong website management, letting you to offer your customers with the best experience while online shopping.
• Simplify marketing: SEO integrated within e-commerce software applications allows online stores to rank higher and appear in organic search results for increased online presence and discovery, as well as lower customer acquisition costs.
• Manage inventory and products: While using eCommerce platforms, you get assistance to categorize and organize your product catalogs efficiently based on their color, size, quantity, and images. You are also notified and made aware if stocks are low and what specific products need replenishing.
• Automates taxation and shipping: With the help of e-commerce tools, calculating sales taxes based on customer location, printing shipping labels, and sending notification emails to users can be done more precisely and automatically.

It’s all about features, functionality, and design when it comes to eCommerce websites. There are some essential features that you must have if you are running an online store or business.

The success of an eCommerce website depends not only on how well the website is marketed or the products are positioned, but also by the features it offers both to the website owner and the customer. As a website owner, it is essential that the administrative features fit with your business processes and that you have the tools to manage your website. Here are the features that you must look for in eCommerce software.

• Quality on-site search feature: While visiting an eCommerce website, any customer hopes to find all needed products in as minimum time as possible. E-commerce software applications must have a fast and effective search engine, letting your customers to get precise search results. As customers wish to find a specific item on your online store rather quickly, keep a search box in the website’s top section to make their search easier. Moreover, an effective eCommerce search feature must be multifunctional, offering customers an opportunity to find required items by product size, names, color, weight, price, and so on. A few modern eCommerce websites can offer end users with new advanced search solutions integrated with a cloud-based search, thereby offering customers a chance to enjoy smart and fast search results.
• Mobile shopping experience: In this era of growing and fast-paced mobile technologies, more customers prefer to make purchases on-the-go with the help of smartphones, tablets, or other smart devices. A mobile optimized website can bring a huge crowd to your online store. Thanks to the latest e-commerce responsive themes, your website will have a consistent display across all devices. A website owner, having a responsive eCommerce website, does not need to spend money on a mobile version of his online store. Hence, you will be able to bring your business to a new level and offer your customers a rich shopping experience.
• Marketing and promotional tools: If you wish to build strong relationships with your customers or increase your user-base, you will have to work on strengthening your online presence. E-commerce tools featuring advanced analytics and marketing and promotional tools such as advertising methods, loyalty programs, and so on can draw more crowd in a very short time. Analytics integrated in these eCommerce platforms will help you analyze users’ behavior to understand the most perspective trends in the market. Moreover, an eCommerce website, integrated with social media networks, offers equal advantages for customers and web store owners. Website owners will be capable of promoting services or products and knowing their weak and strong pints. On the other hand, customers will have a direct feedback channel, where they can place a complaint, post a review, or ask for support about purchased products.
• Payment and shipping gateways: Selecting a software for eCommerce websites that supports multiple payment gateways or payment options is advantageous. This will allow you to attract audience with various buying preferences or payment preferences to your website. In addition to this, one of the most essential things that concerns any customer is how the purchased products will be delivered. The customer is likely to be upset if he/she sees just only few shipping options during checkout. Hence, e-commerce software applications must include different types of shipping methods. Furthermore, plenty of shipping service options can help expand your business to new regions or even build your international sales.
• Easy user interface: A simple customer interface is one of the essential features that you must look for while purchasing e-commerce tools. If you need to engage and retain customers on your eCommerce website, try to make the most simplistic user interface, offering your customers with convenient and fast shopping experience. An online store must have a clear navigation system between website windows and product catalogs, letting customers to return to previous pages, without starting process from the scratch. The same thing must be followed while choosing products. A customer must be capable of adding as many required products as he wishes into the shopping cart. Your product catalogs must include brief descriptions, not confusing your users with redundant data. The checkout process must also be simple, thereby saving customers’ time and not forcing them to close the website window due to complexity. If you need your eCommerce website to become really successful, your eCommerce software must allow your clients to shop in few steps.
• Built-in design and content management tools: Rich content and a professional look remain critical aspects of any website. This helps to enhance the level of credibility in user’s eyes. Built-in content management tools allow website owners to use templates in order to manage and create website content effortlessly, without the need of having technical knowledge. Such designing and content management tools can help a website owner manipulate layouts of documents, as well as design text and graphic materials, without requiring knowledge of programming languages and watch the entire process from the beginning till to the end. These tools are specially developed and integrated in eCommerce platforms to offer website owners the chance to achieve complicated operations as for creating unique images and text, uploading a logo, and other similar things.
• Reporting and analysis: Knowing the critical trends and patterns that affects customer behaviors are essential for any retailer who owns an online store. That’s why a number of e-commerce software applications offer comprehensive statistical reporting tools. By analyzing and tracking essential data such as keywords, clickstreams, customer demographics, and referring sites, organizations can get insight into what’s trending and what’s not, so they can identify the most effective methods to boost revenues and sales.
• Integration: In order to ensure the most profitable and efficient operations possible, many e-commerce tools offer seamless integration to a plethora of other applications. For instance, they can directly connect to external payment processing gateways so that users get the most convenient and flexible payment options possible. In addition to this, some eCommerce platforms interface with the third-party shipping service providers, so users can personalize their delivery options and evaluate the associated costs during checkout. Many e-commerce software applications offer integration with popular accounting software for more effective management of outstanding payments, invoices, revenues, and other sales-associated financial transactions.
• Centralized database: Software for eCommerce websites eliminates the trouble of maintaining and integrating different systems for accounting transactions, customer data, and product information. All relevant data, including browsing, product listings, and order histories, as well as payment and shipping status, are accessed from and stored in a single, fully-centralized database. Hence, a centralized database is a must-have feature while selecting the best eCommerce software.

There are different kinds of eCommerce platforms designed to fulfill different users’ needs. These e-commerce software applications are classified based on sales, licensing models, and data exchange. Let us have a detailed look at each section.

Sales

Based on the type of sales, the e-commerce tools are divided into following categories:

• Business-To-Business (B2B): B2B e-commerce software looks after all electronic transactions of sales and goods occurring between two organizations or companies. This kind of e-commerce normally explains the relationship between the wholesalers who market the products to users and the producers of a product. Sometimes, this lets wholesalers to gain a competitive edge.
• Consumer-To-Consumer (C2C): This type of e-commerce software looks after all transactions that take place between customers. Normally, this type of eCommerce sales is provided by online services (such as PayPal), but are often done via websites and social media networks (Facebook marketplace).
• Business-To-Consumer (B2C): Being the most common type of software for eCommerce websites, B2C e-commerce software looks after electronic business relationships between companies and users. Many people enjoy this e-commerce because it lets them to read customer reviews, compare and shop at best prices, and often find different products that they would not otherwise be exposed to in the retail world. This type of e-commerce sales also allows companies to develop a more tailored relationship with their users.
• Consumer-To-Business (C2B): C2B e-commerce software is used when users make their products or services available for organizations to purchase. An example of this might be a photographer offering service for an e-commerce website or a graphic designer offering service to create a company logo.
• Business-To-Administration (B2A): This e-commerce software deals with all transactions between public administration and companies. This type of eCommerce software involves many services, specifically in areas such as employment, social security, and legal documents.
• Consumer-To-Administration (C2A): C2A e-commerce software deals with all electronic transactions between public administration and individuals. Examples of this include health (scheduling an appointment) and taxes (filing IT returns) services.

 Licensing Model

Based on the type of licensing models, the e-commerce software applications are divided into following segments:

• Open source: This type of eCommerce software solutions is well suited for SMEs, as it provides a free platform. Users does not need to have in-depth knowledge of web design to set up the platform. While using open source eCommerce platforms, users get the liberty to set up, configure, control, and maintain the software. In addition to this, they can even make changes to the source codes. Open source eCommerce tools come with a different add-ons, plugins, and extensions that are used to improve their performance. Moreover, the source code can be changed as per the users’ needs.
• On-premise: These types of e-commerce software applications are installed and managed on-site by developers who fix problems, facilitate manual updates, and do general troubleshooting. Usually, a number of companies opt for on-premise solutions owing to the increased flexibility from hosted solutions. This type of eCommerce software needs an initial one-time purchase licensing fee. Also, the users have to spend on installation services and hardware. In addition to this, on-going maintenance, data migration, and yearly charges for updates and support are other factors where users must spend money. On-premise eCommerce solutions are easy to customize, and are reliable and secure in terms of performance. But they demand self-maintenance, considerable initial investment, and technical knowledge.
• SaaS: Software as a Service applications are much more feasible from a technical point of view. The only development needs are for extra custom and design features. Rest, all patches, updates, and newly-launched features are done with one-click integrations or automatically. SaaS e-commerce tools have advanced to the point where the flexibility and customization (earlier restricted only to on-premise) is robust, thereby making it more than enough for different users. eCommerce stores running on SaaS applications can be launched at a much affordable cost and in 1/3 of the time as compared to on-premise solutions. Unlike on-premise eCommerce solutions, SaaS is affordable, easily scalable, and hosted and upgraded by an eCommerce provider. Therefore, its integration with back-end systems is restricted, it lacks data security, and does not offer full control over the system.

Data Exchange

Everybody knows that eCommerce software retrieves data from a dedicated back-end system. This data is saved in the relevant system’s database. The data comprises the business rules defining the way data is created, stored, calculated, displayed, and recreated inside the system. For example, different customer accounts get different product discounts. Generally, two types of data exchange are used to retrieve the information:

1. Integrated eCommerce: A part of the software solution is configured to the back-end system while using integrated eCommerce software. This way link between database of a back-end system and the business rules is automatically established. Data available in the back-end system is used again and displayed in the eCommerce system’s front/back end. An integrated eCommerce software does not need any investments for the creation of business rules or a separate database. This type of software is often used in B2C and B2B cases.
2. Interfaced eCommerce: While using interfaced eCommerce software, the application is configured on top of the back-end system. The connection between the database of a back-end system and business rules are set up manually. Data available in the back-end system is copied into the eCommerce application. Interfaced eCommerce solutions have their own business rules and database that are synchronized constantly via a link to a specific back-end system. This type of software is mostly employed in a B2C cases.

Running an online store comprises a number of processes and steps that eCommerce software manages and streamlines. How does e-commerce software applications work? Here are step-by-step details about how the software operates:

1. A customer visits your online store that displays categories and products, which are stored in the database.
2. The shopper creates an account with all data saved in the database and uses a shopping cart to add products.
3. Once the shopper is in the checkout phase, the website usually goes into secure mode using an SSL certificate and showing a lock symbol.
4. During the checkout process, the website might use third-party services or software to offer the user with shipping rates, delivery options, and expected date of delivery.
5. When the user adds the credit card information, the data is sent to a payment gateway or a payment processor.
6. The customer order is now completed and all sensitive data is saved with the payment processor.
7. Website owners can have the payment transferred to their bank account or deposited in their merchant account.

 The above steps, from selecting an item to processing the payment, can take a couple of minutes to complete, thereby offering you and your customer utmost convenience and efficiency. eCommerce tools make above processes/steps take place hassle-free and worry-free. In addition to this, for your e-commerce website to run successfully you need some other components as well. This includes:

• Merchant Interface: This component is used to manage your online store as well as to configure and use all other apps and tools that you might require. The interface must be flexible, robust, straightforward, and customizable to operate.
• Web Hosting Service: Web hosting service providers and companies provide servers to host your online store and all the apps and elements that go with it. This is an essential element because a reliable web host gives you a good website that is always open and accessible, as well as loads quickly and is able to handle high traffic.
• Payment Processing: The main requirement of an eCommerce website is accepting payment. In simple words, without payment processing, users cannot place their orders. There are different online payment gateways, payment services, and merchant account providers that integrate with eCommerce tools to ensure secure, safe, efficient, and accurate payment processing.
• Shopping Cart: This component will be used by your customers to place their orders where they can add the items they wish to purchase, offer data about payment and shipping preferences, and confirm the order. The shopping cart is also used to differentiate between an abandoned and completed sale. Therefore, it must work smoothly and optimally.
• Product Catalog: This component is used by your customers to see and know about the items you are selling. The catalog of any online store is usually made of pages, products, and information that you would like to display to your customers. The catalogs must be created to appeal, attract, and entice your customers, and show the theme of your store.
• Order Fulfillment and Shipping: There are different third-party logistics, order fulfillment, and shipping services that offer same-day, one-day, two-day, and ground shipping services, which you can provide to your users. This offers your shoppers with many options that they can avail for fast and prompt delivery. These services eliminate the heavy lifting from you so can concentrate on your selling.

Running an eCommerce platform is much simpler as compared to opening a brick-and-mortar shop. On the other hand, it also comes with a set of risks you might not have thought about. Here are some issues that users face while using eCommerce software:

• Online Security: There is a wide range of security threats that you must be beware of. They may include phishing attacks, malware, spam mail, and hacking. Security issues can cause havoc. Fraudsters post spam and attack the server, infecting the eCommerce platform with viruses. They can possibly gain access to sensitive data about your customer’s card details, phone numbers, and much more. This data can also be compromised and used for identity theft, spamming, and unsolicited marketing. To defend against these threats, make sure that you update the operating system of your platform regularly, and use a reliable SSL (Secure Sockets Layer). Apart from this, make sure that your customers use strong passwords.
• SEO: Google or other platforms could launch a complex update for their algorithm anytime and make your website traffic drop significantly. Even though you use quality SEO strategies for marketing your eCommerce platform, a small update can turn your world upside-down, making it very difficult for you to run your eCommerce store. In addition to this, there are not specific updates that you predict and act accordingly to prevent the nightmare. Hence, SEO has a great impact on any eCommerce software or website.
• Slow Loading Times: Are you fond of endless queues at supermarkets? They are similar to the slow loading times in eCommerce. Many users search for several minutes in a segment before choosing one or more items for buying. If navigation is not smooth, consumers will end up getting tired and abandoning the website, leaving behind an abandoned shopping cart. Hence, slow loading time is one more issue that website owners face while using eCommerce tools.
• Unwieldy Navigation: Whether you offer products via an app or a website, you must consider customers who may be visiting your platform for the first time. If they are used to online shopping, there are specific things they will expect to see, such as the position of the cart icon or placement of navigation links. However, a website that is hard to use and unpredictable will lead to slow conversions and sales. Hence, navigation is a major factor and plays a key role while using eCommerce platforms.
• Customer support: Whether you are a customer or a website owner, lack of accurate customer support will impact you in some or the other way. If you are a customer and did not receive a proper support, eventually you will end up abandoning the eCommerce platform. On the other hand, if you are a website owner and faced the same problem, you online presence will be hampered and this will lead to a huge loss. Hence, customer support is one of the major issues faced while using e-commerce software applications.

With increasing use of eCommerce software, every entrepreneur is looking to have an online store where he/she can sell their range of services and products. eCommerce software provides great advantages to online retailers, who are seeking to get a competitive edge. Here are some key benefits of using an eCommerce software:

• Quality Promotion and Marketing Efforts: Many eCommerce software solutions have features that support even the most sophisticated SEO strategies. This eventually improves promotional and marketing efforts by creating greater awareness amongst possible buyers, and making it simpler for more people to find your website. In addition to this, many e-commerce software applications provide an entire portfolio of professionally-developed design templates. This assists to enhance branding initiatives by offering online retailers with a way to represent a better image without the requirement to hire a separate graphic designer.
• Enhanced Customer Service: The best eCommerce software delivers a more pleasant and convenient online shopping experience to customers. Browsing for particular services or products is simple, and checkout is easy and fast. In addition to this, order confirmation and shipping status can be tracked instantly at any time. Consequently, users will be much more likely to recommend your website to other buyers and will also be more likely to come back in the future to make additional purchases.
• Increased Revenues: A software for eCommerce websites can boost revenues in different ways. First, it can assist drive more traffic to your website, which in turn can lead to a higher volume of sales. It can also provide users a more intuitive interface to browse, so they can find what they are looking for more easily. In addition to this, some eCommerce software solutions will dynamically suggest complimentary services and products to buyers on the basis of what they have already viewed or purchased. This can enhance income created by cross-sell and up-sell programs.
• Enhanced Intelligence: With the help of an eCommerce software, online retailers can analyze purchasing and browsing patterns in great detail to fully know what boosts their business. By gaining insight of the essential factors and trends that impact buyer behaviors, they can create strategies to further boost profitability and sales.
• Advanced Efficiency: eCommerce software significantly increases productivity by getting rid of the requirement to manually set up the website and all essential features. It also completely automates processes such as the creation, organization, and categorization of new product listings, along with the calculation of product sub-totals and totals (when various items are purchased), shipping expenses, and taxes. In addition to this, eCommerce tools simplify and streamline website administration, making it simpler for organizations to update and enhance their websites as needed.

The eCommerce industry is expanding, as it offers the convenience of ordering from the comfort of your home along with easy replacement and return policies. In addition to this, technological advancements in favor of the industry is giving rise to different trends that will impact the eCommerce sector in a positive way. Here are some trends, that are acting as a catalyst for the eCommerce industry:

• Augmented Reality (AR): While online shopping has been giving you many advantages, there has been one drawback: you cannot see or feel the product. However, augment reality makes visualizing the item in your life possible. Many companies are now using AR to help customers see how their products will look if purchased. Companies have started integrating AR features to their mobile app to show true-to-scale 3D models of products on customers’ smartphones. Studies have shown that people would be shopping online more if they could try on a product virtually before purchasing it, and are less likely to visit a physical store if AR is available on their favorite eCommerce store. AR gives a person the power to not just see a 3D model of an item but allows a user see how it looks if they were actually using it. Many companies are expecting a lot more businesses using AR for their businesses and products, thereby making it more standard in social media and eCommerce platforms in the coming period.
• Voice Search: Nowadays, users are more and more relying on voice assistants such as Amazon Alexa, Apple Siri, and Google Assistant to do everything from checking the weather to buying products online. An increasing number of people get hold of this technology and become more comfortable to purchase online, thereby offering an area full of potential for eCommerce companies and platforms to explore.
• Artificial Intelligence (AI): An aspect of shopping at brick-and-mortar stores that has been missing in online shopping is the assistance offered by in-store associates with personalized guidance and product recommendations based on the user’s requests or needs. As AI and machine learning (ML) evolve, many eCommerce companies have already started using the technology to provide smart product suggestions. Not only will this trend get a strong hold in the future, but it is only the beginning of era where AI will contribute to eCommerce and retail. Different companies are using AI to make smarter choices for their digital ad investment, thereby resulting to increase in social media revenue. Companies are programming their AI accordingly and letting customers know that brands care about them.
• Chatbots: Chatbots can be used as an alternative to a brick-and-mortar store and associate, thereby offering AI capabilities and personalized suggestions at the same time. Chatbots allow websites to communicate with numerous customers while offering them thoughtful recommendations and the feeling of personal attention. Increasing number of customers actually prefer to chat with bots because of the faster response time. In future, bots will evolve significantly and businesses will be using chatbots more effectively to increase their revenue. In addition to this, chatbots are a perfect option for outstanding customer support and are one of the most important marketing tools.

The cost of eCommerce software differs drastically. Many software developers normally provide three plans namely basic, standard, premium (the wording may differ per developer) that suffice different business needs and cater to different business sizes and budgets. Basic plans can start as low as single-digit figure subscriptions on monthly basis. On the other hand, pricing can go as high as four-digit figures for premium plans. In the end, costing of the software is dependent on the number of functionalities and features provided. With deluxe, premium, or professional plans, you get the whole set of advanced tools and features of the product.

WareBuy is the industry’s first dedicated marketplace for buying and selling packaged software solutions and services. Buying a software will be easy since the platform offers different benefits such as:

• Secured payment
• Multiple options for software
• Price Transparency; hence, no additional or hidden costs are added to the cart.
• 24/7 customer support
• Saves time
• Worldwide delivery
• Competitive pricing
• Shop by category (such as industry or skillset)
• Buy products from renowned brands

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What thinks should I consider to get the best eCommerce software for my eCommerce business website?

Before starting your eCommerce web development, consider the few basic things that will help you select the best eCommerce software. Always consider the products that you are selling. Some eCommerce software solutions can look after inventory tracking and manage multiple products while some others cannot. Also take into consideration the payment gateways, design options, integration with other tools, security of the site, pricing, and expected features before finalizing on the eCommerce software.

Why is it important for business owners to start an eCommerce website?

Today, users are getting busier every day and have very less time to shop at brick-and-mortar stores. They prefer to shop online by browsing on their PC and mobile devices. Having an eCommerce website for your business will assist you to target these online shoppers and keep them informed about all your latest services and products.

What is cart abandonment and cart abandonment software?

Cart abandonment is an eCommerce term used to describe shoppers who adds items to their online shopping cart, but exit without completing the purchase. So, the cart abandonment software is an application that detects abandoned carts and lures the visitor to visit the online store again to finish their purchase. This is frequently done using a special offer or discount.