Are you planning to get into the ecommerce market, start your business, and sell online? If yes, you might have come across the term, hosted and non-hosted ecommerce solutions. In case you are confused as to pick from one from both, you have come to the right place. In this article, we will be discussing what a hosted ecommerce solution is and everything else you need to know about it for your business. Since you are planning to start an ecommerce business, you must be aware of how an ecommerce platform works. All ecommerce solutions are categorized into two viz. self-hosted and completely-hosted platforms. Each type has its pros and cons and therefore it becomes essential for you to understand the difference and uses of both.
What are the ecommerce platforms?
Ecommerce platforms today, refer to buying and selling of products and services online. It can be done between businesses or between businesses and customers through marketplaces such as Amazon and Flipkart or via various web portals. An ideal ecommerce business would be web-based that lets the customers or businesses secure access and enables them to browse for products, select the desired ones, purchase them online, and get it delivered to the doorsteps.
Once the product to be purchased is selected, the customers or users can make the payment using suitable payment gateways that comply with the security requirements of PCI DSS (Provider Card Industry Data Security Standards). The payment gateways connect to the bank’s online merchant account or any other bank as per the chosen payment gateway. The customer can securely use their credit card, debit card, or any other mode of payment. Moreover, it can also offer direct payment methods such as cheque or direct debit. All these facilities must be available in an ideal ecommerce solution. There would be various features that might be required to build a successful ecommerce solution. The definite features of different ecommerce solutions would vary and choosing the best one depending on the unique business requirements.
What are hosted ecommerce solutions?
Hosted ecommerce solutions include hosted ecommerce online stores and hosted ecommerce websites. One can run their website on their own server that is connected to WWW or World Wide Web. However, it is practically not a possible solution for many businesses, especially the Small and Medium-Sized Businesses. Therefore companies like Builderfly offers a completely hosted environment wherein you need to pay a monthly or yearly subscription charge and get access to hosting services inclusive of data. The hosting provider shall be managing the data and services in a dedicated infrastructure with all the required built-in security and redundancy. Due to this, thousands or more businesses shall be able to operate in a similar environment sharing the same infrastructure provided by the hosting solution. Therefore, the overall costs shared are reduced using which a lot of services can be offered. However, you must make sure to ask about the available services and support before choosing your hosted ecommerce solution.
What is a self-hosted ecommerce platform?
A self-hosted ecommerce solution can be referred to a company that hosts their platform all by themselves. This means, the company would need to set up a server and the ecommerce store’s data shall be saved and managed on that online server.
What is a completely hosted platform?
A completely hosted platform refers to an ecommerce solution that maintains a company’s files and data in a cloud. The company would not require setting up their own server like in a self-hosted ecommerce platform. The completely hosted ecommerce solutions can also be termed as SaaS (Software as a Service) products. The best example of such a platform is Builderfly which is a complete ecommerce solution for businesses of all kinds without the need for technical expertise. An example of a self-hosted ecommerce solution would be Magento which is amongst the most popular products in the market.
What are the charges incurred when using a hosted ecommerce solution?
The charges incurred while using a hosted ecommerce solution is much less than you have thought. However, like the varying businesses, what services are provided at what costs depend on the various service providers. It is you who needs to plan for your investment in the ecommerce solution based on your business health.
You might find innumerable hosted ecommerce solutions in the market. But getting the right one that best fits your business could be a hard talk. However, there is this hosted ecommerce solution that is comprehensive in all manners; it offers different pricing plans for different business requirements. Yes, we are talking about Builderfly Ecommerce Platform. We mentioned the name quite a few times, right? But, what exactly is Builderfly? Builderfly is a do-it-yourself platform that includes creating online store, adding products, choosing templates, uploading pictures, processing orders, creating pages, offering discount coupons, building powerful mobile application, selling everything online at one platform, getting tips to grow business, managing the online store and the list goes on.
Talking about the charges incurred, Builderfly offers four different subscription plans on an annual as well as monthly basis. The plan starts from a Startup Plan with a one-time charge, a Standard Plan for small businesses, an Advance Plan for medium businesses, and a Pro Plan for well-established businesses. Based on the business health, anyone can pick a suitable subscription plan, design the store their way, as well as sell it on multiple platforms; all from a single dashboard. Moreover, the procedure is simple, all you do is register, enjoy the 14-day free trial period, and upgrade the plan as per the requirement and sell online efficiently. In every step of business development, it also offers a 24/7 dedicated support instantly via chats, calls, and mails.
What is the right pick?
Now raises the question of choosing a hosted or non-hosted ecommerce solution. As said before, both have their own sets of pros and cons. However, to choose one from the other completely depends on the business owner, market trends, and business requirements. Our suggestion would be to choose a hosted ecommerce platform by which all you do is pay a certain charge and focus on selling the products to the maximum customers.
How to pick the best ecommerce solution?
Instead of knowing which the best ecommerce solution in the market is, what you must consider is the ecommerce solution that works the best for you. So, how to choose the best ecommerce solution for your business? When you visit a website, if the website loads quickly, you enjoy browsing through it, right? Similarly, in case of an ecommerce store, the site must load quickly, the technical aspects must be on par, the content should be of good quality, the product images and other images should be of high definition, the website should be optimized, and this list will go on. Managing all these without expertise in the technical subject would be detrimental. Not anymore; with Builderfly, you can leave all the concerns of creating the store, designing the store, managing the store, and selling more through multiple platforms on the Builderfly team. All you need to do is pay a minimal subscription amount, sit back, and relax. Isn’t that the best way to sell your products online with a negligible investment? Following are a few things to consider when choosing the best ecommerce solution for you:
- Choose the hosted ecommerce solution that provides more maintenance and services for the charges taken as compared to the rest in the market.
- Pick an ecommerce solution that will provide extensive services in an economic price range. This way, you know what the monthly expenditure on your business is.
- Look for the flexibility in the customization options offered in the hosted ecommerce solution. Compare the bests in the market and pick one for your business.
- Check whether you’ll require technical expertise in creating your online presence using the ecommerce solution you plan to choose. If you choose ecommerce solutions such as Builderfly, you can create your online selling platform without being a technical expert, and also get the option to edit the codes in case you are well aware of HTML, and coding. Indeed, Builderfly is a comprehensive ecommerce solution for businesses of all kinds.
- You must consider the frequency and response of the support team provided by the hosted ecommerce solution. For instance, Builderfly offers 24/7 customer support apart from the knowledge banks including training documents, user manual, and FAQs.
Conclusion
When attempting to establish an ecommerce business, you may come across a lot of tips and tricks that may or may not work for you. Choosing the best ecommerce solution amidst this may be a tedious job. However, as mentioned above, you must check your technical abilities, the time and efforts you can invest for building your online business, and what kind of flexibility your business needs while creating the ecommerce store. Check out www.builderfly.com and explore the extensive features of selling online with Builderfly. You can upgrade the plan to connect your already existing domain in order to make your store live to the world as the audience.
