However, let us not solely rely on stats when deciding whether WordPress is an ideal option for building your eCommerce project.

The following factors get considered when determining whether a platform is great for creating a small or a large eCommerce portal:

• Platform Price: First of all, both WordPress and its famous eCommerce plugin WooCommerce are open-source and free to use. So, you can expect massive savings over the commerce portal development when WordPress is your choice.
• Maximum Security: No one wants to browse an insecure website, let alone an eCommerce platform. According to web development stats, 61% of UK shoppers proceed to payment when they are sure about the platform’s security. WordPress does not only come with secured admin features, including two-factor authentication, protected WP-Admin, etc. but also offers extended integration of security features.
• Multiple Payment options: High number of payment options lessens the rate of abandoned carts. With WP, you get hands-on 67 Payment Extensions. So, integrating the preferred Payment options according to the target audience demand is a piece of cake for the hired WordPress development company.
• Available Themes: No one buys a cake from a garage unless the theme of the cake shop revolves around it. Similarly, when choosing an eCommerce platform, the number of available themes plays a pivotal role. A higher theme count enhances your chances of creating that perfect store outlook resonating with the business products and target audience. Experts estimate WP offers nearly 20K themes to choose from multiple resources.
• Client Support: The client support service of WordPress is both fantastic and affordable, so issue elimination is convenient for the users.

Myth-1: WordPress offers limited functionalities affecting the eCommerce features

Well, that was a brief discussion about the top factors to consider for choosing the best eCommerce platform. However, choosing WordPress for eCommerce revolves around facing false criticism about Scalability, security, flexibility, etc. Let us resolve the critical ones.

WordPress was created as a blogging software in 2003. However, the software soon gained popularity for multiple uses. By 2013, WordPress controlled 59% of the CMS market. The blogging software has witnessed numerous updates in these years to stay up-to-date with the latest technology tools.

Mike Jolly and James Koster created the WooCommerce Plugin in 2008. It was when Magento was also released, and Shopify got introduced just two years back. Magento and Shopify got dedicatedly built as eCommerce platforms, so they don’t suffer from any eCommerce platform myths.

In contrast, WordPress gets labeled as a blogging site by users who have not explored its features. In Reality, the WordPress platform offers significant flexibility, customization, etc., allowing you to choose a suitable hosting provider.

The publishing capabilities of the software aids the admin with managing the latest updates and offers. You can also hire WordPress Developers to integrate multiple plugins that enhance the eCommerce functionalities of the software. 

Myth-2: Security features of WordPress are not sufficient for eCommerce platform

WordPress is open-source, so it allows users to access and read the source code of the software easily. It should not be confused with a security loophole. It actually offers greater transparency in the quality of coding you are getting with the software.

The developer’s team can easily integrate multiple security-based features for the eCommerce site. But apart from added security, the WordPress platform itself is pretty secure. Top security-based features available with it includes the following:

• You can install SSL certifications encrypting the communication between the user and the website for free. SSL certifications are among the standard parameters when verifying the security of the website. Google itself avoids ranking websites lacking SSL certifications.
• You can integrate third-party Payment Gateways. So, getting stuck with an undesirable option is not an issue faced by WordPress users. The choice remains whether to go for a custom solution or choose popular Payment Gateways like PayPal, Amazon Pay, etc. 
• Install plugins that offer strong password generation for the users. Such plugins can also validate the passwords created by the users.
• WordPress receives regular security updates for providing the users with maximum security over the eCommerce site. 

Myth-3: Websites of top brands avoid WordPress

There are tons of eCommerce websites using WordPress successfully. Top renowned brands like MTV News, Sony Music, BBC America, etc., have trusted WordPress for offering an intuitive user experience to tackle an ever-growing client base.

Similarly, WooCommerce (famous WP eCommerce plugin) also owns the trust of fortune 500 companies and simple startups. Have a look at the top eCommerce websites using the WooCommerce plugin:

• Henry J Socks: The eCommerce platform sells socks in a subscription box, earning a yearly revenue of $198K.
• BlueStar Coffee Roasters: The website selling hand-roasted coffee headquartered in Twisp, Washington, United States, has a yearly revenue of $1 Million.
• The Underwear Expert: The enterprise sells customized underwear in color, shape, rise, etc., via the WooCommerce based website and earns a yearly revenue of $6 Million.
• Sodashi: The Australian-based skincare product company generates annual revenue of $4 Million. 

I hope the above facts bust the myth about WordPress web development usage in top brands.

Myth-4: WordPress is not suitable for a large eCommerce site 

You can easily customize WordPress to deal with low and high traffic. The platform infrastructure can tackle from 1000 to 1Million users effortlessly. Worldwide renowned singers and musicians like Justin Bieber, Beyonce, Snoop Dog, and many more trust WordPress for handling their growing fan base.

The best practices to tackle massive traffic over a WordPress Ecommerce site includes the following:

• WordPress allows horizontal scaling of the website, which means you can integrate additional servers to enhance the platform’s Scalability. 
• When your eCommerce site sells tons of products, it will help if you integrate open-source, scalable search solutions for optimizing the search time to a few seconds. The standard scalable search solutions include Elasticsearch and Solr. They have a reputation for scanning billions of pages instantly. 
• Reverse proxies in caching can be used to reduce the load on the servers and maintain an excellent speed of the WordPress site.
• Installing a content delivery network also proves beneficial in reducing search time and handling a large client base effectively. 

Myth-5: WordPress eCommerce Plugins are not reliable in performance

WooCommerce is the most successful e-commerce plugin associated with WordPress. Moreover, it is open-source and free to install over your regular website. It holds a stunning 23.43% share of the eCommerce platform shares worldwide.

However, WooCommerce Plugin is not the only one you can trust while creating a WordPress-based eCommerce site. The platform offers many more free and paid plugins to enhance eCommerce website functionalities.

Following are the top WordPress plugins for eCommerce website development:

WooCommerce: We have discussed many aspects of WooCommerce already in this article. The Plugin allows you to tackle a large target audience effectively. You have the freedom to offer free or charge flat shipping rates for the users. 

WooCommerce plugin facilitates real-time calculation and lets you sell both physical and digital products online. Significant ease in using the Plugin has made it the first choice for big billion enterprises and simple startups. 

PayPal Shopping Cart: The PayPal Shopping Cart plugin lets you set up eCommerce functionalities and receive client’s payments via PayPal. The Plugin enables you to place the add to cart icon on every product page. The advanced ‘add to cart’ icon lets the users add, view, and delete product items from the cart. 

Like WooCommerce, it also lets you sell both physical and digital products or items. It also has an inbuilt discount coupon generator that facilitates strategizing seasonal sales. 

Ecwid eCommerce Shopping Cart: It is a multilingual eCommerce plugin available for WordPress websites. Using the Ecwid eCommerce plugin, you can translate your website into 45 languages. It makes the platform suitable for city audiences that have a mix of the global population. 

Ecwid eCommerce shopping cart also has the additional facility of Cloud storage. Cloud facility secures loss of data and enhances global accessibility of the eCommerce through WordPress. 

______________________________________________________________________

Final Takeaway

That was all about the common myths relating to the WordPress eCommerce features and functionalities. I hope I have proved that all of them are far from the truth.

Let’s look at them in tabular form:

A WordPress development company can customize your eCommerce website according to the business needs and target audience. Trust them for gaining phenomenal success in WordPress-based eCommerce sites.

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The post WordPress is Not Meant for eCommerce: A Myth or Reality? appeared first on Tricky Enough.

To make the most of the digital space, and ensure that your brand is always prepared to meet and exceed the needs and desires of its consumers, it’s important to know how an eCommerce migration or re-platforming can help and support your business during times of momentous digital transformation.

Upgrading an eCommerce platform can help business owners expand their marketing strategy and reach, leading to an increase in customers and business. With the right platform, a retailer can be truly global, ensuring that their reach extends almost anywhere there is consistent internet access. eCommerce re-platforming also helps retailers provide a secure and pleasant buying experience to mobile users and enhance customer engagement – becoming a critical part of the eCommerce package.

Understanding the Basics of eCommerce Replatforming

If you’re not familiar with the concept of re-platforming, Ben Staveley of Econsultancy offers a direct and straightforward explanation that easily encompasses the process and end goals of this kind of project. Essentially, re-platforming is all about moving from your current digital business operations from one eCommerce platform to another in the hope of gaining headway in an increasingly disrupted and complex digital marketplace.

…for more complex sites and web applications, managing upgrades and revamps becomes more difficult… That’s where the idea of platforming comes in. This is the process by which an eCommerce site will move from one platform to another. – Ben Staveley, Econsultancy

By reviewing multiple eCommerce platform options – often with the help of a team of web development experts a brand can bolster its digital customer features and functionality, as well as move away from the unnecessarily costly and hard to implement upgrades and renovations that come with staying tethered to dated and inefficient solutions. Generally, this plan to enact a shift toward new mobile and desktop iterations of a chosen platform serves as the first key decision in a greater commitment to a higher quality eCommerce user experience across multiple devices.

Gauging the Benefits of eCommerce Replatforming

As far as the benefits of installing a new eCommerce platform go, apart from enhancing the functionality and performance of your website for your digital consumers; it also makes certain that your brand doesn’t fall behind its industry competition. Replatforming allows you to capitalize on new opportunities to increase revenue and improves business agility. In the age where the experience takes center stage, re-platforming is the key to ensuring that it is a seamless one.

Companies that commit to re-platforming are able to manage the following factors much efficiently within their eCommerce endeavors:

• Competitive threats and expansion by industry opponents.
• Growing demands of the modern consumer.
• Digitally empowered target audiences.
• A business’ growth aspirations.
• The rise of global markets.
• The general stress placed on dated eCommerce systems.

Context Challenges and Risks: The Five Pitfalls to Consider

While the reasons to change eCommerce platforms are varied and often quite vital to the development of a Digital Commerce business, some risks shouldn’t be ignored when considering the possibility of attempting the re-platforming process. Selecting the wrong platform or failing to correctly customize the platform to fit the needs of a specific business can lead to a disaster. It’s important that business owners educate themselves about some of the specific issues they might encounter as they pursue the re-platforming eCommerce process.

While various problems can come up during an eCommerce re-platforming, some tend to be more prominent than others. Five of these are discussed in detail below, with their potential consequences.

1. Lacking Scalability

Almost every business out there wants to increase its reach and generate more leads in order to make more sales. However, a platform that performed perfectly well when the business was only interested in a niche market located in a single country might not be appropriate when the business decides to expand its audience. When the number of individuals purchasing items or services as well as the number of countries in which these customers might be located increases, many platforms quickly prove to be unable to handle the new traffic and demands.
Hence, it’s essential to assess eCommerce platforms for their scalability carefully.

If a business was to grow quickly and significantly, how would the platform in question respond? Would it be able to handle the new demands placed upon it? It’s a good idea to select a platform that will successfully scale up or down to meet the business needs. Even if business owners don’t necessarily anticipate that kind of growth, it’s better to take the issue into consideration now rather than later. Taking the time to re-platform only to discover that the new platform is unable to scale to handle different business needs properly is a common issue that can disrupt sales and turn out to be time-consuming.

2. Inadequate Control and Flexibility

It’s not uncommon for a project to begin with a clearly defined objective based upon a predetermined idea of the scope of the issue and the resource planning needed to address it. It’s even less uncommon for this neat idea of how the project should proceed to go ashtray as unforeseen issues are unearthed during the process. A re-platforming eCommerce project is certainly not an exception to this phenomenon. It should be assumed that there will be various issues that are sure to arise and demand the full attention of everyone on the team.

In order to ensure that a project plan isn’t completely derailed when the all-but-inevitable arises, take time to ensure that plans are created with flexibility. It’s important that the team is to adapts the plan as needed in order to ensure a successful delivery that depends upon the new scope of the project. Plans that are created rigidly and leave no room for change are dangerous because they run the risk of turning a re-platforming project into a derailed mess that didn’t have any room for managing risk.

3. Incompatible SEO for Platform

Businesses today are heavily focused on search engine optimization (SEO) – and understandably so. Correctly utilizing SEO can help expand a brand’s reach through search engine results. Savvy businesses that are researching a new eCommerce platform will carefully consider their SEO needs and have specific considerations when looking at the functionality of the platform in question. It’s essential to understand what specific SEO goals a business has and how they plan to meet them using their eCommerce platform so that the potential eCommerce platform can be vetted to gauge its SEO abilities.

Many eCommerce platforms will advertise themselves as being “SEO efficient” or “SEO friendly.” In reality, this often means that the platform in question can meet the basic SEO needs of a company. They usually don’t consider things like URL structure, Robots.txt files, media alt tags, or user-generated content that are important to keep in mind while developing a comprehensive and successful SEO strategy. This is why business owners must do their research before selecting a platform. Not doing so could land them with a platform that is not capable of handling their SEO needs, and instead requires a lot of additional customization that was not part of the original replatforming plan.

4. Missing Collaboration of Multiple Departments

The eCommerce re-platforming process is an incredibly complex one to begin. Many different factors decide whether or not the process is finished on time and meets all goals set. As with anything in life, communication is key in the business world. This is especially true of interdepartmental communication when major changes like an eCommerce re-platforming are underway. Many business owners are content to simply assign the project to a particular team and let them develop the plan, select the platform, and handle the conversion process. This isn’t the best idea, because it essentially ensures that only one department has an in-depth working knowledge of the new system.

Bringing in multiple departments to the eCommerce restructuring process is a great way to keep the company informed about new features and changes. No one will be completely caught off guard by the changes when using this approach. Fostering a sense of community and collaboration within a company that spans across departments is one of the best ways to ensure that the key stakeholders can bond together and accept change easily — the more people involved in the eCommerce re-platforming process, the better.

5. Inability to Predict Future Requirements

This is a particularly difficult step. It requires a business owner to be knowledgeable about the technology and potential developments and take a careful look at their own business to be able to predict future requirements. Almost everyone wants their company to see steady growth. Unfortunately, not every business will grow – and even those that do, the rate might not be quite what the entrepreneurs are hoping for. That’s not to say that the growth is random, however, because in reality there are different ways to measure and predict future growth. The business owner must take the time to objectively look at the data before committing to an eCommerce re-platforming consultant. This means that they attempt to visualize, based on data, where their business will stand in a given period.

With that said, do not make the mistake of attempting to “future-proof” your eCommerce platform. It’s possible that the technology will look very different in a few years as the needs and demands of the many dictate change, and the platform that seems like an incredible value now might seem less appropriate. Instead, make smart choices based on realistic expectations and the knowledge that eCommerce re-platforming is a fairly common occurrence for many businesses. It’s not entirely necessary to create the perfect choice right this moment, in other words. Smart business owners will make the choice that makes sense now and will continue to make sense over a specific time, after which they will reevaluate their business’ needs and the performance of the platform in question.

How to Know When the Time Is Right to Make an eCommerce Platform Switch?

If you know how to look for the signs and symptoms of a currently inadequate platform, then cutting through the uncertainty and making a smart judgment regarding replatforming becomes a significantly more manageable affair.

It’s a process that can strike fear into the heart of any web developer or eCommerce manager but actually, if approached in the right way, it can be incredibly beneficial. – Ben Staveley, Econsultancy

Some of the most apparent indicators of a platform in need or retooling or replacement include:

• The current platform requires complex and expensive updates to maintain.
• Your company finds itself longing for new or expanded features.
• Your site seems cluttered, hard to navigate, or counterintuitive to inbound consumers.

While these signs are by no means the only way to reach a conclusion on re-platforming, they serve as a powerful foundation for making an appropriate decision. Additionally, reaching out to a team of trusted web and digital product development experts can solidify your brand’s stance on re-platforming and bring to light other symptoms that point to the need for this kind of eCommerce upgrade.

Industry Best Practices to Replatform in an Effective and Efficient Manner

To promote a smooth and successful transition to a new platform, brands should adhere to a strict set of industry best practices and guidelines during the process. Failing to do so can lead to missed launch dates, unfulfilled consumer expectations, and countless other unforeseen issues that can wreak havoc on the overall business. The following list of considerations is essential as you plan the re-platforming of your current eCommerce portal:

• Commit to Research – There are several eCommerce platform options available in the market, and all of them have their own advantages. However, despite the popularity of one platform or the pricing advantage of another, the fundamental aspect to consider should be how well it fits your business needs. This calls for thorough research of the options available to weigh their pros and cons for you before picking the final solution.
• Layout Your Business Goals and Expectations – No two organizations have the same goals during a re-platforming event, so lay out a stated set of expectations before making a change. This way, you can verify that the various steps of this process fall in line with the result you desire from the new platform.
• Understand your Budgetary Limitations – Re-platforming is a scalable and dynamic event, so having a static or inflexible budget can be detrimental to growth. At the same time, it is essential to understand your budgetary limitations and divide them across the initial development, data migration, maintenance, and other such processes for a friction-less re-platforming process.
• Consider In-house and Outsourced Routes – While some companies have the resources to enact a re-platforming strategy in-house, this approach isn’t always feasible or cost-effective for all organizations. In fact, outsourcing and collaborating with a team of trusted eCommerce re-platforming consultants can help mitigate risk and expenses and bring in experience and expertise to improve the overall quality of your final eCommerce product.
• Maximize the Outsourcing Option – If you do go down the outsourcing path, don’t be afraid to ask questions and bring forth any comments or concerns you might have about the project. Replatforming is often an intricate and complex process, so leaning on the expertise of eCommerce re-platforming consultants can go a long way toward minimizing confusion and uncertainty during and after the process.
• Develop a Transitory Plan – Having a transitory plan in place promotes a smooth switch once you’re ready to shut down your old eCommerce platform and launch a new, improved digital product.
• Don’t Rush Into a Launch – Speaking of launch dates, rushing to the finish line with your new eCommerce platform can often end up being a recipe for disaster. Instead, take the time to test and retest this platform for bugs and other technical issues before committing to a launch date.
• Take a Long-term Stance – Re-platforming isn’t a one-time fix, so committing to maintaining and managing your new eCommerce platform is vital. The best businesses on the internet understand this fact and are always looking for new ways to continue innovating and enhancing their digital customer experience.

If you’re able to follow these practices and guidelines, enacting a successful re-platforming strategy can become a far more manageable and practical task.

Replatforming – Foundation of Successful Business Transformation

It’s important to understand that throughout this process, the goal of re-platforming is to transform and improve your business and its standing in the digital marketplace. In many ways, this means that re-platforming serves as the foundation for the digital transformation of your business.

The commerce platform is the foundation of business transformation. A new eCommerce engine enables new agility, capabilities, experiences, integrations, even new products. Be prepared to revamp business processes and take an ongoing, iterative approach to what is, essentially, a business transformation project. – Lily Varon, Forrester Research Blog

Making the switch to a new eCommerce platform isn’t just a static decision; it has lasting ramifications that can alter and augment your approach to doing business in the digital marketplace. Committing to a continuous and iterative approach is the only true way to embrace business transformation and build toward a successful and prosperous future for your brand.

Conclusion: Making the Right Decision for Your Brand’s Digital Future

Replatforming is a complex and vital piece of the puzzle for the online store to succeed. However, with a well-thought-out plan leading the way, this business transformation doesn’t have to come with unnecessary stress and concerns. From garnering a basic understanding of how replatforming works and why this change is often inevitable if your brand plans to up its engaging digital customer experience, to gauging the need for your brand to make a switch on this front, you can lay the foundation of the first steps of this move toward a new eCommerce platform.

Once you’re ready to make a switch, leveraging the knowledge of the industry best practices and standards, and seeking the help of a team of web development experts, you can ensure that you find and implement the right platform for your business needs. Throughout all of this, it’s also important to hold fast to the realization that re-platforming isn’t a one-time event; it’s a continually evolving process that seeks to keep you on the cutting edge of the digital world.

With this perspective on business transformation and proper eCommerce management guiding your business, there’s only one question left to ask: Is your brand ready to embrace the future of digital commerce and start down the path toward a lasting and fruitful replatforming solution?

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Let’s say you are on a limited budget and want to create an online store, which means you want to start an e-commerce platform. You look through available options and find some free, open-source software. You purchase a domain name and hosting. You install your free software, add a couple of plugins, and create a fantastic new logo. You now have an online store to populate with products and earn income.

You do your job well, and your small online store takes off. You discover that you need a more scalable solution. You also realize that the first framework you chose probably isn’t the best moving forward. Now, it’s time to move your store, so what do you do?

Look for a more scalable option. WordPress is a popular blogging platform that also has e-commerce options available. People already familiar with WordPress will often choose it as their first software option. Magento is a trendy and scalable e-commerce option. You can learn more about Magento at Bing Digital.

Switching an e-commerce platform can be a lot of work, and it’s not without risk. Before you make the switch, ensure you need to do so. Here are 4 signs that it might be time to make the switch.

Your Current Software Is Missing Features

The lack of features signals that it might be time to update to a more robust solution. Your first free and straightforward software solution may not be capable of keeping up with your ever-growing product and customer demand. This is a sign that it is time to switch to a better solution.

Maintenance Is Keeping You Up at Night

Your once free and straightforward software solution now requires much time and maintenance. If maintaining your store is full-time, it might be time to switch to a better solution. Whether it’s constant upgrades or fixing bugs, you want to use a software solution that will make your job as easy as possible.

Part of the Process Is Manual E-commerce Platforms

The first step to scalability is having automatic processes in place. You want a simple system that automatically communicates with customers. You want them to be able to log into the site, purchase, and pay for their item without you having to get involved manually.

It would also be nice if your software solution helps you automate the inventory process. Whether running automatic reports or changing the inventory value, the more automated your system is, the easier things will be for you.

Not Playing Nice With Other E-commerce Platforms

Integration is a big part of the automation process. You want a software solution that will work well across multiple sales channels. As your business grows, you will also want to be able to integrate it with other systems you use, such as order management or inventory management.

The only way you will be able to automate all of these processes is through software that easily integrates with the other products you use. There is a lot to think about before you upgrade your e-commerce platform. Once you know that you have outgrown your platform, it’s time to upgrade to a more scalable and robust option.

If unsure, you must read this Choosing eCommerce platform for your business.

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The post 4 Things to Consider Before Switching E-commerce Platforms appeared first on Tricky Enough.