When a company decides to bring their business online, there are a number of decisions to make in order to achieve success. One critical decision a business owner faces is choosing the right ecommerce platform. Not all ecommerce platforms are created equal, so choosing the right one can become a challenge. First and foremost, you need to identify what is important to you and your company and apply your priorities to your online business. Once you have them identified, you will need to decide if you are going at this alone or with an agency or partner. This is usually determined by your level of technical expertise or available bandwidth across your team to devote to a project of this scale.
If you have the technical expertise and experience to DIY, you have likely researched multiple options such as building a platform yourself from scratch, or finding an open source platform to give you a head start. If you are building your own ecommerce from scratch, you are steps ahead of most businesses. If you are searching for an open source ecommerce platform, you will need to find suitable technology that can work within the realm of your technical expertise while also providing the flexibility you need to grow your business. However, if you are similar to the majority of business owners and do not have ecommerce experience, you will be better off hiring an agency or partner. In addition to their technical expertise and experience, the partner you choose should be trustworthy and ready to scale as your business grows. They will know which ecommerce platform will be the best fit with your business model. A reputable agency should be able to conduct a thorough and honest cost/benefit analysis.
A "good" ecommerce platform is one that will satisfy the needs of your business without being a burden to your company, plus it will provide scalability as your business needs and model change. As you begin marketing your online business, it won't take long to learn that your customers' needs change over time. Typically, successful ecommerce sites are run by a team compiled of developers, creatives, and marketing experts. Sometimes, these positions are outsourced and managed by a sales or marketing manager within the company. Back in the early 2000's, online retailers tended to build their ecommerce sites from scratch; in 2022, there are dozens of ecommerce platforms ranging from open source to hosted SaaS platforms where all the coding and infrastructure is done for you. Open source ecommerce platforms allow developers to modify the source code, so they can usually be customized or functionality can be added as needed. Unfortunately, this customization often comes with a hidden cost: performance. With an open source platform, your team will require a highly-skilled developer to set up your platform with the right host and keep it secure. With hosted SaaS, a company doesn't need to hire a developer to maintain this infrastructure or coding, so they can focus on the other needs of the business.
Whichever direction you decide on, it's important to have clear communication with the developer or partner helping you build out your online business and to emphasize your business's needs and goals. Some platforms rely on third party developers to build functionality into apps or plugins. Sometimes, there may be more than a few different third party developers who provide a similar app or plugin. As a company adds more apps and plugins to their site, that usually means more providers to maintain their fees and receive support. Additionally, not all third party developers communicate with each other, which can take a toll on the website performance, and create headaches for your developers and the rest of your team. Whichever technology you choose, technical support should also be a factor in your platform.
Another layer to your online business to consider is how well it integrates with other software you've implemented. For example, if you are taking one hundred orders per day on your website, but a team member has to re-enter those orders into your ERP system, you may be losing thousands of dollars in payroll on a redundant task. Additionally, this can increase the margin for error across your sales because a team member needs to retype what they've read. What about other integrations for your business's marketing software? Generally, modern marketing automation platforms will offer HTML code which you can drop into your website. An integration is always limited to the weakest link; when something in your integration isn't working properly, will you have the proper support you need to correct it?
All-in-one ecommerce platforms have numerous benefits, a key one being: they eliminate the need to have multiple service providers to manage different aspects of your business. With an all-in-one platform, every area of your business is fully integrated and your business's data can be studied in real time. Those one hundred orders per day in the earlier example are routed directly to your business's warehouse where they can be picked, packed, and shipped or directly sent to vendors where they can be drop-shipped. Your financial reporting is live, so you can always access your up-to-date numbers. Your marketing department can view how your customers are engaging with your website and they can create promotions based on customer interests. The bottom line for all-in-one software is that it can streamline all areas of a business, reduce data entry/paperwork, and keep all departments on the same page.
At its core, AltiSuite was designed to be fully adaptable and customizable to fit any business model. This is due to it being built on our own Modern MVC Framework (if you want to know what that is, just ask us). AltiSuite's framework allows us to develop new software functionality at a rapid pace. AltiSuite's strongest feature is the streamlined connection between each main module. Plus, since it's web-based, we're able to deliver content in the blink of an eye. From front-end website pages to back-end admin views, AltiSuite's high speeds save time and prevent frustration for its users.
AltiSuite has numerous out-of-the-box features that businesses are looking for, but our team has the expertise to help you decide which tools your business will benefit from. Since every business has different needs, we learn from our discovery process what your business requires for peak performance - cutting out the clutter in your software. Each of our clients has a personalized version of AltiSuite that has what they need to operate their enterprise to the fullest. Our discovery process begins with a deep dive into your business model, including its successes, failures, and future goals. In addition to evaluating your operational efficiency, tools, and team, we also conduct marketing research to help you identify how to best position yourself online. At the end of this process, we create a full plan that includes the best way to implement AltiSuite into your company. Whether our recommendation is to use AltiSuite for just your ecommerce website - while integrating your website with your ERP, marketing automation, and more - or as an all-in-one platform serving your entire business, we're confident we can deliver the perfect solution for you.
Wysiwash is an established ecommerce brand that uses AltiSuite to run their entire business. From managing vendors, purchasing, and inventory, to using AltiSuite's content marketing tools to attract new business, Wysiwash partners with us to manage their marketing, strategy, software, and integrations.