When you start an online project you need to consider many important aspects of the development company, because this kind of business doesn’t end when it officially goes live; that’s precisely when a long journey begins that you’ll travel together.
Experience is one of the key factors, but practical, not theoretical, experience. For that, look at the portfolio of completed projects. And not only in your sector but in others too, as this brings added value and the ability to interpret and solve the specific needs of each market or segment.
This global partner should provide an end-to-end solution covering development or programming, design and usability, online marketing services and business strategy.
Capability and experience in internationalization also matter, since every market is different and the platform and model often need to be adapted to each target market.
All these elements are key to avoid limiting your business’s online growth and to have a powerful, scalable platform, both nationally and internationally.
If we dig deeper and analyze in detail the features the platform should have, we can highlight:
1- SEO friendly
A platform ready and optimized for search engines that also lets you manage all on-page SEO elements quickly and effectively.
This is essential, because once the website is live it’s very important to plan sustained actions over time to attract qualified traffic that converts into sales.
2- Easy management
It’s important for the backoffice or content management system to be very simple, easy and intuitive. Some scalable platforms are very hard to manage and have a very steep learning curve.
3- Fast updates
This applies both to the catalog (product pages) and to general content, the blog and other search-related content.
You should be able not only to update manually from the system, but also to use bulk content updates or data import systems via CSV, XML or similar files.
4- Promotion tools
Access to flexible promotional tools that let you launch general or specific campaigns in just a few steps, such as: VAT-free day, free shipping over a minimum order value, gifts, points, discount coupons, etc. The ability to select gift coupons, discounts and rewards, along with the option to combine different rules to set up special “custom” promotions.
5- Version upgrades
All platforms, open source or not, evolve over time, adapting to technological change, the market and the needs of their target audience.
Often, a version upgrade means having to adapt the customizations or custom modules developed at the time, with the resulting cost. With proprietary platforms, these adaptations aren’t necessary, because the developer makes sure they are compatible with the new changes and improvements.
6- Custom development
Knowing the platform’s core is essential to develop custom modules and features fully tailored to the company’s needs. Only companies with proprietary software offer this. With open source platforms, it’s often very hard to find a developer who knows the core inside out to build custom features. And cost and timelines are often very high, bearing in mind that issues may also arise when upgrading platform versions.
7- Integration
The ability to integrate the company’s ERP system so information is continuously synchronized and updated in both directions.
Categories, products, prices, stock, attributes, orders, documents, status changes, customers and users, etc.
There are various integration formats without limitations that provide full integration between both systems.
8- Logistics
The ability to integrate cleanly with the logistics provider chosen by the company. This is essential to manage the entire logistics process and control it from the platform. It also lets you automate notifications to customers who have placed an order, informing them of each status change from receipt to final delivery at their door.
9- Technical support
In an online business, technical support is essential: we can’t afford to have the store down or with an issue affecting the checkout, as that can mean significant lost sales. Service quality and response times are very important factors, together with guaranteed 24×7 support 365 days a year.
10- Hosting and security
An aspect that is often overlooked or not given the importance it deserves. Hosting specialized in eCommerce is essential to avoid downtime and achieve optimal response times without hurting page load speed. Professional 24×7 technical support is also practically a must.
You need guaranteed high availability, with a high level of security, optimal performance and scalability options.
11- Ongoing improvements and follow-up
Once the first version of the website is live, you need functional follow-up to add tools and improvements aimed at optimizing performance and increasing sales. A proactive service from your technology provider is unusual and very welcome, as they keep permanently up to date with everything new in the industry.
12- End-to-end support
Having a single provider with proven experience and expertise in technology, business and online marketing lets you centralize services and optimize costs and management time.
It also opens the door to continuous growth in business volume, based on optimizing the online store for conversion.
Is your online business built on a scalable eCommerce platform?
Our LogiCommerce platform meets all of these requirements.
If you’d like more information or have a specific question, feel free to contact us.
Examples of Trilogi’s eCommerce solution LogiCommerce v8.5
