E-commerce has become an inseparable part of the retail world. The ease in shopping combined with extensive product catalogues of the e-commerce websites ensure retailers a broad customer base. Additionally, without operating an expensive storefront, retailers can easily conduct mega sales and handle massive orders. Thus, be it boosting brand reach or driving profitability, scaling e-commerce side of a business is key for scaling the overall market presence of a brand. This fact, in turn, makes the case for creating e-commerce sites which along with boosting the core business also are scalable themselves.
Key E-commerce Scalability Considerations
Firstly, businesses seeking to scale an e-commerce website should consider the UX ability of the host site. Similarly, the platform’s capability of monitoring product performance and user analytics should be taken into account.
Retailers should also aim for a robust cloud infrastructure that optimizes the latency of the site. Latency can be efficiently reduced by leveraging Content Delivery Network (CDN) Integrations, caching, and image compression. In other words, the choice of the e-commerce’s host cloud should be able to easily balance heavy load while also performing auto-scaling.
Additionally, given that e-commerce entails various tasks such as inventory management, POS, and procurement, among others. Therefore, a site that supports plug-ins that enable this diverse set work are essential for upscaling e-commerce too.
In this blog we will look at how e-commerce platforms can be scaled with the help of software. Some of the notable software include Salesforce Commerce Cloud, Magneto, Shopify, and Wix, among others.
Scaling E-commerce with Salesforce Commerce Cloud
In helping e-commerce sites scale, Salesforce Commerce Cloud centralizes customer data and automates workflows. Using customer data, the platform boosts sales and marketing efforts by personalizing them.
Moreover, the ERP solution streamlines otherwise distinct functions such as inventory and order management with easy third-part app integrations. These integrations are done using Salesforce’s marketplace of business solutions, AppExchange. Complementing the functions of the integrations, Salesforce offers efficient customer support via Salesforce Service Cloud. The platform also offers analytics and reporting tools for data-driven decision-making.
Resolving E-commerce Scalability Challenges with Magento
What makes Magento such a sought-after shopping cart is that it is highly customizable for e-commerce website development. Magento, which has been an open-source platform since its inception in 2007, gives scope to retailers to fast-track their site’s development without any additional cost. To personalize the e-commerce site, users can alter the platform’s code and get the desired website features. The platform also provides a huge set of paid as well as free plugins, supporting different kinds of retail tasks.
Leveraging Shopify for E-commerce Scaling
Retailers, over the years, have flocked to Shopify with the aim of taking out coding from the website building equation. The e-commerce platform has hundreds of themes, design templates, and customization options. With a user-friendly interface that enables website creation with drag-and-drop functionality. Moreover, the platform offers several free and paid app integrations for enabling advanced functions. Also, catering to those who seek further customization, the platform also helps them via its own network of Shopify development specialists. Given that it is offered as a PAAS or platform as a service, it is extremely popular with ecommerce sellers who do not have technical developers.
Exploring Wix for Boosting E-commerce
A powerful website builder for eCommerce sites, Wix helps retailers to tap into sales channels such as websites, social media, online marketplaces, etc. Along with its user-friendly “drag and drop” feature, Wix boasts over 800 templates, making setting up e-commerce quick and straightforward. Similar to Shopify, it is offered as a WYSIWYG subscription with multiple plugins. Hence it has proved a worthy competitor to Shopify in the ecommerce startup space.
Comparative Analysis
| Features | Salesforce Commerce Cloud | Magento | Shopify | Wix |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Cloud-based | Open Source | Cloud-based | Cloud-based |
| Customizability | High | High | High | Limited |
| Scalability | Scalable | Scalable | Scalable | Scalable |
| Security | High | Depends | High | High |
| Integration Capabilities | Extensive | Extensive | Extensive | Limited |
| Pricing | Custom Pricing | Open Source with paid options | Subscription Plans | Free (with ads) + Premium Plans |
Upscaling with Browntape’s Easy Order Managment Integrations for Ecommerce
As the definitive Order Management solution, Ginesys’s Browntape seamlessly integrates with a wide range of ERPs and Ecommerce platforms. All the platforms like Shopify, Magento, Wix and many others are already integrated with Browntape. This widespread compatibility enables e-commerce sites to manage huge order volumes without any hitch. Likewise, some of the popular online marketplaces for which the multichannel ecommerce solution offers easy integration are Amazon, Myntra, and Flipkart. In keeping with the varied aspects of e-commerce, here are some of the services Browntape offers to streamline retail workflow:
- Inventory Management: Comprehensive Inventory Ledger
- Order and Courier Management: Automatic Order Processing, Scanning and Packing
- Warehouse Management: Safety Buffer Stock
- Payment Management: Compatibility with various payment gateways
- Analytics
In conclusion, given that today e-commerce is vital for retail success, focusing on e-commerce scalability has become crucial. So, if you are on the lookout for e-commerce platforms here are some key considerations:
- Host site UX
- Easy development and developer availabilty
- Cost of subscription
- Cost of plugins
- Cloud Infrastructure
- Plugin Support
- CDN support
With these factors sorted, your e-commerce journey is set to scale and begin fetching you the revenue you are looking for.
