Choosing Your Provider

Choosing your new provider is a big decision and it is really important to be aware of the risks and benefits a new provider can bring. We understand how difficult this can be, particularly if you are new to eCommerce and starting from scratch.

National eCommerce Experience

Is the company you are considering a local provider, or do they work nationally?

Local Reach

Generally local providers have experience with launching static websites, but not fully functional eCommerce projects. This is not ideal when you need a provider to take the lead on your eCommerce business. The lack of national experience makes selling online a difficult task, because they will lack the experience required to assist you in running your site at its full potential.

It will also limit the amount of advice they can give you if you reach the point of growing internationally; without being able to benefit from the knowledge and experience of your provider, the growth of your business could slow down.

A Wider Reach

At OnTop eCommerce we work across the entire UK and even internationally, so we have a wealth of experience that we share with our clients to help drive your eCommerce forward and grow your business.

We can advise you on many of the small but useful methods of listing and managing your products for the best efficiency in Google and other search engines, as well as how to keep your customers interested. These pieces of useful information are vital to the success of any eCommerce business.

Our business development consultants will continually work with you to ensure you are comfortable with the admin control panel as a whole, and familiar with the most efficient processes for managing products, orders, customers, and sales statistics.

Selling Internationally

Are you planning on trading outside of the UK, now or in the future? Does the provider have experience of operating internationally?

Standard Pitfalls of Selling Internationally

International selling is by no means straight forward and it is important to:

• Find a provider who has the right experience to guide you through the process.
• Carefully deliberate and establish the exact requirements of your business.
• Consider all aspects of the specification before starting an international trading eCommerce project.
• Check tax implications, shipping zones and VAT technicalities (charging or reclaiming procedures).

At OnTop eCommerce we have launched many global eCommerce websites, trading in the USA, Canada, Australia, UAE and all over Europe.

Find The Right Match

Providers offering an "All-In-One" package to trade internationally are generally unaware of these crucial considerations and it is vital that you take time to consider their offering very carefully. There will be many significant limitations and concerns to consider with an "All-In-One" off-the-shelf eCommerce for trading internationally:

• It will most likely be powered by an open source eCommerce software solution (See Open Source eCommerce Software below).
• They are usually built from the developers' perspective, so if the software is from the USA, the site will be built to handle USA-based management of international orders.
• If so, you could have huge issues and extra cost when trading across Europe, as it requires an overhaul of the eCommerce system due to USA tax and European VAT differences.
• For example, some EU countries only need to submit a VAT number to checkout without VAT, but USA systems are not built to handle this and are based on state tax laws.

At OnTop eCommerce, we build our international systems on a per-customer basis. We establish your exact requirements and your intended trading locations, so we can optimise an eCommerce solution specifically designed to achieve effective online trading.

We operate globally so we understand the importance of effective international online trading and administration.

Pay Monthly eCommerce

Pay monthly eCommerce Solutions can seem inviting if your requirement is large but your budget is small; the problem is many providers use this fact to tie clients into a monthly commitment for a less than mediocre website. Unless budgets are extremely low, you should avoid pay monthly eCommerce at all costs! You will actually end up paying more in the long-run, for a very basic website.

The Drawbacks of Pay Monthly

Pay monthly eCommerce solutions do not even include the most basic design, this means they will:

• Usually be template driven solutions; using templates is an inexpensive and common technique for some providers, but unfortunately it will result in a basic site that looks the same as everyone else's - which is not at all professional.
• Benefit the provider more than the client; the provider creates a basic DIY eCommerce solution then hands over for you to setup yourself without any assistance, guidance or experience and then they tie you in to a continual monthly cost. The provider has a fantastic profit margin on the project as it generally involves very little work.
• Get you tied down; these providers can make it very difficult for you to leave their network. Once you realise the site is limiting your eCommerce success, and decide to move to a better provider who can help your business grow, you could find it challenging. Some providers even keep your domain name to make it harder for you to switch. Unfortunately, cheap pricing structures lure people in, but in truth you end up stuck with a limited system.

A Secure Provider

Many of our clients contacted us having made this mistake; they found themselves seeking a more secure provider who could help them recreate the website to a higher quality. This was not ideal because they had put themselves in a position where they were forced to spend more money on the website and spend weeks re-listing all of their products on a new website. This is a serious mistake for any online business; the last thing any company should have to do is change their domain name.

Be aware of who you are putting your trust in before going ahead. Make sure you choose a provider who has the skill and expertise to support your business with a high quality eCommerce project.

If you are already in a pay monthly contract, Contact Us to see if we can help you switch to OnTop eCommerce. We can usually transfer your domain name quite easily; product transfer can be more complex and not always possible, but we will do whatever is possible to make the migration as simple and least time consuming as possible.

Some examples of pay monthly eCommerce Solutions are: EKM Powershop, BT, Yell, and Volusion.

Open-Source eCommerce Software

It is crucial that we mention some points regarding open-source eCommerce software, as this is one of the biggest causes of eCommerce failure for professional UK businesses.

Some examples of open-source software includes: Magento™, OsCommerce™, Zen Cart™ and Cube Cart™.

We must say that for small "trial" or "first time" businesses these solutions are generally okay for a short period, depending upon the design company that you use. However most web design companies using open-source products will simply style the software to match your business branding and then they are finished with the project.

This is how many companies compete with us on price, because they only have to do half of the work that we do to setup an inferior product. The provider downloads the software for free and has to do no development work (only design). These providers will not make you aware of the true implications, as we have featured below.

Open-Source eCommerce Software is risky for a few reasons:

Security

As the software is open source, it enables anyone to get a copy for free and see the source code of the solution. Hackers will spend countless hours trying to find ways to manipulate the system for their benefit. The benefit could be a number of things, from saving money, deleting your products, adding new products, utilising your site for global DOS attacks, or spam generation.

At OnTop eCommerce we do not use open-source software. We use closed-source industry-leading technology. This means that no one can view the internal structure or secure code of your eCommerce. There is no room for manipulation of your eCommerce website.

No Ability to Upgrade

Open-source software is downloaded in a "finished" version and then styled to your requirements by your provider, so when a new version is released your software would instantly be out-of-date. The reason for a new version will include security fixes, software bug fixes and general software enhancements - that you cannot easily apply.

These potential holes in your system would then become public knowledge, but your software wouldn't be updated. If you decided to benefit from these updates, you would need to have the whole website built again! Your provider would be very happy, but we imagine you would not!

At OnTop eCommerce we do not use open-source software. We use closed-source industry-leading technology, meaning that no one has access to the core of your eCommerce system.

Unlike open-source solutions, we continually upgrade your eCommerce website for:

• Security Bug Fixes and Enhancement
• Software Bug Fixes and Enhancements
• Administration Enhancements

Therefore, your eCommerce website will never go out of date. We even introduce new features and benefits on a yearly basis, that you can accept or decline at your discretion (as they are developed) - but we never charge for keeping your software up-to-date, safe and secure.

Development Experience

Open-source software is usually built by a separate developer, all you would be buying from your provider is the "design" of an eCommerce website (they cannot "sell" you the eCommerce as it is not their property); you are in effect buying from a 3rd party.

Therefore if you needed anything non-standard, you are then asking the development team of your provider to enhance an advanced eCommerce solution that they did not build (and may not even be experienced with the building of eCommerce systems in general, or they wouldn't be using 3rd party systems to start with). They may say it is possible at the sales-stage, but the end result could be substantially different from what you expected. Make sure you ask to see example projects from your provider, similar to your requirements.

While some companies are good at open source manipulation, many are not; for this reason, you would need to be very careful with who you might choose to design your open-source software - because this industry is a minefield.

At OnTop eCommerce we do not use open source; our experienced development team have built custom eCommerce solutions for huge Plc. companies and global corporations so you needn't worry about our development skills or experience eCommerce projects. We have a varied eCommerce Portfolio, so please do take a look at our work.

If you have any questions about the information above and would like to discuss with our experienced business development consultants, please feel free to Contact Us.