It has never been easier to sell online. In a few quick steps you can reach a billion new customers. Most web designers will tell you that you need a legally compliant, highly stable and secure website. Sounds expensive. What most of them don’t tell you is that there is a much cheaper but equally secure alternative. – customise an existing eCommerce platform.
Alternative
You could make an eCommerce site yourself. Just learn to do advanced computer programming. Install a content management website system like WordPress and install a shopping plugin like Woocommerce. Unfortunately this could take you a year to complete. Or you could pay a web development company or freelancer to do it for you. Expect to pay between £10,000 to £30,000 plus monthly hosting and maintenance fees.Or you could sign up for a Ecommerce Platform and be up and running in a week with a little help.
Legal
Several large businesses have been in the news recently for all the wrong reasons. Data leaks and tales of selling customer information are making us scared to buy online. Stricter controls like GDPR are being put in place now to make us feel more secure.The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) applies to any company that accepts credit card payments. If you intend to accept card payment, and store, process and transmit cardholder data, you must hold your data securely with a PCI compliant hosting provider. This is part of the reason why a custom eCommerce website is so expensive. The best eCommerce platforms have all been checked for PCI compliance
Secure
Google is now flagging up websites without a secure socket layer SSL connection – look for https and a padlock icon.SSL Certificates are small data files that digitally bind a key to an organization’s details. When installed on a web server, it activates the padlock and the https protocol and stops people spying on information as it goes between the web server and your browser.
Responsive
Half of website visitors are using mobile phones. All the top eCommerce platforms are responsive which means that they look great on a phone.
Payment Gateways
It is vital that the customer has a smooth path to payment. All the eCommerce platforms have easy ways to connect your favourite way of sending payments to your bank.
Interested?
Our fully managed online shop eCommerce services start from just £99 per month. Call us on 0114 321 9910 or drop us a line to find out more
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