If you’re in the market for a new e-commerce business, then the first thing you need to decide is whether you’ll use a default or a custom solution.
In the current market, e-commerce solutions such as Shopify and WooCommerce have a number of advantages, but they don’t fit the needs of every business.
Although they require a big investment of time, while custom e-commerce websites come in the form of greater control, flexibility, and scalability. Here are some reasons that can help you to decide.
Specialized or unique shipping options
Selling objects that are of a consistent size and weight, with no special considerations required is one thing, but the greater variety of products your e-commerce store offers, the more diverse your customers’ shipping concerns will be.
In turn, a custom e-commerce solution will seem even more appealing. For one, your customers may want the choice of different courier delivery services.
If you’re shipping items internationally, you may also need to worry about customs.
Customizable or modular products
If you want to give shoppers a lot of options for customizing the products they buy, then you should reflect this variety by making use of a custom e-commerce website.
One common use case is a T-shirt store that allows you to customize the sizes, colors, fonts, and graphics on each T-shirt.
With so many different variables in play, each creating a different cost, you may want to charge a separate price for each T-shirt.
A default e-commerce system won’t be able to accommodate all of these options for a single product. Complex orders like these will require a sophisticated custom e-commerce solution to handle them.
Custom coupon or promo codes with various rules
A default e-commerce system may include functionality for coupon codes, but it may also be very rigid or limited in scope.
For example, you may want to allow customers to use the code only up to a certain number of items, or to prevent the code from being used with specific items or brands if a vendor doesn’t allow discounts on a certain product.
Unfortunately, not every ready-made e-commerce solution can accommodate these special rules. Using a custom-built website, however, allows you to bake in as many rules about coupons and promo codes.
Multiple vendors shipping
Another strong reason for using a custom-built e-commerce system, when it comes to shipping, is using multiple vendors.
The more vendors you have a relationship with, the more likely it is that you’ll need to use multiple carriers and have special shipping needs.
Integration with backend software
The need for integration with other systems and software is a very common one for e-commerce websites.
For example, you may have an order entry system on the backend that you use to track every order from the time it’s placed to the time it’s fulfilled and shipped. However, you also need to input that order into your invoicing and accounting systems.
Depending on the back-end software that you use, integrating it with your e-commerce website can be fairly straightforward, or it can require a good deal of work. In the latter case, you’ll likely want to use a custom-built website.
You want to use a specific credit card processor
Not all pre-built e-commerce solutions come with support for all credit card processors. Although most small businesses use their bank’s credit card processing service, you may have a good reason for choosing another company, such as lower fees or faster availability of funds. In that case, you may need of custom e-commerce website.
Unique needs of customers
Some businesses service an impatient clientele and want to make the purchasing process as easy and fast as possible, while others would like to create a sense of familiarity, personalization, and friendliness.
Depending on your customers and the shopping experience that you want to create, a custom e-commerce website may be the best way of providing it.
You want to build great features for shoppers
If your business is unique, your e-commerce website should reflect that uniqueness by offering special features. Once you’ve hit the growth stage, you can start building a suite of fancy features that will improve your conversion rates.
For example, you may want to build a personalized shopping experience with a custom look and feel for each customer. In this case, you also need a custom e-commerce website.
At the end
Unless you’re a large company with specialized demands right out of the gate, you’ll likely start with an out-of-the-box solution for your e-commerce website.
As your revenue and customer base increase, however, you’ll feel the need for a website with more customization. If you have requirements like those mentioned above, then almost any pre-built e-commerce solution won’t work for you.
