In today’s era, gaining a web presence is a must for every business. It not only tells the tale of technological compatibility but also gives you exposure. Be it a trend, but in the long-term, it is helping businesses turning into a brand. The path to success is never easy, and you need to make a lot of effort.

When we are talking about an online market, simply the digital presence is not enough. Having a website of your business builds the trust factor of customers. From building awareness of bringing in customers, a website can do everything. It makes a lot easier for you to showcase your offerings to your audience. In contrast to service-based businesses, to sell your products directly in the market, you will need an ecommerce store.

To open an ecommerce store, it is not required to own a physical retail shop or existing business base. You can give shape to the digital business directly or even bring your existing physical business on the digital platform. In either of the cases, you have the requirement of an ecommerce website.

There will be several questions hovering over your mind like the choice of platform, hosting plans, name of the business, category of products, features and functionalities, cataloging, marketing tools to be integrated, and so on. Above everything, you will be confused about the selection of platforms on which your website can be designed.

Is it better to opt for custom web development or choose the modern ecommerce platform?

We know that you want to have a clear cut answer, but you only know this best. A single answer may or may not be right for you.

But we will definitely help you find the best option for your online store. Make a list of all the features and functionalities that you want, check with your business plan, and mention the short-term and long-term goals that you want to achieve. This list will make it easier for you to decide on the ecommerce platform.

If you have a long list of features and requirements for the majority of them, custom development is something you can walk ahead with. Don’t forget that hiring a developer won’t be enough for custom web development. You will need the support of UI/UX designers, creative copywriters, the assistance of QA experts, and a few other resources. This will add to your budget.

The startup businesses, most if not all, don’t have that huge budget to start with. When you want to be the jack of all trades, modern-day ecommerce platforms can be your savior. Since they don’t have requirements for technical details, you can start and build your store, with limited resources. For small and medium-sized businesses, an ecommerce platform will be the best choice.

Let us help you with some of the vital reasons behind the choice of selection of platforms.

• Budget: The initial investment that you can do for your online store depends upon your business plan. The way you are handling the cash flow will help you decide the investment you can make and decide the type of platform that can be favorable for you. Some of the ecommerce platforms let you design and manage your store for little monthly investment, whereas others will cost you non-recurring fees.While looking at the budget, don’t forget to count the inclusive features and the charges you are paying. It can be the price of the package, domain charges, hosting fees, theme charges, integration of additional plugins, or even the commission fees. When you club them together, you will be able to make the platform’s right choice with much ease.

• Scalability: Be it, the conversation about website development frameworks or that of an ecommerce platform, scalability will be the need of every business. For custom web development, every time you want to upgrade, you have to hire developers and the team of other resources, as and when required. Whereas ecommerce platforms have the features divided into different business plans that vary depending upon the business size. Thus, ecommerce platforms can be equally scalable and pocket friendly in-terms of developmental charges and freedom of customization.
• Features: There is a difference between the needs vs. wants. The must-have features are the needs of your ecommerce store, whereas the long list that may come up with is the wanted features. The features of the ‘wants’ category can help you optimize the performance or improve the reach and check for your business’s overall growth. It can be tricky for you to decide on features at times. Since ecommerce platforms have the features listed.
• Time to go live: Custom web development takes time for designing and launching your dream store. Based on functionalities and the type of resources you are hiring, it may take more time to make your website live. Unlike this case, ecommerce platforms are much steadfast. You can register your business, feed some basic details, and make your business up and running even in a week. The tenure depends upon the time investment you can do & the level of personalization you want.
• Customization & compatibility: We know that your brand’s personal touch means a lot to connect with your audience. That’s why you must seek the level of customization that you can do to your store and make it unique. Besides, check with the compatibility and ease of integration to third-party APIs. These third-party software solutions improvise the operational performance of your store & aids the strength of your team.

Our vote for elegant and sleek ecommerce website development for MSMEs is to modern e-commerce platforms. One of the vital reasons is the speed of launch and ease of management. When you have full control of your ecommerce business, you can tweak the content, media elements, layout of your different, and manage different frontiers of your business. This opens a wider perspective to your vision of having an ecommerce business.

If you are willing to start an online store, you can do so right now by registering your business with Builderfly. For any consultation about the business plan, feel free to connect with us at support@builderfly.com.