Finding a suitable content management system (CMS) for an ecommerce business is a difficult process.
For an ecommerce business doing over $400k in annual revenue, choosing the right CMS for their business will be a challenging but important decision, as every solution will have long term investment costs to grow alongside the business.
Many different options are available, and each one brings unique benefits and drawbacks to the table depending on the particular needs of the business.
The first step in the process is to understand the different types of CMS available.
There are open source solutions such as WordPress and Joomla, as well as hosted solutions such as Shopify and Bigcommerce.
Open source solutions are ‘free’ to start, but require more technical knowledge to set up and maintain.
There are often premium features or plugins that must be paid for, and hosting costs are typically not included. Plus you need ongoing skilled help to deal with security updates and backups.
Hosted solutions are typically easier to set up, but there is an upfront cost, plus extra fees for premium features. On the other hand, there are no separate hosting fees to pay, and user support is typically much better from these for-profit enterprises.
The next step is to define your business needs.
It is important to understand the features and functionality that are necessary for the business and decide which type of CMS best delivers them.
This may include features such as payment gateways, product catalogs, order tracking, shipping and returns, and customer reviews.
Knowing what is needed helps to narrow down the list of potential solutions.
Once the needs are identified, research the different options that are available.
Read customer reviews, compare pricing, and look into the level of customer support give.
Take the time to find a CMS that meets the needs of the business now and for the next 12-18 months minimum.
This brings us to the subject of scalability.
E-commerce is a ‘grow or die’ business where over 40% of new stores fail in the first year alone. It’s a highly dynamic and competitive market, with fast-changing technologies, and many new market entrants every year. Companies are created, die, get acquired at a much higher rate than in legacy industries.
That means an ecommerce business must have a long term growth plan, and the owners should keep this in mind when making any investment in technology platforms, including finding a CMS that can scale alongside the business.
Don’t forget data security
Security is an area business owners often don’t think about until after there’s been a breach incident. This can expose a business to massive legal liability, especially in regulated industries like health and finance.
Make sure whatever CMS and backend systems you choose have the correct security certifications for your industry, and check with your business insurance broker to see if your policies cover you for data protection.
The final step is to test the solution.
After all that research you’ve probably got a good idea of the CMS that may be right for you. But before committing to it, get a demo to make sure it’s easy to use and meets all the needs of the business.
Konnektive Can Help
Konnektive is one of the most powerful, most customizable tools ever built for taking orders online.
No matter what CRM you choose, you need a secure, customizable, and extensible backend to manage your data and help you make smarter business decisions.
Not only will the tools in Konnektive make you more money, they are also very simple to use.
With the click of a button, you can see every statistic you need to track performance and revenue.
All of your data is just one click away so you can make faster, smarter business decisions.
Navigating through our user-friendly interface is effortless, easy, and fun.
Whether you have custom built websites or sales pages, or you are using a CMS based website building tool and hosting service… Or a combination of tools - Konnektive gives you the ability to centralize all of your business processes within the CRM.
Konnektive's CRM becomes the hub of your business, running and managing all of your sales transactions, customer service, product fulfillment management, sales tracking, and MORE.
If you are running any kind of billing structure, straight sale, monthly subscription, or membership billing model, there is no better system than Konnektive for you to manage the entire backend of your business.
Book a demo today and see for yourself what Konnektive can do for your AOV and profits.
