There are few quick questions to ask before looking for the
e-commerce system, so you can have a better understanding of your requirement
by yourself. Please take a pen and paper and write down appropriate answer
against each question, and at the end you can find right answer.
Q1: Are you currently
use any CMS or e-commerce system?
Yes, the current CMS or e-commerce system cater your
existing requirement or do you want to enhance it or replace it?
No, are you familiar with Website Admin interface or Backend
interface?
Yes, it means you can easily understand the process of the
e-commerce system otherwise you need to understand the ecommerce system flow.
Q2: How many product
and category in your e-commerce system?
Q3: How to define
your product attributes?
It’s a most important aspect to understand the product
complexity. Let me clarify, in general, some company sell an only shirt, 1
shirt having different criteria e.g. Size, Color and Pattern so when you setup
the Shirt in the site, at that time you need to configure the Size, Color and
Pattern with the respective prices. It means 1 shirt having a different prices
as per its attribute
Sr.
|
Size
|
Color
|
Pattern
|
Price
|
1
|
X
|
White
|
Standard
|
Rs. 1000
|
2
|
XL
|
White
|
Standard
|
Rs. 1200
|
3
|
XXL
|
White
|
Standard
|
Rs. 1500
|
4
|
X
|
Red
|
Standard
|
Rs. 1050
|
5
|
XL
|
Red
|
Standard
|
Rs. 1300
|
6
|
X
|
White
|
Cross
|
Rs. 1250
|
Q4: Do you have a
knowledge of Payment gateway?
Yes, it’s good.
No, you should understand the payment gateway – Its Connect
your online shop to any major payment processor, bank, or card association. It
means, it handle the payment process:
-
Your customer inputs credit card information in e-commerce
site.
-
The payment gateway secure / encrypts data and
sends it securely to your Internet merchant account.
-
The transaction is reviewed for authorization by
the customer’s issuing bank.
-
The result is encrypted and sent back through
the gateway.
-
You get the results and decide whether or not to
fulfil the order.
Q5: Do you have a
knowledge of shipping gateway?
Yes, it’s good.
No, it’s an integrated shipping providers will allow your
customers to get accurate, real-time shipping rates from one or more shipping
services.
-
Your customer inputs their address.
-
The shipping gateway check the shipping rates
with the different criteria.
-
Your customer select the shipping method and
track their order process.
You can check famous shipping gateway e.g.
FedEx
Q6: What is your
budget for the e-commerce project?
We know when you have planned to design and develop an
e-commerce system you have a budget in your mind.
Q7: Will you have
team to handle the e-commerce system?
Q8: Do you have any
target to sell the product online?
Q9: Do you have
online marketing / digital marketing strategies for e-commerce site?
Let’s check your answer with respect to question:
Sr.
|
Questions
|
Answer
|
Point
|
1
|
Q1
|
Yes
|
1
|
|
|
No
|
0
|
2
|
Q2
|
Less than 500
|
1
|
|
|
More than 500
|
1
|
3
|
Q3
|
Simple
|
0
|
|
|
Complex
|
1
|
4
|
Q4
|
Yes
|
1
|
|
|
No
|
0
|
5
|
Q5
|
Yes
|
1
|
|
|
No
|
0
|
6
|
Q6
|
Less than USD 800
|
0
|
|
|
Less than 2000
|
1
|
|
|
More than 2000
|
1
|
7
|
Q7
|
Yes
|
1
|
|
|
No
|
0
|
8
|
Q8
|
Yes
|
1
|
|
|
No
|
0
|
9
|
Q9
|
Yes
|
1
|
|
|
No
|
0
|
If your score below the 5 then you should go with the hosted e-commerce solution else you can
design and develop your own e-commerce system / self-hosted e-commerce solution.
The hosted e-commerce
solution:
The hosted e-commerce solution means we are getting a
solution on rent and we need to pay monthly / yearly as per the package.
The
main advantage of hosted e-commerce solution:
1) It’s easy to use
2) They are providing many free layouts of the site
3) Pre-defined functionality
4) For enhancement, they have a plug in and utilities
5) We don’t need to take care for hardware and website
security means easy life.
The self-hosted
e-commerce solution:
You can customize it as per your requirement. The best
example of self-hosted e-commerce solutions are
Magento,
PrestaShop,
WooCommerce and many
more.