Ecommerce site providers

Ecommerce Buyer's Guide

As discussed in About ecommerce web site hosting, you can set your ecommerce site up in several different ways. Unless you're doing the entire project in-house, you'll need to choose appropriate ecommerce site providers for hosting, development, or both.

(Note: This Buyer's Guide focuses solely on ecommerce, not web site design and hosting or search engine marketing. Many providers offer a wide range of online marketing services, so you should decide in advance whether you want to work with a vendor who focuses only on ecommerce or one that takes a broader view of your marketing efforts.)

Make sure the vendor you choose has the capabilities and expertise necessary to build you a successful ecommerce site. Here are some questions to ask:

• What are your strengths as an ecommerce site developer?
• Do you understand what my company offers and what my customers need? (This is not a requirement - but it can be helpful.)
• Will the ecommerce site work in multiple browsers? Which? (Browser compatibility can be trickier for online stores than for informational web sites.)
• Can your developers connect the site to our customer database/inventory tracking software/sales software?
• How long have you been in business? Can you provide some sample ecommerce sites for me to look at?
• (If you choose a hosted ecommerce service) What guarantees of uptime and availability do you provide? What are your typical outage rates? What are your busiest times of the day? Do you have a data storage/disaster recovery system set up?

Customer Support Customer support is critical to choosing your provider. Ecommerce sites are complicated and there is a strong possibility that something will eventually go wrong. While not every error is a complete disaster, you should be able to count on your vendor for assistance.

• Is it 24/7, or only during business hours? (Don't forget - which time zone?).
• Do their support hours match your busiest times?
• Is there access to support by email, online chat, telephone, or all of the above?
• What is the average resolution time for typical problems?
• Is there a per-call fee?

References
In addition to looking at the sample ecommerce sites the developer provides, you should also check their references. Talking to their other clients can give you a good idea of what it's like to work with a particular ecommerce developer. Get at least three different references, and ask them specific questions:

• Did the vendor meet deadlines?
• Were they flexible?
• Was the price reasonable for the services received?
• What aspects of their work were particularly strong?
• What areas were not quite up to your expectations?
• Are you happy with your ecommerce results so far?
• Did they set and meet realistic goals for your store?
• Would you work with this company again?

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