Comparisons of the Top Multi Channel Ecommerce Platforms
Consumers today enjoy being able to shop from numerous locations. As a result, it is imperative for retailers to sell on multiple channels. The hard part is doing so efficiently and profitably. However, if you’re interested in building up a solid customer base while increasing your sales, then keep reading to learn how.
Multi-Channel Ecommerce Software Comparison
One of the first features that you need to look at when figuring out which software to select are the marketplace offerings. Of course, it’s useful when platforms offer to work with many marketplaces, but what use is it to you when it isn’t one of the top two? Therefore, when considering a platform, be sure that Amazon and eBay are amongst the list of marketplaces covered because those are the two that will give you the biggest opportunity for expanding your company.
Shopping Cart Elite
The complete ecommerce platform, Shopping Cart Elite, lets you sell on twenty-three different channels, including the top two. The beauty of it is that there’s no need to either download or set up any other software alongside it. However, that’s just one of the many features this platform offers.
For one, every single part of it is automated, which helps you save lots of time so that you can focus on more important tasks at hand. Additionally, since the marketing systems were created by their very own employees, making marketing automation is as easy as 1-2-3. SEO strategies are naturally also automated; therefore, your shop is completely optimized for the crawlers. To top it off, they provide you with accurate and necessary data in order to make the best decisions thanks to the predictive analytics.
Shopify Plus
Like SCE, Shopify enables users to sell on a multitude of channels. It integrates with ease to Amazon, so you’ll be able to link your inventory across all channels in no time. They also offer other features for those looking into expanding into the online market. For one, setting up a decent working store can be accomplished quickly with the help of the themes that they offer. They offer support around the clock, while your store itself is hosted by them. You’ll also get many strong marketing tools.
Magento
Magento allows for multi-channel selling via bought extensions. In fact, they are well known for their easy customization and reliability, therefore you have full control over the direction that you want it to go, thanks to all of the extensions available. Additionally, it can grow alongside your business. They offer tools such as Magento Connect, which lets you add on extensions that’ll better the shopping experience for their shoppers as well as enhance the management of both your stock levels and site. Additionally, they allow you to easily make your site mobile friendly.
Magento also can help you segment shoppers based on their location in addition to their shopping history, cart, as well as activity. With the data collected, you can create promotions specific to certain areas. On top of that, they can also assist with the creation of SEO-friendly URLs along with a Google sitemap, just to name a few features.
Comparison
As you can see, these platforms are similar in that they offer many great features, but let’s really break them apart and see how they actually differ.
When it comes to the creation of a website, both Shopify and SCE offer API as well as help with the design, social media, and payments. Magento, however, offers API development as an additional feature and Magento Enterprise Website is an extra $3,000 instead of being included in the cost of the platform such as SCE offers. Additionally, Shopify Plus page load time takes twice, if not three times longer than it does for SCE. On top of all of that, SCE offers smart search CMS, B2B, data entry, live chat, security, as well as email accounts.
Marketing wise, Shopify doesn’t integrate with eBay, Google Shopping, Amazon, or Newegg on the contrary to SCE. The only thing that they have are abandon autoresponders unlike SCE, which has email marketing, abandon and custom autoresponders, CRM, predictive analytics, real-time ROI measurement, click fraud detection, automation, and so much more.
Online, SCE offers order processing, customer service, employees, reports, projects, dashboards, and employee monitoring. You won’t find any of that with Shopify. With Magento, you can get Zendesk support desk, Salesforce CRM, a channel advisor for eBay and Amazon, and Marketo CRM marketing automation at an additional cost. However, neither Odesk staff monitoring nor a marketing advisor is available.
Offline, however, Shopify does provide shipping. Along with that, though, SCE also offers warehouse, accounting, as well as POS. Magento does not offer ship station levels.
When talking about support, both Shopify and SCE offer customer and emergency phone support along with expert marketing tutorials. In addition to this, SCE offers on-screen technical support as well as an account manager. Magento does provide Turnto Q&A, but only at an additional cost.
If you compare pricing, Shopify winds up being the most expensive starting at $1,000-$4,000 and Magento’s monthly total winds up to be a whopping $12,463.00.
What do you do from here?
Having analyzed and compared the top three choices for multi-channel ecommerce solutions, it’s time to figure out which one is truly the right one for you. Analyzing your business wants and needs is crucial in figuring out what direction you should head. For instance, you need to have a full idea of the items or service that you are selling. You’ll need to think about the size of your inventory. You’ll also need to analyze the growth that you’re expecting in the upcoming months and year. In that calculation, you’ll need to factor in how much the selected ecommerce platform will benefit you. Therefore, calculating costs is crucial, too. You don’t want your platform eating away at the profits being gained. As soon as you’ve got a plan, you’re ready to move on with to platform.