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Significant Evolutions in eCommerce

A few months ago, Facebook made an announcement that Store, their online eCommerce platform, now allows customers to make purchases without leaving Facebook and they’ve made improvements to allow the Store to be more mobile-friendly. This is an improvement from the previous iteration, where users had to leave Facebook to complete a purchase.

Canadian eCommerce Stats*:

By 2018:

– Canada is expected to have approximately 20 million digital buyers.

– eCommerce sales are expected to bring the market total to nearly $40 billion.

Majority of online purchases are still made on computers in Canada, but online mobile purchases continue to climb in popularity:

– Computer – 83%

– Tablet – 28%

– Mobile – 28%

– TV – 2%

With Facebook now a contender in eCommerce—by adding another option to the growing number of platforms available—the natural question many business owners are asking is, “which eCommerce platform is best for me?”

Hosted vs Self-Hosted eCommerce
Just as location is an important consideration when choosing a brick-and-mortar store, selecting the right online platform is an important business decision that can drastically impact your sales.

One of the first decisions you must make is to decide if you’ll rely on a third-party store or create your own online store. There are two main options for eCommerce: hosted sites or the self-hosted option.

Hosted eCommerce
Shopify, Wix, Etsy and Facebook are all examples of hosted eCommerce. This option allows the third party to provide the hosting and software you need to sell your products on their platform. While they usually provide site maintenance, they offer little in terms of customization. Plus, you’re locked into their terms and conditions.

Self-Hosted eCommerce
While a bit daunting for inexperienced web developers, self-hosting eCommerce allows you to develop an online shopping experience right on your website. With this fully customizable option, you’re able to control every aspect of your eCommerce platform.

Which Type of Platform is Best for Your Business?

There’s no universal answer—determining which eCommerce platform is best for your needs requires a deep understanding of where your consumers are shopping. The complexity of your business is also a factor to consider. For simple business models, a Facebook Store tab can generate revenue, but complicated endeavours would benefit from the expertise of a web developer and the ability to create a truly unique self-hosted shopping platform.

At idig Marketing, we’ve designed and implemented many unique, self-hosting eCommerce solutions for our clients.

Contact us today and one of our marketing specialists will be happy to discuss the best online shopping platform for your business.

idig Marketing is a full-service digital strategy and development firm that generates meaningful website traffic and drives high value leads to your organization. By optimizing organic content with paid advertising our custom methodology is adapted to meet your requirements and to exceed your objectives. We built Toronto eCommerce based websites. 

* http://www.pfsweb.com/blog/2016-canada-ecommerce-market/

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