It’s important to realise that an e-commerce website is a long-term project that is ongoing. Ecommerce websites carry expenses and overhead costs all on their own. That’s why, when communicating to our clients about any any e-commerce website, we reiterate the importance of selecting a product that provides ongoing support (including customer service support). Additionally, you’re likely to require the ability to have access to specialised developers for both ongoing and new requirements as the online space is an ever-changing environment.

For many project managers, a pivotal part of this process quickly boils down to the following question:

Should we develop a ecommerce solution in-house or should we seek out and hire a specialised company to build and develop our e-commerce website for us?

Of course, another option is to hire out freelancers to carry out the bulk of the work in relation to the initial development in-house. However, this is very much a short-term solution that may cut initial costs but you’re likely to end up facing the same issues in regards to improvements and ongoing requirements.

Having a specialised support team on-hand is a great asset in terms of ongoing maintenance. However, with a minimal amount of training initially, you and your team should be able to update content such as images, marketing material, news and so on, easily. The last thing you want is to be forced to approach your support team for even the smallest of updates or improvements to your website. Finding a user-friendly Content Management System (CMS) that arms you with the flexibility to carry out these daily tasks is crucial.

As for integrations, when selecting any ecommerce solution, it’s incredibly important to consider the ability of your vendor to carry out any necessary integrations. Always ask your vendor for examples of integrations completed for other systems they’ve built in the past (for instance, an integration to backend Enterprise Resource Planning or marketing automation tools).

Taking the time to ask these kind of questions at the beginning of a project ensures you can be provided with a further integrated and consolidated solution that minimises the double handling of data in the future. It’s also important to take into account your graphic and web design needs in the event you need to further customise and tailor your solution.

As always, the Pronto Woven team can assist you with your ecommerce website needs. Our services include:

  • Ecommerce solutions consulting
  • Graphic and web design
  • Native integration to Pronto Woven Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
  • Digital Strategy and Marketing Services
  • Managed hosting

You can take a look at our past work on ecommerce solutions here. Further reading about how to choose a good ecommerce website development company is available here for those interested.

Our team has extensive experience in ecommerce solutions consulting across a wide range of industries. We’re able to work alongside you to identify your ongoing needs and provide you with a solution that ties into your long-term business goals and where your company is heading. Contact us for an initial meeting so that we can discuss your unique needs.