|
|
Page 8 of
21:
Test Drive and Get References
To help you sort through the many options, you can "test drive" the
software before you buy it. Most vendors will allow you to demo their
software (if not, that's a red flag). They either have a model store set
up that you can access, or some other way for you to poke around the
controls.
Don't plunk down your money until you've really opened up the hood and
gotten a feel for the software. You'll be spending a lot of time with
it.
While you're investigating, get references. The only way to find out the
truth about a platform is to ask people who use it - and not the people
the company recommends. Find a user who isn't on the official list, and
ask them how they feel about the platform.
The All-In-One / ASP Trend
One key concept to be aware of: some e-commerce platforms are
"all-in-one" solutions that provide everything: hosting, accounting
tools, Web analytics, even marketing tools like e-mail management. In
contrast, some platforms are just the core e-commerce platform itself,
and you buy the other tools from separate vendors. Adding confusion,
some platforms are in-between; they include, say, hosting and the basic
e-commerce software, but you shop elsewhere for the rest.
The all-in-one solution has become ever more popular with online
merchants in recent years. The advantage is that A) someone else has
done the homework of gathering all the needed tools into one handy
package, and B) all the tools are integrated, so they work well
together.
As a related concept, some vendors of e-commerce platforms license their
software on an "ASP" basis. ASP stands for "application service
provider." This means the software seller hosts the software on their
own servers, and the online store owner accesses it remotely. This way
the store owner doesn't have to worry about servers going down
(hopefully). Also, ASP vendors tend to offer a lot of hand holding in
terms of maintaining the store owner's software.
The e-commerce industry is moving toward platforms that are all-in-one
solutions offered on an ASP basis. This frees the store owner from
technical concerns as much as possible. It allows e-tailers to
concentrate on selling and leave the technical snafus to someone else.
An online merchant who licenses an all-in-one solution on an ASP basis
doesn't need to hire tech people — a huge savings. The salary of a tech
person can buy a lot of pay-per-click advertising.
But don't let the trend toward all-in-one be your deciding factor. You
might buy an inexpensive stand-alone platform, find a cheap place to
host it, and you'll be off and running. If you're truly a small fry
who's tech savvy, you might not need a tech person very much.
One more thing: you might be successful. If that happens, your software
platform must be able to grow with you. In industry lingo, it must
"scale," as in "scale larger." Don't be seduced by a platform whose
initial price is low, but that won't scale. When your business grows
you'll be stuck with a platform that's too basic. And it's really a
hassle to change your software platform once its in place.
The general rule: buy as much platform as you can reasonably afford
upfront. Get a platform that can grow with you.
>
Page 9
|
Online Money-Making Opportunities
Several Systems to make real money via
Internet
|
