The 2017 Internet Retailer eCommerce platform report states that “Half of online retailers say they have plans to change their e-commerce platforms.” But what are the top eCommerce merchants evaluating and looking for in an eCommerce platform switch? This brand new 2017 report names the top criteria to evaluate when migrating eCommerce platforms, from simplicity, to price, time-to-market and more valuable criteria from online retail experts on both sides on implementation and operations. Here’s their definitive checklist for this year and beyond.
Simplicity and Ease of Use
With almost 40% of surveyed retailers saying the change will happen in the next two years, retailers are looking for a system that their currently hired associated can be trained on easily and quickly. With a long project, there is not much time to spend months on end-user training. A good system will be intuitive to use with a robust library of resources and partners to help launch the operations.
Time-to-Market
Outgrowing current eCommerce systems and technology that cannot keep competitive with retailers like Amazon and other competitive retailers are the top reasons for the switch to a new platform. With these project timelines averaging 6-9 months depending on complexity of the project, when the seasonality of holiday and traffic rush is over is the time to get started if that is a concern for your business model.
‘’Magento should be on the short list of any eCommerce operation that aspires to grow to scale.” – Frost & Sullivan
Features, Flexibility and Growth
Retailers are in a period of explosive growth online and need a system that can grow with them. Features that may not be necessary now, like B2B capabilities, may be a choice for future strategy roadmaps. Finding a system that can easily grow and flex to upcoming trends in the industry is one benchmark that online retail merchants note as a must-have in any eCommerce platform.
Why Magento?
With 205,000 developers around the world, Magento has a robust community and continues to grow. Frost & Sullivan named Magento a leader in value proposition because of its ROI, ease of use and future-facing features.
Want to know more about why the Magento platform has been so successful? Schedule a Demo.
