Are you feeling troubled about choosing the right E-commerce platform for your store? Don’t distress. In this comprehensive guide you would find all the information that can assist you with setting up a print business.
A web-to-print is remote publishing offering high-quality and consistent printing jobs through websites. It bring the customer more closer to the brand by providing opportunities for customized prints and includes submitting print jobs. Customers can upload their own design, edit and customize prints and reorder through read-made files.
Overall a web-to-print software provides consistency in a brand. The web-to-print software is integrated with an E-commerce platform to give a one point digital solution to online consumers. According to global statistic, the web-to-print E-commerce market is forecasted to grow at 6.45% CAGR by 2022-2027.
An E-commerce platform can manage your website, sales, marketing and online operations of your business. Consider it as the core of your printing store. In 2020, the E-commerce market was valued at $4.48 trillion. As the number of digital buyers keeps soaring every year a web-to-print E-commerce can also help you gain traction. But how to choose the right E-commerce platform for your online print store?
Let’s take a look at the initial steps that one should take to choose the right E-commerce platform:
Determine a platform: Open-source or commercial?
As the name suggests you can modify all aspects of the code in an open-source platform. This kind of platform is best when you want to have control of your E-commerce environment. It requires no subscription fees as open-source codes are always free to download.
However, the cost of training, IT support and bug fixes can be expensive. It will also take longer to implement the less developed code so the time to market your online store will automatically increase.
Commercial E-commerce platforms provide ready-to-go codes so you won’t have to burn your resources over developing the code. You can immediately start your online store. However, the cost of security, licensing and maintenance fees, and monthly subscriptions will fall upon you.
Both platforms have their own advantages and disadvantages so choosing one depends on your priorities, and business goals. It also relies on what is your requirement for your integration projects and what tradeoffs do you wish to make.
Consider which hosting option you need
When you create a website you will require a domain name and a web hosting services to store your webpages. You’ll get three standard options to choose from:
1. Cloud hosting
It is the best hosting service for websites that needs scalable resources and are growing rapidly. You won’t have to build your own hardware and software as your whole setup will be hosted on a cloud network that combines all resources. The cost is also relatively low.
2. Dedicated hosting
It is an expensive option but best for large websites. A dedicated hosting gives complete control of the server to the website owner. You’ll be in control of your website’s security and operating system. However, this control comes with a price as this hosting server needs expert maintenance and management.
3. Colocation hosting
Colocation hosting works by renting out a space and co-locating your equipment there. The centre will provide everything that your server needs such as a coolin system, IP, ahd higher bandwidths at a lower cost. However, you would need to install a computing infrastructure and maintain it yourself so the price of hosting may increase.
If you want maximum control over your software and hardware colocation hosting can be a good option. But for a beginner website we would suggest cloud-based hosting.
Evaluate the ease of navigation
Probably, the biggest challenges that a website owner can face is to provide audience with a website that allows easy navigation. Transparency in the navigation system directs the consumers to visit your site and search for products and services confidently.
So, select an E-commerce platform that can create a website with simple but unique design and easy navigation. You can also test how much it is user-friendly by giving a task to users and analyze how they navigate through your website. This will assist you in improving your information architecture and polish critical user flows.
Be mindful of any required maintenance
Broken links and technical errors can make what could be a good experience turn sour. So be mindful of choosing an E-commerce platform that will provide you with ease of monitoring the overall health of your website. In addition, also check if the platform requires regular updates and can work at full capacity. Some E-commerce platforms may require extra maintenance.
Evaluate a platform’s storefront design options
When it comes to the ‘good looks’ of an E-commerce website, what it really means is its convenient layout, aesthetically pleasing iconography, on-site customization, and stunning visuals.
The customization features are what will set your E-commerce store apart from other websites. Hence, browse the design features of several E-commerce platforms to understand if it has effective layouts and intuitive design elements.
Watch how web to print software works:
Determine a platform’s capabilities in configuring products and other settings
Product configuration and settings go beyond customization as it allows the customers to select products based on their technical characteristics. So make sure to choose an E-commerce platform that provides suitable design tools with sufficient production capacity. The platform should be flexible and offer more options to change or edit its product settings.
Explore the available options for web-to-print integration
Print and sell globally with a web-to-print design tool. Integrate it with your E-commerce website to increase your outreach through customization offers and unique design templates. Compare the prices and features of web-to-print design software and ask for free demos from their sites. Hopefully, this will help you choose the best tool to integrate with your printing website.
Conclusion
The right E-commerce platform will increase the conversion rate for your printing website and eliminate issues such as cart abandonment. So, think about repeat purchases, raving reviews, and word-of-mouth recommendations from your customers. You can only obtain all this through a powerful E-commerce platform.
Moreover, you can set up your own web-to-print store through an E-commerce builder. Create a user-friendly, mobile responsive, and personalized website.
You can integrate a web-to-print design tool from Design’N’Buy in your E-commerce store to expand your offerings, satisfy your customers and increase your revenue. It will provide efficient workflow tools, an easy-to-use dashboard, and a real-time 360-degree view of your printing business. So, choose once but wisely.
