The 5 Ecommerce Platform Features that Entrepreneurs Need

When you’re first starting out with an ecommerce platform, you need features that make managing the complexity of an online store simplified, likely because you’re short on both employees and time. A quality ecommerce platform has the tools and the accessibility to make your life easier.

Here are some of the most important features to have as an ecommerce entrepreneur, and the platforms you can find them included.

Customizable store builder

One of the most important aspects of your ecommerce store is the front-facing part: all of the landing pages, home pages, and product pages for your business. If they look generic or unappealing, customers that land on your site might just go elsewhere to spend their hard-earned cash.

A customizable store builder with a broad range of flexibility helps you adapt the appearance of your store to your products with a minimal amount of technical know-how (because, once again, you’re probably low on employees).

Platforms with customizable store builders: Selz, Shopify, WooCommerce

Product listing flexibility

Odds are, you’re selling a product that is unique and specific, and just listing it as a name and a quantity won’t cut it. You need to be able to include variants of products, different sizes, different colors, bundling options, and a whole host of other features.

A staple of a quality ecommerce platform is the ability to customize and control listings, so you can list everything from a digital file or video to several variants of an article of clothing. Luckily, many platforms support this functionality.

Platforms with product listing flexibility: Shopify, WooCommerce, Selz, BigCommerce

Digital product support

For many businesses in 2020, digital sales are the name of the game. Being able to list and sell digital products like software, ebooks, and other online services is essential for business success.

Along with digital sales, there’s also a need to be able to rent and stream products like video, as well as issue license keys, and other features that are part of selling digital products. There are some ecommerce platforms that are more suited to this than others. Selz, for example, is specifically focused on digital sales.

Platforms with digital product support: Selz. Thinkific. PayHip. SendOwl. Gumroad

Integrations, integrations, integrations

No ecommerce platform is going to be able to meet every single need you might have as an entrepreneur, but the best platforms have the integrations to help you get the job done, regardless of what it might be.

Many platforms don’t have an effective email marketing solution or platform, so having a Mailchimp integration goes a long way. There are also many platforms that integrate with existing websites and blogs so you can sell from a site you’ve already created. Having the flexibility to work and automate in a way that suits your business needs is critical.

Platforms with 20+ integrations: Shopify, Selz

Marketing tools

Once you’ve got your ecommerce store all set up, it’s more than likely that you’ll need help getting the word out about your products. Some platforms come with marketing solutions built in, but many have some limitations, putting a lot of the marketing work on the business owner. That’s not unusual, but some platforms do it better than others.

Platforms like Selz and Shopify have integrations with Google Shopping, which make listing and creating ads on Google a lot easier. Some platforms go one step further, offering coaching and marketing services for a low price.

Platforms with marketing tools: BigCommerce, Selz, Shopify

Courses and services support

Finally, a feature you might not be expecting to use, but one that can greatly enhance your business: coaching, courses, and services.

You might be selling a physical product or something else and think, “this isn’t really my niche,” but the beauty of an online course or service is that it can function as a supplement to what you’re already creating and working on.

If you’re making quality necklaces, creating a video course to show how to make basic jewelry is likely within your skillset and expertise, and with an ecommerce platform that enables you to list and sell courses, you can create an additional revenue stream that doesn’t require an enormous amount of work to maintain.

Creating an online course doesn’t have to be a struggle (or selling coaching or services for that matter). You might have come across a platform like Kajabi for doing exactly that. But it’s not the only game in town, especially when you compare it with other platforms.