Ecommerce platforms are meant to make it easier for businesses to sell products and services to their customers. It’s obvious that a seamless and streamlined transaction process makes for happier customers and stronger sales. But if these key goals aren’t being accomplished by your Ecommerce platform, it may not be the right fit for your company.

First, it’s important that you understand the unique needs of your company. Ecommerce solutions providers like Agility CMS offer myriad benefits, such as cloud-based integration, which provides customers with a seamless shopping experience with access to extensive reporting options. There’s also the added benefit of auto-scaling capabilities and additional cloud resources, which means no fears about your site crashing during high-traffic periods.

So what’s a new and growing online business to do? Let’s break it down:

1. Talk to your team — Before you even think about inking a long-term contract with a new Ecommerce platform, it’s smart to talk to your developers, sales and other team members to figure out what they need! Is your sales team suffering from a lack of data to target new customers? If so, find a solution that offers deep reporting options on your site visitors, current trends, and buyers. Are your developers frustrated by a lack of customization options? Find out if they want total control through API customization and a headless CMS! All of this can help you decide how to move forward with an Ecommerce platform provider.
2. Calculate your costs — The devil is in the details, and you want to do your due diligence to make sure your new Ecommerce service platform isn’t sliding in hidden fees for down the road. Some companies even charge extra for customer service access, so be careful with this one. The same due diligence applies to selecting your hosting company. The last thing you want is problems with your servers. A poor web hosting platform can have a negative impact on your search rankings by slowing down your site loading times, or even allowing destructive down time. 
   
   
3. Do your research — Online reviews are a great way to get started on choosing any platform. If you’re connected to others in your industry, ask which Ecommerce solutions they use, and find out for yourself the pros and cons of each service. With Agility CMS, you can find a quality Ecommerce and point-of-sale solution with personalization and customization at your fingertips.
   
   
4. Choose wisely — With Ecommerce platform providers like Agility CMS, you no longer have to worry about your site crashing during high-traffic periods, as Agility is able to provide auto-scaling capabilities and additional cloud resources. Other questions you should ask before choosing an Ecommerce platform provider are:
1. Do they provide 24/7 support?
2. Do they provide daily backups of your site?
3. Will your site will be on a shared server?
4. Will the shared server impact your outgoing emails to customers in the event that one of the other companies on the server gets blacklisted as spam?

It’s better to learn these lessons now, before you build your entire business on a platform that isn’t the right fit. The bottom line is this: if you’re going to invest time, money, and effort into designing a site that will convert traffic into sales, you should be on the most reliable and least cumbersome service you can get.

Maybe Agility's Ecommerce platform is right for you.