Want to sell on the web? You need an online store.

Whether you’ve got a few simple products to sell or want to replicate your large ‘physical’ store online, I can help.

“Hosted” or “Standalone”?

There are essentially two ways to create an online (e-commerce) store – the “hosted” solution (Shopify, BigCommerce etc) and the “standalone” (or self-hosted) variety. It’s not always obvious which way to go.

“Hosted” pros:

• Easy startup
• Lower entry cost
• Relatively easy, wizard-based product management
• Pre-installed payment solutions
• Good stability and security

“Hosted” cons:

• Bigger continuing cost, often with a percentage commission or sliding scale based on sales
• Template based – stores can all look a bit “samey”
• Not always great SEO capabilities
• Limited customisation

“Standalone” pros:

• Infinite design possibilities
• Negligible ongoing costs
• Not locked in to one hosting supplier
• Generally better SEO facilities

“Standalone” cons:

• Higher start-up costs
• Product management, orders etc not always as idiot-proof
• Responsible for own security, backups etc.

Experienced, successful online retailers still argue long and hard for one solution versus the other, so if you’re in the market for a new online store – or your current one isn’t working too well – let’s have a chat and see if we can come up with the answer.