How to Do Your Own Ecommerce Software Review

We talk a lot here about the importance of gathering information before making a big decision for your online business, especially when it comes to picking your ecommerce software. There are a lot of different companies out there offering ecommerce and shopping cart solutions, and there are a lot of sites offering reviews. But at the end of the day, you are the person who will be using the software every day. There is no substitute for getting out there and checking out these different platforms for yourself.

Survey the Ecommerce Software

A good way to start your ecommerce software review process is to find online businesses similar to yours and check out their shopping carts. Navigate through the site, add and remove items, adjust product attributes (color, size, quantity, etc.) if possible. Then make note of the software designer. This will likely be listed on the bottom of the home page (or even every page) with a copyright or trademark symbol next to it. It may also be on the "About" page. Look for the words "Powered by" or "a __________ product" or "Solution by __________."

Use these functioning sites as a model for what you want in your online store and what you want to avoid as well. Write down the elements that you really liked and the things that you would rather not have in your store. Rank the store sites that you've surveyed in terms of how well you think their positive features are expressed.

Study Your Options

Using your list of favorable sites from before, track down the ecommerce software companies that produced the sites. They will provide a full list of features and pricing structures that you can use to compare the different platforms. Many will offer a short free-trial period before you agree to buy the service. Pick two or three (at most) that you really like and consider doing a free trial. Most companies do not require a credit card for the free trial.

Shopping cart free trials typically last for about 14 days, so be sure to budget your time in advance. It's a good idea to have images and descriptions ready for your products before you sign up, so that you can get them into the system and start getting acquainted with it from the get-go. Also have your social media set up (Facebook, Twitter, Blog, YouTube and whatever else you've got) for quick integration. You want to be able to evaluate all the different features in action.

More attentive ecommerce software companies also offer personalized advice and assistance. In some cases you are given a "dedicated" representative. In this case, "dedicated" means a representative who works closely with you, whom you can contact specifically for assistance instead of having to wade through a customer service queue and be randomly bounced from worker to worker. Use these people. If you have questions about your software package, call them and keep them on the phone until you get the information that you need.

Reach Out to the Ecommerce Software Company and Merchants

Now that you've sampled some other online stores and gotten your hands dirty working on your own ecommerce store, it's time to see what other people are saying about the software solutions that you have targeted. Many ecommerce software sites have user reviews and comments posted right on their main sites to tell visitors how much their users like the software. These are a little suspect: they are not necessarily lies, but a website is only going to post those comments that paint it in the most positive light. It's your job to seek out the other voices. Check forums and blogs where ecommerce professionals congregate. Search these sites for mentions of the companies or ecommerce products that you are investigating.

Use caution. The internet is full of people who feel that they have been wronged and sound off about these offenses (be they real or imagined), usually with little restraint. Take their words seriously, but confirm or deny their claims with your own investigative work.

Depending on how quickly you get your store set up, invite your friends, family, and network to come to your store and give you feedback about their user experience. Are they able to easily navigate your new store? What kinds of questions or problems do they have? Are you able to solve them yourself? How helpful is customer service in assisting you in correcting these problems?

Aggregation

After you've done all this legwork, take some time away from your ecommerce software pursuits (at least a day or two). Then come back to your notes and sit down and weigh everything. You can give things a number, but you don't really have to. What's important is that you place your different options into a context: which ecommerce software package were you most comfortable with? Were your network members happy with it? How was the support? You're probably going to stay with your first ecommerce solution for at least three months, so you don't have to be married to your choice, but jumping from company to company will make it harder for your customers to keep up with you, so be prepared to dig in for a little while when you are making your decision.