This document discusses key considerations for choosing an e-commerce platform, including hosted versus self-hosted options. Hosted platforms offer quick setup but regular costs, while self-hosted platforms offer more flexibility but require technical knowledge. Additional factors that impact the customer experience are security, product types supported, shipping and tax collection options, and available payment methods.

1. E-COMMERCE BASICS
MICHAEL R. MURPHY

2. E-COMMERCE BASICS
HOSTED PLATFORMS
▸ Pros - often an “out of the box”
solution, quick setup, someone
else takes care of all the technical
details, lower risk, there is already
an audience
▸ Cons - regular recurring costs
(monthly subscription and/or
portion of sales), less flexible
designs and processes, potentially
disjointed customer experience

3. E-COMMERCE BASICS
SELF-HOSTED SOLUTIONS
▸ Pros - flexible designs, extensibility
through add-ons, more seamless
integration
▸ Cons - require technical
knowledge or resources, higher
initial cost and ongoing
maintenance costs (security,
updates, etc), higher risk

4. THE FEATURES OF YOUR
E-COMMERCE PLATFORM
CREATE THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE.
Me
E-COMMERCE BASICS

5. E-COMMERCE BASICS
SECURITY
Standard security indicators help boost the credibility of your business and help
establish trust.
▸ SSL Certificates - https and the lock icon create trust and help ease customers’
anxiety even if you hand off to a 3rd party for payment entry and processing
▸ Trust Builders - visible contact information, returns and privacy policies,
testimonials, reviews, social proof, etc
▸ PCI Compliance - most reputable payment processors will be PCI compliant
but you should be familiar with best practices for handling sensitive payment
information
▸ Strong Passwords - it should go without saying but…

6. E-COMMERCE BASICS
PRODUCT TYPES
Does your solution support the type of products you want to
sell? Can you grow/expand to other types?
▸ Physical Products - need to be stored and shipped
▸ Digital Products - eBooks, PDFs, audio/video files
▸ Memberships - access to content, discounts, etc
▸ Any combination of the above

7. E-COMMERCE BASICS
SHIPPING
▸ Traditional Shipping - USPS, UPS, FedEx
▸ Local Pickup/Delivery - some online retailers allow for
delivery and pickup at local brick & mortar locations
▸ Allowed and disallowed zones - are there any areas you
won’t ship to?
▸ Dropshipping - someone else takes care of product
inventory, shipping, returns, etc

8. E-COMMERCE BASICS
TAX
▸ Sales Tax - what are the solution’s options for collecting
sales tax?
▸ Business Location - the official address associated with the
business
▸ Nexus/sufficient physical presence - companies doing
business in a state are required to collect and pay sales tax

9. E-COMMERCE BASICS
PAYMENT OPTIONS
▸ Credit Card - flexibility in the type of cards accepted
▸ PayPal - the ubiquitous online payment facilitator
▸ Check - depending on your product some people may still
prefer to pay this way
▸ Bitcoin or other crypto currency - for very specific products
or audiences

10. E-COMMERCE BASICS
WRAP UP
▸ Hosted vs Self-Hosted - how much technical knowledge do you have and
how much maintenance are you comfortable with?
▸ Security - minimize risk and establish trust
▸ Product Types - will it support for your current and future product offerings?
▸ Shipping - does it support your preferred shipping methods?
▸ Tax - does it support your current tax collection needs?
▸ Payment Options - does it support the way you want to get paid and the way
your customers expect to pay?

11. E-COMMERCE BASICS
RESOURCES
▸ Let’s Encrypt - https://letsencrypt.org/
▸ PCI Security Standards - https://
www.pcisecuritystandards.org/pci_security/how
▸ The Ultimate Guide to Dropshipping - https://
www.shopify.com/guides/dropshipping