One of the first considerations that will likely come to mind while establishing a mobile presence for your business or organization is whether you want to create a mobile website or a mobile application for users to download (app), or perhaps both. Many people assert that you don’t need a mobile app, you just need a website that looks good on mobile devices, on the other hand some people say that mobile apps have benefits that a website cannot provide. Mobile websites and apps can look very similar at first-glance, however when digging a little deeper, there are a multiple factors that need to be considered before deciding like available budget, intended purpose and required features, including target audiences. Both of them have their dedicated marketplace and own certain number of pros and cons.

Mobile App v/s Mobile Web: What’s The Difference?

Before evaluating the advantages of mobile app development v/s mobile website development it is important to understand the difference between them. Both app and web can be acquired through mobile or any handheld device such as tablet. A mobile website is exactly as it sounds. A mobile website usually is not a separate site, it is similar to any other website in that it consists of browser-based HTML pages that are connected together and accessed via Internet (for mobile typically Wi-Fi or 3G or 4G networks). The salient characteristic that distinguishes a mobile website from a standard website is that it is designed for the smaller handheld display and touch-screen interface (smart phones & tablets).

Increasingly, responsive web design is becoming the new standard for websites as they are designed for different platforms and adjust to different screen sizes and layouts from desktop to tablets and smart phones. Like traditional websites, user can see content, images and videos on mobile website, but it is optimized for smaller screens. In addition user can also access mobile-specific features such as click-to-call or location-based mapping from mobile website.

On the other hand, Mobile apps are applications that are downloaded and installed on a user’s mobile device rather than being rendered on a search engines. For any given operating system users can download app by visiting device-specific portals such as Apple’s App Store or Android Market. Like a website, app fetches data and content from internet or user can download it and access it later without internet connection.

Mobile website development pros

If your goal is related to brand marketing and target your potential audiences then mobile/responsive website is the foremost option in your mobile outreach strategy. As it has numerous advantages over app development and are discussed below –

• Mobile/ responsive websites are compatible for all screen size devices.
• Mobile websites can be founded easily.
• Mobile websites can be shared among users or publishers.
• Mobile websites have broader reach among audience.
• Mobile websites are easier and cost effective.
• Brand visibility and SEO.
• Mobile websites cannot be deleted.

Mobile app development pros

An app is written in the language of the operating system of the device and developed for specific platform such as android and iOS. App is a completely separate entity from a company’s website, and is often an extension of a brand. For making interactive games, an app makes a sense. Let’s have a look of mobile app pros –

• Mobile app can be accessed anytime and anywhere, without internet also.
• An app can interface with the device’s features and hardware, such as the camera, GPS location.
• Mobile app allows user to set up their preferences at the time of installation.
• If your target audiences are going to use your app in a personalized fashion on a regular basis (think EverNote, photo editor) then an app is a great way to do that.
• Mobile app offers a completely different experience for the user and has ability to offer new branding opportunities.
• Mobile apps allow for more interactive ways for the user to engage with your content.

Google states that “61% of users are unlikely to return to a mobile website they had trouble accessing and over 40% visit a competitor’s site instead.” Due to poor functionality, you’re sending your customers directly to your competition that provides a better mobile experience.

Which is better option?

Now if you have to decide what to build mobile app or mobile website then have look on your business primary goals. If your aim is to offer mobile friendly content to large audience and establish mobile presence that can be easily maintained and shared among people, found on search engines then mobile – friendly/ responsive website is logical choice to go. On the other hand, if you aim to provide a user experience like gaming interface, user engagement and communicate your customers than mobile app is going to make sense.

It’s also important to remember that a mobile/responsive website and a native app are not necessarily mutually exclusive. If done correctly, both can be a strategic and effective choice. Many organizations have both a mobile-friendly public website for their general web presence, as well as a downloadable app to accommodate more specific requirements. In the end, it’s all about choosing the right tool to achieve your business objectives.

In this blog we’ll provide a breakdown of everything you need from the best CMS, and introduce you to the eight top CMS:

 WordPress

 Joomla

 Drupal

 Magento

 Squarespace

 Shopify

 Prestashop

 TYPO3

WordPress

As multiple marketing CMS available today, WordPress is a pioneer among all. WordPress is far and away the most popular modern CMS due to its active development and support communities on the Web. WordPress has the biggest catalog of optional feature themes and plugins of any CMS and can be customized tailored to meet any vision. The majority of people use it because of its user-friendly feature and it’s constantly improving itself. It is an Open Source publishing platform and Content Management System; numerous developers around the world can contribute to improving it. According to recent statistics, it has a market share of 59.9%. Website administrators can manage multiple websites and host content from a single dashboard. WordPress reviewers enjoy the quick implementation process and praise the breadth and availability of plugins and community expertise. Initially, WordPress started as simple blogging software but has developed as a fully functional CMS by using thousands of plugins, widgets and themes. Using CMS, you can download and install the software script, and create your blog/website easily. WordPress also allows free hosting for a new blog.

Joomla

Joomla is one of the names that come up most often alongside WordPress. According to recent statistics, it has a market share of 6.6%. It is the second biggest agent in the CMS marketplace after WordPress. Joomla is free and open source CMS providing templates, feature extensions, and a vibrant development community. One thing for which Joomla is renowned is its high-level security features, which ship out-of-the-box instead of as plugins. Joomla is easy to use, flexible and can be used to create a completely customized social network experience that integrates flawlessly into existing platforms. This platform also offers a variety of options when it comes to user management. This feature makes it a preferred option for membership-based sites. Also, Joomla also includes multilingual support for websites. Having this feature as a core you don’t need to use extensions or plugins to add more languages to your site. Joomla also enables you to use multiple themes or templates at once, for different types of content. It is ideal for social networking & smaller eCommerce due to its flexibility and versatility.

Drupal

Drupal is another name that comes in CMS Marketplace after WordPress and Joomla. It carries a lot of weight in discussions about the best CMS platforms. Drupal shines in the areas similar to Joomla. Drupal is a free, open source CMS and it was first CMS to utilize non-familiar concepts like extending the module functionality, themes that instantly adjust the appearance of a site. Drupal offers a wide spectrum of features and more flexibility out of the box than many alternatives. Like Joomla it also offers a very flexible system for dealing with custom post types. It also gives you a strong control power over your users and their permissions. It can also handle multi-lingual sites effortlessly. The other area where Drupal has its own class is its taxonomy system. Here it is more powerful than its competitors. Drupal is considered to be a more secure CMS platform than both WordPress and Joomla. But because of its complexity and opaque UI, it lags behind WordPress and Joomla in market share. It has a market share of 4.6%.

Magento

Today in the world of digitization online sales contribute to the bulk of the company’s revenue. Magento has a laser-focus on eCommerce. According to recent statistics, it has a market share of 2.4%. If your business falls into the eCommerce category, then Magento would be the ideal choice. It is being used widely at international level by leading big name brands. Magento provides robust security in the CMS space and focuses on designing customized e-commerce experiences. Therefore it’s both easy to use and powerful; it is suitable for marketing organizations and the clients they serve. Marketing promotion features, detailed reporting and customer service tools are all built in. Magento 2 has bought a lot of enhancements that make this CMS an excellent option for the one looking to build a large online presence. With responsiveness Magento allows its customer to access a site from any device. Magento 2 has improved the 2-step checkout process which in return improves UX and boost conversion rates. It also allows a merchant to create an email campaign in a couple of minutes.

Squarespace

Squarespace is one of the well-known CMS used for developing a website. It is a cloud-based solution offering more customization and code access. It is an ideal platform for individuals and small businesses that wish to sell online. It is a CMS that allows users to customize fonts, themes and structural elements such as the layout for an e-commerce store. It has a superior drag and drop interface that nobody can match. It comes with full email marketing integration and it varies from others of its SEO and customer relationship management toolkit. For marketing purpose, one of Squarespace’s strengths is its out-of-the-box analytics, which is ready to go from the minute you start. The templates are captivating and responsive, and allow you to experience optimized viewing especially on mobile devices. According to recent statistics, it has a market share of 1.5%. Squarespace appeals to many users within music, visual art and creative industries based on their elegant templates and the facility of adding images and other graphic elements.

Shopify

Shopify is all-in-one eCommerce solution. It allows you to build a fresh functional e-commerce store. It allows you to sell whatever you wish like services, goods, products both digital and physical. The main advantage of working with Shopify is that you can get started in minutes and begin serving your valued customers quickly. It allows almost every aspect of its templates to be altered in some way or the other. It allows you to change the functionality for the most parts of your site. With Shopify, you set things like the taxes, shipping, inventory settings and so on. Therefore it solves every boring aspect of the business. It is also an affordable solution. According to recent statistics, it has a market share of 1.8%. Shopify also provides support it means that if you ever encounter any trouble with this platform, you can simply contact the support team, and they will provide a solution.

Prestashop

Prestashop is open-source CMS solution. Prestashop is proficient and innovative e-commerce solution with all the features required creating an online store and growing your business. According to recent statistics, it has a market share of 1.3%. You can customize your store by selecting colors, logo and a design from among a selection of professional-looking themes. Drive your business by Managing your orders, products, customer relationships and track your statistics. It allows you to share your content and blog on the social networks to attract more visitors. Prestashop has a multi-lingual and multi-currency feature to sell globally having no borders. It provides add-on modules which extend the software’s built-in functionalities. By default, it provides a basic responsive theme. It allows users to install or develop their own theme which alters the display of website having the same content.

TYPO3

Now we have moved into the domain of lesser-known CMS platforms. Typo3 is a CMS with scalability as its main selling point, and it is ideal for enterprise-level websites. Like if you want to use a CMS to build an intranet, then Typo3 would be an amazing choice. This CMS is perfect for users who have some experience when it comes to web development, and it’s not a suitable match for smaller, simple websites. Along with multilingual support, Typo3 has a lot of rich features. You can save a lot of work by running multiple websites from a single installation. It is recommended to use Typo3 if you need to manage several sites that fall under the same category. According to recent statistics, it has a market share of 1.5%. Using Typo3 you can share extensions, templates and users too among your sites, which is something that other CMS don’t have.

Conclusion

As you can see, there are a lot of options if you’re wondering which of the top website platforms is going to match your requirements. For instance, there are diverse popular CMS you might consider when building a business website, an e-commerce store, a blog, and more. The thing that really matters when choosing a CMS is that your team can navigate the user interface, add and manage content without engaging a developer’s assistance and that it is tailored to meets your business goals. A good CMS not only makes your site speed up to maintain but makes it more rewarding to grow your team and implement the most of your innovative ideas. There are many popular CMS platforms that are quite universal and can run any type of website – WordPress being the perfect example here. However, your choice may vary, so we endorse that you test more than one CMS before settling down with your final decision. So the prime time to get started with your chosen CMS solution is right now.

Still, have doubt then drop us a line. We at YGBrandMaker, have a talented pool of developers to guide you and help in every stage of development. brandsolutions is a company engaged in providing world class web designing and development services globally at cost-effective rates. Contact us for any web related query.

Putting your business on an e-commerce platform would give much better results as well as a wide customer reach for your qualitative product range. So look for a company who can help you to get your business online in quick time and with all customizations, support and maintenance. While choosing a right eCommerce development company you should see packages they offer, a way of engagement with clients, and budget flexibility for an e-store. So think on all these points and have a clear mindset before you reach any conclusion. If you are looking for eCommerce developers with some budget constraints, you should reach out to companies in India.

We are delighted to bring you the best eCommerce development company which is based in India and serves to global clients as well. Whether your idea is to launch a new e-store or want to renovate the existing one, you can rely on to the eCommerce experts at brandsolutions which is the best eCommerce development company in India. Developers at brandsolutions have extensive experience and knowledge in eCommerce designing and development. They can offer you the best guidance about business which is goal-oriented and inclined towards success. If you are confused about which eCommerce platform to use for e-store then strategists at brandsolutions can provide you best solution depending on what you want to achieve. They have a pool of developers with intimate knowledge of the entire e-commerce application (from user experience through operations to integration with systems) that will suit your business seamlessly. They are not welded to any specific platform; instead they have worked with all top platforms.

Here are some of the reasons why you should choose brandsolutions for your e-commerce development –

• Knowledge of e- Commerce
  When it comes to eCommerce website development, brandsolutions is one of the most trusted companies having a single motive of delivering excellence to our clients. The development team is skilled and qualified to face any complex issue in the e-commerce business. Over the years we have developed one of the most extensive and sophisticated strategies in delivering the results when it comes to ecommerce management and brand development.
• Availability of resources
  Regardless of your time zone and location, brandsolutions provides knowledgeable and experienced resources for eCommerce development that are aware of new e-commerce trends in various countries. The resources are made to bring up solutions to suit the clients need. They are made available as per the client requirements and match their business growth. This is managed effectively and smoothly by the strategist at YGBrandMaker.
• Flexible engagement model
  brandsolutions has designed its engagement model with most adjustability and flexibility with keeping clients business requirements at priority. Clients have full freedom to choose from various package options available. Developers can be hired on full-time, part-time, or on hourly rates. The resources are deployed accordingly as per client needs.
• Time delivery
  On-time project delivery is one of the best reasons to consider brandsolutions as a trusted eCommerce development partner in India. They have an expert team which adheres to the schedule of the project to suit the client’s business and delivers all its e-commerce services in decided time-frame.
• Responsive e- Commerce
  In the era of smartphones, the numbers of people using it are increasing rapidly. So it’s important your eCommerce store should be compatible for all devices despite of its size. brandsolutions prefers responsive approach for designing your e-store along with intensified user experience. No matter which devices your visitors are using they will have same enhanced experience while exploring your webshop.
• Local service for global clients
  brandsolutions offers local expertise and experience to its global clients with the finest knowledge in language, virtual resources, cultural understanding, and information about latest technologies in their region for its clients in the US and across the globe. From local SEO ranking to marketing campaigns; brandsolutions can handle all, within your budget.
• Communication
  brandsolutions knows customers are important and therefore believes in communication transparency as a client should know what has been updated or added in his store. Communication channel is always open for a client engagement in the project. The client is updated with every proper detail and the schedule so that he is aware of the progress. They offer the most excellent support and exclusive service by a full-fledged web development team.
• Satisfied clientele
  With the years of experience in eCommerce development, brandsolutions has been able to develop a large list of satisfied clients in various countries around the globe. We have gained this niche due to our honest commitment in understanding the requirements of clients and providing them with precise solutions in accordance with their business goals.

With YGBrandMaker, you receive maximum ROI for your investment for all your e-commerce needs. For YGBrandMaker, the client is the most valuable and its eCommerce experts are groomed to bring unique resolutions to their clients. Hire dedicated eCommerce developer from brandsolutions assisting you at each stage of development and providing you result oriented solutions. This will save you the excessive cost of developing your site and you will get quality services as well. brandsolutions has established a reputation for consistently delivering complex, technically challenging projects under tight timelines, along with providing best in class customer service and support to clients. As a result, it led to extremely positive long-term working relations with clients.

Have an idea? Drop us a line. Our team will contact you quickly.

Clutch is a ratings and reviews platform based in the U.S. that has, over the years, conducted extensive research to identify the best providers in the IT services and development industries.

Their coverage of web development companies is the largest research segment they have on their platform – It includes thousands of companies from all over the globe, with a large number hailing from India. For this reason, brandsolutions is extremely proud that Clutch has recognized our firm as a leading provider for web and e-commerce development services in Jaipur, India.

To be recognized as a leading development firm, Clutch analyzed brandsolutions for our industry expertise and presence in the web development market. For this evaluation, Clutch looked at the services we offer, the clients we’ve served, and examples of projects we’ve completed as showcased by the success stories on our website.

The biggest component to our ranking on Clutch, however, is attributed to the scores our own clients have given brandsolutions for their experiences working with our team. These scores are provided via firsthand interviews Clutch conducts with our clients to get an accurate, verified, and personal understanding of our ability to deliver quality results as a company.

Our positive reviews on Clutch have also qualified brandsolutions to be featured on their sister website, The Manifest, as amongst the best web developers in India in 2018.

To get a sense of what our clients haveshared with Clutch so far, here are some quotes from their interviews:

“We’ve increased sales by 20% thanks to their work.” – Founder, Crown Bees
“I could always depend on them when something needed to be done quickly.” – Technical Lead, AP Onderdelen

With the development and designindustries becoming an increasingly competitive arena internationally, we’re appreciative of the opportunity Clutch gives us to stand out amongst our competitors and receive direct feedback from our business partners.

We would like to thank our clients for taking the time to share their experiences working with YGBrandMaker. We would not be nearly as successful as a company without their support, and we’re incredibly excited to continue building our presence on Clutch until we have the #1 placement on their ranking of top web development companies in India.

Online retailing has seen extensive growth as shoppers are being conferred with personalized and comfortable shopping options. If you too wish to tap into the potential earnings, then your eCommerce store should stand distinctively, for this your choice of eCommerce platform matters. This stands true for the majority of retail business owners out there. Therefore to build an e-commerce business, you need to drag a third-party platform like Shopify, BigCommerce, Magento, WooCommerce or Volusion. So, you can sell products independently through a custom-built website, but in order to an extent your operation really, at a certain point you’re going to require one of these platforms. While building your store, you will come across many hurdles mainly the selection of eCommerce platform. You will come across a pile of eCommerce platforms, each having its pros and cons, hence leaving you confused. So you need to go through these things while selecting the right eCommerce platform for your online business to streamline it on a global scale:

Stock Size

Whenever you’re browsing for a store platform to use, always consider your size of stock and ensure that you’re paying the smallest amount of money for the services that you need. Various businesses will provide alternative payment methods for just a couple of products. So, select the platform that best suits your business while considering the size of stock as you are going to give money, time and efforts.

Self-Hosted or Hosted:

Web hosting plan is a key factor while considering your platform options of an e-commerce store. If you feel confident in modifying the look of your online store on regular basis, look for platforms that will enable you to have a self-hosted version of the website. It gives complete control of the online store. On the other hand, a hosted e-commerce plan offers you an array of options like the website, domain, shopping cart, etc. on their space without any maintenance.

Broader Payment Options:

If you are having an e-commerce business that is running in different parts of the globe, you must correspond your users with multiple payment options, so that people from different countries can do the transaction in their relevant currencies easily. In order to implement this, you need to know your target audience and accordingly survey the payment gateway options of different e-commerce platforms.

Calculate theCosts:

Before you spend the money an e-commerce platform ensure that you can support the cost as all platforms have costs associated with them. Before choosing the platform you should think wisely; it’s an investment for your business and an important one. Another thing to consider is whether you’ll be paying a flat monthly fee or if you should expect to pay more for transactions, server storage, and plug-ins. All of these costs need to be kept in mind, to make sure they fit well within your business model and existing cash flow.

Sealed with Security:

With the surge in concerning rate of cybercrime, online entrepreneurs tend to be more vulnerable to these crimes. Being an online store owner it is entirely your responsibility to safeguard the privacy of your users because your website will contain substantial private data of your users like debit/credit card details, phone number, address etc. So, select the best e-commerce platform that provides you with maximum security by providing you with an HTTPS site.

Hassle-free User Experience:

Unlike traditional stores, you don’t require a salesperson assisting customers in every lane of the store. With an online store, you still need to provide your customers with the necessary personalized experience. You need to have a dedicated backend team assuring that everything at the frontend works optimally. This primarily aims at providing the best shopping experience to the audience belonging to different locations.

Make Sure Your Team Can Use It:

Before you sign up for a particular platform, make sure who on your team is going to manage it efficiently. Remember, your website is the front face of your business so it should be managed appropriately to provide the customer a positive user experience. If the interface is confusing for someone who is going to manage it, then it can you adverse results. eCommerce platform is supposed to make business easier by selling products to their customers and receive positive feedbacks by streamlining the transaction process.

Platform that markets your business:

Marketing is the best source to reach out your audience. So it plays a vital role while choosing the eCommerce platform. The eCommerce platform that you opt should be capable to satisfy your marketing strategies. The platform should integrate with social media networks, adding a blog, email marketing and SEO features etc. so choose a platform that allows you to grow effortlessly by fulfilling your marketing needs so that you can reach your potential audience.

The bottom line is: while choosing the best eCommerce platform, you should think from the user’s point of view. This will allow you to provide enhanced user experience to shoppers and your business will be displayed as a valuable brand in the market. You are giving your time, efforts and money to grow your business. It should be designed to convert traffic into sales and boost up your revenue. The host is where your site will live, and that should be on the most effective and reliable service you can get. Factors mentioned above should be considered to make the best possible choice for choosing the right eCommerce platform for our very own online store. The platform you opt for your e-store should work for your customers and merchants.

Still confused then brandsolutions is here to help you to choose the right eCommerce platform for your online business. From consultation to designing and development, brandsolutions has an expert team to guide you. Whether you want to start from scratch or wish to redesign your store we are here extending our helping hands. Being the top eCommerce development company we are prominent in offering best eCommerce designing and development services in all major platforms.

What is WooCommerce?

WooCommerce is the free plugin, or functional extension WordPress eCommerce plugin for quite some time. It has been downloaded over thirteen million times and supports more than a million active installs. As per research, it covers more than a third of the entire online shop market. Automattic purchased WooCommerce has increased the number of WooCommerce operators. WooCommerce is installed into a WordPress website and adds in order processing, shopping cart functionality and basic product management. With the help of WooCommerce, you can create a basic online store and sell a variety of products and services which include goods (both physical and digital), ongoing memberships and affiliate transactions. The core software present in it manages vital e-commerce features like inventory management, international customers, shipping cost calculations, coupons and sales tax management. The base functionality of WooCommerce can be elevated with over three hundred extensions that can add in additional features such as composite products, bookings, EU VAT calculations and tracking, returns and warranties, customer documentation, product bundles, as well as a number of learning management systems for selling courses.

WooCommerce was originally created in September of 2011 by the team at WooThemes. Later in May 2015, WooThemes was purchased by Automattic and WooCommerce was placed within the Automattic family of products. There are more than 300 contributors to the WooCommerce code base. There are many WordPress agencies and developers working beside the WooCommerce team to build plugin extensions and stock website templates for storefront presentation, perform storefront installation and set up for clients, as well as offer custom code and theme tweaks.

WooCommerce’s Pros and Cons

WooCommerce is the most customizable eCommerce platform for building your online business. Just like any piece of software, WooCommerce has a range of pros and cons when working with it. These differ by individual, but they should be considered before selecting WooCommerce as your eCommerce solution.

Pros

• WooCommerce is free and open source software.
• It is developer friendly and integrates well with almost any theme.
• The plugin is fairly easy to use just install, configure and the plugin takes care of everything eCommerce related.
• WooCommerce is feature rich, suitable for selling both digital, physical and affiliate products.
• It has over 300 extensions available for making the base functionality more strong.
• This software is frequently updated for new features and functions.
• WooCommerce has good track record of ratings and reviews on WordPress.org.
• WooCommerce offers different payment gateways, product variations and shipping options.
• Users can choose from a wide array of WooCommerce-ready themes and loads of both free and commercial extensions.

Cons

• To create a full-fledged online store it requires a lot of different elements assembled together some of these are security measures, dealing with FTP servers which can profuse beginners.
• The core system of WooCommerce is free if required certain features then you have to pay. Depending on your needs, that can get costly over time even if expenditures are one-time investments.
• Software updates can sometimes require a developer to assist in execution, testing, and troubleshooting.
  Some WooCommerce themes are not coded well and/or are robust. So buyers need to make sure they purchase templates from trustworthy theme developers.
• People new to ecommerce take lightly the time involved in setting up an online store. There are a lot of settings, usage considerations and functionality decisions required for managing orders, customers, sales tax, shipping and inventory.
• Virtually every storefront will require an extension and these plugins cost money and require an annual license purchase.
• WordPress.org has a support forum which is not well maintained.

Is WooCommerce right for your online store?

Well every software has its own plus and minus points and are most suitable for different types of users. Any ecommerce software will not be ideal for every user or situation. So, it is best to use a structured process to determine what ecommerce solution will be a perfect match for your individual needs. Before taking WooCommerce as a solution, start by documenting your individual requirements. Examine functionality, documentation, theme availability and support. Once you have a well-prepared document of your needs, compare it to a variety of solutions to see if WooCommerce meets your requirements. In short, WooCommerce can be used by users of all levels, however, having at least some web experience is considered as plus point.

Need some helping hand in developing your online store then brandsolutions is always ready to assist you with its top-notch web development and designing solutions. It is a digital consultancy with expertise in custom web development in all major platforms like Magento, Shopify, WordPress, WooCommerce, Opencart and much more. We provide web solutions to all industries irrespective of their size and domain. So discuss your project requirements with us.

When you’re setting up your e-commerce store, selecting the right payment gateway for your business is one of the vital decisions you make. It influences how much it costs you to do business, as well as how customers feel about buying from your eCommerce store. If it works well and gains trust, that in turn amplifies your bottom line. By implementing payment gateways in your eCommerce store, it becomes easy to accept several types of electronic payments. Finding the payment gateway which accurately matches your business will be a time-consuming process with a huge list of choices. As there are many factors to keep in mind when making your eCommerce Payment Gateway selection. In this blog, factors are described so that you can think through.

◊ Support of eCommerce platform –

Initially check the support of payment gateway with your eCommerce platform. All the factors are secondary if it is not supported by your eCommerce platform. So you need to check whether it supports customers’ preferred payment methods. Customers are likely to purchase when the payment method is of their comfort. Another thing to check whether they integrate via an Application Programming Interface (API) or not. If so, this integration ready to use or not (does it still needs to be developed)? You also need to check if they offer a full site Secure Socket Layer (SSL) certificate.

◊ Implementation cost –

Before you implement a payment gateway on your eCommerce site for making transaction easy, you have to pay to several different parties like payment gateway provider, merchant bank account provider and your website provider. Understanding the fee structure of the service provider is essential before you finalize the payment gateway, as the hidden fees can degrade your profit level. It is preferable to lower these charges as much as it inflates the business bottom-line. Every gateway varies when it comes to fees, some have a monthly subscription fee for a fixed number of transactions while some charge a fee per transaction.

◊ Compatible on all devices –

According to the research of eMarketers, over past 2-3 years, approximately 15 percent of e-commerce sales were conducted on a mobile device, and customers are increasing steadily. When you are selecting payment gateway, make sure that you are able to provide an active checkout experience that is responsive to different mobile devices, and changes according to the size and resolution of a selected device.

◊ Countries and Multi-Currencies Supported –

If you are dealing with your eCommerce business globally (in multiple countries) then your payment gateway must have a multi-currency option for your international shoppers. Customers are more likely to purchase a product from a website if it supports their native currency. Also, it allows the business owners to charge their clients in their native currencies.

◊ Security –

Security of card payment data is a key aspect while selecting a payment gateway partner. As more customers are turning to online shopping, it is important that you offer them an experience that feels them safe with their data. Payment Gateway service provider should be level 1 compliant with the PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard). This assures they have attained the utmost level of card data security. Also, make sure your platform provides robust security features.

◊ Automatic Billing Support –

If you are selling services or products which require subscriptions, then you should go for payment gateway having an automatic recurring plan. With this feature, you can set up an automatic billing cycle for customers who operate on subscription. It is essential for companies with monthly payment plans. Therefore, non-profits have found utility in recurring billing, because it allows organizations to easily collect funds easily from repeat contributors.

◊ Customer Support –

What if your payment gateway is having some technical problem and your customers are not able to do payment for products/services on your site. Then here comes the requirement of support. Several payment services are also available which do not provide any customer support. Then, users need to follow manual instructions to fix a problem. To avoid that situation, ensure whether the provider offers live technical support, at least within standard working hours, so that you can quickly resolve any technical problems.

Conclusion

The payment process is the final step of sales in eCommerce store. If it is not favored by your customer then you are losing your business. It is such a critical part of your business that you can’t afford to take a hit-and-trial approach. But selecting and implementing the right payment gateway is not that tough if you understand your eCommerce business needs. By selecting the right payment gateway for your eCommerce business can have an immediate and positive influence on your customer’s experience and your profitability. The bottom line is to do proper research and consider the above-discussed factors before choosing the right payment gateway.

We hope this blog will help you pick the right payment gateway. For more clarity on payment gateways or if you require any digital assistance, feel free to drop us a message in the comment section below or email us at info@brandsolutions.icu

This blog will talk about the pros and cons of Native and Hybrid application development. So, that you can decide the best approach of mobile app development which fulfills your business requirements.

Native App Development

Native application is defined when software or program has been developed specifically for a particular operating system of a smartphone. This app is built using software development tools (SDK) for a certain software framework, hardware platform or operating system. Like Android app built on Java platform using Java Development Kit, iOS app built using iOS SDK, Objective-C & Swift and Windows platform require .NET. Most industries prefer having applications on iOS and Android platforms. These applications are developed based on the device’s operating system, utilizing technical & UI/UX principles, which make the entire process more captivating, personal, and engaging for the user.

Thus, an end user is more likely to learn how to navigate and use the app faster. Native applications have the significant advantage of being easily accessible and utilize the built-in capabilities of the consumer’s device like a camera, GPS, address book. When a user takes pictures using the device’s default app, sends text messages, set reminders, or uses the device’s music app (inbuilt in phone), they’re using native apps. Native code is faster than HTML and JavaScript (used in Hybrid app development). As we know native app is designed for specific OS so it does not depend on open source libraries and platforms like Cordova and Ionic. Let’s have a quick summary of the pros and cons of Native app development:

 Pros –

◊ Excellent performance
◊ Better UX standards
◊ More secure and safe
◊ Full integration of device
◊ Work without Internet connection
◊ Amazing Look and feel of native apps

Cons –

◊ Higher development and maintenance expenses
◊ No guarantee that apps will get accepted

Hybrid App Development

Hybrid application is defined as the program or software designed to serve multiple operating systems. This is native app only because it can be downloaded from platform’s app store like a native app. It can get access to all the native platform features. Hybrid web app is built using HTML5 and JavaScript, wrapped in a native container (loads most of the information on the page as the user navigates through the application) to make them work as a native mobile app. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, your mobile banking app etc are the common suspects of a hybrid app. One of the advantages is single code runs for multiple platforms.

Hybrid app is beneficial for enterprises, business groups and startups that are looking forward to reaching out to a greater number of people in a lesser amount of time. Hybrid apps can be hosted quickly and with greater ease as compared to Native apps. Here the plug-ins ensures that the OS compatibilities and hardware do not form a hurdle in the functioning of an app. In the world of hybrid app development preferred tools are PhoneGap/Cordova and Appcelerator Titanium, which assist developers to create HTML/CSS/JavaScript local files. These tools help in the curation of the hybrid app in a website framework and then serve to reconfigure the app tailored to meet the UI/UX design for the smartphone. Let’s have a quick summary of the pros and cons of Native app development:

Pros –

◊ Fastest development speed
◊ Unified development
◊ Offline support
◊ Efficient scaling
◊ Less development cost
◊ Interactive components
◊ Only one codebase to deal with

Cons –

◊ Slow performance
◊ Poor UX

The bottom line is…

So, there is no end to the debate hybrid vs. native apps. Each development has clear and distinct advantages and disadvantages. In the case of Native app the initial investment is higher, but for a long-term an organization will save time and money. It provides an enhance user experience and an industry standard app performance. On the other side, Hybrid app may be appealing in the terms of investment (initial!), one source code, cross-compatible web technologies etc but for the long-term an organization will likely to spend more time fixing and modifying the app because of UI elements or performance driven issues.

After having the knowledge in detail about both native and hybrid approach the final decision is based on goals and priority of your business. Each business has its own approach to designing an application. So it entirely depends on you on which path to choose and follow so that you can raise your business revenue. Hopefully, this blog helps you to choose the right approach of app development. If still in doubt then contact us now.

Some Facts and Figures –

• Improved mobile page load speed increases the conversion rate by over 25%.
• 40% of people abandon a website if it needs more than 3 seconds to load.
• 47% of consumers expect a webpage to load in less than 2 seconds.
• An eCommerce making $50,000 a day could potentially lose $1.25 million sales per year from 1 second page delay.
• Conversion rates increase 74% when load times improve from 8 seconds to 2 seconds.

 Ideal Website Loading time –

Site speed is the ranking factor any website to increase its sales. Google is focused on ranking sites based on their mobile experience; the time is for businesses to REALLY adapt the trends by delivering the fastest desktop and mobile friendly experience to potential customers.

When it comes to perfect loading time, Google says that 53% of mobile visitors leave a site if it takes more than 3 seconds to load. So you should aim for this. Behind the scenes, the truth is Google points out that the average time it takes for a mobile landing page to fully load is in the 20 seconds range. Many of the eCommerce website owners are not aware of the ideal loading time.

Impacts of Slow eCommerce Website –

 SEO Rankings

Every business aims to improve their ranking in search results especially those that rely heavily on the web for sales increment. There are some “SEO factors” that should be followed to improve your site rankings; website speed is a vital factor that seems to be growing in importance. When a website has slow loading speed, users spend less time there. It is poor in page metrics like pages per visit, bounce rate, time on page etc. Google will actually provide a ranking bonus to the site that has the faster loading time for relevant queries, by giving that page a bump in organic search results.

 User Engagement

User engagement has a direct impact on conversion rate and revenue, amongst other marketing tactics. As we have heard, the first impression is the last impression. So does applies on your site, 75% of users said that they would not return to a website that took More than 4 sec to load. A one-second delay in response time can result in 11% fewer page views and a 16% loss in customer satisfaction. The most influential factor according to 40% of online shoppers to revisit a site is whether the website will load quickly.

 Sales and Conversions

A site plagued with speed issues is losing tons of potential customers and thus many sales. Every additional second added on to your site load time results in a 7% loss in conversions. 40% of dissatisfied customers won’t hesitate to talk poorly about their online shopping experiences. Plus, 80% of them are not likely to buy again from the same website. These stats convey a huge loss in potential returning visitors. Ecommerce owners need returning visitors on their site.

Free Tools to Measure your Website Page Speed

After reading an ideal website load time and impacts of a slow site on your business you might be thinking where do I stand? Or what is the loading speed of my website?

To help you find out the falter factors that restrict your website’s loading speed, here are 3 free tools that will help you improve your page speed:

• GT Metrix
• Google PageSpeed Insights
• PingDom

These 3 tools are free and user-friendly: you just need to put in your URL and you’re good for a quick analysis.

Final words

An ecommerce website that provides a user-friendly experience, starting with fast load time, is more likely to survive in a competitive world. Slow landing page means you are encouraging your visitors to leave before taking any action. Want people to purchase from your site, then you need to optimize your site so that it can load in 3 seconds. If not you are sending your customers to your competitor’s site. Then Google can conclude that your site is not up to the expectations of user’s query. Thus your site will result in less organic traffic. From satisfying your online shoppers to achieving higher rankings in search engines, the importance of website speed must not be ignored.

Did you like this article? Feel free to share and comment your opinions below. Looking for optimization of your website then contact us. For any web related services drop us a mail with your requirements.

• Fast Page Load Speed
• Intuitive Navigation
• Social Media Connectivity
• Mobile Responsive Design
• Contact Information and Support
• Trust Mark and Authentic Reviews
• Easy Checkout and Payment Options

1.Fast Page Load Speed

Every second counts, when it comes to loading time. According to study, loading time is the major factor of page abandonment, because nobody likes to wait. Slow loading time is equal to slow customer service, and it puts potential customers off. Page loading time is the first contact customers have with your eCommerce store. It is the point for visitors to decide whether they want to continue their journey with you. If eCommerce site has slow speed then you are sending visitors to another e-commerce store or they will simply close the tab rather than wasting time for the page to load.

2.Intuitive Navigation

Customer’s potential is put off when they are not able to easily navigate through vast product selection. Obviously, many startups cannot afford to have a product selection like Amazon. Enormous selection is not necessarily required for a site. But navigating them effortlessly for what they want is a must. Too many choices often conflict customer into “decision paralysis”. Hence creating a navigational system that limits available choices prevents it by allowing customers to easily find what they are looking for, naturally increasing conversions on your eCommerce site.

3.Social Media Connectivity

Having social media pages can help you with free promotion. If you want to accomplish this then your pages should have interesting and strong content so that people want to follow you. Published ads may cost but this no-cost investment can give you guaranteed results. Social media links on product pages also help people to share products they like with friends or family. When some product is shared by a friend or relative it is more likely seen and purchased, as it is based on the recommendation. According to studies, 71% of consumers change their perception of the brand after seeing a brand response to a review.

4.Mobile Responsive Design

Gradually, People are shifting from desktops to smart devices for accessing online content. Some recent stats shows steady increase in conversion rates across all mobile devices. They are more likely to purchase from a site if it is easily accessible through their phone. It makes easy for a visitor to add products to cart via phone. To cater this potential customer base your eCommerce site should be responsive to all platforms regardless of its size and screen. So that customers can shop it from their comfort zone.

5.Contact Information and Support

For eCommerce store owner it is important to build and maintain a good relationship with customers. By building and gaining trust visitors can be transformed into loyal customers. A customer should feel like you are only a call, text, email, and live chat away. To build confidence in your customer you should have a passion for helping them. Make sure that there is always someone who can attend to help customers when they encounter a problem. So your site should display contact information so that customers can solve their queries easily. If your site hides contact information and other means of communication, customers see this as a red flag and not likely to do business with you.

6.Trust Mark and Authentic Reviews

Nowadays E-Commerce world is suffering from online frauds. Customers look for things that could offer them the assurance that the website is trustworthy, secure and real. In this scenario, trust comes into play. You should have online accreditation certificates from various online authorities. Before Purchasing a product customer is more likely to read reviews of a product. Therefore, your eCommerce site must have real and authentic customer testimonials. To make your testimonials more affecting, create a video that allows sharing their experience with you.

7.Easy Checkout & Payment options

Having easier checkout process means more motivation your customers will have to repeat purchase. Therefore don’t make too many pages for checkout. Make a single page checkout process is not too overwhelming for consumers. Some eCommerce sites don’t allow users to pay with Paypal or with other kinds of payment alongside from Visa or Master card. To cater a wide range of shoppers make sure that your site provides a lot of payment solutions. If customers have their favorable payment option, they are more likely to purchase from your site. Hence you can increase their motivation to shop thereby boosting your sales in the long run

Conclusion

And that’s it! In a long run these user perspectives will hopefully assist your eCommerce site to cater the needs of potential buyers. Make your eCommerce store the perfect go-to page for customers and make their shopping experience better. With all the time, effort and finances put in to generate your web presence, these minor tips may actually help make or break your business. If have any other suggestion then leave it in the comment section below. If planning to develop an eCommerce store from scratch or redesign then contact YGBrandMaker for best yet captivating eCommerce site to grow your business online. Just drop us a line for a free quote.