Adding e-commerce
- I have been thinking about adding e-commerce to my website and have started doing some research. There seems to be literally thousands of different e-commerce solutions available. Which one should I choose?
Choosing an e-commerce solution can be difficult. As you say, there are thousands of different solutions available. However, these solutions can be separated into 3 categories which makes the choice a bit easier.
- ASP – ASP can mean two different things in the web development industry, so it's important to know which one you‘re talking about. ASP is a Microsoft scripting language for developing websites but that isn‘t what we‘re talking about in this case. ASP also stands for “application service provider” which means a hosted software solution including a shopping cart or e-commerce. In general, application service provider e-commerce solutions will be the easiest to get up and running but your data is also resident on their systems and sooner or later you will reach a brick wall in how far they can be customized.
- Off-the-shelf – There are many different e-commerce solutions that you can install at your web hosting company and then begin customizing. Some of the customizations can be completed using their administrative areas but more advanced customizations will require programming and design knowledge. In most cases with experienced personnel there is no limit to what can be done with these.
- Custom – If neither hosted nor off-the-shelf solutions will work for your needs you can consider developing a custom solution. Keep in mind that most off-the-shelf and ASP e-commerce solutions have thousands of development hours behind them so starting from scratch can be a time-consuming process. There are definitely situations that require a custom solution but they are not as common as the first two options. Some web developers may push you in a custom direction but you should be careful that the recommendation is in your best interest and not theirs.
- April 13, 2009