Retail e-commerce continues to reach new levels of growth and is expected to surpass the global revenue mark of $4 trillion USD by 2021.

As a small business owner, you may wonder how to start small and scale from there. You need to choose a platform that can meet your business requirements but which features do you really need and how do you get the best value for money?

So, how do you choose the best e-commerce platform for your start-up or small business?

We put this question to the experts in a live #TradeElite Twitter chat and uncovered plenty of valuable insights:

• the importance of having a realistic plan
• be systematic about evaluating different solutions – get help if necessary
• don’t forget about the internal resources you will need to be successful

Highlights of the chat are below, and you can scroll through the #TradeElite hashtag to follow the entire chat.

Moderator: Ewan Roy, Digital Marketing Specialist with FITT (@FITTNews)

Panelists:

Cathy Roberson (@cmroberson06), Founder/Head Analyst of @LogisticsTI, based in Atlanta, GA

Robb Collins (@robby_disco), E-Commerce Director at the Conference Board of Canada, based in Ottawa, ON

Isaiah Bollinger (@IsaiahBollinger), Founder and CEO of Trellis, based in Boston, MA

Patrick L. Perreault (@plperreault), Digital entrepreneur, global e-commerce expert, founder of SquareOne and Perimeter

Is e-commerce a good idea for any business? If not, how can businesses decide whether e-commerce makes sense for them?

Well I think it is a good idea for most businesses in that it can simplify the sales process. For very complex sales like services that require complex quotes it might not be a good idea. The more complex your product or service the more difficult it will be to make it work.

— Isaiah Bollinger (@IsaiahBollinger) September 20, 2018

A1. I think that ecommerce is no longer ecommerce. Its just commerce. Like any business you need to consider all your sales channels. Where are your customers? How do they buy? That will determine if the digital channel is right for you. #TradeElite

— Robb Collins (@robby_disco) September 20, 2018

A1: I think all businesses can benefit from #ecommerce. That being said, not all businesses are ready for it and some of their customers might not be ready either. I think ecommerce must be considered like you would consider any other sales channels. #TradeElite

— Patrick L. Perreault (@plperreault) September 20, 2018

A.1 I think e-commerce is good for just about any business these days – B2C and B2B. Trends are showing more and more transactions being done via online. #TradeElite

— Cathy Roberson (@cmroberson06) September 20, 2018

Once a business decides to start selling online, what’s the best next step for them to take?

1) Build a realistic financial plan to execute
2) Build out requirements for eCommerce over 3 year span
2) Determine the right platform that fits budget and requirements
3) Create internal team that may have to use partners to build out technology and marketing for eCommerce

— Isaiah Bollinger (@IsaiahBollinger) September 20, 2018

A2 Budget, existing technology stack, employee skills & customer demand will help you decide what platform is right for you. Should you use a marketplace (Amazon), SaaS (Shopify), a wordpress (WooCommerce), or on prem such as Oracle ATG? It will become clear quickly #TradeElite

— Robb Collins (@robby_disco) September 20, 2018

A2 con’t For instance a small scale manufacturer with a small budget with no tech team will have a different solution from startup selling a tech #TradeElite

— Robb Collins (@robby_disco) September 20, 2018

A2 Who will they be selling to and where will they be selling – Europe, Asia, AFrica? From my side of the business you also need to understand trade requirements. #TradeElite

— Cathy Roberson (@cmroberson06) September 20, 2018

A2 Plus your website needs to reflect the currencies, languages etc. to who you’re selling to. #TradeElite

— Cathy Roberson (@cmroberson06) September 20, 2018

How should businesses decide which e-commerce features or requirements they want to have? What are some of the features that are most popular or trending right now?

Talk to your customers or prospects and find out from them. Email marketing automation to upsell customers is popular, as well as rewards, subscription, and multiple payment options. We are seeing growth in the product customizer area for personalizing products too.

— Isaiah Bollinger (@IsaiahBollinger) September 20, 2018

A3. (1/2) I think it’s good to look at different platforms to get a feel for what is out there. Then, you must look at your how ecommerce will integrate with functions like marketing, logistics, and customer service to get a good understand of the must-have features. #TradeElite

— Patrick L. Perreault (@plperreault) September 20, 2018

A3. (2/2) Some the most requested internationalization features:

-Native support for multiple languages
-Displaying prices in many currencies
-Accepting global payments
-Detecting global fraud
-Dynamic shipping/landed cost calc. #TradeElite

— Patrick L. Perreault (@plperreault) September 20, 2018

A3. Customization is THE biggest trend now & moving forward. Whatever you can do to make your product / service / platform open to being customized is going to win you customers. #TradeElite

— audrey ross (@tresAudrey) September 20, 2018

A3. Develop personas focus on behaviours, goals, preferences and similarities in usage by 1. Conducting stakeholder interviews. 2. Run some online surveys on your site 3. Do some telephone or skype interviews with real customers. 4 Analysis of all of the above data #TradeElite

— Robb Collins (@robby_disco) September 20, 2018

A3 con’t I would also check out @Gartner_inc Magic Quadrant for Digital Commerce 2018 if you want to know what features are hot. You can get it for free from many ecom vendors. They also have a curve of technologies adoption digital marketing and advertising. #TradeElite

— Robb Collins (@robby_disco) September 20, 2018

A3 from a last mile delivery – when and where do you want your package delivered. #TradeElite

— Cathy Roberson (@cmroberson06) September 20, 2018

This is important if you’re shipping a product across town or overseas – the price varies with how personalized and/or fast you want. As a business owner you have to be willing know the options and discuss with with transportation partners. Free shipping ain’t free. #tradeElite

— Cathy Roberson (@cmroberson06) September 20, 2018

In what situations are building a custom e-commerce platform a viable solution for a business? What are the biggest advantages and disadvantages of doing so that you must consider?

#TradeElite You need technical leadership that can guide this. For large businesses with big budgets or technical startups with technical founders that can build a technical team. Its expensive so you have to be able to invest in many developers and have special use cases.

— Isaiah Bollinger (@IsaiahBollinger) September 20, 2018

A4. Unless you have a really unique set of requirements there’s no way I would suggest building a #ecommerce platform from scratch. #TradeElite

— Robb Collins (@robby_disco) September 20, 2018

A4. The real question is do you use a monolithic application (think Adobe marketing cloud) or do you use an API-based approach where you build a front end and use web services to connect a bunch of best-in-class services into a single platform #TradeElite #ecommerce

— Robb Collins (@robby_disco) September 20, 2018

This is an option that is gaining a lot of popularity, lately. Use a solid CMS to deliver personalization and high-end UX, then use a solid ecommerce platform for everything payment, shipping, integration. #TradeElite

— Patrick L. Perreault (@plperreault) September 20, 2018

A4. (1/2) We’ll sometimes consider custom ecommerce builds when the requirements are so specific that we would have to badly “hack” an off-the-shelf solution to meet them. But “custom” might mean a pretty big price tag at least for businesses over a certain size. #TradeElite

— Patrick L. Perreault (@plperreault) September 20, 2018

A4. (2/2)The biggest advantage is flexibility. But going custom will often mean having to custom code features that are normally built-in or available at low cost through 3rd-party plugins: ERP & CRM integration, shopping cart rescue, fulfillment, etc. #TradeElite

— Patrick L. Perreault (@plperreault) September 20, 2018

What factors should businesses prioritize when choosing between all the various e-commerce platform providers? And what are some of the biggest differences between major providers to think about?

#TradeElite Budget / resources and long term requirements. Shopify and BigCommerce can be very cost effective. As you go a bit upstream you may consider platforms like Magento, Hybris, Demandware etc. We also see the beginning shift towards headless eCommerce via API’s.

— Isaiah Bollinger (@IsaiahBollinger) September 20, 2018

A5. Do you need to integrate new features at speed? How digitally disruptive are your competitors? What kind of CX and digital analytics are available? How does the platform integrate with partners? Is the platform ready for “commerce that comes to you”? #TradeElite #ecommerce

— Robb Collins (@robby_disco) September 20, 2018

A5. A few key differences:
-Multi-lang/currency:Shopify requires plugins while other (Magento, DemandWare) support natively.
-One VS Multiple International sites: Same.
-Community supp.: Consider how well a product is supported by the community. Don’t get locked in.#TradeElite

— Patrick L. Perreault (@plperreault) September 20, 2018

A5.From a global ecom perspective: cost of ownership(build, licensing, plugins, hosting)
2.Ease of managing many storefronts for many markets (one VS multiple sites)for mult. languages/currencies
4.Ease of integration #TradeElite

— Patrick L. Perreault (@plperreault) September 20, 2018

A5 I would start with the basics: security, availability, scalability and reliability. Then use the personas you developed for your customers to decide key #CX elements of content and digital #uxdesign elements. How involved will IT be? #TradeElite #ecommerce

— Robb Collins (@robby_disco) September 20, 2018

A5 @idealrebel has done a great synopsis of the various platforms: https://t.co/UKR9FFXjcG #TradeElite #ecommerce

— Robb Collins (@robby_disco) September 20, 2018

What are some of the most common early problems companies make with their e-commerce, and how can they be avoided?

They underestimate the internal effort needed to be successful. Without a stronger internal eCommerce leader they will make bad decisions, choose the wrong platform etc. Ownership needs to get educated or hire very talented people to lead this. #TradeElite

— Isaiah Bollinger (@IsaiahBollinger) September 20, 2018

A6. THE most common problem: They choose a platform after a cool demo from a sales rep. Then they realize it’s not adapted to their needs and they have to invest large sums to correct the situation. Execs get mad and become reluctant to invest in e-com after that. #TradeElite

— Patrick L. Perreault (@plperreault) September 20, 2018

A6 Agile development will help you keep the business and IT in touch and keep your customers happy by making thoughtful, HARD choices up front. #TradeElite

— Robb Collins (@robby_disco) September 20, 2018

I agree, but I find a lot of businesses just have a hard time wrapping their head around a non fixed cost. They often go for the low bids that sound great with fixed costs….it always fails…We always try and push for agile cost structure but its harder to sell.

— Isaiah Bollinger (@IsaiahBollinger) September 20, 2018

A6 Scope creep is the number one issue in any new #ecommerce platform development. Start small – understand your minimum viable product. Prioritise your future features by business and customer impact and build them in order of impact. #TradeElite

— Robb Collins (@robby_disco) September 20, 2018

A6 I would also say that any new enterprise needs to know how it will promote its new #ecommerce site. How will you get customers in the door? Assess your plans for Paid Search, Email, Online Display, Retargeting, Video
, Landing Pages and automation #TradeElite

— Robb Collins (@robby_disco) September 20, 2018

Any other final tips or advice for companies trying to choose a new e-commerce platform?

A7. Plan first, shop second. Take a dispassionate and systematic approach to evaluation each solution based on clear evaluation criteria. Get help from an independent consultant if you do not have the technical expertise needed. #TradeElite

— Patrick L. Perreault (@plperreault) September 20, 2018

Read the rest of the chat and join future discussions by following the #TradeElite hashtag. And stay tuned for the next #TradeElite chat, coming up on October 20 at 2:30-3:30PM ET, and if you haven’t yet, join us on Twitter at @FITTNews.

The post How do I choose an e-commerce solution that fits my small business? appeared first on Trade Ready.

My road to becoming a Certified International Trade Professional (CITP) began with a single FITTskills course I took back in 1999 at the International Trade Centre Toronto. At the time I was working as an assistant trade commissioner for ProChile Toronto and the trade commissioner and I decided to take the course together in order to equip ourselves with international trade tools that might be beneficial in fostering trade ties between Canada and Chile.

Foray into international trade training

The course was a great overview of the industry, and it highlighted some of the key issues Chilean exporters were facing while trying to enter the Canadian market; issues I was dealing with on a daily basis.  I was able to assist the exporters in navigating through some of the complexities of choosing the right market entry option, logistics and distribution strategy and, in general, risk mitigation.

With fluency in Spanish and a degree in commerce and economics, I continued working in the field of export promotion for 10 years. I then made the decision to leave my field and work in a family business for a couple of years. Two years turned to six years, and the desire to get back to what I was passionate about became overwhelming.

Getting back in the game

Unfortunately, a six year hiatus from my profession had left my confidence shaken. Was I up to date on international trade issues? Was my skillset where it needed to be to re-enter the global business field? Although I had the international trade experience, I was in essence starting over and I needed to carve out a niche as an international trade practitioner. I needed to upgrade my skills, not only to enhance my chances of finding an international business position but also for my own professional development.

I decided to finish the remaining seven FITTskills courses online through eConcordia.

With two kids in competitive sports, work commitments and a busy lifestyle in general, the online courses gave me convenience and flexibility to complete the course work on my own time.

Although I missed the in-class social interaction with other professionals, the course discussion boards did provide a certain level of interaction between fellow students and the instructor.

I felt that the curriculum provided a new level of competency in multiple aspects of international trade.  Some courses were a refresher for me, while others courses delved deeper into areas that I had only touched upon in my previous work experience.

The payoff

In 2011, I obtained my CITP designation and I was proud to be receiving it along with other highly skilled international trade professionals. Shortly thereafter, I accepted the position of export manager at Intellimeter Canada Inc., a manufacturer based in Pickering, Ontario.

The company was looking to take a strategic approach to global market expansion, so I used what I learned via the FITT curriculum to leverage my experience as an international business development specialist and hit the floor running.

I started up and headed the international business development division of the company. One of my first tasks was the creation of an international business plan with a focus on risk mitigation; which was not as monumental a task thanks to the FITTskills courses I had completed.

Due to my knowledge of and belief in FITTskills development, I created an internship position for a FITTskills grad from the International Business Management Graduate Certificate Program at Durham College. I had the pleasure of mentoring this student, who is now a full-time employee at Intellimeter Canada Inc. and is working towards the required hours for his own CITP designation.

What it means to be a CITP

In a nutshell, I believe the CITP designation stands as a symbol of competency and credibility in global business. It displays a thorough grasp of international trade processes, as well as a dedication to ethical business practices and ongoing professional development. And it is reassuring to know that many of my colleagues in global business share the same competencies and values.

The post Online training helped one international trade professional get back in the game appeared first on Trade Ready.