The Decision

What are the different types of E-Commerce solutions available in the market?

These platforms come with their own set of Pros and Cons. Look below at the comparison:

Look at the below Decision Matrix and find a solution which is a good fit for your business model,

Lokaly

What do we cover:

What they see impacts how they react

Impact of small changes on profit

Accessibility matters

Brand awareness and recall

The decision to choose the right e-commerce solution for your business is never easy!!

The current situation demands that “your customer” gets easier access to their needs. This is possible only by offering easy ordering, safe distancing, online payments thus saving of time. The best way to overcome this challenge today is go online and make your customersafe!

The E-Commerce industry is currently worth $4.8 trillion, projected to increase to $5.4 trillion by 2022. Business owners planning to start their E-Commerce Business, generally imagine a website where they can list products and expect revenue to begin rolling in. However, a website is just a shop front, much like a physical store. Creating a digital presence requires the same level of strategic thinking and planning process.

Today, any Business Owner will tell you that running a physical store is not only about arranging the aisles and taking customers through the checkout process. Business owner looks for the best E-Commerce platform, where they can operate core features, integrate new features, and 3rd party tools seamlessly.

Sure, there are variety of options available in the market that can help you selling your products online, but if scaling your business is what you want, then you have to look and compare each aspect of the available solutions which can delight your customers, run absolutely flawless, and be able to fulfil your orders in the fastest, most affordable way possible.

Choosing the right development approach that fits your Business strategy is a crucial part for business success. As a Business Owner here are some of the points to consider while choosing an E-Commerce platform:

Cost of solution: Cost of solution is not just the cost in which it would be developed. There are Direct & In-Direct cost like Cost of Upgrades, Infrastructure, Maintenance, Support etc.
Time to Develop: Solution development time should correlate with your Time to Market strategy
Solution Scalability: Can the product grow as your business grows? Product should be capable to incorporate new functionalities when required to scale. There should be option for starting small, yet a facility to make it big.
Solution adapts to Business Model: The solution should adopt to your Business needs and not the other way around. A product should not limit your business, but rather it should accept your business process.
Data Ownership: Who owns the Data? Ownership and Compliance of Data & Privacy is very critical in this age.
Control over Technology: How much control you have over the technology in your business? Control over the product becomes critical when you want to scale your business.
Ease of Operation: Does the solution allow for Ease of Operation & Inter- operability? A solution has multiple type of users and platforms it can be used from. The user experience for all user group becomes critical.
Integration with 3rd Party Tools: Does the solution have the ability to integrated with 3rd Party? Integrating with existing or new external system like POS, Inventory, Book keeping etc is critical. The solution should allow for such an openness with other systems.
Solution Support & Upgrades: Does the solution provide for Support, Upgrades? Development is just a beginning. A great post development support and continuous upgrades is necessary for growing business.

When it comes to choosing an E-Commerce platform, you have 4 different types to choose from, as shown below.

Bespoke Solution
Open-source Solutions
SaaS Platform
Clones
White-Label Platforms

	Bespoke	Open-source	SaaS	Clones	White-Label
Definition	Custom Development	Solution like WooCommerce, Magento	Platform like Shopify, Yelo etc	Companies offering Clones of solutions	Product which has the ability to White-Label / Brand the solution as per Business
Pros	Best possible functionality Ownership of Source code	Lot of themes and plugins available for quick development and cost effective Highly Customizable	Tried and Tested model Lower entry cost Lot of features to adopt No infrastructure cost	These companies will offer you such clone at a very low cost Ownership of the Source code	Branded Solution Last mile Customization Ownership of Data Low Cost
Cons	High Cost Longer Time to develop	No readymade mobile solution Time to develop can increase due to mobile development	Hidden cost Issues with GDPR/ Data compliance Not customizable Mobile App will not be a branded solution No ownership of Source code and data	Usually such firm download these clone code from open-source/ Github repository and add a UI wrapper around it Outdated versions / technology No customization available	No ownership of Source code

#	Parameters	Bespoke	Open-source	SaaS	Clones	Lokaly
1	Cost of solution	Cost of solution will be very high	Web cost will be Low as themes & plugins available. Mobile App would be costly	Hidden charges for transaction, and other activities	Low cost of solution	No hidden cost, Low to Medium cost of solution
2	Time to Develop	Very long development time	Low to medium time to develop	Low time to adopt	Low time to adopt	Low time to adopt
3	Solution Scalability	Yes	Yes there would be different pricing models	No as it would be one time sale	Yes, we have modular approach
4	Solution adapts to Business Model	Product adopts to your Business Model	Product adopts to your Business Model	Business adopts to the Product	Business adopts to the Product	Product adopts to your Business Model
5	Data Ownership	Customer	Customer	Mostly the SaaS platform would own	Customer	Customer
6	Control over Technology	Full control with the ownership of the source code & data	Full control with the ownership of the source code as per Open source license & data	Least control of all model. Saas will not offer any customization & you will not own the code	Full control with the ownership of the source code & data	IPR/Source Code with Lokaly. However we offer all customization
7	Ease of Operation	Yes	Yes	Yes	Low, due to outdated technology	Yes
8	Integration with 3rd Party Tools	Yes	Yes	Limited as per their list	Yes	Yes
9	Solution Support & Upgrades	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
	Upgrades

When we started Lokaly as a product we based our approach on the following understanding:

All E-Commerce business venture will be 70-80% similar but there will always those 20-30% difference in these platforms which will make it unique. Lokaly should focus of this aspect to make each experience unique.
Product should not only bring best practices to the business but should be able to adapt itself to the Business strategy by offering last mile customization.
Product should be offered at an affordable cost and quick turnaround
Should be able to fit a small to larger venture using modular approach
Product should have an openness to integrate with existing/ new tools

Verve Systems has an experience of over 12 years in Bespoke solution development and have been developing Lokaly since 2018. The code developed for Lokaly is from scratch with no open source or copied code base which gives us complete knowledge and control over the development.

	Aggregator Business Model (Marketplace with Store listing enabled)

	Single Brand Store (Single or Multi location)

	Pure Ecommerce Flow (3^rd Party Courier Delivery Integration)

	Hyperlocal Ecommerce Flow (Self Delivery, 3^rd Party Delivery)

	Dark-flow Ecommerce (Fulfillment WH, Multiple Suppliers)

Applications

What Lokaly Offers?

• Complete White-label Solution with customized & branded solution on App Store
• Your own Marketplace subscription model
• Business Hours, Order Settings, Delivery Settings
• SMS Alerts on Order receipt & processing
• Custom offers & discounts at store level
• Online Payment Integration
• Flexible Licensing model: One-Time License / Subscription Monthly Model
• Modular Functionality to allow solution to grow as your business grows
• Wide variety of store type

Core Modules

Add-On Modules

Pricing Model

Clientele

Successful eCommerce websites go beyond listing great products and providing effective customer service. It is good to remember that first impressions carry the day and web design provides that first impression. Unattractive, cluttered designs are off putting. They drive traffic away resulting in lost leads. User-friendly designs funnel users smoothly through the sales funnel and increase conversions.

Research discloses that three quarters and more of both end users and businesses base their purchase decision on their preference or otherwise of web design. A haphazard design is like a cluttered and disorganized store. Finding products of choice becomes difficult and time consuming. Unlike brick-and-mortar stores, however, a browser just needs a click to move away in the blink of an eye and enter an organized store. So be careful of how your information is organized.

Colors, shapes, and sizes create a psychological impact. The immediate conversion rate noticed after such minor changes are made appears insignificant. When it comes to cumulative impact, it is a different story. A mere 1% swing means a major jump in annual sales.

Information assimilation and processing strategies differ from person to person. Visual processors are impacted by font size and background contrast. An image that correlates with text is more accessible to the kinesthetically inclined.

Customer Application

Business Application

Point of Sale

Driver Application

Picker Application

Dine-In Application

MOBILE

TABLET

A consistent design or logo appearing on the website, promotional material, and physical product stamps a permanent impression on the mind and increases immediate brand recall translating into a wider loyal customer base.

You can also read: A Highly Customizable Solution For All Your Online Business Needs

Successful websites combine aesthetics and ease of use. A good design optimizes layout and browsing experience by converting abstract ideas of aesthetics and usability into concrete designs. It presents products, purchase options, and brand image clearly and consistently.