What are eCommerce platforms?

An eCommerce platform enables you to sell goods and services online. A good eCommerce platform offers a range of tools, including modern payment acceptance options, advanced security features and more. 

Choosing the right eCommerce platform

Choosing the right one is key to streamlining your day-to-day sales activities and maximising opportunities for growth. Here's a five-step guide to choosing the eCommerce platform best suited to your business.

1. Get clear on your business needs

Start by considering what you need from an eCommerce solution. For example, do you have an existing website for your business you’d like to keep using, with new payment capability? If so, you could explore payment gateways that can integrate with popular eCommerce plugins, like WooCommerce or Magento.

Here are some other questions to ask yourself:

  • Will you manage the website yourself, or get a developer to help?
  • Do you need to issue invoices or take recurring payments?
  • What kind of payments do you want to accept? E.g. specific cards (like American Express), digital wallets, buy now, pay later services
  • Do you need same-day settlement into your CommBank Business Transaction Account?

2. Know your industry and customers

Many eCommerce platforms are built to meet the needs and demands of specific industries. Whether you're operating a small goods-based online business or managing B2B transactions, make sure you understand if your chosen platform is ideal for the industry you're in.

It's also vital to understand where and how your customers shop, and how your business fits into their lives. Ask yourself these questions:

  • Do my customers shop on social media? If so, can this platform integrate with my social media accounts?
  • What devices (e.g. desktop, mobile) do my customers commonly use? Does the eCommerce platform work well on those devices?
  • How do my customers like to pay? Your eCommerce platform could open you up to a new customer base, so research payment habits in your chosen market (this may be different than the types of payments you’d like to accept)

If you’re a CommBank business customer, you may be able to access free insights about your customers' demographic and spending behaviour through Daily IQ.1

3. Build your eCommerce solution wishlist

Not all eCommerce platforms are built equal. Some functionality and solutions can come at a cost – so knowing your must-haves and nice-to-haves is a good place to start before you explore what platforms require additional setup or plugins.

Consider whether you need a platform that supports same-day settlement, recurring billing or digital wallets. You might also want tools for social media integration and marketing automation. Security and fraud protection are also integral to protecting your business when receiving online payments.

4. Understand pricing and support

Pricing is an important factor when choosing the right eCommerce solution for your business. Some have fixed monthly costs, others charge fees per transaction. These start-up and ongoing maintenance costs can add up, so it’s important to pick the right plan based on your sales volumes. You might need to pay a separate domain name (the website address for your online store) and hosting fee if it’s not included with your platform. 

It’s also worth understanding the initial training and ongoing support the eCommerce platform offers, and whether there are costs involved. 

5. Look to the future  

It's a good idea to make sure your eCommerce platform can change with your business – adding new features and functionality, or the ability to service increased traffic and sales volumes. Many platforms can automate labour-intensive tasks (like large-scale order processing), saving you time and energy you could use elsewhere.  Here are some things to look for:  

  • Capacity to process a rush of online orders and handle increased customer traffic reliably and securely, e.g. at peak shopping periods like Boxing Day or Black Friday 
  • Ability to automate programmed tasks like billing, direct debit and recurring payments
  • Vigilant security monitoring for suspicious orders based on order size, payment type or country of origin