The surge in demand for online shopping via eCommerce marketplaces over recent years has been remarkable. So, it comes as no surprise that numerous businesses are looking for ways to build their own marketplaces to diversify their product offerings and engage with a wide range of customer segments.

Operating an eCommerce marketplace differs significantly from managing an eCommerce website. The key is to ensure that the experience is user-friendly and efficient for all involved parties, including administrators, sellers, and buyers, during both the operational and transactional phases. 

Depending on the strategy, scale, budget, market, and target audience, businesses will make suitable adjustments. However, the following online marketplace features continue to be crucial when implementing the majority of eCommerce marketplaces today.

1. Operator Features

The operator, also known as an administrator or owner of the online marketplace, holds a pivotal role in managing and running the platform. They possess the authority to access and govern all data and carry the responsibility for the platform’s overall performance and growth.

As a result, essential features for operators include:

Seller Management

The operator’s role involves helping sellers register on the platform, gather their information, and grant access to tools that aid their business operations. Additionally, other aspects of ‘Managing Sellers’ that businesses should consider include:

• Communication and Support Channels: This entails providing customer service and addressing seller accounts and technical issues through channels like email or a hotline.
• Content Management:  Ensuring that products, content, images, and videos uploaded by sellers comply with the eCommerce platform’s established standards and regulations.
• Monitoring Seller: Tracking and evaluating data related to seller activities, such as sales volumes, customer feedback, response times, and adherence to platform policies.
• Transaction Management: This covers policies regarding commissions, transaction fees, and payments. Businesses must ensure they furnish comprehensive documentation, accurately and promptly process payments, and offer support in resolving related concerns.

Marketing Management

To expand the pool of registered sellers and draw more customers to shop on the online marketplace, operators continually rely on marketing efforts. Some methods include optimizing SEO, leveraging influencer marketing, running targeted advertisements, devising in-platform promotional initiatives, and more.

However,  it’s crucial for businesses to possess a set of features and tools to proficiently craft and manage marketing campaigns across multiple channels. This aids in the effective promotion of their marketplaces, the attraction of additional sellers and customers, and the establishment of a distinctive presence within the competitive eCommerce landscape.

Supply Chain Management

Given the substantial order volume, operators need features that offer them full control of order fulfillment. This includes inventory management, overseeing multiple warehouses, configuring automated workflows for handling and transporting orders between warehouses, and delivering them to end-users.

Plus, to optimize the delivery process, businesses can partner with third-party shipping providers to provide customers with various choices, such as standard, express, or expedited shipping methods.

Analysis & Reporting 

Through comprehensive data analysis and detailed reporting, businesses can gain insights into their overall operations and make informed adjustments. Key data points include:

• eCommerce Performance: This encompasses metrics related to sales, revenue, user engagement, and satisfaction levels to assess the current state of the platform and make strategic decisions.
• User Behavior: This includes data on new account registrations, conversion rates, browsing habits, and search trends on the platform. It helps identify lingering issues for improvement and provides a better user experience.
• Marketing Reports: Operators need in-depth marketing reports to assess the ROI of marketing campaigns, analyze customer acquisition channels, and evaluate the impact of various promotional programs and incentives.

2. Seller Features

Sellers, also known as suppliers or merchants, are individuals or businesses that offer products or services on the online marketplace. Their responsibility is to manage their operations and optimize sales performance.

Therefore, eCommerce marketplace features for sellers to conduct efficient business operations include:

Easy Onboarding

Sellers have many choices in the midst of multiple online marketplaces. So, offering a swift and uncomplicated registration and store setup process is an effective way to attract a wide pool of new sellers to open their stores.

Businesses can offer detailed step-by-step guidance to sellers, from creating an account and verifying their seller identity to decorating their store and listing products. Furthermore, businesses can provide instructional videos, FAQs, and blogs to guide them on optimizing their store, promoting products on the platform, as well as understanding the fees associated with the eCommerce marketplace’s sales policies.

Product Management

Beyond listing products, helping sellers manage their product catalog effectively on the marketplace is equally important.

This includes tasks like adding and removing products, maintaining high-quality product descriptions, images, and videos, handling product variations and attributes, updating inventory, setting product prices, applying discounts, prompting product reviews, and moderating and verifying reviews based on the platform’s standard.

Marketing Management

Sellers need tools and features for setting up marketing campaigns to promote their stores and products, driving increased sales. These commonly used marketing tools on online marketplaces include in-site and off-site advertising, promotional messaging, flash sales, bundled deals, shipping discounts or free shipping promotions, creating discount vouchers, live-streaming sales events, and participating in platform-wide promotional activities.

Order Management

Providing sellers with effective order management capabilities also impacts the customer experience on the eCommerce marketplaces. This means offering sellers features to manage their order lists, track the status of orders, fulfill orders, handle returns, and efficiently address any issues that may arise.

Analysis & Reporting

Sellers rely on data analysis and reports to track and manage their business performance on the online marketplace effectively. These reports provide valuable insights for making data-driven decisions and optimizing their operations.

• Sales Performance: Sellers have access to data including total sales, revenue, order volume, and average order value to evaluate the success of their products or services and make informed decisions.
• Inventory Reports: Data related to inventory levels, inventory turnover, best-selling products, and less popular products help optimize inventory by adding popular items or reducing/limiting the sale of low-demand products.
• User Behavior: This includes data on purchasing behavior, feedback, customer reviews, and ratings for products and services, allowing sellers to enhance the customer experience and service.
• Expense Reports: This covers financial aspects such as transaction fees, commissions, invoices, payment receipts, and taxes. Clear financial reporting helps sellers manage cash flow efficiently while adhering to the marketplace’s policies.

3. Buyer Features

Buyers, also known as customers, refer to individuals or businesses that purchase goods or services from sellers on the eCommerce marketplace. Customers play a crucial role in driving the success of the marketplace. Therefore, feature development is focused on enriching the shopping experience.

Advanced Search

When accessing an eCommerce marketplace, the first thing most users do is use the search bar to find the information and products they desire. However, the product catalog on marketplaces is extensive and can be overwhelming for buyers. 

Therefore, beyond maintaining well-structured and organized product categories, businesses should offer advanced search capabilities to simplify and enhance the customer’s product discovery experience process. Common advanced search options include filtering, image-based, or voice-based search (optimized for mobile devices).

Personalization

Features like product recommendations, push notifications, personalized content, and customer service tailored to individual shopping behavior and preferences are crucial for enhancing the eCommerce experience. Studies have revealed that 74% of customers feel frustrated when encountering non-personalized shopping experiences on websites. 

By integrating advanced search capabilities with personalization, companies can offer a more enriching user experience, leading to greater satisfaction, higher levels of engagement, and increased customer retention. This transforms their marketplace into an ideal shopping destination for buyers.

Simple Checkout

Out of the various reasons for cart abandonment, issues related to long and complicated checkout procedures make up 17%, according to Baymard. it is essential for businesses to streamline the payment experience for customers, removing unnecessary steps, offering a transparent payment process, or implementing a one-page checkout. 

Moreover, businesses can diversify their payment methods to suit their target markets, including options such as Cash on Delivery (COD), credit card payments, eWallets, and buy now, pay later options.

Order Tracking

To boost the trust of buyers and sellers in the eCommerce platform, it is crucial for businesses to offer real-time order tracking and status-checking capabilities. 

Buyers can track their orders through the marketplace’s mobile app or website by using their unique order IDs. This way, both the seller and the buyer can communicate promptly if any issues arise with the order.

Review & Rating

With a diverse range of product choices offered by different sellers, customers may find it challenging to make purchasing decisions when they lack trust in either the product or the seller. Hence, the review and rating feature is essential for building trust and expediting decisions.

The review feature allows buyers who have made purchases to leave comments, reviews, and ratings for a product, customer support, and product packaging, regardless of the seller. 

Whether these reviews and ratings are positive or negative, they have a significant impact on a buyer’s decision-making process. Therefore, this serves as a motivation for sellers to enhance the quality of their products and services and for the eCommerce marketplace owner to provide an improved user experience.

Above are the 14 essential features for operators, sellers, and buyers that businesses should keep in mind when building an online marketplace. With many years of eCommerce implementation experience for numerous clients in various countries worldwide, SECOMM has gathered valuable insights to boost the development and operation of your business’s marketplace swiftly and effectively.

Contact or call SECOMM’s hotline (02871089908) today for a free consultation.

As reported by Digital Commerce 360, global consumers have collectively expended more than $3.25 trillion on famous eCommerce marketplaces such as Amazon, Ebay, and Alibaba. This indicates the increasing significance of online marketplaces in customer shopping experiences. 

Therefore, many businesses have promptly devised strategies to enter the race for market share in eCommerce landscape. To achieve this goal, businesses must first develop their own marketplaces. The initial but crucial step in this process is selecting the ideal platform.

The following article focuses on introducing this platform as a recommendation for large businesses among countless optimal choices out there. 

1. What is Marketplacer?

Marketplacer is a Software as a Service (SaaS) platform hosted on AWS, providing businesses with essential tools and features for building professional and highly adaptable eCommerce marketplaces capable of rapid scalability and swift page loading.

This platform streamlines the management and administration of eCommerce marketplaces. It simplifies tasks like order fulfillment, product category adjustments, third-party extension integration, cross-marketplace operational synchronization, and the implementation of strategies for revenue optimization.

To date, this platform has successfully established and expanded over 100 eCommerce marketplaces, forging connections with more than 13,000 sellers spanning the globe.

2. How Marketplacer works?

The Operator portal

This platform offers businesses a Marketplace-wide API based on GraphQL API, allowing them to:

• Build a headless frontend or seamless integration with existing eCommerce systems.
• Access and manage all data on the online marketplace via the Operator Portal, which includes:
  • Manage Sellers
  • Manage Seller payouts and billings
  • Product category management
  • Order management
  • Delivery management
  • Content management
  • Custom reporting

Furthermore, Marketplacer provides businesses with access to Webhooks, enabling them to receive notifications from the Marketplacer platform for any changes or updates during their operations.

The Seller portal

This platform provides sellers on the marketplace with Seller API based on V2 (REST) API to

• Automate their sales processes on the marketplace
• Access and manage various aspects of their seller data through the Seller Portal, including:
  • Product management
  • Sales & Marketing management 
  • Order management
  • Inventory management
  • Analysis & reporting

Similar to how businesses operate their business on the marketplace, sellers also have access to webhooks for receiving notifications regarding changes throughout their selling journey.

3. Marketplacer implementation models

This platform offers two implementation models, allowing businesses to tailor the development of their online marketplace to align with their specific goals.

Headless

The Headless model empowers businesses to utilize their tailor-made frontend, commonly known as the “head,” which represents the user interface. This frontend is integrated with Marketplacer’s fundamental backend through APIs to execute the marketplace. 

Therefore, opting for the Headless model is ideal for businesses seeking extensive control over the user experience while leveraging Marketplacer’s core technology to foster eCommerce growth.

Connected

In the Connected model, businesses can efficiently integrate a pre-built eCommerce system into Marketplacer’s backend, avoiding the need for an extensive time and financial resources to build from scratch. This integration allows businesses to maintain the full functionality of the pre-existing system while benefiting from this platform’s advanced infrastructure for seamless marketplace deployment.

It’s worth noting that Marketplacer currently offers pre-built connectors exclusively for three prominent platforms: Adobe Commerce, Salesforce Commerce Cloud, and commercetools. As a result, the Connected model is best suited for businesses utilizing one of these three platforms to facilitate their eCommerce.

4. Pros of Marketplacer

Ease of use

This platform offers a user-friendly interface and intuitive tools, making it simple for businesses to build and manage their online marketplace. 

Flexibility & Scalability

This platform is tailored to suit online marketplaces of diverse sizes. The platform boasts excellent scalability and remarkable flexibility, empowering businesses to manage an ever-increasing volume of sellers, customers, and listing products. This facilitates seamless expansion of operations as needed.

Integrations

Businesses can easily discover well-known applications and extensions within Marketplacer’s growing collection of available integrations. Some noteworthy integrations include popular social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, as well as payment gateways such as PayPal, Zooz, Yotpo, and advertising management tools like Fuze, Firstpage, and Citrus Ad.

Marketplacer Connected Integration

Marketplacer’s success is attributed to its ‘Connected’ technology, enabling businesses to deploy their marketplaces with two versatile options: crafting a tailored frontend or integrating seamlessly with existing systems.

Also, businesses can effortlessly blend third-party products into their current inventory, broadening their product range and portfolio with minimal investment and mitigating product lifecycle management tasks. This model is known as the Hybrid Marketplace and has been successfully adopted by enterprises like Amazon, Walmart, and others.

5. Cons of Marketplacer

Costs

The license fee isn’t publicly available and businesses are required to reach out to the Marketplacer team for a personalized consultation and cost estimates. Furthermore, the platform doesn’t offer a trial version, which may pose challenges for businesses when planning their implementation budget.

Require technical skills

While this platform offers a user-friendly interface, it may pose challenges for users who are not familiar with building and operating an eCommerce marketplace. Therefore, the implementation process will require businesses to have technical expertise, or they can seek specialized assistance to efficiently build and optimize the platform.

Limited customization

Despite its flexibility and high degree of customization, Marketplacer’s ability to meet the highly complex deployment needs of large-scale eCommerce systems may pose challenges.

Support 

This platform provides 24/7 support services and offers learning resources, but there is room for improvement in the quality and responsiveness of their support. Plus, as an Australian-based company primarily serving the Australian market, some of their terminology might be less clear to international customers.

To successfully build and operate a thriving eCommerce marketplace, the first thing businesses need to do is choose a platform. This platform is one of the standout platforms that businesses should consider.

Feel free to contact or call SECOMM’s hotline at (028) 7108 9908 for free consultations.

The global business landscape has faced significant challenges due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In response to this, many businesses across various sectors, particularly in the Baby industry, have prioritized the implementation of eCommerce strategies to connect with online customers and drive sales. Furthermore, to align with the broader economic trends, these retailers have transitioned from traditional business models to robust eCommerce operations to ensure growth and market expansion.

The following list showcases 15 successful Baby brands in Vietnam and around the world that have effectively adopted eCommerce websites, thus facilitating the swift participation of numerous other businesses.

1. Ava Kids 

Ava Kids is the Baby eCommerce website of The Gioi Di Dong Corporation, offering a range of enticing online shopping benefits to customers. These include a 1-month return policy, complimentary shipping, special discounts for new customers, a rewards program, and informative guides for maternal and child health care.
Having been in operation for over a year, Ava Kids’ eCommerce website now enjoys over 2.1 million monthly visitors and has expanded its offline store network from 5 to 66 outlets.

• Website: https://www.avakids.com/
• Platform: PHP language
• Traffic: 2.1M/month
• Ranking: 560 (Vietnam) & 30,546 (Worldwide)

2. Con Cưng 

Established in 2011, Con Cung has grown to become Vietnam’s leading retail chain specializing in products for expectant mothers and babies, boasting over 700 stores across the country.

In recent years, Con Cung has made significant strides in developing its eCommerce website, catering to the online shopping demands of its customers. This expansion has enabled them to provide a rich shopping experience with a wide range of enticing offers, flexible payment methods, and 1-hour delivery services.

• Website: https://concung.com/
• Platform: PHP language
• Traffic: 1.3M/month
• Ranking: 891 (Vietnam) & 48,776 (Worldwide)

3. Kids Plaza

Founded in 2009, Kids Plaza is a major player in the eCommerce competition for the Baby industry. Kids Plaza has built an eCommerce website on the Magento platform to efficiently manage a vast and diverse product catalog. The brand consistently runs enticing promotional campaigns, offering gift-with-purchase deals, flash sales, buy-5-get-1-free offers, and a loyalty points system for redeemable rewards. These efforts have significantly driven up website traffic during promotional events, making Magento’s customization and scalability features indispensable for handling sudden surges in visitor numbers. On average, the website garners approximately 1 million visits per month.

• Website: https://www.kidsplaza.vn/
• Platform: Magento
• Traffic: 1M/month
• Ranking: 1,316 (Vietnam) & 67,544 (Worldwide)

4. Bibo Mart 

Founded in 2006, Bibo Mart, a retail chain dedicated to serving expectant mothers and babies, offers a diverse range of products, including maternity clothing, diapers, formula, and strollers. Just like its competitors, Bibo Mart is a strong contender in the eCommerce race.

To enhance the customer shopping experience, Bibo Mart opted for Magento Enterprise Edition (aka Adobe Commerce) to develop a custom eCommerce website. This platform enables the implementation of attractive promotions and a Loyalty Program. Presently, the website enjoys more than 500,000 monthly visitors.

• Website: https://bibomart.com.vn/
• Platform: Magento Enterprise Edition (Adobe Commerce)
• Traffic: 518K/month
• Ranking: 2,216 (Vietnam) & 109,496 (Worldwide)

5. Shop Trẻ Thơ 

Shop Trẻ Thơ stands as a well-known brand in the Maternity & Baby sector. The company is dedicated to establishing and advancing its eCommerce website alongside its network of 22 physical stores. This strategic move is aimed at staying in sync with the online shopping trend and securing a competitive edge in the realm of eCommerce.

Beyond a diverse product catalog, Shop Trẻ Thơ offers various enticing incentives to encourage online shopping, such as Buy 1 Get 1, cost-saving combos, gifts with purchase, discounts for new customers, and more. Currently, the website maintains a stable traffic of over 100,000 visitors per month.

• Website: https://shoptretho.com.vn/
• Platform: PHP language
• Traffic: 133K/month
• Ranking: 9,242 (Vietnam) & 431,259 (Worldwide)

6. Tuticare  

Tuticare is considered a prominent brand in the Maternity & Baby industry with a chain of 55 stores across Vietnam. Tuticare’s products undergo stringent checks, from their origins to their quality, providing a sense of assurance to mothers during their shopping experience. 

The company has started an eCommerce website to provide customers with an optimized online shopping experience, along with various attractive programs and offers like a Tuti Gift Card, a subscription for diapers and milk, and more. Additionally, Tuticare offers diverse payment options, including eWallets and buy now pay later.

• Website: https://www.tuticare.com/
• Platform: PHP language
• Traffic: 113.7K/month
• Ranking: 9,304 (Vietnam) & 435,124 (Worldwide)

7. Mothercare 

Mothercare, a brand focused on Baby products from the United Kingdom, offers a diverse range of fashion and essential items for expectant mothers and children of various age groups. Despite its recent inception, Mothercare has rapidly garnered attention, primarily due to its commitment to providing high-quality products at affordable prices.

The Mothercare website is strategically developed using the Magento platform, effectively catering to the online shopping preferences of their customers. Beyond attractive promotional programs, the Mothercare website also provides valuable insights on caring for newborns and young children through its dedicated blog section.

• Website: https://www.mothercare.com.vn/
• Platform: Magento
• Traffic: 28.8K/month
• Ranking: 14,558 (Vietnam) & 669,019 (Worldwide)

8. Soc & Brothers

Soc & Brothers is a rising name in the Baby eCommerce market, offering a diverse range of products for expectant mothers and children, including clothing, formula, diapers, strollers, and toys. The company has built an eCommerce website using Haravan and receives approximately 28,000 monthly visitors. Moreover, Soc & Brothers has implemented a Loyalty Program with three tiers: Silver, Gold, and Diamond, which can be utilized for purchases and point accumulation both at their offline retail stores and various online channels.

• Website: https://www.snbshop.vn/
• Platform: Haravan
• Traffic: 28.1K/month
• Ranking: 46,426 (Vietnam) & 1,950,408 (Worldwide)

9. Carter’s

Carter’s is a well-known children’s clothing brand in the North American region. Carter’s offers a wide range of products suitable for children of all ages, heights, and weights. Their website is built on Salesforce Commerce Cloud and features a primary color scheme of blue and white, emphasizing minimalism and cuteness. Currently, the website receives about 8.4 million monthly visits. Moreover, customers can purchase physical or eGift cards through the website, which can be customized in terms of design, value, and personal messages.

• Website: https://www.carters.com/
• Platform: Salesforce Commerce Cloud
• Traffic: 8.4M/month
• Ranking: 1,127 (USA) & 5,584 (Worldwide)

10. Hanna Andersson

Hanna Andersson is a well-known Swedish brand that specializes in children’s clothing, offering beautiful designs and a wide range of styles, sizes, and types of clothing, from everyday wear to sleepwear and swimwear. Hanna Andersson’s eCommerce website is built and developed using the Salesforce Commerce Cloud platform and garners more than 1.4 million monthly visitors. Hanna provides a personalized shopping experience by inviting its customers to participate in clothing selection consultations, parenting advice, and direct communication for new customers.

• Website: https://www.hannaandersson.com/
• Platform: Salesforce Commerce Cloud
• Traffic: 1.4M/month
• Ranking: 5,908 (USA) & 32,358 (Worldwide)

11. OshKosh B’gosh 

OshKosh, a globally beloved children’s clothing brand, has achieved significant success by utilizing Salesforce Commerce Cloud to create an eCommerce website that delivers an exceptional online shopping experience. Presently, the website receives more than 900,000 monthly visitors and provides numerous appealing shopping incentives to its customers, including a rewards program that offers unexpected gifts, birthday presents, and discount vouchers.

• Website: https://www.oshkosh.com/
• Platform: Salesforce Commerce Cloud
• Traffic: 919.4K/month
• Ranking: 11,805 (USA) & 56,197 (Worldwide)

12. Janie and Jack 

Janie and Jack, another children’s fashion brand, has built an eCommerce website using the Salesforce Commerce Cloud platform. The company provides a wide variety of products for boys, girls, infants, as well as items such as jewelry and home decor. Notably, Janie and Jack has entered into a collaboration with Disney to offer fashion items featuring beloved Disney characters for children.

Additionally, the brand offers a gift-wrapping service that allows customers to select their preferred products, gift boxes, wrapping paper, and greeting cards. Customers can choose to wrap gifts themselves or take advantage of Janie and Jack’s professional gift-wrapping service.

• Website: https://www.janieandjack.com/home?lang=en
• Platform: Salesforce Commerce Cloud
• Traffic: 764.8K/month
• Ranking: 9,339 (USA) & 51,103 (Worldwide)

13. Children Salon

Children Salon, established in 1952, is one of the leading brands in high-end fashion for children. They offer many products, including clothing, shoes, and hats for boys, girls, and teenagers. The company specializes in designing and producing children’s fashion collections for top global brands such as Versace, Givenchy, Burberry, Dolce & Gabbana, Calvin Klein, and more. Additionally, customers who purchase these designer products on the Children Salon website can enjoy discounts of up to 60%.

Children Salon’s eCommerce website is built on the Magento platform, featuring advanced functions like filtering products by size and age, displaying available sizes, and currency conversion for product prices, among others. The website currently receives over 600,000 monthly visits.

• Website: https://www.childrensalon.com/
• Platform: Magento
• Traffic: 647.5K/month
• Ranking: 56,386 (USA) & 90,938 (Worldwide)

14. Motherhood Maternity

Motherhood Maternity’s eCommerce website is a well-known and trusted fashion shopping destination for expectant mothers. The website, built on the Shopify platform, garners around 400,000 monthly visits.

Beyond its wide array of clothing and supportive accessories, Motherhood offers an “Expert Guide” section dedicated to sharing valuable knowledge about prenatal healthcare. Furthermore, the “Preggie Perks” program allows customers who shop on the website to have the chance to receive discount vouchers or unique gifts, conveniently delivered with their products to their doorstep.

• Website: https://www.motherhood.com/
• Platform: Shopify
• Traffic: 426.8K/month
• Ranking: 17,468 (USA) & 98,316 (Worldwide)

15. HATCH Collection  

HATCH Collection, a renowned global brand, specializes in offering fashion and beauty products for expectant mothers. Despite its establishment in 2011, the brand has chosen to maintain only two physical stores in California and New York, as HATCH’s primary focus lies in online retail. 

Operating through its eCommerce website, HATCH has introduced several programs  for their customers. One notable initiative is “NIKKI’s List,” wherein customers respond to specific questions, enabling HATCH to generate personalized product recommendations. The HATCH website is constructed and managed using the Shopify platform and receives approximately 223,000 monthly visits.

• Website: https://www.hatchcollection.com/
• Platform: Shopify
• Traffic: 223.7K/month
• Ranking: 40,787 (USA) & 204,740 (Worldwide)

The surge of the Covid-19 pandemic has made a significant impact on consumer shopping habits, particularly in the Baby sector, where a profound shift from offline to online shopping has been witnessed.

Presented here are 15 eCommerce websites, showcasing leading brands in the Mother & Baby industry, both in Vietnam and internationally. These brands exemplify their adaptability in capturing consumer trends and their commitment to enhancing technological infrastructure to compete for a share in the billion-dollar market.

With a track record of successfully implementing eCommerce solutions for a diverse clientele across various countries in recent years, SECOMM specializes in offering expert consultation and tailored eCommerce deployment solutions, tailored to the specific requirements of each industry.

For a free consultation, contact us or call directly to the SECOMM hotline at (02871089908).

Unlike building eCommerce websites for simpler models like B2C or B2B, implementing an online marketplace requires a higher level of technical knowledge, programming skills, database management, system administration, and more.

In this article, SECOMM will share the essential steps for successfully developing an eCommerce marketplace, from market research and business planning to designing an appealing user interface, developing functional systems, and more.

1. Conduct market research and business planning

Market research and business planning are essential and indispensable initial steps in starting an eCommerce marketplace or any business operation.

Here are some considerations for businesses when undertaking these activities:

• Understanding customers and market needs: Market research helps businesses gain a better understanding of their target customers, competitors, and industry-influencing factors. By exploring customer needs, preferences, and shopping behaviors, businesses can make strategic decisions to create the best online shopping experience and seize effective business opportunities.
• Setting goals and business strategies: Business planning helps companies identify specific objectives and devise strategies to achieve them. Companies need to define their core and secondary products/services, market access strategies, customer engagement approaches, and competitive value creation methods. A business plan helps create a detailed roadmap for how the business will build, develop, and operate its eCommerce marketplace.
• Defining USP (Unique Selling Point): Market research allows businesses to comprehend the strengths and weaknesses of their competitors. This helps businesses identify distinctive features and competitive value that their brand can provide to attract customers. Determining the USP enables businesses to leverage these elements in branding, marketing, and operational strategies to gain a competitive advantage in the eCommerce marketplace.
• Risk and financial management: Creating a financial plan and managing risks before embarking on the online marketplace development process is crucial. Businesses need to evaluate the financial resources and requirements for project implementation and establish long-term financial plans to ensure the sustainability of the business.

2. Select eCommerce platform

The eCommerce platform is a crucial element in the process of building an online marketplace. If the right choice is not made from the beginning, businesses may find themselves entangled in the whirlpool of technology when implementing their marketplace.

Typically, there are two types of eCommerce platforms for businesses to choose from: SaaS and Open Source.

SaaS platform

SaaS (Software as a Service) eCommerce platforms are a software distribution model for building websites.

In this model, data is stored on the provider’s server, and the platform is responsible for handling technical aspects for businesses. Some popular SaaS platforms today include Haravan, Shopify, BigCommerce, and more.

• Pros: User-friendly, quick development time, high security, 24/7 customer support.
• Cons: Increasing development costs over time, limited customization, functionality, and scalability, and businesses may not own the source code and data.

Open-source platform

An Open Source platform, or open-source software, is software with publicly available source code that anyone can use for free. Open-source platforms are an optimal choice for businesses looking to develop complex eCommerce systems, especially tailored to the specific needs of an online marketplace.

Prominent examples of Open Source online marketplaces include Magento, WooCommerce (a plugin for WordPress), OpenCart, and more.

• Pros: These platforms offer high levels of customization and scalability, a wide range of additional features and utilities, and businesses have ownership of the source code and data.
• Cons: They are not very user-friendly, involve high development costs, and require extended deployment times.

Each platform type has its own set of advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, businesses should either have an in-house team or collaborate with an experienced and highly skilled eCommerce marketplace development agency to effectively advise on the selection, development, and operation of the chosen platform.

3. Outsource or build an in-house team

The initial decision regarding resource allocation for starting an eCommerce marketplace system has a profound impact on a company’s early business direction. Companies can choose to either collaborate with specialised development firms or establish their own in-house teams.

Opting for an in-house team entails investing time and budget into the recruitment and training of staff. However, it provides effective resource management, enabling businesses to adapt and develop the online marketplace system in alignment with their original vision.

Alternatively, when companies decide to seek external partners, they need to collaborate with various firms to identify the most reputable one. However, upon finding a partner with extensive practical experience in marketplaces across multiple platforms, businesses benefit from consultations and a multitude of solutions from diverse perspectives even before system development begins.

Moreover, these firms possess a wealth of experience in promptly addressing emerging issues during system development and operation. This not only ensures that the requirements are met as anticipated but also facilitates valuable knowledge and experience exchange among all parties involved.

4. Design UI/UX

The User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX) are often considered two inseparable aspects in the process of designing the interface for an eCommerce marketplace.

Here are the key steps in the UI/UX design process:

• User Research: Research and gain a deep understanding of the target user audience, including demographic information, behaviour, needs, and expectations. This helps the business identify important elements to focus on and design accordingly.
• Create Wireframes: Wireframes are simplified outlines of the website’s structure and layout, helping the business determine the placement of interface elements such as menus, buttons, images, and content containers. Wireframes provide an overview of the interface and assist in building the basic layout for the marketplace.
• Optimize User Experience (UX): Ensure the website is user-friendly, easy to navigate, and meets user needs, such as enhancing interactivity, mobile-friendliness, optimizing page loading speed, and more.
• User Interface (UI) Design: Create UI components such as buttons, menus, forms, images, and graphics that align with the brand. Make sure to use appropriate colors, fonts, and images to create a professional interface with a touch of the brand’s identity.
• Testing and Evaluation: After completing the UI/UX design, conduct testing with a user group or use testing tools to assess the effectiveness of the interface.

5. Design architecture and database

Starting from business requirements, the technical team will build the system architecture for the eCommerce marketplace based on the appropriate technology framework or platform. Various architectures can be used, such as three-tier architecture, microservices architecture, hybrid architecture, headless architecture, etc. Each type of architecture has its own advantages and limitations, so businesses need to carefully consider and work with experts on the team or partners to choose the most suitable system architecture for each stage.

Another equally important next step is to establish security and data management. Businesses need to define security measures to protect user data, payment information, and other critical data. Ensure that data is encrypted and transmitted securely via an SSL connection. Implement data protection measures such as access control, user authentication, data encryption, and data integrity checks.

Depending on the operating model of the marketplace, system and database design may need to be customized to be suitable and effective.

6. Develop functional system

After completing the essential functional systems, businesses should continue to develop specific features for their online marketplace, such as:

Operator Portal: Full control of platform information, including seller management, product categorization, customer segments, supply chain management, ad content control, and more.

• User Groups and Administrative Levels: Categorizing users into various groups and granting different permissions to different users.
• Supply Chain Management: Warehouse and inventory management, assisting sellers in order fulfilment by routing orders, and more. 
• Marketing Tools: A range of tools support marketing strategies, including search advertising, live streaming, gamification, and more.
• User Experience Personalization: The ability to display personalized products such as favorites, similar products, past purchases, and facilitate order communication with sellers.
• Analysis and Reporting: Analyzing and measuring the performance of the online marketplace to develop future business strategies.
• Integration with Other Systems: Seamless integration with external systems.

Seller Portal: Sellers self-manage their presence in the marketplace, including product listings, orders, and activities, etc

• Category and Product Management: Add, edit, delete product categories and products within categories; manage product attributes and variations (color, size, etc.); manage inventory quantities.
• Content Management: Create and optimize content, including text, images, videos, banners, widgets, templates, branding, messaging, and more.
• Order Management: View order lists and their statuses. Track shipments and deliveries. Update order status (processing, delivered, canceled, etc.).
• Advertising and Promotions: Display advertisements, banners, promotions on the website. Manage discount codes, promotional programs, and more.
• Payment Integration and Transaction Processing: Integrate payment gateways for online payment processing. Confirm and track payment transactions.

Customer Portal: Allow users to perform and manage basic information such as phone numbers, email addresses, delivery addresses, adjust payment options, request quotes, manage shopping lists, check order status, etc.

• Account Registration and Management: Register new user accounts (buyers and sellers), log in, and manage personal information, delivery addresses, payment methods, etc.
• Product Search and Viewing: Search for products by keywords, categories, brands, etc. View detailed product information, including images, descriptions, prices, ratings, and more.
• Cart and Checkout: Add products to the cart; edit product quantities, remove products from the cart, calculate and display the total amount in the cart; select payment methods; enter payment information and delivery address; confirm and place orders. 
• Reviews and Comments: Rate and write reviews about products; view reviews and comments from other users.
• Customer Support: Provide contact channels for customers to ask questions, request assistance; offer real-time support through direct chat, email, phone, and more.

7. Q/C Testing

Whether you’re building an in-house team or enlisting the services of external development agencies, the quality testing phase of a project holds immense significance. This critical stage is where businesses validate that the system functions as expected and complies with the initial requirements.

Step 1: Define Testing Objectives

Identify the objectives and scope of the testing process. Set specific criteria and requirements that the business wants to verify to ensure the platform operates accurately and meets the specified requirements.

Step 2: Test Planning

Determine a detailed test plan, including test cases, scenarios, and data. Identify the resources, timeline, and scope of the testing phases.

Step 3: Functional Testing

Verify all website functions to ensure they are working correctly as expected. If the business’s website supports multiple languages and regions, it should also verify compatibility and display of each feature in different geographical areas.

Step 4: User Interface (UI) Testing

Ensure the interface is designed beautifully and user-friendly. Evaluate information display, buttons, links, and user experience on various devices, including mobile and tablet.

Step 5: Browser Compatibility Testing

Test the website on popular browsers such as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, and Microsoft Edge to ensure compatibility and correct display on all platforms.

Step 6: Performance Testing

Assess website performance, including page load speed, concurrent processing, and scalability. Ensure the website operates smoothly and can handle the expected traffic load.

Step 7: Security Testing

Examine the platform’s security by testing intrusion potential, data security, and user authentication. Verify security methods such as SSL, data encryption, and security certificates.

Step 8: Issue Resolution

Document and track any errors and issues that arise during testing. Identify the root causes, rectify the errors, and retest until the testing process is approved, and the entire system is ready for go-live and operation.

8. Golive

Go-live is the final stage in the process of starting an eCommerce marketplace when the system is officially launched and becomes operational.

To ensure a successful go-live process, businesses should prepare a checklist known as the Go-live checklist. This is a list of tasks that the deployment team needs to perform to prepare the system for go-live. The checklist includes task items, responsible individuals, status, and how they affect the system.

Pre-golive

• Prepare the Production environment and configure the domain.
• Ensure that the entire source code of the go-live preparation system is the final version of the quality testing process.
• Data migration: Execute the data migration process from the old system to the new system using the established method. Then, verify the data after migration to ensure the integrity and accuracy of data in the new system.
• Content update: Review website content, including text, images, videos, and other materials. Ensure that the content is displayed accurately without spelling or formatting error
• Backup all website data to ensure safety and data recovery capabilities when needed
• Identify and prepare customer guide and support materials

Finally Golive 

• Implement the transition process from the development environment to the actual production environment.
• Monitor website traffic and activities immediately after golive.
• Ensure system stability and performance throughout the go-live process.

Post-golive

• Monitor and analyze user feedback
• Address issues and problems that arise post-go-live
• Ensure the system’s stability and performance over an extended period after golive
• Ensure compatibility of integrations with external systems
• Train employees and managers to use and maintain the system effectively

9. Continuously update & develop features

Regularly updating the system is important for businesses to adapt to the ever-changing customer needs, improve customer experience, stay abreast of emerging technology trends, enhance competitiveness, and more. Moreover, continuous bug fixes and security patch updates enhance the brand’s credibility, safeguard users from internet threats, and so on. 

Moreover, the development of new features empowers businesses to capitalize on market opportunities and scale their operations more professionally. For example, after a period of operation and accumulating a specific customer base, businesses can introduce features tailored to loyal customers. 

Running a thriving marketplace involves a multitude of factors, such as the business model, financial capabilities, and building strategic partnerships with diverse brands. However, a well-functioning eCommerce platform with high performance plays a vital role in the path to success. The journey of marketplace development is anything but straightforward. It requires substantial investments of time and resources for thorough research and the seamless alignment of solutions with each development phase.

Recognizing the challenges and hurdles that businesses face during the process of starting their eCommerce marketplace, feel free to contact or call SECOMM directly at (02871089908) for a free consultation.

PIM is an essential management system that helps synchronize product information across various systems like ERP, POS, CRM, SCM, etc., and a brand’s global sales channels. It’s considered the powerful ‘right hand’ of large corporations for comprehensive information management. 

1. What is PIM?

PIM or Product Information Management is a system or platform used to collect, organize and manage detailed product information for businesses. PIM includes information such as product descriptions, images, prices, product attributes, customer ratings and reviews. 

PIM systems often integrate data from ERP, CRM, POS, and other business management systems related to a company’s products. Once integrated, shared data. 

Related article: What is POS? Why your eCommerce business need it?

2. Benefits of using PIM software 

Managing product information correctly

PIM software allows businesses to accurately and consistently collect, organize, and manage product information. This ensures that product information is updated correctly and comprehensively across all sales channels, from eCommerce websites, mobile apps, and social media to marketplaces like Shopee, Lazada, Tiki, Sendo, Amazon, and more. When accurate product information is provided to customers, businesses can enhance trust and reputation for their brand. 

Saving time and resources

A PIM system automates the processes of data entry, processing, and product information distribution. This saves time and effort for employees while reducing the risk of errors compared to manual data entry. With more efficient workflows in place, PIM allows employees to focus on other, more critical tasks. 

Enhancing analytical and measurement capabilities

PIM software enables efficient analysis and measurement of product information. By monitoring, evaluation, and data analysis of product details, businesses can gain insights into the performance of marketing campaigns, consumer trends, customer behaviors, and more. Therefore, this empowers them to make more informed and effective business decisions for the future. 

3. Top 5 PIM software for Vietnamese businesses 

Akeneo

Akeneo is a widely embraced PIM platform known for its broad range of services, including open-source PIM and cloud-based PIM systems, etc. 

Currently, Akeneo offers three primary PIM solution packages:

• Community Edition: Free of charge – Designed for small and medium-sized enterprises looking to efficiently manage and distribute product information at a minimal cost.
• Growth Edition: Starting at $25,000 per year – Tailored for mid-sized companies aiming to unlock the potential of product information management.
• Enterprise Edition: Pricing upon request – Catered to large corporations in need of a specialized PIM system. 

Pros:

• Effective product information management: Akeneo enables businesses to easily manage product information, from data input to classification and organization, creating a precise and consistent source of product data.
• High integration: Akeneo seamlessly integrates with other systems such as ERP, CRM, POS, and eCommerce platforms (Magento, Shopify, WooCommerce, etc).
• Scalability: Akeneo provides APIs and an open development framework, allowing businesses to expand and customize the PIM platform based on their specific needs.

Cons:

• High costs: The cost of using Akeneo is relatively high compared to other PIM systems.
• Complexity: Akeneo has some highly complex features that require time and expertise to effectively implement. Moreover, training employees and managing the Akeneo PIM system may demand a certain investment.
• Customer support: Some users find that Akeneo’s customer support can only address general knowledge and may not be able to resolve technical issues or address industry-specific concerns for each brand.

 1WorldSync

1WorldSync is a company that specializes in providing solutions for managing product information and synchronizing product data for large enterprises. Their platform is built on a global network for product data synchronization, connecting suppliers, retailers, distributors, and various stakeholders worldwide.

1WorldSync currently offers four customizable solutions tailored to the needs of large enterprises:

• Base: Geared towards businesses looking for quick and efficient global product content management.
• Plus: Leverages product content to boost marketing strategies and sales initiatives, and ensures compliance with transparent information policies.
• Pro: Delivers a visual data solution along with premium support services for setting up and managing high-quality product portfolios.
• Premier: Enhances brand visibility in the eCommerce market through carefully curated. high-quality content.

Pros:

• Comprehensive product information management: 1WorldSync offers a robust platform for managing product information, including images, descriptions, technical attributes, barcodes, and other details. This helps businesses efficiently maintain and update product information.
• Global product data synchronization: 1WorldSync establishes a global network for product data synchronization, enabling businesses to connect and share product information with partners and customers worldwide. This network ensures the consistency of product information across various sales channels.
• Enhancing customer experience: By providing detailed, accurate, and consistent product information across sales channels, 1WorldSync improves the shopping experience and product evaluations for customers.

Cons: 

• High costs: Since 1WorldSync is a PIM system designed for each business, the cost of using 1WorldSync can be relatively high
• Complex regulations and standards: Businesses must ensure that managing and sharing product information on 1WorldSync complies with legal regulations and standards, such as privacy rights, data protection, and industry standards.
• Complex and user-unfiendly: The interface and workflow on 1WorldSync can be relatively complex and challenging to understand for new users. It requires time and resources to train employees and adapt to the new system.

Sales Layer

Sales Layer is a PIM platform tailored for efficient product data management across medium and large businesses on a global scale. This PIM solution is designed with customization in mind, and its pricing varies depending on specific business needs, with a starting cost of $1,000 per month.

Sales Layer currently offers several solution packages, including:

• Premium: An ideal choice for businesses seeking a swift and sustainable PIM system implementation.
• Enterprise: A comprehensive solution providing all the essential features for elevating a medium-sized business into a global enterprise.
• Enterprise Plus: A specialized PIM solution adept at effortlessly handling intricate data challenges within businesses.

Pros:

• Centralized product information management: The Sales Layer provides a centralized platform for managing product information, ensuring data consistency.
• Workflow and process control: Sales Layer offers tools for managing workflows and work processes to organize and manage product information updates and approvals, guaranteeing data quality.
• Rapid information retrieval and search: The Sales Layer incorporates algorithms that enable swift retrieval and searching of information to meet specific user demands.

Cons: 

• Complex implementation process: One of the drawbacks of the Sales Layer is its relatively intricate deployment and initial configuration, especially for businesses with existing and large-scale systems.
• Specialized training requirements: Sales Layer may necessitate a certain amount of training time to become familiar with the interface and functionalities of this PIM system. Training employees and ensuring proficiency in using the Sales Layer can be time-consuming and resource-intensive.
• Limited technical support: In the event of issues or technical problems, support from the Sales Layer may not fully meet expectations or provide a quick resolution.

Salsify

Salsify is a cloud-based product information management (PIM) platform that offers businesses a solution to efficiently manage and distribute product information across various sales channels. Salsify functions as a software a service (SaaS) application, with usage costs tailored to each business, typically ranging from $2,000 to $5,000 per month. 

Pros:

• Comprehensive workflow management: Salsify offers the capacity to manage workflow procedures, permitting the adaptation, monitoring, and endorsement of alterations in product data, guaranteeing accuracy and proficient control of work processes.
• Multilingual and multiregional compatibility: Salsify backs the management of product data in several languages and geographic regions, facilitating effective expansion into international markets.
• Seamless integration with various systems: Salsify permits integration with diverse business management systems and tools like ERP, CRM, SCM, POS, and more, streamlining business processes. 

Cons: 

• High deployment and maintenance costs: The initial deployment and ongoing maintenance expenses for a PIM system on Salsify can be relatively high compared to other PIM systems. This might impact a business’s long-term financial resources.
• Initial data input challenges: Importing initial product data and information into Salsify can be challenging and time-consuming, particularly when dealing with a large volume of product details from various sources. This process requires meticulous attention to ensure accuracy.
• Complexity in usage: Salsify offers a wide array of features and product management capabilities, but it also comes with a corresponding level of of complexity. Learning how to use Salsify effectively may necessitate time spent delving into guides and documentation.

inRiver

inRiver is a PIM system developed to efficiently manage and distribute product information across various sales channels and different eCommerce platforms such as Adobe Commerce, Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, etc. The cost of using inRiver is approximately $1,000 per month. 

Pros:

• Product variations management: inRiver supports the management of information regarding product variations, including color options, sizes, styles, and other details. inRiver enables comprehensive and diverse product information display, effectively meeting customer needs.
• Integration with DAM support: inRiver supports integration with Digital Asset Management (DAM) systems, allowing the management and linkage of digital assets such as images, videos, and product-related documents. This enhances the management and distribution of multimedia content related to products.
• High scalability: inRiver is designed to expand its capabilities according to a business’s specific requirements, catering to diverse business needs and objectives.

Cons: 

• Complex user interface: Some users may find it challenging to navigate River’s user interface due to its relatively complex nature, requiring training to become familiar with and use effectively.
• Resource-intensive PIM system implementation: Implementing and maintaining inRiver demands a highly skilled workforce.
• Complex customization capabilities: Customizing and integrating inRiver with existing systems and workflows can be intricate and require technical expertise. This can result in difficulties and increased costs associated with system integration and customization.

Above is a summary of the top 5 PIM software options tailored for large-scale businesses, each with its own unique set of advantages and disadvantages. Depending on the requirements for PIM system development and budget considerations, companies can explore and select the most appropriate PIM solution. 

Get in touch with SECOMM for more information!

Recent statistics indicate that Vietnam has a population of 24.7 million children and roughly 24.2 million women of childbearing age. Moreover, with an annual birth rate of approximately 1.5 million children, Vietnam stands out as a prospective market for the baby industry. As a result, it comes as no surprise that many baby brands have been progressively establishing and expanding their stores year by year. Additionally, the industry benefits from the momentum created by the pandemic and the evolving trend of transitioning from offline to online shopping.

1. 3 reasons for baby brands to get on board with eCommerce

Adapt to market trends

While offline businesses experienced a downturn during the period of social distancing, leading to the contraction of many retail chains, online commerce has been flourishing. Even as society progresses towards a “reopening” phase in the post-pandemic world, the preference for online shopping remains strong. The demand for various products, spanning from timepieces, cosmetics, and groceries, to mom-and-baby essentials, on eCommerce websites and marketplaces continues to steadily surge.

Hence, the solution for Baby enterprises to align with market trends involves the implementation of an O2O (Online to Offline) model. This approach integrates offline sales (leveraging existing physical store networks) with online channels. Among these channels, establishing an eCommerce website is paramount for businesses to promptly deploy sales and marketing strategies, attracting customers and preventing potential loss to competitors.

Expand to customer outreach

When physical stores are constrained by location, staffing, and operating hours, online stores remain open and accessible from anywhere worldwide. This offers Baby businesses the opportunity to extend their reach to a large pool of potential customers on the Internet.

By implementing effective strategies like optimizing SEO, running advertising campaigns, or leveraging social media, Baby businesses can swiftly boost their brand recognition, attract a diverse clientele to their eCommerce website, and facilitate round-the-clock product sales.

2. Top Vietnamese Baby eCommerce sites

Con Cung 

Launched in 2011, the Con Cung retail chain quickly gained recognition and became the top choice for many Vietnamese families to shop for mom-and-baby products, offering a catalog of over 2000 items. In 2016, with the investments received, Con Cung significantly expanded its store chain from 100 in 2016 to 400 in 2020 (currently at 700 stores).

Recognizing the evolving consumer landscape with a shift from offline to online shopping, the brand proactively intensified its online retail efforts through its eCommerce website and mobile app, enriching the shopping experience for its customers. With this in mind, Con Cung has set an ambitious target of reaching 1 billion USD in revenue by 2023 and aims to capture a 30% market share, envisioning a 2 billion USD in revenue by 2025, with at least 30% coming from eCommerce.

Therefore, in recent times, Con Cung has made an effort to attract customers to its eCommerce website. They consistently promote various enticing programs, including “Monday Freeship Day” and the “Stuffed Animal Fiesta for 99K.”

Additionally, Con Cung has kept pace with the Mobile Commerce trend by introducing the ‘Con Cung’ mobile app, available on both App Store and Google Play. This app has garnered highly positive user feedback and currently ranks 24th in the Shopping category.

Particularly, this retailer’s delivery service has earned high praise from customers. With a network of over 700 stores across the country. Con Cung offers lighting-fast 1-hour delivery through its “Pink Warrior” delivery team. Beyond partnering with third-party delivery providers such as Grab Expres, Giao Hang Nhanh, Giao Hang Tiet Kiem, the brand also maintains a dedicated team of delivery warriors who cater to customer’s specific time preferences. 

Kids Plaza

Established in 2009, Kids Plaza offers more than 10,000 mom-and-baby products, certified safe for babies from top-notch brands in Vietnam and around the world. In the competitive race, Kids Plaza has consistently fortified its position by embracing the O2O business model.

This strategy involves harmoniously blending traditional in-store retail with a variety of online channels, including a dedicated website, eCommerce platforms, Zalo stores, mobile applications, and more. Kids Plaza has rolled out enticing customer loyalty programs such as Kicoin, the convenient Freeship policy covering a 7km radius for all purchasing channels, and exclusive discounts for expectant mothers when shopping in brick-and-mortar stores. 

Customers aren’t only satisfied by the seamless shopping experience, affordable prices, and appealing promotional offers but also by exceptional product quality. All products undergo strict quality control before being officially offered for sale to provide the best experience and service, ensuring customers’ peace of mind while shopping. 

Kids Plaza also demonstrates its care for expectant moms and babies through programs like the free antenatal classes, which have been conducted for over a decade and have successfully aided numerous mothers during their childbirth journeys. Moreover, the brand hosts annual community events and maintains an insightful knowledge-sharing blog to help elevate health awareness among both mothers and children.

Bibo Mart

The mom-and-baby retail chain, Bibo Mart, was established in 2006 and specializes in offering a wide range of products for mothers and babies, including maternity clothing, diapers, formula, and strollers. Similar to Con Cung and Kids Plaza, Bibo Mart hasn’t lagged behind in the eCommerce race. After years of operation and growth, Bibo Mart has identified a new vision for investing in an eCommerce system to meet the online shopping needs of its customers.

Currently, online sales at Bibo Mart account for 14.5% of the total revenue and are expected to increase to over 30% in the next five years. Beyond frequently offering attractive incentives to encourage customers to shop on their website and app, Bibo Mart has introduced a loyalty program with four tiers: Loyal, Silver, Gold, and Diamond. Customers are assigned membership ranks based on their specified spending levels and earn BiXu points for continued exclusive benefits.

Notably, customers can use a QR code on the app to scan for product info or accumulate points when shopping in physical stores. Bibo Mart also demonstrates its commitment to its customers by providing maternal and childcare knowledge through blogs and free online seminars and classes for mothers as well as those caring for their health during pregnancy and postpartum. 

The potential of the Baby eCommerce market in Vietnam is enormous, and the success of major players like Con Cung, Kids Plaza, and Bibo Mart has encouraged the participation of other businesses. However, for a Baby eCommerce business to succeed, it’s important to build a comprehensive and feasible strategy, both short-term and long-term. Particularly, eCommerce websites and mobile apps are the two crucial keys that determine the success or failure of a business in the eCommerce race.

Having partnered with many businesses in implementing eCommerce websites and apps over the years, SECOMM has accumulated practical experience to assist businesses in swift and effective deployment.

Feel free to contact us or call SECOMM’s hotline at (02871089908) for a free consultation.

BigCommerce and Magento are trusted names representing two types of eCommerce platforms: SaaS and Open Source. The demand for developing eCommerce websites on these platforms is increasing. However, deciding between the two is a complex task. 

This article aims to highlight the pros and cons of each and provide a thorough comparison, helping you as a business make informed decisions.

1. Overview

What is BigCommerce?

BigCommerce is a robust SaaS eCommerce platform, boasting an array of integrated features packaged to accommodate businesses of all scales and technical proficiencies. This platform facilitates the swift development of eCommerce websites. Beyond its inherent capabilities, BigCommerce extends a diverse suite of tools and extensions covering sales, marketing, SEO, data analytics, and transformation, empowering businesses to drive eCommerce growth. 

What is Magento?

Magento (now owned by Adobe) is an open-source eCommerce platform that empowers businesses with full control over developing and managing their eCommerce websites. Known for its high level of customization and scalability, Magento offers a wide range of advanced features and extensions, making it an ideal choice for meeting the complex requirements of large-scale enterprises with ample budgets and a certain level of technical expertise. Magento currently comes in two main versions:

• Magento Open Source: the free version
• Adobe Commerce: the paid version with two options, on-premise and on-cloud.

2. BigCommerce vs Magento: Pros and Cons

BigCommerce

Pros:

• User-friendly and easy-to-navigate interface
• Suitable for businesses of all sizes
• Comes with a rich set of integrated features
• Offers a variety of reasonable pricing plans
• Includes 65 popular global payment methods integrated with BigCommerce at no transaction cost
• Offers a diverse selection of themes and extensions

Cons:

• Sales volume restrictions apply
• Deployment costs tend to rise over time
• Customization options are limited

Magento

Pros:

• Ideal for large enterprises with complex customization needs and ample budgets
• High customization and scalability
• Diverse and advanced built-in features compared to SaaS platforms
• No sales volume limitations
• Wide range of available extensions

Cons:

• Requires a high level of technical expertise
• Lengthy deployment times
• high initial costs

3. BigCommerce vs Magento: Detailed Comparison

Ease of Use

Ease of use of a platform is one of the primary considerations for an eCommerce business when selecting one. A platform with an intuitive interface that is easy to set up and manage allows businesses to focus on their core operations.

BigCommerce

BigCommerce is a SaaS platform, making it more accessible for businesses that may not possess technical expertise or have a strong tech background in building eCommerce websites. It eliminates the need for complex programming; businesses simply need to provide basic information to gain access to the BigCommerce dashboard, where they can configure and manage all aspects of their online store, from product additions to layout modifications. 

What’s more, BigCommerce offers a user-friendly drag-and-drop page builder that empowers businesses to create a storefront without the necessity of coding skills. Moreover, themes and extensions can be swiftly integrated with just a few clicks. 

Magento

On the other hand, Magento users should have a certain level of technical expertise to execute tasks during the setup of an eCommerce website, including configuring FTP files and integrating themes into the Magento website, among other things. Tasks like modifying themes, integrating extensions, applying security patches, and optimizing speed require coding skills.

Therefore, many businesses opt to collaborate with Magento agencies to develop and maintain their Magento eCommerce websites. However, following the initial technical setup challenges, businesses can readily customize attributes and functionalities for their websites through the platform’s backend. 

Pricing

BigCommerce

Magento

Hosting

BigCommerce

Being a SaaS platform, BigCommerce offers support for various hosting-related issues, ensuring an impressive average uptime of 99.99%, quick page loading, and minimal website maintenance. 

Magento

• Magento Open Source: Businesses purchase hosting from specialized third-party providers who are responsible for infrastructure setup, security, and maintenance, allowing businesses to focus on core operations.
• Adobe Commerce on-premise: Businesses have complete control over configuring and managing their in-house hosting environment, offering customization options to meet specific needs.

Adobe Commerce on-cloud: Hosting for the business’s Magento eCommerce site is provided, configured, managed, and stored on virtual servers offered by cloud service providers (CSPs) like AWS and Microsoft Azure.

Features

SEO

SEO is a crucial feature that every eCommerce website needs and it’s an important factor for businesses to consider when assessing a platform. Both BigCommerce and Magento offer essential SEO optimization features, which include:

• Google site maps
• SEO-friendly URLs
• URL rewriting
• Meta descriptions
• 301 redirect handling
• Mobile compatibility

However, BigCommerce includes a built-in ‘blog’ feature in its solution packages, while Magento requires businesses to integrate a ‘blog’ extension to use this feature.

Plus, businesses can enhance their website’s SEO by using extensions available in the Magento and BigCommerce marketplaces. It’s worth noting that Magento offers a wider range of advanced SEO tools, although the cost of Magento extensions may be higher than those available for BigCommerce.

Multiple channels integration

With this feature, BigCommerce excels over Magento by pre-integrating the most prevalent sales channels like Amazon, eBay, Walmart, Facebook, and Instagram into all pricing plans. However, if businesses require integration with additional sales channels beyond these pre-set options, they can do so by utilizing apps from BigCommerce’s marketplace. 

On the other hand, Magento offers businesses the flexibility to implement multi-channel sales by integrating various desired sales channels into their eCommerce website, each with its own associated costs. Notably, Amazon integration can be done for free. 

Purchase flow

eCommerce businesses have to ensure a seamless, swift, and user-friendly customer buying journey, encompassing features like product search support and an effortless payment process. Both Magento and BigCommerce provide capabilities to facilitate online shopping, including

• Product filtering
• Product comparison
• Recently viewed items
• Wishlist
• One-page checkout
• Checkout as a member or visitor
• Real-time shipping rate calculation
• Multiple shipping addresses
• Order tracking via registered accounts
• Reordering

Payment options

BigCommerce provides businesses with 65 integrated payment gateways, including popular options like Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Amazon Pay, all with no transaction fee.

In contrast, Magento offers only PayPal and Authorize.net for payments, requiring businesses to integrate third-party payment providers for more choices. Magento’s marketplace features over 450 payment-related extensions with various costs, but businesses will need time to select and integrate them. 

Themes & Extensions

Aside from features, themes, and extensions also contribute significantly to the growth of an eCommerce website. Therefore, this is another factor that businesses take into account when selecting a platform.

BigCommerce

The platform provides 266 themes with prices ranging from $195 to $395, including 12 free themes. Businesses can purchase BigCommerce themes on ThemeForest at prices ranging from about $16 to $179.

These designs are modern, suitable for various industries, and offer good responsiveness across multiple screen sizes, including smartphones, tablets, and desktops. However, when compared to other SaaS platforms like Wix or Squarespace, BigCommerce’s customization options and the quantity of both free and paid themes may appear relatively limited. Moreover, the exact count of free and paid themes might not be entirely precise, as some themes share very similar layouts, differing mainly in color schemes.

Magento

Unlike BigCommerce, Magento provides a limited selection of themes, with just 9 options available. Among these, only 3 themes are free, while the rest range in price from $150 to $499 each. If businesses opt to purchase Magento themes on ThemeForest, they can expect prices ranging from $39 to $299 per theme.

Moreover, businesses have the option to create custom interfaces tailored to their unique requirements by partnering with specialized providers, incurring costs typically ranging from $1000 to $5000. 

Regarding extensions, both BigCommerce and Magento offer extensive extension libraries to support businesses in growing their eCommerce stores. However, Magento has a slight edge in this regard.

Customization & Scalability

Customization involves the capacity to adjust any feature, theme, or integrated extensions to meet specific requirements for an eCommerce website. Scalability, on the other hand, refers to the ability to maintain platform performance as the eCommerce site expands. Therefore, these factors play a vital role in platform selection.

Customization

Magento operates as an open-source platform, giving developers full access to and control over the source code.

On the other hand, BigCommerce functions as a SaaS platform, restricting businesses from making backend modifications. While certain frontend interface adjustments are possible with a few code snippets, most modifications need to be done in the backend. Hence, BigCommerce’s customization is somewhat limited compared to Magento. 

Scalability

Both Magento and BigCommerce can handle large website traffic and sales volumes. However, Magento outperforms BigCommerce in this aspect, which is also why Magento doesn’t have sales volume limits. 

Meanwhile, BigCommerce imposes annual sales volume limits based on the pricing plan being used. When businesses reach the sales volume limit of their current pricing plan, they need to upgrade to a higher-tier plan.

• Standard: Up to $50k/year
• Plus: Up to $180K/year
• Pro: Up to $400K/year
• Enterprise: Custom 

Security

Both BigCommerce and Magento are prominent names in the eCommerce industry, trusted by numerous businesses for their security features. Nevertheless, when it comes to providing security-related assistance, these platforms exhibit notable differences.

As a SaaS platform, BigCommerce includes security support as an integral component of its solution packages. This encompasses SSL certificates, firewalls, backups, and intrusion detection. In case any complications arise during the eCommerce deployment process, businesses can readily access 24/7 customer support for swift assistance.

In contrast, due to Magento’s open-source nature, businesses bear the responsibility for managing the security aspects of their Magento eCommerce websites. This entails tasks such as overseeing SSL certificates, implementing two-factor authentication, and adhering to PCI compliance. Additionally, while Magento periodically releases security updates, the manual update process can pose challenges for users without technical expertise.

Magento’s support options also present limitations when compared to BigCommerce. Businesses can seek assistance during Magento’s specified operating hours or engage with third-party intermediaries, a potentially time-consuming and complex process.

Popularity

BigCommerce and Magento are both leading options for eCommerce businesses, but their levels of popularity differ somewhat.

According to BuiltWith, at the present time, there are 142,010 active websites using Magento, whereas there are only 44,796 active websites using BigCommerce.

Thus, when it comes to popularity, Magento has the upper hand.

Well-known brands such as Coca-Cola, Nike, and Tesla utilize Magento, while renowned brands like Skullcandy, LARQ, and Molton Brown opt for BigCommerce.

After many years of implementing eCommerce solutions for clients all around the world, using both the BigCommerce and Magento platforms, SECOMM has gained invaluable experience in helping businesses develop and operate their eCommerce websites quickly and efficiently.

Contact us or call SECOMM’s hotline directly at (02871089908) for a free consultation on implementing eCommerce websites with BigCommerce or Magento.

Recently, the trend of Headless CMS deployment has significantly influenced the eCommerce landscape. The emergence of diverse platforms offering various solutions, features, and top-notch customer support can be attributed to this phenomenon. 

Building upon Part 1, this article highlights 5 more Headless CMS platforms that numerous large enterprises leverage to enhance their seamless multi-channel content distribution process.

1. Kontent.ai

Kontent.ai is a cloud-based Headless CMS platform that helps marketers simplify their content creation and management while providing developers the capability to deliver responsive digital experiences across various devices.

The platform offers support for developers through a range of APIs, including REST, GraphQL, Management v2, and Custom Element JavaScript. Furthermore, Kontent.ai is compatible with programming languages such as JavaScript, .NET, PHP, Java, Ruby, and iOS. 

Key features

• Webhooks allow businesses to integrate Kontent.ai with other applications and automate operational processes. Also, Webhooks can be programmed to notify when any changes occur.
• Command-line interface (CLI) supports continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD process), enabling businesses to safely and regularly test and deploy necessary changes.
• Real-time collaboration optimizes content planning with clear task assignments and shared publishing schedules for easy team tracking.
• Simultaneous Editing allows multiple team members to easily edit content without worrying about affecting the work of others.
• Web Spotlight supports the creation of new webpages for upcoming marketing campaigns, adding content, rearranging page elements without the need for developer assistance, and providing content reusability across multiple channels and campaigns.

Pros

• Quick technical support
• Seamless integration with third-party services to optimize the content creation, publishing, distribution, and marketing processes.

Cons

• Limitations in user roles and sometimes encountering obstacles when installing plugins.
• The lack of publicly available pricing makes it challenging for businesses to estimate deployment costs.
• The admin UI interface only supports English, which can be difficult for users who use other languages.

Pricing

Kontent.ai offers three solution packages

• Developer: Free, provides features suitable for non-commercial projects.
• Scale: Custom pricing based on needs, offers a rich set of features for creating and distributing engaging content.
• Enterprise: Custom pricing based on needs, provides superior solutions for delivering and managing seamless digital experiences.

2. Contentstack

Contentstack stands out as a leading Headless CMS platform, facilitating seamless content distribution across multiple channels and devices, ranging from websites, and mobile apps to IoT devices. It offers robust support for popular frameworks like REACT, Vue.js, Angular, and a variety of programming languages such as JavaScript, PHP, Ruby, and Python, among others. Moreover, Contentstack allows businesses to integrate with various platforms, including BigCommerce, Commercetools, Shopify, YouTube, Vimeo, and more.

Key features

• Workflow & Live Preview optimizes and expedites the content creation, review, approval, and publishing process. Additionally, it enables businesses to easily preview real-time content changes across multiple channels before saving or publishing.
• Modular Blocks help instantly create and modify website or app components through simple drag-and-drop actions, without relying on developer assistance.
• Localization for creating and publishing content in 200 languages, meeting the seamless content distribution needs of a global audience.
• Contentstack AI Assistant helps businesses enhance their content creation experiences. Moreover, businesses can integrate Contentstack with other AI applications to provide VR and AR experiences.
• Headless APIs allow businesses to flexibly build interfaces and select APIs tailored to their content goals.

Pros

• Integrating with various platforms and programming languages, including iOS and Ruby.
• Rich learning resources and user-friendly instructional materials.
• Fast content creation, publishing, and distribution.
• 24/7 customer support with a ready-to-use chatbot.

Cons

• Non-disclosed pricing makes it challenging to estimate deployment costs.
• Occasional issues with the WYSIWYG editor.
• Complex to deploy compared to other Headless CMS options.

Pricing

Contentstack offers businesses three solution packages:

• Start: 10 users, 30 content types, 4 system roles.
• Grow: 10 users, 50 content types, 5 system roles.
• Scale: 10+ users, unlimited content types, and system roles.

3. dotCMS

dotCMS is an open-source Headless CMS based on Java, offering numerous solutions and features that enable businesses to create and reuse content for building personalized and seamless digital experiences across channels. dotCMS supports APIs like REST and GraphQL and can integrate with platforms such as HubSpot, Google Analytics, Salesforce, and more.

Key features

• Allows businesses to manage the process of creating and publishing multilingual content with localization support for publishing according to local time and predefined schedules.
• Provides full content, layout, and workflow control through APIs and JSON data strings.
• WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor allows businesses to create content with text processor-like formatting.
• Offers  APIs for real-time image resizing, cropping, and manipulation. Additionally, dotCMS supports image optimization for user devices, such as automatic resizing and image compression in WebP format.

Pros

• Allows businesses to customize content and integrate with other platforms.
• Provides abundant learning resources and technical support.
• Offers quick customer support with a chatbot.

Cons

• Many concepts and features may require businesses to invest time in learning.
• The platform occasionally encounters errors.

Pricing

dotCMS offers three solution packages for users to choose from:

• Open Source: Free, suitable for individuals with simple needs and self-hosting.
• Starter: $3,750/month, designed for small businesses.
• Enterprise: Custom pricing based on needs, suitable for medium to large enterprises with advanced features and superior support.

4. Butter CMS

Butter CMS is a Headless CMS platform that simplifies content development and management for businesses. The platform supports frameworks such as React, Vue.js, Node.js, Angular, and various programming languages like PHP, Python, Java, Swift, Kotlin, Ruby, and more.

Key features

• Developer Experience: Butter offers a variety of tech stacks for developers to deploy as needed. Developers also can configure Webhooks in their account settings to receive notifications for any content-related changes. Especially with One-click Migrations, businesses can easily create schemas or move content within the Butter CMS environment through the dashboard.
• Launch Content Faster: Butter provides features to help businesses easily manage Content Types on a centralized dashboard and build landing pages to drive organic or advertising-generated traffic. Moreover, Butter CMS’s Blog Engine offers a set of APIs for businesses to add a blog to their website and fully customize it based on their needs.
• Localization: Businesses can create and publish multilingual content. Furthermore, administrators have language-specific access to specific local markets, ensuring a unified collaboration process among global marketing teams.

Pros

• One of the best user-friendly platforms for developers and content marketers.
• Provides a headless CMS solution for various content needs, including e-commerce businesses, agencies, SaaS companies, e-commerce marketplaces, and enterprises managing multiple websites simultaneously.
• Excellent customization capabilities.
• Offers integration support for various frameworks, programming languages, and more.
• Provides a chatbot for customer inquiries.
• Offers a 30-day trial for businesses.

Cons

• Many features and concepts but lack instructional videos, leading to difficulty in understanding and application.
• Limited features for creating dynamic and interactive content.

Pricing

Butter CMS offers a variety of solution packages, including

• Micro: $83/month, suitable for freelancers implementing small projects for their clients.
• Startup: $166/month, designed for startups to quickly launch projects to the market.
• Small Business: $333/month, for growing businesses with expanding content needs and running global advertising campaigns.
• Enterprise + Agency: Custom pricing based on specific requirements.

5. Builder.io

Builder.io is a Headless CMS platform that allows businesses to visually build and optimize web and mobile experiences. The platform supports developers with frameworks like React, Vue.js, Gatsby, and Next.js. Additionally, businesses can integrate Builder.io with popular platforms such as Shopify, BigCommerce, Salesforce, Magento, Cloudinary, Yotpo, Commercetools, and more. 

Key features

• Integrate: Provides versatile and simultaneous integration capabilities. For example, it can integrate with Crowdin, Phrase, Smartling for content localization, BigCommerce, Shopify, Magento for eCommerce deployment, and Figma for design. Builder.io can even integrate with other CMS platforms like Contentstack, Contentful, and Kontent.ai.
• Compose: Utilizes drag-and-drop tasks to customize existing design systems. Builder.io offers blocks such as text, image, video, and forms to allow users to easily create custom experiences beyond the available default designs.
• Design: Offers responsive design capabilities, enabling users to customize content and layouts to suit various devices and create animations without the need for coding. Builder.io also supports integrating design layouts from Figma to streamline the design process.
• Collaborate: Easily customize system roles and permissions to enhance collaboration and real-time content creation tracking. Team members can initiate chat discussions, share ideas, and update work progress with each other.
• Optimize: Easily create multiple pages and different content for A/B testing without compromising website and app performance. It supports personalized content targeting. Furthermore, Builder.io provides analytics on click-through rates, conversions, and user interactions with published content. Businesses can also integrate data with other analysis systems like BI (Business Intelligence) and CDP (Customer Data Platform).

Pros

• A user-friendly platform suitable for both developers and non-technical users.
• Provides quick and seamless integration with various frameworks, programming languages, and more.
• Offers numerous options for businesses to optimize design and create content.
• Rich learning resources, including easy-to-understand video tutorials.
• Includes a chatbot for customer query resolution.

Cons

• Does not offer trial options for its solution packages.
• Being a relatively new platform, it may be challenging for businesses to find user experience reviews on forums.

Pricing

Builder.io offers a range of solution packages:

• Free: $0/month, for quick deployment.
• Basic: $99/month, includes all essential tools and features to get started.
• Growth: $449/month, encompasses all tools and features for optimization and growth.
• Enterprise: Custom pricing based on business needs.

So, SECOMM’s comprehensive overview of the top 10 Headless CMS platforms (P1+P2) has concluded, with the expectation that enterprises will find the platform that aligns with their development requirements. By adopting a Headless CMS, businesses can promptly establish an online presence and efficiently connect with numerous potential customers through compelling content distribution.

Feel free to get in touch with SECOMM or directly call our Hotline at (02871089908) for expert guidance and assistance in implementing a Headless CMS.

As new UI/UX design trends emerge, designers must stay up-to-date to create the most engaging and user-friendly interfaces for businesses. UI/UX design plays a vital role in crafting excellent user experiences and improving online business efficiency. 

In this article, SECOMM will discuss the latest UI/UX design trends for the year 2024 and beyond

1. What is UI/UX design?

User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX) are often regarded as two interrelated aspects when it comes to designing interfaces for any online product or service, especially in the case of eCommerce websites.

UI design encompasses the creation of various elements like call-to-action buttons, navigation bars, charts, and images, all based on choices of colors, layouts, fonts, and more, to craft an intuitive, appealing, and visually engaging user interface. In design, UI serves as a means to convey messages from businesses and brands to their users.

On the other hand, User Experience (UX) involves the process of shaping the overall experience for users during their interaction with a product or service. This encompasses meeting user requirements for ease of use and functionality, strategizing and structuring information, designing interaction workflows, and assessing effectiveness through research on user habits and behaviors within eCommerce websites.

2. The role of UI/UX design in eCommerce

Impress your consumers

Expertly crafted UI/UX design can leave a lasting impact on users when they visit your eCommerce website. In the highly competitive eCommerce landscape, a remarkable UI/UX design can set your business apart and create a distinctive identity among market rivals.

Increase interactivity

Effective UI/UX design can help you enhance your interaction capabilities with consumers. For example, creating social media sharing buttons, user reviews, and intuitive search tools can streamline the customer’s journey to products and more.

Increase credibility and trust

A professional UI/UX design helps you establish trust with customers and cultivate a positive brand image. By offering clear security information, SSL certificates, and secure payment procedures, you can instill confidence in customers while mitigating the risks of personal data breaches and financial fraud.

Increase conversions

Starting with an investment in UI/UX design helps convert potential customers into actual customers. Through data analysis and user feedback, businesses can gain a deeper understanding of customer behavior and make interface adjustments to improve the user experience and overall business performance.

Related article: The 10 biggest eCommerce trends set to dominate in 2023

3. Top 10 UI/UX design trends

Dark Mode

Although the Dark Mode design trend isn’t new to website developers, it continues to be popular in 2023. The option to switch between light and dark modes offers users more flexibility when visiting an eCommerce website. Dark Mode enhances the browsing experience, especially for users who spend extended hours in front of screens. Furthermore, it can contribute to saving battery life on mobile devices or screens equipped with OLED displays.

3D Design

The 3D design trend is gaining more popularity in UI/UX design. 3D elements bring depth and realism to website interfaces, making them visually appealing and improving user interaction. UI/UX designers frequently utilize 3D elements for website components like CTA buttons, icons, banners, and backgrounds, or employ 3D animations for feedback and transition effects, creating a more engaging user experience that fosters a visual connection with users.

Neomorphism

Neumorphism is a design trend that blends aspects of both skeuomorphism and flat design. It creates a 3D effect by using shadow and highlight effects to achieve a sleek, modern look for websites. However, UI/UX designers must be cautious not to overuse neumorphism, as it can result in a cluttered, confusing interface or create effects contrary to what a business intends to convey.

Modern Minimalism

Modern Minimalism represents a UI/UX design trend that centers on crafting straightforward, user-friendly interfaces by removing extraneous elements and highlighting vital content. This style combines simplicity with modernity, providing users with a refined and user-friendly experience. The main challenge in implementing Modern Minimalism is finding the balance between simplicity and aesthetics, ensuring that the design remains both visually appealing and easy for users to navigate.

Dynamic Gradient

Dynamic Gradient is a design trend that produces color gradient effects that adapt according to user interactions or the time of day. It can offer users a more personalized and sophisticated experience. However, when implementing Dynamic Gradient in UI/UX design, it’s crucial for designers to strike a balance so that color intensity doesn’t become overpowering and doesn’t compromise readability.

Voice Interface

Voice Interface represents a UI/UX design trend where users can interact with an eCommerce website system using voice commands rather than traditional input methods such as keyboards, mice, or touchscreens. Voice Interface employs voice recognition technology to comprehend and respond to user commands, requests, or queries. In UI/UX design, Voice Interface introduces a fresh and user-friendly mode of interaction, thereby unlocking a plethora of opportunities for tailoring the user experience and delivering personalized services.

Micro-interactions

Micro-interactions are a design style that incorporates small elements, including subtle animations, specific sound effects, image responses to user actions or voice commands, and more, to create an engaging experience and enhance interaction on a website. Micro-interactions can also help guide users through the website interface effortlessly. When applying Micro-interactions, UI/UX designers need to ensure they won’t distract or annoy users.

Augmented reality (AR)

Augmented reality (AR) is becoming increasingly popular in the UI/UX design community, especially in eCommerce websites related to technology, interior design, cosmetics, gaming, and more. AR allows users to interact with products/services as if they were in the real world, bridging the gap between online and offline shopping. However, due to its advanced technology, AR can sometimes pose challenges for older or less tech-savvy customers. Therefore, when designing the UI/UX, businesses must ensure that AR elements are intuitive and user-friendly.

Asymmetric Layouts

Asymmetric Layouts is a UI/UX design trend where elements and components aren’t arranged in the traditional symmetrical structure. Instead, elements are placed asymmetrically and inconsistently, creating a sense of balance and noticeable uniqueness in the design. 

The strength of Asymmetric Layouts lies in their ability to capture users’ attention and create a distinctive experience through images and emphasis on essential content. However, when using Asymmetric Layouts, it’s essential to consider ensuring that the eCommerce website interface remains user-friendly, easy to navigate and maintains its aesthetic appeal.

Data Visualization

Data Visualization is a design trend that involves presenting complex data in a clear and visual manner using graphs, charts, and images. In UI/UX design, Data Visualization is used to transform intricate information into engaging visuals, simplifying data comprehension and interaction for users.

Therefore, when incorporating Data Visualization into UI/UX design, it’s essential to carefully choose appropriate data representation methods, utilize colors and graphical elements effectively, and ensure information is conveyed clearly and attractively.

Those are the top 10 UI/UX design trends for eCommerce website in 2023. We hope that the valuable information in this blog will help you choose your best-fit style that conveys your brand’s essence.

Contact us now or call directly to the SECOMM hotline at (028) 7108 9908 for eCommerce consulting and implementation.

In the cloud infrastructure service market, there are many large enterprises, but the first name that comes to mind for large enterprises is AWS.

1. What is AWS?

AWS (Amazon Web Services) is a cloud solution developed by the “giant” Amazon, trusted by millions of businesses, including fast-growing startups, colossal corporations and top-tier government agencies.

At present, AWS provides a comprehensive array of over 200 fully-featured services, accessible from data centers scattered across the globe. These services encompass blockchain, cloud computing, DevOps, storage, backup, recovery, and more. 

According to estimates published by the Synergy Research Group, Amazon’s market share surged to 32% during the initial quarter of 2023, maintaining its lead in the global cloud infrastructure market and surpassing all other tech titans, including Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, Alibaba Cloud, IBM Cloud, Salesforce, Oracle, and Tencent Cloud

2. Benefits of deploying AWS

Scalability

AWS provides flexible scalability, enabling businesses to adjust resources according to their needs, whether it involves scaling up to handle high traffic or accommodating growth, all without the need for investments in physical infrastructure.

Moreover, AWS offers effortless integration with various services and technologies through APIs and management tools. This allows AWS to seamlessly integrate its applications with third-party services and incorporate new technologies into the existing system.

Cutting-edge service

With AWS, businesses can leverage cutting-edge technologies to experiment and innovate more swiftly. Since its inception, AWS has consistently introduced novel technologies that businesses can utilize for their digital transformation.
For example:

Back in 2014, AWS led the way in serverless computing with the introduction of AWS Lambda, enabling developers to execute code without the need to provision or manage servers.

In 2017, AWS launched Amazon SageMaker, a managed machine learning service that empowers both developers and data scientists, regardless of their prior experience.

Security

AWS employs an end-to-end approach to secure and fortify its infrastructure, encompassing physical systems, operational systems, and software. AWS adheres to international security standards, offering compliance checks for rules and regulations such as:

• ISO/IEC 27001: The foremost international standard for information security management.
• ISO 9001: A quality management system standard developed and issued by the International Organization for Standardization.
• PCI DSS: A mandatory information security standard for businesses involved in storing, transmitting, and processing payment card data, overseen by five international payment organizations, including Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, and JCB.

Furthermore, AWS extends support to various other security standards and compliance certifications such as CSA, ISO 27017, ISO 27018, SOC 1, SOC 2, SOC 3, and more.

Optimized Costs

AWS employs a pay-as-you-go payment model, allowing businesses to use resources as needed without overspending their budgets.

Furthermore, AWS has earned the trust of many large enterprises due to its optimized costs. For instance, when businesses commit to using an AWS service or a bundle of services up to a specific monetary threshold (measured in USD per hour) over a 1 or 3-year duration, AWS offers more cost-effective solutions than the On-Demand pricing.

Furthermore, businesses can receive volume-based discounts based on the amount of services and resources they utilize within AWS. For example, in the case of Amazon S3, pricing is tiered, meaning the more a business uses, the less it pays per GB.

3. AWS key services

AWS offers a range of cloud services, below are some key AWS services:

Amazon EC2

Amazon EC2 (Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud) is a flexible cloud computing service that provides virtual servers for running applications. It allows businesses to rent and manage virtual machines to meet their specific needs.

Use cases for Amazon EC2:

• Running cloud-based and on-premises applications: Amazon EC2 provides secure, reliable, high-performance, and cost-effective computing infrastructure to meet business needs.
• Scaling for High-Performance Computing (HPC) applications: Access infrastructure and compute power on-demand to run HPC applications faster and cost-effectively.
• Developing Apple platforms: Build, test, and validate macOS workloads on-demand. Access environments in minutes, dynamically adjust capacity as needed, and benefit from AWS’s pay-as-you-go pricing model.
• Training and deploying Machine Learning (ML) applications: Amazon EC2 offers a collection of computing services, network connectivity (up to 400 Gbps), and specialized storage to optimize price performance for ML projects.

Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3)

Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) is a cloud storage service that enables businesses to easily store and access data with durability and high reliability.

Use cases for Amazon S3:

• Building a data lake: Run big data analytics, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and high-performance computing applications to unlock deep insights from your data.
• Backup and recovery of critical data: Meet Recovery Time Objectives (RTOs), Recovery Point Objectives (RPOs), and compliance requirements with S3’s robust replication features.
• Cost-effective data storage: Transition data storage to Amazon S3 Glacier storage classes to minimize costs, eliminate operational complexity, and gain new deep insights.
• Running cloud-native applications: Build rapidly deployable, highly mobile, and web-based cloud-native applications that can automatically scale to meet high-demand configurations.

Amazon Aurora

Amazon Aurora is a high-performance managed relational database service built with compatibility for MySQL and PostgreSQL, outperforming other relational database management systems.

Use cases for Amazon Aurora:

• Modernize enterprise applications: Operate enterprise applications like Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), supply chain, and payments with high availability and performance.
• Build SaaS applications: Support reliable, high-performance Software as a Service (SaaS) applications with the ability to scale version and storage capacity flexibly.
• Deploy globally distributed applications: Develop large-scale internet applications, such as mobile games, social networking apps, and online services, requiring scalability and recovery in multiple regions.
• Serverless technology applications: No need to manage capacity manually and only pay for the capacity used, with instant and detailed scalability to save up to 90% on costs.

Amazon DynamoDB

DynamoDB is a NoSQL database designed to handle high scalability and low-latency response time applications. Amazon DynamoDB is fully managed, serverless, and designed to run high-performance applications at any scale. 

Additionally, DynamoDB provides integrated security features, continuous backups, automatic multi-region replication, in-memory caching, and data loading and exporting tools.

Use cases for Amazon DynamoDB:

• Software application development: Build large-scale internet applications supporting super content user data and caching requirements with high synchronization and connectivity needs for millions of users and millions of requests per second.
• Create a media super data warehouse: Scale throughput and concurrency for media and entertainment workloads such as real-time live video streaming, and interactive content, while delivering lower latency with multi-region replication across AWS regions.
• Provide a seamless retail experience: Use design templates to deploy shopping carts, workflow tools, inventory tracking, and customer profiles. DynamoDB supports high-access events at a massive scale and can handle millions of requests per second.
• Scale gaming platforms: Focus on innovation without operational overhead. Build your gaming platform with player data, session history, and leaderboards for millions of users simultaneously.

Amazon RDS

Amazon RDS (Amazon Relational Database Service) is a managed relational database service for MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, SQL Server, and MariaDB, designed to set up, operate, and scale relational databases in the cloud with just a few clicks.

Use cases for Amazon RDS:

• Build mobile and web applications: Support developing applications with high availability, throughput, and scalable storage capacity. Take advantage of flexible usage-based pricing policies to suit various types of application usage.
• Migrate to a managed database: Innovate and develop new applications with Amazon RDS instead of worrying about managing your own database, which can be time-consuming, complex, and costly.
• Escape from legacy databases: Free yourself from expensive commercial databases by migrating to Amazon Aurora. When you move to Aurora, you can scale, perform, and make your commercial database highly available at 1/10th the cost.

AWS Lambda

AWS Lambda is a serverless computing service that allows businesses to run code without the need to manage servers. AWS Lambda enables businesses to execute code when events occur, optimizing resource usage and reducing costs.

Use cases for AWS Lambda:

• Processing data at scale: Execute code at the capacity you need exactly when it’s required. Scale automatically to match your data volume and trigger custom events.
• Running interactive web and mobile backends: Combine AWS Lambda with other AWS services to create secure, stable, and scalable online experiences.
• Supporting powerful ML insights: Preprocess data before feeding it into your machine learning models. With access to the Amazon Elastic File System, AWS Lambda manages the scaling process and provides infrastructure to simplify scaling adjustments.
• Creating event-driven applications: Build event-driven functions to allow isolated devices to communicate easily with each other. Reduce costs by running applications at maximum demand without incidents or over-provisioning resources.

Amazon VPC

Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (Amazon VPC) allows businesses to define and launch AWS resources in a logically isolated virtual network, providing full control over the virtual network environment, including resource placement, connectivity, and security.

Use cases for Amazon VPC:

• Launching a simple website or blog: Enhance the security of your web application by enforcing rules for incoming and outgoing connections.
• Hosting multi-tier web applications: Define connectivity and network constraints between your web servers, application servers, and databases.
• Creating hybrid connections: Build and manage VPC networking compatible with AWS services and your on-premises resources.

Amazon Lightsail

Amazon Lightsail is an AWS service designed to simplify the deployment and management of applications and websites in the cloud environment. It offers an easy-to-use virtual private server with pre-configured containers, storage capacity, databases, snapshots, and more, all at an affordable monthly price.

Use cases for Amazon Lightsail:

• Launching a simple web application: Use pre-configured development stacks like LAMP, Nginx, MEAN, and Node.js to quickly and easily get your content online.
• Creating custom websites: Build and personalize your personal, e-commerce, or blog website in just a few clicks with pre-configured applications like WordPress, Magento, Prestashop, and Joomla.
• Building applications for small businesses: Kickstart your business software, such as file storage and sharing, backups, financial and accounting software, and more.
• Setting up a testing environment: Easily create, delete, and test development sandboxes and testing environments to experiment with new ideas without risk.

Amazon SageMaker 

Amazon SageMaker is a service for building, training, and deploying machine learning models for any use case with fully managed infrastructure, tools, and workflows.

The primary application of Amazon SageMaker is the development of practical machine learning applications, including product recommendations, personalization, smart shopping, robots, and voice-enabled devices.

In over 16 years since its establishment to date, AWS has provided cloud services to millions of customers worldwide with a global-scale operational experience. In the near future, AWS may continue to maintain its leading position in this over 60 billion USD market with a market share range of 32-34%.

To learn more about AWS and how to deploy AWS for your business, contact SECOMM or call the Hotline at (02871089908) for a free consultation.

Today’s eCommerce consumers are no longer confined to a single channel or device for their shopping needs. They have a ton of options, including mobile apps and social media platforms. As a result, businesses are striving to establish a robust multi-channel presence to swiftly engage with their customers. One highly effective approach to achieving this goal is through the implementation of Headless Commerce. 

In recent years, investors have shown a significant interest in Headless Commerce platforms and associated solutions, recognizing their pivotal role in shaping the future of online commerce.

Forbes reports that between 2020 and 2021 alone, more than $1.65 billion in funding was directed toward Headless technologies. In response to this evolving landscape, Shopify unveiled the Hydrogen solution in June 2021, designed to facilitate the development of headless Commerce storefronts. 

The following article aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of Shopify Hydrogen, shedding light on both its pros and cons. 

1. Overview

Shopify offers businesses the Hydrogen framework solution, originally based on React but now being developed with Remix, in conjunction with the global hosting solution known as Oxygen.

What is Shopify Hydrogen?

In the past, Shopify website developers utilized the platform’s templating language known as Liquid, which often faced performance limitations. Consequently, to ensure top-notch website performance for headless commerce, Shopify businesses require a specialized solution.

Typically, businesses implementing headless projects on Shopify Plus opt for the React framework over Liquid due to its superior technical aspects. Moreover, headless stores on Shopify Plus offer heightened flexibility, customization, and scalability compared to standard headless stores on Shopify.

Therefore, Shopify has introduced a solution that allows both Shopify Plus and standard Shopify businesses to build and advance the most optimized headless eCommerce websites possible. This led to the creation of the Hydrogen framework solution and Oxygen hosting.

Shopify Hydrogen is a React-based framework that empowers developers to craft distinctive and entirely customized frontend Shopify experiences. This framework encompasses all the essential structures, components, and pre-built tools necessary for developers to swiftly create headless stores and deliver personalized user experiences.

What is Shopify Oxygen?

Shopify Oxygen is a worldwide hosting solution designed to store custom content, like Hydrogen stores, directly within the Shopify platform. Previously, Shopify businesses seeking to develop Headless Commerce had to depend on third-party hosting providers (e.g., Netlify).

In contrast, Oxygen is supported by Shopify’s extensive global infrastructure, featuring over 100 server locations worldwide. Thanks to this, Hydrogen stores can seamlessly and directly integrate with Oxygen hosting through the Storefront API, eliminating the need for reliance on third-party providers.

Remix – The New Highlight of Shopify Hydrogen

In the first quarter of 2023, Shopify unveiled Hydrogen v2, highlighting the web development tool called Remix. This tool has earned recognition from developers as one of the top React frameworks, trailing only behind Next.js. Consequently, Shopify acquired Remix and designated it as the cornerstone of the Shopify Hydrogen solution.

The reason for this lies in the fact that Hydrogen v1 faced performance-related criticisms after some time in operation. The acquisition of Remix is a part of Shopify’s efforts to rectify these issues, leading to the emergence of Hydrogen v2.

While developers tend to favor Next.js over Remix due to its open structure, allowing for greater customization and offering a more favorable developer experience, it doesn’t guarantee output quality and website performance.

Conversely, Remix employs a closed structure that mandates developers to adhere to the framework’s template. This approach closely aligns with Shopify’s SaaS model, providing a web development framework and enforcing developers to follow specific principles during deployment. 

This adherence ensures website performance and significantly enhances conversion rates. Therefore, Remix is the ideal solution chosen by Shopify to address the existing performance gaps in Hydrogen stores and enhance the eCommerce experience for customers.

2. Pros of Shopify Hydrogen

Developed based on React

Hydrogen represents Shopify’s investment in the development of Headless eCommerce. Therefore, it’s fair to classify any Shopify store using the Hydrogen framework and Oxygen hosting as a Headless Shopify store.

The Headless architecture has consistently garnered praise from industry experts, who anticipate its continuous evolution. Shopify’s decision to incorporate React – the JavaScript library for frontend interface development – as the cornerstone of the Hydrogen solution underscores this platform’s forward-looking perspective on the future of eCommerce, firmly rooted in the Headless trend.

Diverse Integration

The launch of Shopify Hydrogen aims to assist businesses in building professional Headless eCommerce websites and providing customers with a seamless multi-channel experience.

Therefore, Shopify extends the capability to seamlessly integrate Hydrogen stores with various third-party applications and platforms like Klaviyo, Gorgias, and Rebuy (to enhance the customer experience), as well as Sanity, Contentful, and Builder.io (for Headless CMS implementation). 

Learn more about Headless CMS:

• What is Headless CMS?
• 10 Enterprise Headless CMS Platforms (Pt.1)
• 10 Enterprise Headless CMS Platforms (Pt.2)

Flexible Customization 

Numerous enterprises choose to implement Headless eCommerce because it grants them full control over the development of the frontend interface, free from the limitations of specific platforms. Shopify Hydrogen also empowers businesses to construct entirely personalized headless website interfaces and integrate essential features for expansion.

3. Cons of Shopify Hydrogen

Technical Skill Required 

Hydrogen solution empowers businesses to leverage the potential of Headless eCommerce, but it’s predominantly a technically-driven endeavor without a user-friendly drag-and-drop interface for non-technical users to easily access and modify.

Hence, the development process necessitates the engagement of highly proficient developers with programming expertise and a specific comprehension of Hydrogen and Oxygen. In this scenario, businesses have two choices: establish an in-house team of developers or partner with an external specialized entity for swift deployment.

Limited CMS Integration.

Because it relies on the React framework, Hydrogen can assist developers in creating custom frontends, but the backend CMS functionality must be connected to enable the headless eCommerce website’s operation.

However, as of now, Hydrogen is limited to integrating with specific CMS platforms like Sanity, Contentful, and Builder.io, leaving businesses responsible for connecting with others independently.

Limited 3rd-party Integration

Much like CMS platforms, Hydrogen supports businesses in integrating with third-party provider applications, but it has rather limited options. Currently, there are only 13 available applications that businesses can incorporate into their Hydrogen store.

In the many years of implementing Headless eCommerce for numerous clients across various countries, SECOMM has noticed an increasing demand for creating Headless websites using the Shopify platform. Now, businesses have a choice: they can either leverage Shopify’s tech stack (Hydrogen and Oxygen) or build a custom stack tailored to their unique requirements.

This further solidifies Shopify as one of the most flexible eCommerce platforms today, leading the way towards the next generation of eCommerce experiences.

Contact us or call SECOMM’s hotline (02871089908) for a free consultation.

In recent years, BigCommerce has achieved a significant milestone as it emerges as one of the preferred platforms for eCommerce website development among numerous online businesses. According to BuiltWith, there are presently 45,952 operational websites utilizing this platform.

This article will highlight 10 notable eCommerce websites from around the world, spanning various industries, that have adopted BigCommerce for their operations.

1. Skullcandy

Skullcandy opened its first store in 2015 in Park City, Utah, and it remains the company’s exclusive physical retail location in the United States due to its primary online sales strategy. Skullcandy is a technology brand known for crafting headphones and speakers with a youthful and modern style. Their eCommerce website is developed using the BigCommerce platform.

Aside from seasonal promotions, Skullcandy provides customers with diverse payment choices, including PayPal, VISA, MasterCard, and even a Buy Now, Pay Later option through Klarna.

• Industry: Consumer Electronics
• Website: https://www.skullcandy.com/
• Traffic: 1.1M/month
• Ranking: 15,365 (USA) & 58,348 (Worldwide)

2. BURROW

BURROW is an online furniture brand that specializes in offering seasonal furniture and sofas with a minimalist, modern, and vibrant style. The company’s approach revolves around three key principles to deliver unique value to customers. First and foremost, they have built their eCommerce website on the BigCommerce platform, encouraging online shopping through enticing promotions, illustrative product videos, and free shipping. Secondly, their products are known for their custom designs, high durability, multifunctionality, compactness, portability, and versatility to fit into various spaces. Lastly, BURROW places a strong emphasis on building a community that connects customers from all around and enhancing brand awareness.

• Industry: Furniture
• Website: https://burrow.com/
• Traffic: 699.5K/month
• Ranking: 11,978 (USA) & 64,922 (Worldwide)

3. LARQ

LARQ is renowned for its stylish and compact reusable water bottles, designed with sustainability in mind. These bottles are manufactured using advanced technologies like PureVis and NanoZero to ensure high water quality. LARQ’s bottles possess self-cleaning capabilities, utilizing UV-C LED lights to eliminate up to 99.99% of bacteria.

These exceptional features led to a significant $1 million investment from Shark Tank. LARQ has developed its eCommerce website using BigCommerce, complete with a dedicated Basq Magazine section where they share valuable insights on hydration with their customers.

• Industry: Consumer Goods
• Website: https://www.livelarq.com/
• Traffic: 421K/month
• Ranking: 75,050 (USA) & 144,129 (Worldwide)

4. Molton Brown

The premium beauty brand, Molton Brown, hailing from the UK, has also used the BigCommerce platform to build their eCommerce website. Their product range, spanning fragrances, hand washes, essential oils, scented candles, and bath & body products, is entirely manufactured in the UK and is cruelty-free. Their product packaging is crafted from high-quality reusable glass, adhering to eco-friendly standards.

At present, the company exclusively offers online shopping services to customers in the US, Japan, and the majority of European regions. Molton Brown consistently introduces seasonal collections, special occasion sets, gender-specific product lines, and personalized gift recommendations, simplifying the shopping experience for their customers.

• Industry: Beauty and Personal Care
• Website: https://www.moltonbrown.com/store/index
• Traffic: 219.7M/month
• Ranking: 67,310 (USA) & 223,381 (Worldwide)

5. Tommie Copper

Tommie Copper is a brand that specializes in offering comfortable, lightweight fashion products designed to reduce pain and aid in functional recovery for both men and women. With a strong emphasis on expanding online sales, the company has invested significantly in its eCommerce website using the BigCommerce platform. They have also implemented various customer engagement programs to encourage more shopping. One notable initiative is the Customer Loyalty Program, featuring three tiers: Score, Performance, and Pro-Grade, with detailed and precise instructions on point accrual and redemption.

• Industry: Fashion
• Website: https://www.tommiecopper.com/
• Traffic: 217.8M/month
• Ranking: 34,370 (USA) & 202,065 (Worldwide)

6. Saddleback Leather

Saddleback Leather is a company specializing in handcrafted leather goods, and they develop their eCommerce website with BigCommerce. Their product range is extensive, encompassing items such as bags, backpacks, belts, and even intricately designed mouse pads. Visitors to their website are greeted with a distinct “Texan” design aesthetic and captivating narratives. Notably, customers can also become part of the Saddleback Club, granting them access to exclusive and appealing member-only offers.

• Industry: Leather Goods and Accessories
• Website: https://saddlebackleather.com/
• Traffic: 167.4M/month
• Ranking: 64,319 (USA) & 266,752 (Worldwide)

7. Barron Designs

Barron Designs stands as a top-tier brand specializing in the design and provision of premium interior and exterior products crafted from high-quality materials like wood, tiles, and stone. Their diverse product range includes wooden doors, stone fireplaces and chimneys, mailbox posts, engineered wood panels, and more. Barron Designs has developed its eCommerce website using the BigCommerce platform, offering a multitude of features to ensure the best shopping experience for customers. 

When customers browse and click on their favorite products to view details, they can choose colors and select options such as fire resistance and UV protection before placing an order. The production and delivery times typically range from 2 to 4 weeks. For those interested in sampling a product,  they can simply click on the option, and a complimentary mini-size sample will be sent to their doorstep. Furthermore, a discount coupon will be emailed to encourage customers to make a full-size purchase.

• Industry: Interior and Exterior Interior Design & Construction
• Website: https://www.barrondesigns.com/
• Traffic: 138.5M/month
• Ranking: 63,234 (USA) & 365,842 (Worldwide)

8. SugarBoo & Co

SugarBoo & Co is a well-known BigCommerce eCommerce website that offers a wide range of handmade products for personal and household use. It offers a diverse range of handmade products for both personal and household use, including items like notebooks, decorative pieces, ceramic dishes, baby toys, and more. To provide an excellent online shopping experience, the company offers multiple payment methods, including well-known options like ShopPay and AfterPay.

SugarBoo & Co’s blog section is filled with interesting content, regularly sharing tips on gift selection, the advantages of using ceramic products, home decorating ideas, and more. Plus, during special occasions and holidays, the website provides customers with a selection of discounted shopping suggestions.

• Industry: Retail
• Website: https://sugarbooandco.com/
• Traffic: 43.3M/month
• Ranking: 341,993 (USA) &934,576 (Worldwide)

9. Autograph Foliages

Autograph Foliages is a prominent brand in the United States, specializing in landscaping solutions for both homes and commercial establishments. The company offers a diverse range of collections, including seasonal and holiday-themed foliage like Christmas decorations, catering to the needs of families and businesses. What sets Autograph Foliages apart is its enduring partnerships with major entities such as Walt Disney World, Universal Studio, Warner Bros, and Seaworld Parks & Entertainment, a testament to the superior quality of its foliage products.

Their website, developed on the BigCommerce platform, prominently displays new and seasonal products. To access the pricing details for specific items, customers must register an account on the website. They can also subscribe to receive weekly newsletters containing valuable tips on plant care, decoration, and more.

• Industry: Artificial Plants and Trees
• Website: https://autographfoliages.com/
• Traffic: 24.9K/month
• Ranking: 260,791 (USA) & 1,441,394 (Worldwide)

10. Body Bliss

Established in 1999 and officially launched its products in 2000, Body Bliss specializes in a wide range of personal care items. With over two decades of development, the company has continually researched and refined its products to prioritize customer health, using gentle and environmentally friendly ingredients.

Body Bliss’s BigCommerce website follows a minimalist design, featuring well-organized product categories for easy customer navigation. The site also offers appealing incentives such as complimentary gifts and free shipping. Furthermore, the company uses Instagram to engage with customers and it is seamlessly integrated into the website to keep customers updated on the latest updates.

• Industry: Cosmetics
• Website: https://bodybliss.com/
• Traffic: 7.1K/month
• Ranking: 3,416,815 (USA) & 9,843,202 (Worldwide)

This is SECOMM’s summary and review of 10 eCommerce websites that have achieved success using the BigCommerce platform, effectively capturing customers and leading in their industries.

Related content: BigCommerce 2023: Pricing, Features, Pros and Cons

With a wealth of experience helping clients in various countries deploy eCommerce, SECOMM specializes in providing consulting services with professional eCommerce deployment solutions.

Get in touch with SECOMM or call the hotline at 02871089908 today to receive free support and expert guidance.

BigCommerce is one of the most popular eCommerce website-building platforms today. Its flexibility, user-friendliness, cost-effectiveness, and a wide array of built-in tools and features make it a preferred choice for businesses of all sizes.

This article aims to clarify the definition of BigCommerce, its features, pros and cons to provide businesses with valuable insights into the multitude of platforms available for selection.

1. What is BigCommerce?

Established in 2009, BigCommerce is a user-friendly platform tailored for businesses of all sizes and technical expertise to start developing their own eCommerce websites. Over the years, BigCommerce has emerged as one of the most feature-rich platforms, encompassing all the essentials for website creation, search engine optimization, marketing, and more, all at a cost-effective implementation.

In addition, BigCommerce is known as a SaaS eCommerce solution, which means businesses subscribe on a monthly basis, and the platform takes care of hosting, maintenance, and system security matters.

2. BigCommerce Pricing Plans

BigCommerce provides three pricing plans tailored for small and medium-sized businesses (Standard, Plus, Pro), priced between $29 and $299 per month, each equipped with essential features. Moreover, the platform offers a customizable plan (Enterprise) for large businesses based on their deployment requirements.

The table below illustrates the cost variations among these four pricing plans and includes some relevant factors:

Despite several differences, all four packages share some common points:

• No transaction fee
• Unlimited bandwidth, products, file storage
• Unlimited staff accounts
• 24/7 customer support
• 12 free themes

3. BigCommerce Features

Included in all plans

Key features of BigCommerce, available in all four pricing plans, include:

• Point of Sale (POS): Seamless integration of online and offline sales with POS systems like Vend, Square, Clover, and more.
• Mobile-Responsive Design: Websites are designed to adapt and perform well on mobile devices.
• BigCommerce Mobile App: Manage orders, track customer journeys, and monitor performance via the user-friendly BigCommerce mobile app, downloadable from the App Store or Google Play.
• Single-Page Checkout: Simplify the payment process with a single-page checkout, reducing cart abandonment and boosting conversion rates.
• Promotions and Discounts: Easily create and manage coupons, discounts, and gifts without the need for third-party integrations.
• Built-In Blog: Improve SEO and engage customers with a built-in blog.
• Product Ratings and Reviews: Gather customer feedback to enhance products and services.
• Multi-Currency Support: Accept over 100 currencies and local payment methods.
• Professional Reporting Tools: Access professional analytics and reporting tools for performance evaluation and adjustment.
• Real-Time Shipping Quotes: Provide accurate shipping costs in real-time from various carriers.
• Free Site-Wide HTTPS & SSL: Ensure website security with free HTTPS protocol, creating a safe shopping environment for customers.

Features 

The features available in the ‘Standard’ plan are consistent across all four pricing plans. However, there are some advanced features that are not included, and businesses may need to consider upgrading their plan to access these specific features. Here’s a breakdown:

• Plus:

In addition to the ‘Standard’ features, this plan offers:

• Cart abandonment features.
• Stored credit cards for future purchases.
• Customer groups and segmentation for pricing, product recommendations, targeted promotions, and personalized experiences.
• Top social & marketplace: Integration with top e-commerce platforms and social networks such as Amazon, Facebook, Instagram, etc.

• Pro:

The ‘Pro’ plan encompasses all ‘Standard’ and ‘Plus’ features, along with:

• Google customer reviews for collecting and showcasing customer feedback on Google.
• Advanced product filtering to enhance the shopping experience.
• Custom SSL integration with third-party SSL services.

• Enterprise:

Designed for large-scale enterprises, this top-tier package includes all features from the previous packages and introduces several advanced capabilities:

• Unlimited API calls, facilitating seamless data sharing between eCommerce websites and third-party applications without any limitations.
• Priority support with personalized assistance, including dedicated API support.

4. Pros of BigCommerce

Ease of Use

BigCommerce, designed as a SaaS platform, boasts user-friendliness catering to both tech-savvy and non-technical users. It offers a wide range of themes to facilitate swift website development and provides an array of tools for executing promotional campaigns.

Built-in features

When compared to other SaaS platforms, BigCommerce stands out for its capacity to offer a comprehensive set of built-in features and tools across its pricing plans. This results in cost savings for businesses, reducing their reliance on third-party applications and plugins, which can often incur extra expenses. Moreover, these features have been fine-tuned to boost performance and streamline the eCommerce management process.

BigCommerce also provides its users with the BigCommerce mobile app, enhancing the convenience of managing, monitoring, and updating their eCommerce websites.

Reporting & Analytics

Unlike Shopify, which offers a range of reports and analytics based on the pricing plan chosen, BigCommerce provides professional-level reporting and analytics across all its solution packages. These encompass customer reports, sales reports, financial reports, marketing reports, and more. Moreover, for businesses in need of more extensive data capabilities, BigCommerce offers a wide app library for easy integration with third-party software

Multi-store Support

BigCommerce distinguishes itself from competitors by providing multi-store support across all of its pricing plans. This feature is especially advantageous for businesses that operate multiple stores or are active in various segments, such as B2B and B2C. With the Standard plan, a business can create up to 3 stores, while the Plus and Pro plans allow for 5 and 8 stores, respectively. In contrast, Shopify, a leading SaaS platform, offers multiple store capabilities exclusively through its Shopify Plus solution, which starts at a monthly cost of $2,000.

Cost-effective platform

Using BigCommerce helps businesses save costs in various aspects such as hosting, maintenance, updates, and security. BigCommerce handles these tasks, eliminating the need for additional expenses. Regardless of the chosen pricing plan, BigCommerce doesn’t impose transaction fees, provides unlimited bandwidth and file storage without extra charges, and permits the creation of an unlimited number of staff accounts.

In addition, compared to Shopify, where businesses may incur significant costs to integrate third-party apps and utilities for enhanced functionality, BigCommerce includes essential features tailored to each plan. This integrated approach results in significantly more cost-efficient operations.

5. Cons of BigCommerce 

High Platform Costs

When compared to other SaaS platforms like Shopify or Squarespace, the cost of using the BigCommerce platform seems relatively higher. 

Plus, businesses must continue to pay this ongoing fee along with any charges for third-party services (if applicable) on a monthly basis, without ownership or control over the source code and system data.

On the other hand, open-source platforms such as Magento or OpenCart require businesses to make a one-time payment for both usage and service integration fees, granting them long-term ownership of the source code and system data.

Platform Dependency

Just like other SaaS eCommerce platforms in the market, BigCommerce retains ownership and control over the source code and data of the entire eCommerce website system.

In practical terms, this means that all of a business’s eCommerce data becomes closely tied to BigCommerce’s database. Therefore, if a business wishes to migrate to another platform in the future, it can only access CSV files containing a portion of its data.

Additionally, while it’s exceptionally rare, in the unlikely event that BigCommerce were to suddenly cease all operations, all data related to a business’s activities on this platform could potentially be lost.

Lack of theme

At the time of writing, BigCommerce provides users with a selection of 12 free themes and approximately 180 paid themes. This count is somewhat limited in comparison to other SaaS platforms like Wix or Squarespace.

The free themes come with modern and professional interfaces, suitable for businesses to start their eCommerce website journey. However, these themes are quite similar to each other, differing mainly in color schemes.

In reality, despite the claim of having 12 themes, users often discover only around 5-6 truly distinctive options.

The paid themes, on the other hand, come with a price tag ranging from $195 to $395, and some of them may have similar designs.

However, BigCommerce offers a significant advantage: all the free and paid themes are visually appealing and highly responsive. This means that these themes can automatically adapt their layouts to suit various screen sizes, including smartphones, tablets, desktop computers, and more.

• Related content: 10 Top-notch eCommerce Websites Using BigCommerce

For many years providing eCommerce solutions for clients across the globe, SECOMM has observed a growing trend when it comes to eCommerce website development, particularly on the BigCommerce platform. 

To gain a deeper understanding of BigCommerce and how to deploy it the right way, feel free to reach out to us or call our hotline at 02871089908 for free consultations.

Point of Sale (POS) is a system employed by businesses to handle sales transactions, monitor inventory levels, manage customer relationships, generate revenue reports, and conduct business analysis, among other functions. By implementing POS, businesses, particularly SMEs, gain a comprehensive understanding of their operational activities and streamline their management processes.

In this article, SECOMM will evaluate and compare the five most widely-used POS software solutions among small and medium-sized enterprises, including Clover, KORONA POS, KiotViet, and POS365.

1. Clover

Clover is a POS software developed by Clover Network Inc, aimed at offering an integrated solution for handling sales and payments for both small and medium-sized businesses. Clover provides POS solutions across various industries, including restaurants, services, retail, and more. Specifically, the costs associated with implementing Clover’s POS for retail SMEs are categorized into three primary packages:

• Starter: $799 + $14.95 per month (One-time payment option available) or $60 per month (Monthly payment option) – This package includes an 8″ merchant-facing POS.

• Standard: $1,799 + $49.95 per month (One-time payment option available) or $135 per month (Monthly payment option) – This package includes a 14″ merchant-facing POS
• Advanced: $2,398 + $64.90 per month (One-time payment option available) or $185 per month (Monthly payment option) – This package includes a 14″ merchant-facing and a handheld POS.

Pros

Ease of Use: The Clover interface is intuitive and user-friendly, making it easy to navigate on the touchscreen and access system functions.

Customization: Users have the flexibility to tailor the interface and configure the system to meet their individual needs. This includes modifying screen layouts, customizing function buttons, and setting options to align with specific business operations.

Offline Support: Clover is equipped to function offline, a valuable feature in the event of an internet connection disruption. Transaction data is securely stored and automatically synchronized once connectivity is restored, ensuring uninterrupted business operations.

Cons

High Initial Costs: Clover carries a higher initial price tag compared to alternative POS solutions, particularly for businesses choosing the comprehensive payment package. This may pose a barrier for smaller businesses operating with limited financial resources.

Invoice Formatting Limitations: Clover has some limitations regarding invoice formatting and customization, which can pose challenges for businesses with specific requirements for invoice formats and content. For example, adding special liquor consumption taxes, collecting stamps on invoices for grocery stores, and so on.

Rely on the Clover Ecosystem: Clover POS functions optimally within the Clover ecosystem and may not seamlessly integrate with diverse management systems such as CRM, ERP, etc., offered by different brands.

2. Korona POS

KORONA POS is a retail system developed by KORONA, intended to assist in sales management, payments, and inventory control for small and medium-sized businesses.

Currently, KORONA POS offers a range of solution packages for businesses to select from:

• Core: $59 per month – Suitable for small businesses or individuals managing a single store.

• Advanced: $69 per month – Geared towards small and medium-sized businesses handling a single store and inventory tracking.

• Plus: $89 per month – Ideal for small and medium-sized businesses managing multiple stores and keeping track of inventory.

• Enterprise: Custom Quote – Tailored for medium-sized businesses with specific customization requirements.

Pros

User-Friendly Interface: KORONA POS boasts a straightforward and user-friendly interface, ensuring ease of use even for employees lacking prior experience with POS systems.

Regular Updates and Upgrades: KORONA POS offers frequent updates and improvements to enhance its features and resolve issues, all while ensuring uninterrupted daily business operations.

Cross-Platform Compatibility: KORONA POS is compatible with multiple platforms, including desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones. This flexibility enables sales staff to process transactions and manage sales from virtually any location.

Cons

Internet Required: KORONA POS relies on a continuous internet connection to operate. Disruptions in the network connection can lead to interruptions or even render transactions and management tasks impossible.

Vendor Risk: When businesses adopt KORONA POS, they become reliant on the vendor for system maintenance and upgrades. Any issues or service deviations from the vendor can have an impact on the business’s operations.

POS System Migration Challenges: If a business has been using a different POS system and intends to switch to KORONA POS, the transition process can be intricate and may require a significant investment of time, effort, and resources to migrate all data effectively.

3. KiotViet

KiotViet is a business management and retail point-of-sale system catering to retail stores and restaurants. KiotViet provides an array of sales management features and tools, encompassing payment processing, inventory control, customer management, order handling, delivery, reporting, and business analysis.

KiotViet offers three options for implementing their POS system:

• Support: 200,000 VND per store per month – Ideal for small businesses, startups, or online retailers.
• Professional: 270,000 VND per store per month – Tailored for professional business models.
• Premium: 370,000 VND per store per month – Suited for businesses with multiple sales channels or a larger staff.

Pros

Ease of Use: KiotViet has a user-friendly interface with tailored support for Vietnamese users, eliminating the need for extensive technical expertise during setup and operation.

Seamless Integration: KiotViet offers flexible integration with various peripherals like printers, barcode scanners, payment devices, and other applications such as inventory management, HR management, and financial systems. This results in a comprehensive POS system for effective business management.

Efficient Inventory Management: KiotViet facilitates efficient inventory management, simplifying the process of updating product information and merchandise categories. Therefore, businesses can maintain control over inventory levels, monitor stock movements, and ensure on-time product availability.

Cons

License fee: KiotViet necessitates monthly or yearly license fee, which may pose challenges for small or recently formed businesses operating with limited funds. 

Limited customization: While KiotViet provides some customization options, the capacity for complex customization to cater to individual business requirements may be limited.

Limitations in Niches Industries: KiotViet primarily targets retail and restaurant businesses, which implies that certain features or management procedures may not be well-suited or could be restricted for niche industries such as electronics, pets, agriculture, and others.

4. VNPAY-POS

VNPAY-POS, an ‘All-in-one’ solution developed by VNPAY, consolidates numerous features into a single device to comprehensively fulfill a business’s sales and payment management requirements.

VNPAY currently extends two primary options to businesses and organization using VNPAY-POS:

• Free service usage for businesses/organizations with payment fees exceeding 275,000 VND/month. For payments lower than this threshold, a flat fee of 275,000 VND/month/machine is applicable.
• Device rental is available at an affordable rate of just 165,000 VND/month. Businesses/organization achieving payment volumes surpassing 30,000,000 VND/month/machine qualify for free device rental.

Pros

Diverse Payment Methods: VNPAY-POS allows businesses and individuals to accept payments from customers using a range of electronic payment methods, including e-wallets, bank cards, QR codes, and bank transfers.

Appealing Incentives and Comprehensive Support: In addition to its core features, the solution offers advanced functionalities like support for 0% installment plans, cross-selling services, quick and professional 24/7 registration assistance.

Optimized Sales and Business Management: A VNPAY SmartPOS device goes beyond payment processing, performing various tasks such as digital menu display, item selection, order placement, invoice printing, sales management, data extraction, and more. This streamlines operational costs for businesses.

Cons

Ongoing Costs: VNPAY POS may entail increasing monthly ongoing costs or transaction charges for payment processing, potentially straining businesses with limited financial resources.

Feature Limitations: In comparison to certain other POS systems, VNPAY-POS has limitations in its feature set, particularly in tailoring solutions to meet the specific needs of individual businesses.

Hardware Compatibility: VNPAY-POS mandates specific hardware prerequisites for operation, such as tablets or mobile devices supported by VNPAY. This could necessitate an initial investment for adopting VNPAY-POS.

5. POS365

POS365 is a cloud-based POS system developed by 365 Technology Corporation. POS365 provides a comprehensive solution for retail businesses, restaurants, cafes, and related industries.

Currently, POS365 offers three packages for businesses:

• Basic: 1,650,000 VND for 12 months – Designed for businesses looking to experience the product.
• Popular: 3,300,000 VND for 2 years with an additional 1-year free – Tailored for SMEs.
• Lifetime: 6,600,000 VND for a lifetime – Intended for businesses already familiar with POS365.

Pros

Vietnamese business-friendly: POS365 has a modern interface that’s easy to navigate, with features thoughtfully tailored to Vietnamese business practices.

Diverse Features: POS365 offers a comprehensive set of sales and business management tools, encompassing inventory control, order processing, warehouse management, customer relations, staff oversight, and business reporting.

Multi-Branch Management: POS365 facilitates the management of multiple branches and sales points through a unified system, simplifying business expansion and operation oversight.

Cons

Limited customization: POS365 comes with certain limitations regarding customization and specific business requirements adjustments. This can pose challenges for businesses with unique needs or customization preferences.

Internet required: POS365 relies on a stable internet connection to function. If there’s an internet disruption, payment processing and business management may experience interruptions.

Limited security: Because POS365 is an online system, there’s a higher risk of cyberattacks or data breaches. Businesses need to implement appropriate security measures to safeguard customer information and business data.

Related content: Top 5 best POS software for large-scale enterprises in 2023

Above is a brief overview of 5 POS software solutions widely used by SMEs to enhance business efficiency. Businesses need to consider various factors to select the most suitable POS system.

Much like searching for the right eCommerce platform that fits a business model, the quest for a suitable POS system can be equally challenging, especially for large enterprises. 

In this article, SECOMM will delve into the top five widely favored POS software solutions by large corporations today, including Square, Lightspeed Retail, LS Retail, Heartland Retail, and Shopify POS.

1. Square Point of Sale

Square POS, developed by Square, is a highly favored POS system among many international large-scale enterprises due to its cost-free setup. However, Square applies fees for each transaction executed on the POS, amounting to 2.6% and 10 cents for every tap, dip, or swipe. For the ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ payment scheme, the fees are 6% and 30 cents. Furthermore, Square provides a tailored POS package for businesses generating revenue exceeding $250,000.

Types of POS system: Tablet-based POS system, Mobile POS system, Cloud-based POS system.

Pros

It’s free: Square software is completely free to use, without any charges for setup or monthly licenses.

It’s User-Friendly: Square offers a straightforward and intuitive user interface, making it easy for users to quickly adapt to and utilize the system effectively.

It’s flexible: Square empowers businesses to execute sales transactions from virtually anywhere using mobile devices like smartphones or tablets. This flexibility enables businesses to reach and serve customers at any time and place.

Cons

Costs Increase with Each Transaction: Square applies transaction fees (2.6% + 10 cents) to every payment processed. While its fee structure is relatively competitive, businesses with substantial sales volumes may find these fees impacting their overall profitability.

Limited Hardware Compatibility: Typically, POS systems are designed to work seamlessly with hardware provided by Square. This means that businesses might encounter challenges when attempting to utilize hardware from alternative suppliers or integrate with existing brand-specific POS systems.

Feature Constraints: Square does have some feature limitations compared to other POS systems. For instance, functionalities like multi-store management, membership card integration, or compatibility with various other business management software may be limited.

2. Lightspeed Retail

Lightspeed Retail is a tailored POS solution crafted for businesses operating across diverse industries. It earns praise for its wide-ranging features, high level of customization, and its seamless integration capabilities with various applications and services.

Types of POS system: Tablet-based POS system, Mobile POS system, and Cloud-based POS system.

Pros

Multi-Industry: Lightspeed Retail is specifically crafted to cater to a wide array of industries, including retail, restaurants, coffee shops, spas, salons, and more. This versatility positions Lightspeed as a multifunctional solution across various sectors.

Integration and Scalability: Lightspeed seamlessly integrates with numerous other applications and services, encompassing inventory management systems, online ordering platforms, integration with online sales channels, and much more. This flexibility enables businesses to scale and tailor the system to meet their unique requirements.

Customer Support: Lightspeed earns accolades for its top-notch customer support, offering assistance through phone, email, and online channels. The friendly and professionally trained support team is adept at resolving a multitude of issues.

Cons

High Costs: Lightspeed is associated with a higher price point in comparison to several other available POS solutions in the market. 

Complex Initial Setup: The initial setup and configuration of Lightspeed can prove intricate for users lacking prior tech experience. Accurate installation, coupled with appropriate configuration, is essential to guarantee stable operation.

Internet Required: As an online POS system, Lightspeed relies on a consistent internet connection for optimal performance. Any disruptions or instability in the internet connection can lead to transaction processing issues and hinder system access.

3. LS Retail

LS Retail stands as a top-tier provider of POS and ERP software grounded in the Microsoft Dynamics platform. It is meticulously tailored to oversee the entirety of business operations across diverse sectors, including retail, restaurants, hotels, pharmacies, and gas stations.

LS Retail extends three solution packages for businesses to select from:

• LS Express: Priced at $99 per month, this solution caters to small-scale businesses.
• LS Central: Offering a comprehensive POS and ERP solution for businesses (Development costs vary based on project complexity).
• LS First: Strategically designed for large corporations, with a particular emphasis on the restaurant industry (Development costs vary based on project complexity).

Types of POS system: Tablet-based POS system, Mobile POS system, and Cloud-based POS system.

Pros

Holistic Management: LS Retail offers an integrated POS and ERP solution, facilitating the synchronization of business data and more efficient management across both systems.

Multi-Channel Sales: LS Retail supports a diverse array of sales channels, encompassing traditional brick-and-mortar stores, eCommerce websites, and mobile point-of-sale (mPOS) kiosks. This broadens business horizons, reaching a larger pool of potential customers.

Efficient Inventory Management: LS Retail delivers real-time inventory management algorithms, empowering businesses to govern stock levels, item locations, and optimize procurement processes. This results in reduced shortages and excess inventory, ultimately enhancing operational efficiency.

Cons

High Costs: As LS Retail is a comprehensive POS and ERP solution, both ownership and maintenance costs may be considerably high for businesses.

Technical Expertise Required: Implementing LS Retail mandates that your business’s workforce possesses specialized technical skills and undergoes dedicated training

Dependency on Microsoft Dynamics: LS Retail is built on the Microsoft Dynamics platform, meaning the implementation and enhancement of the LS Retail system hinge on the evolution of Microsoft Dynamics, influencing bug fixes and the incorporation of the latest updates to some degree.

4. Heartland Retail

Heartland Retail is a cloud-based point-of-sale (POS) platform tailor-made for retail businesses.

As of now, Heartland levies a fee of $89 per month per point of sale for their POS software. Furthermore, this platform provides payroll services starting at $89 per month for 1-5 employees and payment processing services with a cost of 2.6% per successful transaction, alongside 10 cents for each tap, dip, or swipe.

Type of POS system: Cloud-based POS system

Pros

User-Friendly Interface: Heartland Retail boasts a user-friendly and intuitive interface. Sales staff can easily navigate between functions, process payments, and engage with customers effortlessly.

Smart Reporting and Analysis: Heartland Retail offers sophisticated analytical tools and reporting capabilities, empowering businesses to gain a deeper insight into their performance and consumer trends.

Integration with Auxiliary Systems: Heartland Retail is equipped to seamlessly integrate with various auxiliary systems, including accounting, human resources management, and customer relationship management (CRM) systems. This integration facilitates the creation of a comprehensive information system, enhancing the efficiency of different departments within the organization.

Cons

Inefficient Customer Support: Numerous customer feedback reports cite limitations in customer support, with varying response times from Heartland Retail’s support team and inconsistent answers or solutions. This can pose difficulties for businesses requiring swift assistance or specific solutions.

Multi-Store Management Constraints: Heartland Retail lacks robust and flexible multi-store management features for companies operating beyond the U.S., as the company’s primary headquarters is exclusively located in the U.S.

Limited New Features and Updates: Heartland Retail doesn’t frequently introduce new features and updates, unlike some other POS systems. This limitation may hinder the adoption of the latest technologies and trends in the industry.

5. Shopify POS 

Shopify POS is a POS solution designed by Shopify, catering to businesses utilizing their platform and seeking sales management software to effectively manage their business affairs. The usage cost for Shopify POS amounts to $89 per month per location, with a reduced rate of $79 per month per location for businesses opting for an annual subscription.

Pros

Ease of Use: Shopify POS boasts a straightforward and friendly admin interface, designed for quick staff adaptation, reducing training time, and minimizing data entry errors.

Seamless Integration with the Shopify Platform: It smoothly integrates with eCommerce websites built on the Shopify platform, enabling businesses to efficiently manage both physical and online stores from one centralized platform, resulting in time and resource savings.

Customization: Shopify POS enables businesses to customize the interface, product labels, invoices, and create brand introduction pages for brick-and-mortar stores, among other features.

Types of POS system: Tablet-based POS system, Mobile POS system, Cloud-based POS system

Cons

Exclusive to the Shopify System: Since this software is built by Shopify, it can only be integrated with this platform.

Complexity with Multiple Stores: While Shopify POS offers multi-store management capabilities, handling and configuring various stores can become intricate as the number of stores grows. Businesses must invest sufficient time in meticulous management, maintenance, and information updates for each individual store.

High Transaction Fees: When using Shopify POS, businesses are required to pay transaction fees (ranging from 2.4% to 2.6%) for each transaction. These fees can add up, especially for businesses with a large volume of transactions.

Above is a brief comparison of five POS software systems widely used by many large businesses to enhance the efficiency of their operations. Businesses need to consider various factors to select the most suitable POS system.