Magento Archives/Category

B2B Ecommerce Platforms: PaaS, SaaS, Or In-House Solution?
Graphic courtesy of Four51 OrderCloud. Used by permission. The world of B2B selling is ripe for a revolution. Ecommerce technology has flourished in the B2C sector for decades, but it has not yet seen widespread adoption in B2B. Of course, that’s for good reason: the limitations of old software made eCommerce cumbersome in the complex world of B2B. All that has changed. B2B eCommerce is now a viable alternative to the complex legacy systems used by many B2B companies. The benefits of adopting an eCommerce model in the B2B sector are many. To the company, eCommerce offers a better bottom line with less waste, higher margins, and all backend complexity maintained and streamlined; to the customer, it offers a simplified, intuitive buying experience that works on any device. For today’s B2B executives and managers, only one question remains: which B2B eCommerce platform is right for my company? [clickToTweet tweet=”Which #B2B #ecommerce platform is right for your company–#PaaS, SaaS, or in-house?” quote=”Which B2B eCommerce platform is right for your company–PaaS, SaaS, or in-house? ” theme=”style1″] First, we’ll talk about the problem. Then we’ll outline 4 potential solutions.
The Problem: B2B Ecommerce Solutions Need Efficient Complexity

Solution 1: Cloud-based PaaS (Platform-as-a-Service)

Solution 2: Licensed SaaS (Software-as-a-Service)

Solution 3: Bundled Hosting and Ecommerce (Cloud-Based SaaS)

Solution 4: Proprietary, In-house Ecommerce Software

Making A Decision

The Problem: B2B Ecommerce Solutions Must Handle Complexity Efficiently
B2B selling is complex. In many legacy systems, that complexity means wasted time, money, and effort. For example, a typical B2B sales path might include:

A customer service representative who takes orders over the phone and enters them manually into a tracking system.

An email newsletter platform that can only communicate with a customer database through manual data entry.

Inability to take electronic payments.

Customer-facing website that displays products but cannot offer on-site purchasing due to complex permissions governing pricing.

Customer-facing website that is not optimized for mobile devices.

Each of these points of information exchange contains hidden inefficiencies. These inefficiencies add up to lower margins across the board for B2B companies.

Ordering through CSRs may not be the first choice of some demographics, such as Millennials. That means HR expense that may not be necessary.

Manual data entry is inefficient.

Processing non-electronic payments can be time-consuming.

A non-eCommerce website serves as little more than a print catalog of offerings, forcing the customer to jump through another hoop (phone call or fax) after determining what to purchase.

A non-mobile-friendly website could lead to missed sales as mobile users give up on type that is too small to read and buttons that are too small to tap.

Worse, every time information is exchanged within a system like this, there’s potential for error—which introduces even more waste.

CSRs can make mistakes in manual order entry, leading to costly returns.

Marketers building email lists from customer lists can make mistakes in data entry and grouping.

Paper invoices and checks can get lost in the mail.

Customers can make errors in relaying their buy lists to a CSR. These errors may come under dispute later.

For non-mobile-friendly B2B eCommerce websites, difficult navigation leads to more attention needed from CSRs. That is a cost to the company.

Solution 1: Cloud-based PaaS (Platform as a Service)
In an interview on the 216digital blog, Bill Osteraas, VP of Channel Development at OrderCloud, talked about the features which PaaS offers for B2B ecommerce. “We face this topic with a different approach,” he said. “Flexibility over features.” [clickToTweet tweet=”.@OrderCloudIO shatters the B2B #ecommerce #PaaS market with ‘flexibility over features’” quote=”OrderCloudIO shatters the B2B eCommerce PaaS market with ‘flexibility over features’” theme=”style1″] OrderCloud is an API-first platform that allows developers to build the exact custom apps that a unique B2B eCommerce client needs. In other words, B2B managers don’t have to sort through a long list of “included” and “not included” features when trying to figure out if OrderCloud’s PaaS will work for them. If other B2B eCommerce solutions are a finished house with most fixtures installed, OrderCloud is a floorplan and foundation. Everything else is open for development, ready to be built out into a unique, efficient configuration. In the world of B2B eCommerce solutions, PaaS is ideal for companies that have complex relationships with manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, and multiple sets of customers. Platforms like OrderCloud are ready to be built out into multi-portal eCommerce stores, with features like varying permissions per user group, variable pricing per user group, CSR interface that talks directly to inventory, and much more.
Example 1: Bachman’s B2B Ecommerce Model
Image courtesy of Four51 OrderCloud. Used by permission. Because OrderCloud is PaaS, the core foundation is ready to integrate with all the 3^rd-party APIs that this company needs to run its business. The flexibility allows a custom solution, and the company pays only for what they need.
Pros of cloud-based PaaS for B2B eCommerce:

API-first configuration ensures that your third-party software will work seamlessly with your store across ongoing upgrade cycles.

Your custom PaaS solution is built right the first time with functionality that fits your unique, complex operation and the place you occupy in your market.

You do not pay for a one-size-fits-all SaaS solution that then requires customization to work for your unique business.

You don’t have to build from scratch. A raw, highly-adaptable framework is provided, ready to be built out.

Your custom applications are cloud-hosted and can be accessed from any web browser.

Upgrades are automatic.

Pay-as-you-go pricing.

Flexible support plans that grow with your business.

PCI compliance built-in.

Total flexibility in payments.

Omnichannel order management.

Total order fulfillment tracking.

Powerful CSR automation.

Solution 2: Licensed SaaS (Software as a Service)
In a SaaS (software as a service) solution that is not hosted by the software provider, you purchase a license to use eCommerce software. You must arrange your own web hosting and install the software there. This is a common arrangement in the B2C eCommerce world. How well it adapts to B2B will depend on your business’s unique needs. Common SaaS eCommerce platforms not hosted by the software provider include Magento and WooCommerce. Note that while these platforms can be adapted for simple B2B operations, they were originally intended for B2C eCommerce. They may not provide all the custom rules which a B2B eCommerce solution requires. [clickToTweet tweet=”A #SaaS solution for #B2C may not provide all the functionality required by B2B #ecommerce” quote=”A SaaS solution for B2C may not provide all the functionality required by B2B eCommerce” theme=”style1″]
Pros of Licensed SaaS:

You can choose the most competitive hosting plan that meets your company’s specific needs.

Because hosting is not tied to your eCommerce software, the cost of your hosting will likely depend on bandwidth and storage needs, rather than a sliding revenue-based scale.

Likewise, there are no transaction fees deducted from your revenue.

Cons of Licensed SaaS:

You must adapt an out-of-box solution, with or without customization and/or add-ons, to the complex needs of your unique B2B eCommerce operation.

SaaS solutions are often not API-first.

You may have to establish PCI compliance yourself.

You are responsible for routine maintenance, updates, and upgrades to your eCommerce store.

You are responsible for emergency troubleshooting if the store goes down or a third-party integration stops working with your store.

Third-party integrations, critical to B2B operations, are often available only in paid add-ons which must be updated separately from the core software. These add-ons can break your store when compatibility issues arise.

Unknown whether you can create customer groups that allow multiple users from a customer company to log in and see each other’s orders.

Checkout process may require modification to meet the complex needs of B2B.

Solution 3: Bundled Hosting and Ecommerce (Cloud-Based SaaS)
SaaS hosted by the software provider offers tradeoffs that may be attractive to some business models. These solutions may charge revenue-based fees and/or transaction fees for use of the service. They are generally geared toward B2C eCommerce startups, and their application to large B2B enterprise operations is questionable. Common SaaS eCommerce solutions hosted by the software provider include Bigcommerce and Shopify.
Pros of cloud-based SaaS hosted by the software provider:

All-in-one eCommerce and hosting package that does not require you to get your own hosting.

Software updates are pushed automatically without compatibility issues.

Cloud-based solutions are generally PCI Level 1 compliant.

Easy, cost-effective solution for small B2B startups that do not require complex functionality and do not plan to grow beyond the capacities of cloud-based SaaS solutions.

Omnichannel functionality is available, generally with paid extensions.

Cons of cloud-based SaaS hosted by the software provider:

Different pricing for different customers or for different customer groups may require third-party add-ons.

Complex permissions structures may require third-party add-ons.

Revenue-based pricing.

Transaction fees.

No FTP access.

SaaS solutions are often not API-first.

Unknown whether you can create customer groups that allow multiple users from one company to log in and see each other’s orders.

Checkout process may require modification to meet the complex needs of B2B.

Solution 4: Proprietary, In-House Ecommerce Software
Frankly, this is an obsolete solution. Even for large companies that can afford the expense, the benefits gained by such a great capital outlay are available for a much lower price with a PaaS solution. Since PaaS providers like OrderCloud have already covered the ground of building the foundation, you gain nothing by reinventing the wheel—particularly when these providers make their reusable eCommerce foundations available at highly competitive prices.
Pros of proprietary in-house B2B eCommerce solutions:

Total control over all aspects of the solution.

Cons of proprietary in-house B2B eCommerce solutions:

They uselessly reinvent the wheel.

They do not provide any value beyond that of existing solutions.

They cost far more than any PaaS solution to develop, deploy and maintain.

Making a Decision
Paul Demery reports in B2B Ecommerce World on a recent study by Forrester Consulting with examined emerging trends in PaaS and SaaS deployment for B2B eCommerce. The study found that “the rate of increase in planned PaaS-based deployments over the next two years is twice that of the increase in planned SaaS-based deployments.” [clickToTweet tweet=”Next 2 yrs, % of planned increase in #PaaS installations=2x planned #SaaS installations in B2B #ecommerce” quote=”Over next 2 yrs, rate of planned increase in PaaS installations=2x planned SaaS installations for B2B eCommerce” theme=”style1″] In other words, the B2B world is moving to eCommerce. And it’s choosing PaaS over SaaS. For B2B decision-makers, the time is now to begin pursuing a new B2B eCommerce solution. As more and more companies roll out their own highly customized B2B eCommerce machines, companies without a competitive solution will be ill-equipped to meet the market’s new expectations. They’ll be stuck with old processes that don’t work and customers who can’t get a seamless, personalized front-end experience. PaaS solutions are beginning to lead the B2B eCommerce services market. As one of the Top eCommerce Development Companies, we believe that the trend will only increase. PaaS solutions offer the right balance between customization and an affordable foundation to build on. Where SaaS is too constraining for modern B2B eCommerce, the sky is the limit with PaaS. Where in-house, proprietary eCommerce solutions uselessly reinvent the wheel, PaaS offers a client-agnostic, reusable foundation for an infinite variety of eCommerce businesses.
Greg McNeil

November 11, 2016

Ecommerce Platforms, Magento
Choosing The Right Ecommerce Platform – Pt. 5 of 5 – Miva

Welcome to Part 5 in our in-depth analysis of major ecommerce platforms. In the previous four posts, we discussed WooCommerce, Shopify, Magento, and Bigcommerce. We examined the inherent pros and cons of each platform. In Part 5, we’ll talk about the ecommerce dark horse: Miva Merchant—or simply Miva, as it’s now called. Let’s get started.

How Does Miva Stack Up?

First, let’s talk about what Miva isn’t. Because Miva is so functional and expandable, it’s not for the entrepreneur on a shoestring budget. The old saying, “you get what you pay for,” holds true in ecommerce platforms as in everything else. While Miva isn’t free by any means, it provides great value and—if managed intelligently—great ROI. With a small but devoted development community and none of the inherent limitations we examined in Shopify and Bigcommerce, Miva customization is limited only by store owners’ imaginations.

[clickToTweet tweet=”Because @miva is a subscription service, PCI compliance comes built in. @216_Digital #ecommerce #saas” quote=”Because Miva is a subscription service, PCI compliance comes built in.”]

Also, note that like Magento, Miva isn’t for DIYers who don’t know code and can’t hire a developer. An entrepreneur considering WooCommerce likely isn’t in the market for Miva. Miva runs on a proprietary script, and major modifications are best left to professional web developers. However, just about every modification you can imagine is possible; and because Miva is a subscription service (unlike Magento), key functionality like PCI compliance comes built in, giving you one less thing to check off your list after signing up.

For code-savvy entrepreneurs (or those with plenty of development budget), Miva and Magento might look like neck-and-neck contenders at first. However, as G2Crowd reports, Magento doesn’t stack up too well against Miva. While Magento offers a free platform with added robust functionality at a development price, Miva offers a subscription platform plus added functionality at a lower total cost. Since Miva comes with more functionality out of the box, Miva development is simply not as expensive as Magento development. And while you’ll have to outsource Magento support to your 3^rd party developer, Miva support is included in every subscription—even at the boutique pricing tier. That means you don’t have to pay $20,000/year to get someone on the phone. As Miva puts it on their website, they offer an enterprise-quality ecommerce solution without the enterprise-level price tag.

Miva: The Ecommerce World’s Best-Kept Secret

Don’t tell, but Miva is awesome! – Photo courtesy of Steven Depolo. Licensed under CC 2.0.

Now, Miva isn’t as well-known as some of the big ecommerce players. But why should it be? Where Miva’s competitors win new customers with a glitzy marketing machine, Miva is arguably the ecommerce world’s best-kept secret. Remember, marketing is expensive, and businesses pass expenses to their customers. If you sign up with a marketing-heavy service, you’re paying for the marketing that convinced you as well as future marketing to net new customers. Ecommerce owners who choose Miva do so for quality and reliability, not for the feel-good experience of working with a great salesman.

Miva has always maintained a transparent relationship with its users. Miva executives can be found posting in Miva forums and responding to reviews on 3^rd party blogs. While Miva script is proprietary and customizations require involvement from the development community, the culture of Miva has an open-source feel. Among Miva users and developers alike, the saying is, “if the solution doesn’t exist yet, it can be created.”

Let’s put it this way: if you google “best ecommerce platforms,” you may not see many mentions of Miva. But that’s a testament to the other companies’ focus—marketing. Miva has a dedicated community of longtime clients and experienced developers. If you search for Miva reviews, you’ll find many testimonials from store owners who’ve been using Miva for a decade or more. Most say they would never switch.

Miva isn’t super aggressive in pursuing the low-budget startup—and for good reason. The shoestring budget can’t afford the quality that Miva provides, and the uneducated entrepreneur will take the sales pitches of the big companies anyway. Miva’s strategy focuses more on providing the very best ecommerce platform possible to those who can pay for it. Where Shopify’s average customer does $10k/year in sales, Miva’s average customer does $500k/year. These average customers are both small businesses, but as Miva president Rick Wilson explains in this post, “it’s a different kind of small.”

Further, the average lifespan of a Miva store is 8 years. For Miva’s competition, that average store lifespan is 2.5 years. We think that says it all.

The Bottom Line

As in all things ecommerce, there’s no right answer to the platform question. That answer depends on your market’s growth potential, the functionality you need, your budget, your projected yearly sales, and more. For larger small businesses that need limitless functionality without the handicap of transaction fees and limited access to development tools, Miva and Magento remain excellent choices.

As a Miva developer, 216digital offers responsive design as well as custom Miva modules, tools, and systems. We also develop for Magento. If you’re considering Miva or Magento for your online store, get in touch today. Let’s start talking about your next big thing.

Greg McNeil

August 24, 2015

Ecommerce Platforms, Magento, Miva
Choosing The Right Ecommerce Platform – Pt. 3 of 5 – Magento

Best Ecommerce Platforms for 2015 – Pt. 3 – Magento

Welcome to Part 3 of our ecommerce platform comparison series! In Parts 1 and 2, we examined WooCommerce and Shopify. We discussed each platform’s strengths as well as its weaknesses. We concluded that WooCommerce is excellent for basic, low-budget ecommerce startups. We also noted that Shopify’s transaction fees could seriously hamper business models that forecast high growth rates. In Part 3, we’ll examine one of the biggest players in ecommerce: Magento. Let’s get started!

Magento:

Magento occupies a unique place in the ecommerce software market. The platform is available in two major divisions. The Community Edition, or CE, is a free, open-source download with a vibrant user and developer community. It’s a robust framework, but it requires thorough knowledge of code to get it running (and keep it running).

Magento Enterprise is a subscription-based service aimed at high-volume online retailers. Enterprise prices start at around $18,000/year and may range up to $70,000/year. Note that a custom quote for the Enterprise version can only be obtained from the Magento Enterprise sales team.

Magento Maintenance: Sold Separately

This guy can’t help you update your Magento installation. You’ll have to do it yourself. Photo courtesy of Pedro Ribeiro Simões. Modified by 216digital.

While Magento CE is free, maintaining a Magento CE store isn’t free. It will cost you, either in time (if you’re already a professional developer) or in money (if you’re not). Since the software is open-source and hosted on your server, Magento doesn’t help you with upgrading its software, fixing problems, or keeping your backend architecture in good shape. If you don’t have the time or expertise to do all this yourself, you’ll need to hire a developer, potentially on a recurring basis.

However, you get what you pay for. Businesses that can afford ongoing professional web development will find great value in Magento. The platform is powerful, scalable, and ready to integrate with countless 3^rd parties.

How Big Is Big Enough For Magento?

That’s a great question. Some sources say Magento provides value for stores doing $500,000/year and above in gross sales. However, some developers who work with Magento don’t recommend it for stores doing under $1 million/year in online sales. Needless to say, Magento is not for the bedroom entrepreneur with a laptop and a dream. For startups on shoestring budgets, WooCommerce for WordPress may be a more reasonable solution—as long as WooCommerce’s fairly basic functionality is sufficient for the business model.

Support is part of the ongoing development cost associated with Magento. Magento itself does not offer phone or email support for its CE users. Magento forums are available, with a large community of users and developers posting regularly. However, as with any online forum, it’s “buyer beware” with regard to the quality of any given answer. In this regard, hiring an experienced development team is a great solution for firms that can afford it.

Because Magento is free and open-source, it doesn’t come with PCI compliance out of the box. You’ll need to work with a 3^rd party solution to achieve PCI compliance. However, Magento’s $0 price tag comes with benefits, too. Unlike Shopify, Magento doesn’t charge transaction fees—though of course, you’ll still pay transaction fees with your 3^rd party payment gateway. Lastly, as a free product, Magento CE offers another advantage over more “user-friendly” platforms: it has no inherent restrictions in bandwidth or number of products.

The Bottom Line

For larger firms with the development budget to get the custom store they need, Miva and Magento are the most powerful options. A Magento license is free, while Miva is an SaaS (software as a service) subscription. However, Miva may be cheaper in the long run, since more features come bundled into that subscription and won’t require custom development.

Ready for more? In the next post, we look at Bigcommerce.

Greg McNeil

August 10, 2015

Ecommerce Platforms, Magento
Why Magento Might Be the Next Shopping Cart You Use for Your Ecommerce Website

Magento is the most popular shopping cart platform, with around a 26% market share. It’s also used by some of the biggest brands worldwide. But, popularity aside, there are three very strong reasons why you should consider Magento for use on your own ecommerce website.

1. A Flexible and Open Platform. When a piece of software is open source, that means anyone has access to the inner workings of the system. In the case of Magento, this means that there is a huge development community working behind the scenes, and they create all sorts of plug-in modules for it. This also means that help is everywhere and there are plenty of specialists that can modify Magento in nearly any way you need. You can even integrate it with other platforms like payment gateways, inventory and fulfillment platforms, and accounting software.
2. Purpose built. You could use another content management system (CMS) like WordPress. WordPress, after all, underpins nearly one-fifth of all websites served to browsers. But in order to run a store with WordPress, you need to add features with third-party plug-ins. Magento on the other hand comes pre-loaded with the features you need in a webstore. It can also be scaled to suit your needs. You can run a single store with thousands of SKU’s or you can even run multiple storefronts all from a single admin interface. I know that earlier I told you to disregard the popularity of the platform, but it should say something that everyone from small local webstores all the way to multi-national brands like Nike, Samsung, Lenovo, and Nestle find Magento perfect for their online commerce.
3. Optimized for High Performance. Magento is the fastest shopping cart platform available today. Small delays of just a few hundred milliseconds for each customer may seem like nothing, but multiplied over and over with thousands of customers, it can add up and bring a website to its knees. It’s also extremely SEO friendly and supports sitemaps, short URL’s, meta tags, and easily indexable product descriptions. Magento is also optimized for mobile shopping which makes up almost half of all online commerce. HTML5 capabilities and support for responsive design ensure that your site will be future proofed when Google starts to factor in mobile-friendliness in its search engine rankings.

This is just the tip of the iceberg of what Magento can do for your ecommerce store, though. Give us a call or use the form on our contact page to get in touch. We’ll set-up a consultation and run through the all the capabilities and options built into the Magento shopping cart and see what would work best for you.

Greg McNeil

March 4, 2015

Magento

Magento Design

The Problem: B2B Ecommerce Solutions Must Handle Complexity Efficiently

Solution 1: Cloud-based PaaS (Platform as a Service)

Example 1: Bachman’s B2B Ecommerce Model

Pros of cloud-based PaaS for B2B eCommerce:

Solution 2: Licensed SaaS (Software as a Service)

Pros of Licensed SaaS:

Cons of Licensed SaaS:

Solution 3: Bundled Hosting and Ecommerce (Cloud-Based SaaS)

Pros of cloud-based SaaS hosted by the software provider:

Cons of cloud-based SaaS hosted by the software provider:

Solution 4: Proprietary, In-House Ecommerce Software

Pros of proprietary in-house B2B eCommerce solutions:

Cons of proprietary in-house B2B eCommerce solutions:

Making a Decision

How Does Miva Stack Up?

Miva: The Ecommerce World’s Best-Kept Secret

The Bottom Line

Best Ecommerce Platforms for 2015 – Pt. 3 – Magento

Magento:

Magento Maintenance: Sold Separately

How Big Is Big Enough For Magento?

The Bottom Line