Covid Crisis has accelerated E-Commerce Growth vividly. Ecommerce penetration of November-December sales surged to 25.7% in 2020 versus 19.2% the year before, according to E-Commerce research. It was a similar story on the B2B side, as fear of traveling kept manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors from closing sales through in-person visits or trade shows, driving more business online.
With the surge in online purchasing, both retailers and B2B sellers are looking for better Ecommerce technology. 51% of retail chief financial officers said they had invested more in Ecommerce in the past six months in a September 2020 survey.
With retail and B2B companies prioritizing investments in their Ecommerce platform, there are two main options available to them, SaaS and Open Source. Open Source means that companies using the software can see and modify their source code. SaaS, or software as a service, refers to software that is hosted and maintained by the vendor and accessed by clients via the web.
Challenge of Operation Efficacy- SaaS is the Solution
SaaS stands for Software-as-a-Service. It’s a software licensing and delivery model in which software is licensed to a user and accessed via the internet. SaaS Ecommerce platforms then are cloud-based systems that are accessed on any web browser.
One of the biggest advantages of SaaS platforms is that the software isn’t installed on-premise or maintained by the user themselves. Instead, your Ecommerce system runs on the SaaS provider’s hosted servers. Your 3rd-party provider then is responsible for the security, performance, and maintenance of the application on their servers.
Typically, SaaS applications are licensed on a subscription basis. Users pay a monthly fee based on level of service and number of users. This licensing model is usually a cost-effective way for merchants to have real-time access to their Ecommerce platform whenever and wherever there’s an internet connection.
Managing core processes and customer experience data on a single platform helps create operational efficiency, improves insights, enhances decision-making and enables businesses to be nimble and outpace market changes. A modern suite of software as a service(SaaS) applications provides a complete, agile, secure, and integrated solution for an entire business, across functions.
Benefits of SaaS Platform
For effective business continuity, apart from Cost & Security, there are multiple factors that needs to be considered while selecting SaaS (Software-as-a-service) for Ecommerce Business.
- The Ecommerce platform that allows merchants of all sizes to build, innovate and grow their business online.
- Flexibility of customizing the platform via APIs application programming interfaces, essentially intelligent tunnels for moving data from one system to another.
- An API driven architecture that enables easy integration of third-party systems and scale systems at a very large scale if you get huge traffic with a highly secure server
- It should provide support of multiple payment gateways, logistic partners and third-party software integration.
- ease of running advanced promotions to attract customers by running multiple offers within minutes.
The modern suite of software as a service (SaaS) application provides a complete, agile, secure, and integrated solution for an entire business, across functions.
1. Soft as a Service in Cost Effective Budget
SaaS Platform is a cost-effective solution as it eliminates the upfront cost of purchase and installation, as well on-going costs like upgrades. Instead of spending large amounts of money on hardware installations, SaaS applications can be easily downloaded and maintained. Moreover, pay-as-you-go models allow businesses to pay for only what they are using and not pay heavily on un-used licensing. SaaS can be especially advantageous for small businesses because it provides access to expensive, high-powered software that might have been otherwise inaccessible through conventional purchasing methods. Also, the subscription-based method eliminates the extreme financial risk of expensive software.
2. Time Saving Process
There is a common phrase that “time is money” and thankfully, SaaS can save both. For many SaaS applications, installation is as simple as having an internet connection and acquiring a log-in. Furthermore, maintenance responsibilities are shifted from your IT department to the vendor itself. This eliminates extra work hours and downtime that might have been necessary to upgrade conventional software. Finally, SaaS apps tend to have a smaller learning curve which means quicker adoption across your workforce.
3. Solution to Challenge of Scalability & Accessibility
Another great feature of SaaS is that the pay-as-you-go model provides fantastic flexibility and options. Because the software is hosted externally by a vendor, changing your usage plan is easy and can be done without advance notice. Additionally, web-based use allows subscribers to access the software easily from any location with internet capabilities.
4. Address The Compatibility Issue
With the conventional software installation method, updates can require enormous amounts of time and money. Even worse, version differences between members of your workforce can lead to compatibility issues and wasted of time. With SaaS however, subscribers can easily log-on to already upgraded services.
5. Maintenance becomes Easy
If you don’t have your own IT team to manage this level of administration, then this is an advantage of SaaS platforms.
It is the biggest advantage of SaaS Ecommerce platforms is that the provider hosts and maintains the software. You don’t need to find a hosting provider to work with. Instead, they’re also responsible for uptime, performance speed, software bug fixes, software updates, and anything else of the sort. Your provider is constantly watching and monitoring the performance of your store. SaaS providers are usually known for their helpful and quick support teams.
6. PCI Compliance- Safeguard Customer’s Payment Information
From security purpose, if you want to sell online, then you must be PCI compliant so you can safeguard your customers’ payment information. Ecommerce SaaS providers ensure that you meet PCI compliance standards. It’s their responsibility to stay up to date with any patches or bug fixes that affect your security.
Thus, for many retailers, this is an important advantage. Your customers can trust you with their sensitive information. With the amount of data hacked on internet, it’s more imperative than ever to have the trust of your customer.
Selecting an Ecommerce platform is hard job, but is critical to the success of your business. So, we’ve put together a list of necessary steps to be followed that will help you to compare and choose from some of the most popular Ecommerce platforms out there.
Commerceup, the modern suite of software as a service (SaaS) application provides a complete, agile, secure, and integrated solution for an entire business, across functions.
Article Contributed by Piyush Pathak, Founder & CEO, Commerceup.io
