February 5, 2009
I’ve talked to several people recently who have been wrestling with eCommerce. In one case the company was wanting to sell downloadable products online but not sure whether to build, contract or host. Another had deployed an open source based solution and had engaged an off-shore contractor company for installation and ongoing support – they were wrestling with the challenge of growth and software maintenance support costs.
Today, there is little reason anyone should be funding custom-coding or software maintenance for eCommerce solutions. The only effort should be focused on eCommerce storefront product catalog, related content, community – and fullfillment! In this regard, there are some very high quality hosted eCommerce Merchant solutions available, of which I suggest people evaluate when looking to deploy an eCommerce solution for their microbusiness:
I would also recommend Shopify, a local Ottawa company. I know a few people who have used them and found them easy to work with.