4 Reasons Why You Should Choose Bespoke eCommerce Solutions For Your Online Business

Are you tired of trying to fit your unique business needs into an off-the-shelf eCommerce solution? (That’s a common pain point many business owners face.) Bespoke eCommerce solutions can be a game-changer.

They offer the customization and flexibility you need to achieve your business goals and grow your business online. And that’s just the beginning. Bespoke solutions also deliver superior performance and security compared to off-the-shelf options. You won’t have to worry about your website crashing or customer data being compromised.

At ProCoders, we’ve seen firsthand the challenges business owners like you face when trying to stand out in the eCommerce landscape. We’ve helped many businesses overcome those obstacles and drive success. In this article, we’ll share some practical advice and proven strategies to help you do the same. 

What is a Bespoke eCommerce Platform?

It’s a fully customized online shopping platform built from scratch to meet your business’s specific needs. That means no generic templates or off-the-shelf solutions. A bespoke platform is designed according to your unique requirements and preferences.

Custom development is key to enhancing digital operations and catering to diverse customer needs. With a high degree of customization, businesses can create a truly unique shopping experience for their customers. While it may require a larger upfront investment, a bespoke ecommerce site provides several benefits: greater flexibility, scalability, enhanced security, and advanced personalization capabilities.

What Are the Biggest Advantages of a Bespoke eCommerce?

One of the biggest advantages of a bespoke eCommerce solution is its ability to adapt to your company as it grows. You can implement features and functionalities specific to your business model, ensuring a seamless and personalized shopping experience for your customers. Scalability is another significant advantage: as your business grows, your custom eCommerce platform can easily handle increased traffic and transactions.

Security is also a critical factor. A bespoke eCommerce solution can be built with robust security measures tailored to your specific needs. This provides greater protection for sensitive customer data and transactions. Plus, you can integrate your online store with other systems and applications—like enterprise resource planning (ERP) software and CRM tools—to ensure a smooth workflow across your entire company.

That’s why we’re going to look at four reasons to choose a bespoke eCommerce solution for your online business.

4 Reasons to Choose a Bespoke eCommerce Solution for Your Online Business in 2023 and Beyond

You Have Unique or Complex Business Requirements

Off-the-shelf eCommerce platforms may not be able to fully meet your requirements. Customization is often needed to handle specific company needs in an eCommerce store. For example, if you sell custom-made products or services, you may need a more customized ordering process that integrates with your existing workflow.

We worked with Deine Baustoffe, a German retail eCommerce company, to create a bespoke eCommerce software that allowed them to sell building materials by piece, square meter or litre. That unique shopping experience helped them stand out in the competitive market.

You Need Deep Integration with Other Business Systems or Third-Party Applications

You may need to integrate your online store with other systems or applications. A bespoke eCommerce solution can be built to accommodate that.

A bespoke e-commerce platform can be the key to unlocking the full potential of your business. What you get with an off-the-shelf solution just isn’t always possible. Take inventory management, for example. A bespoke e-commerce solution can integrate with your existing inventory management system to give you real-time updates and automate order processing. That means you can focus on running your business, not manually tracking your stock levels.

The same goes for shipping. If you work with a third-party shipping provider, a bespoke solution can integrate with their API to make shipping and order tracking a breeze. In one of our case studies with an online delivery service, we developed a custom solution that allowed the client to add their own stores and products to the platform. We integrated separate applications for customers, delivery personnel and stores, as well as a superadmin role to resolve any conflicts that might arise.

You Need a Solution That’s Secure, Reliable, and Robust

If your online store handles a large volume of transactions and sensitive customer data, you need a bespoke e-commerce solution that can offer greater security and reliability than an off-the-shelf platform. That means building in the security requirements that are specific to your business, such as secure payment gateways and regular security audits.

Our bespoke solutions are secure, scalable and robust. We make sure our clients can focus on growing their businesses with confidence.

Scalability for the Long Haul

Off-the-shelf platforms just aren’t as scalable as bespoke e-commerce solutions if you have a long-term business plan and expect to grow. A custom solution can be developed to manage higher traffic, transaction, and data volumes, and can be planned to be more easily scalable as your company expands.

For example, our solutions for Deine Baustoffe and the online delivery service were designed to manage higher traffic, transaction and data volumes-and to scale easily as their businesses expanded.

In conclusion, choosing a bespoke eCommerce solution for your online business can provide numerous benefits, including meeting unique requirements, offering deep integration with other systems, ensuring security, and providing scalability for future growth. To fully capitalize on these advantages, it’s crucial to hire an eCommerce developer or hire remote developers with the right expertise and experience, like the team at ProCoders. By partnering with seasoned professionals, you can build a custom eCommerce platform that sets your business apart and drives success in 2023 and beyond.

Key Features of Bespoke eCommerce Websites

Customizable Design and Layout

A bespoke eCommerce website offers a customizable design and layout that reflects a business’s brand values and personality. This unique brand identity is essential for building trust and loyalty with customers. With a bespoke eCommerce solution, businesses can create a tailored online shopping experience that meets their specific needs and sets them apart from competitors.

Reflecting brand values and personality

One of the standout features of a bespoke eCommerce website is the ability to showcase your brand values and personality through a unique design and layout. This can include custom typography, color schemes, and imagery that align with your overall brand identity. By reflecting your brand values and personality, you can create an emotional connection with your customers, fostering loyalty and repeat business. A bespoke eCommerce solution allows you to craft an online presence that truly represents who you are as a brand.

Unique brand identity

In a crowded online marketplace, having a unique brand identity is crucial. A bespoke eCommerce website provides the opportunity to create a distinctive online presence that sets you apart from competitors. With a custom design and layout, you can highlight your brand’s values, mission, and personality, making a lasting impression on your customers. This unique brand identity not only helps in attracting new customers but also in retaining them, as they are more likely to engage with a brand that resonates with their own values and beliefs.

Scalability and Flexibility

A bespoke eCommerce website offers unparalleled scalability and flexibility, allowing your business to handle growth and increased traffic with ease. With a custom eCommerce solution, you can adapt to changing market trends and customer demands, ensuring your online store remains competitive and efficient.

Handling growth and increased traffic

As your business grows, so do the demands on your eCommerce platform. A bespoke eCommerce website is designed to handle this growth seamlessly. Whether you need to add new products, categories, or features, a custom eCommerce solution can scale with your business without compromising performance or user experience. This scalability ensures that your online store can manage higher traffic volumes and increased transactions, providing a smooth and reliable shopping experience for your customers.

By incorporating these key features, a bespoke eCommerce website can provide your business with a unique online presence, scalability, and flexibility, ultimately driving online sales and growth. Investing in a bespoke eCommerce solution means you are not just building a website, but creating a robust platform tailored to your specific needs and designed to grow with your business.

The Custom E-commerce Development Process

The custom e-commerce development process involves several stages. Each one is crucial to building a platform that not only meets but exceeds your business needs.

Identify What Makes Your Business Tick

The first step in custom e-commerce development is to identify the business processes and requirements. That means taking a deep dive into your company’s goals, target audience, and unique selling proposition. Understanding these elements is essential to creating a platform that truly reflects your brand and meets your customers’ needs.

Design an Interface That Converts

Once the business requirements are clear, the next step is to design an intuitive user interface. This stage focuses on creating a visually appealing and user-friendly design that enhances the shopping experience. A well-designed interface is crucial for keeping customers engaged and encouraging conversions.

Implement Functionality That Works

With the design in place, the next step is to implement the functionality. This involves developing both the backend and frontend of the e-commerce platform. Key functionalities include setting up a secure payment gateway, integrating shipping options, and managing inventory.

By following these stages, you can develop a bespoke e-commerce platform that meets your current needs and is scalable and adaptable for future growth.

Disadvantages of Bespoke eCommerce Websites and How to Mitigate Them

While a bespoke e-Commerce solution can offer many advantages over an off-the-shelf platform, there are also some potential pitfalls to consider. Managing eCommerce sites involves various costs such as monthly fees, payment gateway fees, and transaction fees. In this part of the article, we’ll explore some common weak spots of a bespoke eCommerce website and provide some strategies for mitigating these risks. By understanding these challenges and planning ahead, you can ensure a successful project and a custom-built online shopping experience that meets the unique needs of your business.

Higher cost

Building a bespoke eCommerce website requires you to hire web developers with rich experience, as well as designers and project managers, which can result in higher development costs compared to using an off-the-shelf platform.

Mitigation: ProCoders can help you build a bespoke eCommerce website at an affordable rate by outsourcing development to a team of experienced developers in Central Europe. Our developers have an impressive education level and can help you keep an eye on your project, ensuring that it meets your unique needs and stays within budget.

Longer development time

Because a bespoke eCommerce website is custom-built, it can take longer to develop than using an off-the-shelf platform.

Mitigation: We at ProCoders help you save time on development by providing round-the-clock development and by developing an MVP (minimum viable product) first. This approach allows you to start selling almost immediately and then add new features and functionality over time. Please check out cost to build a WordPress website for further details

Limited support

With an off-the-shelf eCommerce platform, you can usually rely on a large support community to help troubleshoot issues and provide support.

Mitigation: ProCoders understand the importance of ongoing maintenance and support for a bespoke eCommerce website. That’s why we’ve developed a unique solution to address this concern. Our WordPress SEO Services package includes a dedicated support plan, which provides up to 40 hours of maintenance and support each month.

This ensures that any issues that arise are promptly addressed by our team of experienced developers and that your website remains secure and up-to-date. Additionally, we establish clear communication channels to keep you informed of any updates or issues and work closely with you to provide the support you need, including essential search engine optimization tasks to enhance your online presence.

Potential for bugs or errors

While it’s true that any web development project can encounter bugs or errors, it’s worth noting that a bespoke eCommerce website that’s been thoroughly tested can actually have a lower risk of bugs than an off-the-shelf platform. With a bespoke solution, you have the ability to thoroughly test and quality assure every aspect of the website, ensuring that it functions smoothly and meets the needs of your business.

In contrast, with an off-the-shelf platform, there’s always a risk of bugs and errors, especially if the platform is heavily customized. In some cases, developers may implement “crutches” to achieve certain functions, which can cause bugs or conflicts with other parts of the website.

Mitigation: At ProCoders, we prioritize testing and quality assurance in our bespoke eCommerce website development projects to ensure that your website functions smoothly and effectively.

How Can ProСoders Assist You In Expand Your Online Business?

ProCoders is a trusted IT outstaffing company with a team of over 100 software engineers that can help you expand your online business with a bespoke eCommerce solution. We offer a range of solutions, for example, a Discovery phase service, which helps businesses find clear answers to three essential questions during their software development process:

1. How long will the development lifecycle take?
2. How much does my business need to invest?
3. What are the risks and how can those risks be avoided?

We believe that a lack of clear requirements and poor project explanation are some of the most common reasons why software products fail. We help businesses avoid this by following a structured process that includes research, estimation, prioritization, and roadmap creation. During the Discovery phase, our experts conduct qualitative and technical research to identify the most suitable technologies for features and scalability, evaluate the difficulty of the tasks, and determine the engineering skill level needed to do the job right.

ProCoders also offers a self-managed dedicated development team service that allows businesses to build an expert group of engineers who meet the unique needs of their project. This service provides ultimate flexibility throughout the progression of the project, with the opportunity to utilize full-time or part-time team members, all based on the scope of the project and how it evolves. ProCoders’ self-managed dedicated team service delivers endless benefits because it’s built according to your specific requirements, providing complete control over the development process and allowing for easy changes as the project evolves.

ProCoders’ Experience

Case 1: 

ProCoders successfully assisted Deine Baustoffe, a German retail eCommerce company, in creating a bespoke eCommerce software to meet their specific business requirements. Our team utilized the PHP Spryker framework to provide a tailored solution that enabled Deine Baustoffe to sell building materials by the piece, square meter, or liter – something that is not possible on off-the-shelf platforms like Shopify. We ensured that the website was scalable, flexible, and secure, allowing Deine Baustoffe to offer a unique shopping experience to their customers. Our expertise in developing custom eCommerce platforms helped Deine Baustoffe to achieve their business objectives and stand out in the competitive eCommerce market.

Case 2: 

Our second case involved an e-commerce service for online delivery, which started as an alcohol delivery service for parties and expanded to a full-fledged delivery of goods from stores. ProCoders developed a custom solution that allowed the client to add their own stores and products to the platform, enabling customers to order online. We also created separate applications for customers, delivery personnel, and stores, all hosted by ProCoders. Additionally, we implemented a superadmin role to resolve conflicts. The depth of goods and diverse descriptions required a customized solution, which we delivered to the client’s satisfaction. For this project, we utilized Angular/Ionic for the front-end, Firebase for the real-time database, and Node.js for the back-end development, creating a robust and scalable tech stack to support the client’s needs.

Conclusion

Сhoosing the right eCommerce platform is critical to the success of your online business. While off-the-shelf solutions like Shopify and WooCommerce are popular and convenient options, they may not always meet the unique needs of every business. In such cases, a bespoke eCommerce solution, which is custom-built for your business, may be a better fit. 

With our extensive expertise in developing custom eCommerce platforms, we can ensure that your platform is scalable, flexible, and secure. Our solutions offer greater flexibility and deeper integration with other systems or third-party applications. Choose ProCoders to expand your online presence with a unique and efficient eCommerce platform that will help your business succeed. Also, make sure to check out outsource website development for further understanding.