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Are you being misled by ROAS?

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Full transcript:

So you are selling online and you want to sell a lot more online, so that’s what we are here for, to help you sell a lot more online. If you’re not still selling online, unfortunately, this video will be not that helpful for you. Start selling first and then come back and watch these videos. And hopefully sell a lot more. 

All right today we’re talking about ROAS Return On Ad Spend. This metric is considered very valuable and used all over the place to justify why you should hire an agency and see how your ads are doing. 

Most agencies will use this as a metric to show you, hey, you spend $1 and you got $1.50 back on your ad. So your ROAS is great, you’re making money. 

I think ROAS is misused quite a lot in our community. Marketing and advertising agencies are much more guilty than anybody else to use it incorrectly. And there are two reasons, it’s used incorrectly. 

One, very simply, this is the way we like to show value. And it’s the easy way to show value. 

Other it’s just easier to measure is available in most platforms. So they just use it for that reason. 

So the fact that it’s easier to measure, I would not blame anybody for that because, hey, it’s just easier to measure. So we’ve got to measure something and ROAS is available. 

So, OK, but the other idea that knowing that ROAS is not a complete metric and it’s kind of a risky metric to use and still using it, I think it’s not doing the right thing. 

So let’s get into it. 

Why ROAS is not a complete metric?

So the problem with ROAS is you spend $1 and you got $1.50 back, so you have a ROAS of one 50% or 1.5 x, whichever way you want to do this. 

But here’s the problem…

What if your cost of goods or cost of goods plus shipping and everything included was actually 90 cents? Now what’s going on? You spend $1 and your cost of goods was $0.90. And you and you got the return of $1.50 for that. 

So think about it, so your ROAS 1.5 x, every dollar you spend, you’re getting 1.5 back because you’re already spending $1. The first dollar is already gone. So it doesn’t matter. So you are actually getting $0.50 off. 

So product, which cost you to make you getting $0.50 back, you’re losing money at one point. $0.5 is not good. 

So the way to deal with that is you set a process, which keeps you profitable. 

So if you do that, that in this example, will say, you know, my cost in $0.90. So I need to get it done of at least $0.90 on every sale, which means if I do get 1.9 x return, then, you know, at least I’m breaking even or if I get two extra hours of 3x, then I’m making some money. 

That’s great. So that’s a great start. 

But instead, there is more. If you hired a consulting team, you hired some marketing agency, they’re charging you something in addition to that spend. What about that? 

That’s where I would like to introduce this new metric, which we use called ROMAS. 

So we like to say, ask your agency to show you not the ROAS, but ROMAS (Return on Marketing and Ad Spend). 

What is real return on marketing and ad spend. The idea here is when you run a campaign in which you spend $10,000 and additional $5,000 to that agency, then you should be considering all those $15,000 as part of your spend. And you should include in the way we do ROMAS. We include the cost of goods also in there. So the ROMAS of 1.5 truly means that you are making 50% profit. 

So that’s simplifying it. 

But basically the breakdown of ROMAS includes all the spend, your cost of goods, your agency spend, your consulting spend, your marketing spend, your ad spend, everything. And if romance is positive, is more than one, you’re guaranteed to be making money. 

So I urge you guys, just don’t stop at ROAS. Calculate the ROMAS. 

Unfortunately, ROMAS will not be available directly in any of the tools. It is something you’ll have to send up in a spreadsheet. You can get the ROAS in. And then you can add the cost of sale. And then add these other expenses and to calculate your ROMAS. 

So once again, ask for ROMAS, not just ROAS. Otherwise you’re only making decisions based on half information and you might be losing money. And if you’re selling online or doesn’t matter, you’re selling online, offline. You never want to lose money. Right? no. 1 rule, don’t lose money while trying to do any business. 

All right. That’s all I have. And as I like, as we say, this is all for information for you guys to help your business. And there is no cause we don’t teach any courses, etc., but we do this for our clients day in and day out. If you find this information useful, applies to your business, apply it and follow us to learn more. And if you need help in any of these areas, reach out. We’ll be happy to help you guys out and we will be calculating ROMAS, which means if you work with us, we will always be looking to show you overall return on your investment, including the money you will spend on agency like us. 

Thank you.

CTR, CPM, CPC, CPA insights!

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Full transcript:

So you’re selling online! 

Requirement: that you are selling online. 

Then watch this video, because I want to tell you a few things which people get confused on. It’ll help you sell more. 

If you’re not selling online or just starting out. This is not going to be very helpful to you. 

So let’s start. 

So first metric, which I want to talk about is click through rate (CTR).

So what is CTR? Click through rate is at what percentage of people who actually have shown your ad actually click through it. So the problem with this metric are not necessarily the problem, the area where people get confused with click through rate is, if the click through rate is low they decide working on their landing page on a website. 

But just think about it…

They have not clicked through, which means it doesn’t matter how much you improve your website, they don’t know what your website looks like.

So click through rate is a metric, which is a function of your ad, your ad copy. It is nothing to do with your website or wherever the landing pages. So if you want to click through rate to be higher, which means they are not engaging with your ad, you need to work on the copy, just work on the copy. So that’s a take away. CTR is lower work on the copy, work on the offer. What you are saying there on the ad itself is what is deciding CTR. 

The other metric is (Cost per Mille) CPM.

It’s nothing to do with million. It’s actually cost per thousand impressions. What are impressions? where your Ad is shown by Facebook or Google or youtube? That is the impression.  An opportunity for somebody to look at that ad and interact with is an impression. So CPM, CPM is other metric. People get all worked up on.

CPM is a function of your competition.

Who else is competing for the same audience and seasonality? Basically also because some season, depending on around thanksgiving, everybody’s putting ads out. So CPM will go high. So my take away there is don’t focus too much on CPM. It is what it is. It’s not costing the your cost is just because of the competition. So there’s not much you can do about CPM.

Let’s go to the next metric. Cost per click (CPC).

Now Cost per click is a little bit more complex metric because it’s a function of multiple things. It does include the copy. How good is your copy? Because basically, if your copy is good and Facebook has to show your ad to less people before they click, then your cost per click will be lower because it doesn’t matter how you’re paying. All ad platforms, end of the day, internally are charging you for CPM, which means how many times they have to display ad.

So one thing to improve is, your ad. It will probably increase and improve your cost per click. The other is actually your landing page as it will matter because all platforms like users to after clicking, have a good experience. So if your ad copy said something else, but when they end up on the page, it is completely unrelated or if you have a wrong link, they will leave immediately and none of the advertisers platforms like that because it’s a bad experience, which means people will not click enough on their ads and they don’t want that.

They want you to make a promise in your ad and fulfill that promise or go on and details of that promise for that.

So which means you won’t be penalized a bit if your copy on the landing page is not matching video ad. So to reduce to improve your cost per click, do work on your copy also of not only that, but also the learning on landing page.

Now the most important metric, if you’re selling online, is cost per acquisition (CPA).

So the decision could be what is an acquisition, in most cases. If you’re selling, then somebody buys your product, cost per acquisition (CPA) is something that you want to watch very, very carefully. And because that will determine what is your return on our spend. And that will be our other video. We talk about ROAS because ROAS is in itself an important, very important metric and it’s misunderstood. And I’m just kind of giving it away. But we don’t like ROAS. We prefer the other metric, which you cannot directly measure. But can be computed. We’ll talk about that. But today, let’s talk about cost per acquisition and finish that cost per acquisition metric cost per acquisition.

The one of the aspect of acquisition is what is an acquisition and when?

A user clicked and then they went on to buy the product that’s acquisition, but what if they clicked yesterday or the day before yesterday or the last month. And then they bought? Is that still attributed to that acquisition? That’s when the attribution model comes in.

So attribution model is basically the concept that when they click, for this conversion to happen which ad did they see? what was the window in which if they clicked and they still converted later? should it be attributed to what?

Now, the attribution model has something very interesting, you need to consider. It does not matter which platform, what attribution model you are using. If you are trying to optimize your ROAS, you want to optimize that for shortest possible application window. And when, I say this again, optimize all your return on ad spending for the shortest attribution window, but calculate your return on the longest attribution window.

The idea is this…

You cannot wait because attribution window for it is long 30 days. You cannot wait for 30 days. And that information is already passed. The return, the conversion, which is happening for something which was clicked 30 days ago. There’s only so much you can do about it. So you’ve got to look at shorter window of 24 hours and how they’re interacting based on that change. 

Your Ad spend should be decided on a shorter window, but actual calculation of your ROAS should be done on the longer window.
Why? because that was return on your ad.

You ran an Ad and 14 days later, somebody came and bought that. It  should be attributed to the Ad. 

They’re done on your ads return should be calculated for the longest window, but the optimization should be done on the shortest window. So that is the takeaway. 


Conclusion:

So click rate important. You know, just to summarize, important, but focus on that.
CPM? Just don’t worry too much about it, except if you feel that it’s very high because of seasonality, maybe you don’t want to do ads that time. 
CPC? Is a function of your ad and the landing page 
CPA? Keep average attribution window in mind that the customer acquisition is based on attribution window. 

I will do a little video on attribution window because it’s a complex enough set the subject, which deserves its own video. 

All right. And as I’ve said before, there is no cause to sign up. We don’t charge for any calls. The only reason I’m giving this information away. This is what we do for our clients. Hopefully you’ll find it useful and use it for your own business. And if you feel you need help with these ads and you need help with selling online more, you can reach out to us, and we’ll be happy to help you with that. That’s a selfish motive. Give away the information of how we work. And you can benefit. And if you feel overwhelmed and need help, reach out to us. 

Thank you. 

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Amazon Market Research: Trends and Niches 2021

If you’re a new Amazon seller, you can be overwhelmed by the extensive categories and subcategories available in this marketplace. It’s important to determine which niche will provide you the profitability you’re aiming for. In-depth market research focusing on consumer purchasing behavior trends that directly affect sales can help you to make a wise decision.

Here’s how you can go about it.

Finding a profitable niche on Amazon can be a complicated endeavor. However, you can make it simpler and faster by following the right process. First, use market research tools that have a proven track record. Second, apply these tools to the Amazon category you’re interested in to determine which product to launch. And third, discover consumer behavior towards the product you’ve selected.

Tools to Perform Amazon Market Research

Below are the three market research tools we use regularly to help our clients selling online. Each one serves a specific purpose, so it would be best to utilize all of them.

Best Sellers Page on Amazon

The best sellers on Amazon are found right on the platform. It lists the most popular products for each category and subcategory based on sales. All information about products, including the most gifted and most wished for, is updated hourly on this page.

When you click on a listing’s thumbnail, you will be redirected to its product page. There, you will find additional details, such as its category and subcategory ranking, reviews, price, and specifications. If you like what you see, then proceed with the other bestsellers until you have a shortlist.

AMZScout Tools

This research software helps you to find profitable products by analyzing data and trends on the demand and competitive landscape of certain niches. Its Product Database contains an extensive list that you can narrow down by selecting your preferred business market and product category. The results include images, specs, related products, and Amazon stats like BSR, monthly sales, inventory, product score, and profit which you can use to determine the cost and potential revenue of each item.

The AMZScout Keyword Research tools are especially helpful in finding high-demand niches. Simply enter a phrase related to the product you’re interested in and it will tell you the level of consumer demand. You’ll also get an idea of related products which could be more profitable.

Google Trends

This tool uses the search engine’s data to help you to find niche markets based on industry, brand, and product trends. It can tell you the peak and low seasons of any product or niche on a single page. Trending searches, in particular, feature the current most searched topic with keywords you can use for your market research.

Amazon Trend Niches 2021

Below are the 5 trending niches on Amazon this year, and the products considered as hot items in each category. They are worth looking into whether you’re still in the planning stage of becoming a seller or already an online veteran.

1. Beauty Products (Skin Care)

In 2020, the value of the global skincare and beauty industry was $140.92 billion. Experts estimate this number will grow 4.69% annually from 2021 to 2026. Demand for personal care products, anti-aging products, and organic and natural skincare products has been on the upswing.

On Amazon, the health and beauty category has ranked third since 2018, with sales in the skincare sub-category increasing by 84%. It is noteworthy that 52.5% of Prime members were largely responsible for this growth.

2. Home and Kitchen (Bed Sheet Set)

With a larger percentage of the population spending more time indoors because of pandemic-induced lockdowns, beds have taken on a life of their own. As expected, demand for ancillary products like customizable bed sheet sets and luxury pillows increased, with bed linens taking up the largest share of the sales pie at 31.6% in 2020.

The global home bedding market is expected to rise by 9% in 2021 and estimated to earn $147 billion by 2028.

The Home & Kitchen category on Amazon is ranked number 1 in profitability, with bed sheets raking in the most sales.

3. Sports and Outdoors (Water Bottle)

Reusable water bottles are now all the rage and the market is predicted to expand by 4% from 2021 to 2028 at an estimated value of $84.8 billion. The escalation is bolstered by worldwide government regulations and restrictions on the use of disposable plastic bottles. Metal-based reusable water bottles, in particular, are becoming popular.

Sports & Outdoors ranks second on Amazon and reusable water bottles are its bestsellers.

4. Toys and Games (Bubble Fidget Toy)

The NPD Group/Consumer Tracking Service reported a 16.7% increase in the US toy industry from 2019 to 2020 and was valued at around $32.6 billion by the end of the year.

Toys that served as de-stressors like plush dolls, fidget toys, and bubble poppers, in particular, have seen increasing demand.

Toys & Games is the third most profitable category on Amazon, and bubble fidget toys are currently the hottest trending items among sellers.

5. Electronics and Accessories (Magnetic Chargers)

The wireless charging industry worldwide is estimated to hit the $4.5 billion mark by 2021 - a growth fueled by the increased application of wireless tech in consumer electronics and people’s escalating need to charge multiple devices simultaneously.

Another factor is the rising popularity of electric vehicles to combat climate change which has further fueled the demand for wireless charging.

The Electronics category on Amazon may not be in the top 10, but magnetic chargers are selling like hotcakes.

Amazon Consumer Trends

Apart from profitable categories and niches, it is equally important to study your target consumer. That way, you can package your offers according to their preferences. Consider the following:

More Tech-Savvy Online Shoppers

Purchases inspired by social media, deal-finding browser plug-ins, online grocery shopping, and food delivery were the major changes to consumer behavior in 2020. Amazon, being the tech innovator that it is, rose to the challenge of adjusting to these developments.

Voice search is being increasingly utilized by consumers and Amazon’s Alexa has kept up. It has greatly improved in convenience, accuracy, and speed when it comes to hands-free voice shopping, ordering from restaurants, paying bills, and real-time delivery tracking. Shoppers also want to see barcodes they can scan to check prices and instant customer service chat features. The Amazon app offers both.

Online Spending Has Increased

The global health crisis saw a paradigm shift to online shopping with more consumers’ discovering its convenience and accessibility. It also afforded them basket consolidation, a feature previously exclusive to physical stores. According to Statista, global eCommerce sales reached US$4.28 trillion in 2020 and is projected to increase to $5.4 trillion in 2022.

Amazon Leads the eCommerce Pack

Among US online retail consumers, 70% are Prime members, 38% are Walmart+ members, and 10% are eBay, Target, and Kohl’s shoppers. Prime membership is the main reason people prefer Amazon as it provides unbeatable benefits like free shipping and 2-day delivery apart from excellent customer service and fast turnaround on returns, refunds, and replacements.

Conclusion

If you are a new Amazon seller, the tools, recommendations, and information discussed above will help you to zero in on the right category and pick a viable product to launch.

Shopify for Wholesale B2B Sales

Your B2C/D2C sales are finally taking off on your Shopify site and you are getting inquiries for bulk purchases from business or organization customers. Should you just keep serving them as one-off deals with special discounts or set a formal process? Is Shopify even the right platform for B2B?

B2B sales needs are quite different from DTC/B2C sales. What are some possible ways to do this with Shopify? We try to address these questions in detail with specific guidelines to help you make the optimal choice for your business.

Business operational needs of a B2B Wholesale Business

Payment Options:

Only 5% of B2B purchases are made with credit/debit cards
55% of B2B buyers prefer different payment options

Popular Payment options for B2B:

A> Invoicing
B> Purchase order
C> extended credit, and payment plans

User-specific account management needs

Custom pricing: Pricing customized at individual customer level or group of customers level
Discounts: Volume-based pricing and discounts
Sales Negotiation: Invoice review and negotiated sales
Re-ordering: Allow customers to quickly reorder past purchases

How does Shopify meet these B2B needs?

  • Tagging Customers: Customer accounts can be tagged and pricing can be set based on tags. This meets the custom pricing by customer groups’ requirements.
  • Account-based Marketing: This offers customers a personalized experience
  • A customized shopping experience to the end consumer: Brands can also offer customized catalogs that show the most relevant products and recommendations to individual buyers to streamline their shopping experience and help them find products they’re most likely to purchase.
  • Extending a line of credit: Apps like Apruve allow customers to set up a business account with its automated B2B line of credit. The customer gets extended payment terms of 30-60 days and, the brand gets the money through a credit network right away.
  • Payment plans: Brands can offer customized and flexible payment plans with multiple payment options to customers using apps such as Partial.ly Payment Plans.
  • Recurring payment or subscription: Multiple Shopify apps allow setting up recurring orders with Recurring Payment, Subscription & Invoicing options.

The process of selling wholesale on Shopify

Let’s understand different options to use Shopify to sell products to other businesses.

Using discount codes

The easiest way to set up a wholesale price is to create a discount code and send it to your wholesale buyers. This is easy and fast. This technique is a good choice in the following instances:

  1. You need to have an easy and uncomplicated pricing approach where it will be based on a percentage discount. For instance, the wholesales prices of your products are always 40% of your retail price.
  2. You handle these orders manually and wholesale customers a small fraction of your business.
  3. When you are just experimenting with wholesale.

Using a Wholesale App

There are many Shopify Apps that support wholesale selling. These apps can handle the following tasks:

  1. Use the same B2C store to offer wholesale B2B or custom pricing to premium customers.
  2. Tag specific groups of businesses and then set the offer price for that particular group. A logged-in customer then will see the discounted or offer price and not the retail price.
  3. A detailed pricing spreadsheet can be uploaded for different products.
  4. Capability to send out invoices to be paid utilizing the payment provider that is set up in your Shopify admin
  5. Sending a personalized invoice email that lets the invoice be paid using various payment techniques, such as a wire transfer.
  6. Ability to mark the invoice as paid or partly paid as you get paid from external sources.

Some of the popular Wholesale apps are :
Wholesaler app
Bold Custom pricing: Wholesale

Add a wholesale channel (Shopify Plus only)

Shopify Plus allows adding wholesale channels which is basically a password-protected version of B2C store with Wholesale pricing features. Shopify Plus wholesale channel option includes implementing wholesale-specific pricing, automated accounts sign-ups, order review controls, and much more. It is a complete automated solution from sign-up to check-out.

Customized pricing options:
  • Percentage-based discounts by collections or across the store
  • Fixed (flat) prices for products
  • Different prices to different wholesale customers
  • Volume-based pricing rules
Order processing:
  • Email an invoice to be paid using the payment provider that is set up in your Shopify admin
  • Send a customized invoice email that allows the invoice to be paid using a different payment method, such as a wire transfer
  • Accept payment by credit card or mark the invoice as paid as you receive payment.
Disadvantages of using the wholesale channel approach:
  • Cannot integrate with any external systems or third-party apps
  • All prices displayed are including Taxes
  • Not a custom storefront for Wholesale customer

Opening a separate Shopify store for B2B

Opening a separate store enables you to keep your retail and wholesale stores completely separate.

Advantages of Independent wholesale store:
  1. Your wholesale customers can be separated from your retail businesses completely. You could use a completely new storefront and theme design to cater to your wholesale business.
  2. Wholesale and retail store inventories will be completely isolated.
Disadvantages of Independent wholesale store:
  1. You need to manage two stores independently
  2. Most apps charge by store instance so apps used on both stores will double the expense
  3. Additional Inventory Management Solution (IMS) will be needed if you want to manage both stores’ inventory centrally.
  4. The additional cost of Shopify instance ( Shopify Plus this can be done for free as expansion store)

Summary:

Shopify is an excellent platform for adding on B2B Sales. There are multiple ways to do this based on the stage of your business. Here are four ways to operate a B2B business on Shopify:

  1. On the lowest end are special Discount codes on the current B2C site for small-scale B2B sales and/or just testing waters.
  2. In the middle range is using Third-party wholesale applications. This is best for merchants who want simplicity and who look forward to having just a single store to serve all their customer groups at once.
  3. Shopify’s wholesale channel works best for Shopify Plus merchants who have a simple ordering channel to receive B2B orders.
  4. A separate Shopify online store gives B2B customers the most leeway both during and after the project, enabling, among other things, different catalogs and promotions in different stores.

Did we miss anything? What is your experience with B2B Shopify? Let us know in the comments below.

eCommerce Marketing Automation: HubSpot, Klaviyo or ActiveCampaign?

Marketing automation is crucial to every business, no matter how big or small, if you want to stay competitive in your respective industry. Automation tools save your team time, increase productivity, allows for personalization when engaging with your audience, and thus increases sales by allowing you to keep up with all of your contacts, campaigns, and track results from one platform. Which marketing automation tool is right for you? Let’s compare three of the most popular platforms: HubSpot, Klaviyo, and ActiveCampaign

Features

HubSpot

HubSpot is a comprehensive CRM platform that gives users the tools they need to succeed and grow in one place. It offers four different service areas: marketing, CRM & Sales, Customer Service, and CMS. Users can manage website content, create landing pages, deploy campaigns, email tracking, deal pipelines, results tracking, and so much more.

Klaviyo

Klaviyo is a popular email marketing software platform. It is designed to help businesses build and scale their brand, transition brick and mortar stores into the online space, and more. This platform offers powerful email and SMS marketing automation and tracking that can either be used separately or in unison.

ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign is an email marketing first and CRM second platform that encompasses email marketing, marketing automation, and sales automation. Unlike other tools on the market, ActiveCampaign focuses on email marketing and lets CRM take a backseat. It does offer advanced integrations for those who have CRMs such as SalesForce. Email tracking is available in the Lite version and above, while deal pipelines are available in the plus and above.

Best for B2B, B2C, or Ecommerce?

HubSpot is geared more towards B2B companies, while Klaviyo is designed for B2C companies and eCommerce. ActiveCampaign is an ideal solution for both B2B and B2C organizations.

Number of Free Contacts

HubSpot

HubSpot allows storage of up to 1 million non-marketing contacts free of charge. Users can choose which contacts are marketing contacts. The number of marketing contacts allowed depends on the plan. The starter plan allows up to 1,000 contacts, the professional plan has a limit of 2,000 contacts, and the enterprise plan allows a maximum of 10,000 contacts. If you need more contacts for your specific plan, you can purchase additional space.

Klaviyo

Up to 250 free contacts are allowed with the free version.

ActiveCampaign

A maximum of 100 free contacts is allowed with the 14-day free trial.

Contract Period

HubSpot offers both monthly and annual subscription plans that you can cancel at any time. ActiveCampaign offers only monthly subscriptions, but like HubSpot subscribers can cancel at any time. Klaviyo is a little different from the other two. Since it is pay-as-you-go, there is no monthly or annual commitment.

Pricing

HubSpot

When it comes to pricing, HubSpot has perhaps the most complicated pricing structure. With that being said, they have something for every budget, which is appealing. HubSpot offers several different plans in 4 different categories (marketing, CRM & Sales, Customer Service, CMS). Clients can choose one or more at a price point they are comfortable with. There are forever free plans for each category and starter plans that begin at $45/month. Predesigned bundles are also available, beginning at $50/month. If none of the bundles fit your needs, you can create a custom bundle. Clients can choose between monthly and yearly subscriptions with a slight discount for those who choose an annual plan.

Klaviyo

Thanks to Klaviyo’s unique pay-as-you-go pricing model, any number of contacts can be accommodated without paying for space you do not need. There is a free version of the email side that allows up to 250 contacts and 500 email sends. The pricing structure is tiered based on the number of contacts and email sends needed. SMS is 1 cent per send, and MMS is 3 cents per send. There are no monthly or annual commitments.

ActiveCampaign

Pricing begins at $9/month and a maximum of 500 contacts and increases if you choose a higher tier package with more contacts. ActiveCampaign does offer a 14-day free trial with a maximum of 100 contacts, and 100 email sends. The trial version has all of the features of the professional plan. Once the trial expires, you can manually upgrade or just let it expire if you do not wish to continue using ActiveCampaign. All plans are on a monthly subscription basis with no contract.

Our Recommendations

HubSpot

HubSpot is a robust platform ideal for B2B medium-sized companies and enterprises who have or plan on having a larger sales team that requires sophisticated CRM, deal pipelines, email scheduling, and tracking. 

Klaviyo

This is a simplified platform that is great for small and large B2C and eCommerce businesses. One of the best parts of Klaviyo is that it allows the set-up of multiple email automation that is inherent to the eCommerce ecosystem.

ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign is ideal for small B2B or B2C businesses that need to send out frequent emails and newsletters without the need for a robust CRM. 

We work with all these three platforms and certified partners. We recommend them in the following order:

  1. Klaviyo: Ecommerce website online businesses
  2. Active Campaign: Ecommerce business + B2B partners and retailers to be tracked.
  3. Hubspot: B2B long sales cycle service or product businesses

Shopping Carts: Self-Hosted vs. Hosted

In our previous post, we covered Shopping carts and it’s various types. In this one, let’s get into the pros and cons of both types of shopping carts.

Why Self-hosted eCommerce platforms?

  1. With a self-hosted shopping cart, you have better control over your web stores.
  2. Additional features are available in forms of plugins or extensions and if you don’t have one, there is a community to reach out to develop one.
  3. The self-hosted eCommerce solution gives you the freedom and capability to scale anytime as business grows.
  4. Freedom to choose hosting of your choice.

Why NOT?

  1. Requires technical assistance in setting up the store.
  2. Though you have the community backing you but there is lack of direct support from the provider.
  3. Costs go up once your store begins to grow and this is completely dependent on the hosting provider you choose.

Why Hosted eCommerce platforms?

  1. The one-stop eCommerce solution that includes hosting, shopping cart capability, and technical support.
  2. Simple to build and manage eStores with very little technical knowledge.
  3. Centralized support team to go to when you are stuck and they will take care of it for you.
  4. They are reasonably priced and offer various deals on advance payments.

Why NOT?

  1. As you scale your store on hosted eCommerce platforms, it can cost more than the self-hosted eCommerce solution.
  2. Your control is limited when it comes to customizing the store and can work only with the available resources.
  3. Switching platforms can cost you a lot of money and is also a time-consuming process. At times, it has been found impossible to migrate the stores from hosted platforms due scope of the store.

In Conclusion, Hosted and Self-Hosted eCommerce solutions are both powerful and flexible. They  provide control and can be set up within lower budgets but takes time and requires technical know-how to maintain and run.

Whereas, Hosted eCommerce platforms can be set up quickly and requires less technical knowledge but will cost more and have limitations with customization.

Now that we have covered the positives and negatives of Self-Hosted and Hosted shopping carts above, look out for our next blog where we will present comprehensive list of Self-hosted Shopping Carts solutions.

Different Types of Shopping Carts

If you are planning to open an online store, you cannot ignore shopping carts. Shopping carts are the basic functionality that allows the user to make a purchase on your website. Here is a compiled list of all the shopping carts for you at one place.

Following are some basic types of shopping carts:

  1. Hosted shopping carts or a.k.a eCommerce platforms are software-as-a-solution which are hosted by platforms on their own servers.
    Example: Shopify.
  2. Self-hosted shopping carts, these are traditional or the original shopping cart solutions that are hosted on your own servers.
    There are two types of Self-hosted shopping carts:
    • Open Source Shopping Carts which can be installed on your server. The source code of this available to developers for customization and bug fixing.
      Example: Woocommerce (WordPress), Drupal Commerce (Drupal), Magento.
    • Licensed Software is developed by a single company and is available for use on your own server for one-time fee payment.
      Example: CS-Cart

Read our blog for Pros and Cons of Self-Hosted Shopping Carts and Hosted Shopping Carts.

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