9 WINNING FEATURES TO LOOK FOR IN AN ECOMMERCE PLATFORM

We asked 100 Nordic retailers about the most important features in an eCommerce platform, here's the rundown..

#9: Third party systems and plug-ins
The ability to use third party plugins means adaptability, customisation and innovation. These features can be particularly useful for specific features which may not be part of the standard package.

#8: Business Intelligence (BI)
As the old adage goes, ‘if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it’, but getting accurate business intelligence data from a wide variety of systems sources can be a real challenge. Effective BI allows you to analyse the transaction in depth, and take advantage of opportunities as they arise.

#7: In-built SEO capabilities
SEO eCommerce solutions can be tricky, SEO is a fast-moving area, sensitive to changes in search engine algorithms, and difficult to define objectively. It’s important to check ‘under the bonnet’ to see if the solution is as ‘SEO friendly’ as it claims.

#6: Mobile supported ecommerce
Despite the fact that customers are still more likely to browse on mobile than buy, powerful mobile support for an eCommerce platform is still a critical factor for many major retailers.

#5: Order management system (OMS)
The primary reason to use an OMS system is to reduce your order processing time. OMS can also be effectively integrated with your online store to impact some important eCommerce metrics, like: order accuracy, on-time delivery and inventory visibility.

#4: Multi-channel functionality
In today’s retail environment it is highly likely that your sales are spread out over many on and off-line sales channels. Hence the high importance attributed to managing products, listings and orders in a multi-channel environment.

#3: Content management system (CMS)
Your site may look the best in the world, but if you cannot easily update its then your ability to react to customer data as it presents itself will be severely limited. Speed is key to efficiency, that's why retailers chose CMS as their #3.

#2: Product management
Effective merchandising is a powerful driver of increased revenue. From product and catalogue management, to images, recently viewed products and tracking capabilities, effective product management will keep your customers coming back for more. Hence retailers demanding quality product management functions as their #2.

#1: High-quality site search functionality
And finally, the #1 most important function is a high-quality site search. If you want to improve your conversion rates, then high-quality site search function is imperative. Whether you are selling black patent leather or a retro pattern scarf, how your site search processes keywords and applies filters can have a huge effect on your sales.