As technology continues to advance (especially within eCommerce), it is only natural that consumer expectations and standards change. In 2022, consumers will be demanding better shopping experiences and lower prices — this is a challenge that every eCommerce business owner will face. Thus they need to answer the question of how to grow their business while also staying profitable?
Not to burst your bubble, but the capabilities of your website hosting platforms determine the progress of your business. Solving eCommerce problems doesn’t have to be complicated — it can be pretty straightforward. It all begins with understanding the right platform for your business, so eCommerce businesses need to understand the difference between fully hosted and self-hosted eCommerce platforms.
Fully Hosted Vs. Self-Hosted eCommerce Platforms: What Do They Mean?
The present eCommerce industry is adapting to changing customer expectations, demographic changes, and increasingly global customer bases, and the role of hosting platforms in use needs to be emphasized. That said, the top platforms available for brands are hosted and self-hosted eCommerce platforms.
What is a Fully Hosted eCommerce Platform?
A fully hosted eCommerce platform is an online store solution managed by a third-party provider. Being hosted by a third-party provider means that they’ll handle everything from hosting, security, and maintenance to hardware, software, and upgrades.
Most of these solutions offer a variety of plans and pricing models so you can choose which one fits your business needs and budget best. For example, depending on the subscription plan, you may be limited to certain features. Therefore, you might subscribe to a premium plan for upgraded eCommerce experience.
Here are common eCommerce pricing model examples for you to understand:
| Components | Custom-built platform | Shopify Advanced (Annual fee) | AllValue Pro (Annual fee) |
| Subscription fee | —– | $3,588 | $708 |
| Hosting+ Domain name + SSL (Annual) | $170 | —- | —- |
| Web design cost | $5,000 | $160 | $160 |
| Payment processing cost (per transaction) | 2.9% + $0.3 | 2.9% + 0.5% + $0.3 | 2.9% + 0.6% + $0.3 |
| Add-ons cost | $1,000 | —- | —- |
| Administrative cost | $4,000 | —- | —- |
| Cost of the growing business | —- | —- | —- |
| Total | $10,170 | $4,748 | $768 |
https://www.allvalue.com.cn/en/articles/Cheaper-than-You-Can-Imagine–How-Much-Does-It-Cost-to-Start-an-eCommerce-Business.html
Maintaining a website is only a part of eCommerce. Having a specialized solution for hosting a website would allow more time for product selection, logistics, and social media management.
eCommerce business owners that use fully hosted platforms:
- Businesses with a limited budget without time/skills to manage their store.
- Businesses who want to avoid the cost of hosting, security, maintenance, or updates.
- Businesses that are in need of an integrated solution with numerous features already available.
What is a Self-Hosted eCommerce Platform?
A self-hosted eCommerce platform lets you build an online store on your domain and hosting plan. There are no third-party fees, which means all the profits are yours, but it also means that you are responsible for every aspect of running your online store.
Self-hosted platforms come with two components: a shopping cart software you install on your host’s server and a payment gateway that processes credit card transactions for you. Picture it this way: a self-hosted platform is a rented space over buying the space. You pay to keep the space functional, but the space still belongs to someone else at the end of the day.
With a self-hosted eCommerce platform, entrepreneurs are free to customize the store as much as they desire. eCommerce merchants get hands-on experience when using self-hosted platforms, but these platforms require certain technical know-how.
If you choose a self-hosted platform, you’ll need to pay for hosting and security certificates. You’ll also need to manage the maintenance of your store by yourself. But you do get complete control over your store, which is helpful when scaling your business.
https://www.allvalue.com/en/articles/Cheaper-than-You-Can-Imagine–How-Much-Does-It-Cost-to-Start-an-eCommerce-Business.html
Pros and Cons of Hosted and Self-Hosted eCommerce Platforms
Like with all business decisions, the choice between hosted and self-hosted eCommerce platforms comes with their positives and negatives, and eCommerce brands need to acknowledge and factor them into their decision-making process.
1. Pros and Cons of Hosted eCommerce Platforms
● Advantages
- The platforms are often easy to manage with a highly user-friendly interface.
- Startups with hosted platforms are easier to use and onboard since the host already provides the framework.
- These platforms have a robust customer support with experts who assist in rectifying problems and proffering solutions.
- Eliminates the worries of server safety or hosting issues.
● Disadvantages
- These platforms tend to be pricier than their self-hosted counterparts.
- Even though customization is possible, the options are often limited, which restricts an eCommerce merchant’s personalization and creative inputs.
- Switching the platforms in use can be difficult and relatively expensive.
2. Pros and Cons of Self-Hosted eCommerce Platforms
● Advantages
- eCommerce merchants have more control over this platform than what is offered on hosted platforms.
- New and extra features can easily be added as plugins.
- A self-hosted platform gives brands more control to adapt their website to the dynamics of eCommerce.
- It is simpler to switch apps on self-hosted than on fully hosted eCommerce platforms.
● Disadvantages
- Technical knowledge is required before this can be set up.
- All things being in your control include the errors as well. The technical support on these platforms is often self-sourced.
- Your store’s growth can ultimately increase the management cost of your eCommerce store.
- The safety of your client’s information on your store is in your hands. You are to defend your store from cyberattacks and the like.
Choosing Between a Hosted and Self-Hosted eCommerce Platform
Earlier, we laid out the foundation of what hosted, and self-hosted eCommerce platforms are, but we also understand that it can still be challenging for businesses to choose one. Consider the following to determine the best platform to use between a hosted and self-hosted eCommerce platform:
- Customization Capabilities – the significant difference between hosted and self-hosted eCommerce platform customization is that the hosted comes with specific limitations as merchants get ready-made designs and functionalities.
On the other hand, the self-hosted can be customized numerous times as the business changes and the needs increase. The key takeaway is that customization might be unlimited and tailored to your brand’s specific needs with self-hosted platforms, but merchants require the technical know-how to execute it.
- Marketing – In hosted and self-hosted eCommerce platforms, marketing comes as a package deal in one, and the other requires total effort and input from the merchant. eCommerce platforms like AllValue and Shopify offer automated marketing features as part of their hosting deal, but marketing in self-hosted platforms is on the user.
- Overall Price – you can have a theoretically successful business plan for your eCommerce store, but it can only be successful if your business can afford it.
Self-hosted platforms often cost more than their hosted counterpart because of the developmental costs. For example, you are billed for hosted platforms monthly or annually, usually at a fixed price. The maintenance cost of a self-hosted platform is undoubtedly higher than that of a fully hosted platform.
- Platform Security – The overall customer experience determines the growth of an eCommerce store. A web developer can only guarantee the platform security of a self-hosted platform. In contrast, the hosted eCommerce platforms (when done with a reliable platform) give you the security of the industry best.
Running a functional eCommerce store that can scale requires a stable, secure, and high-performance eCommerce hosting platform. The presence of these factors can determine the satisfaction of your customers and, ultimately, the success of your business.
AllValue is a fully hosted eCommerce software platform that is ideal for small, medium, and large eCommerce businesses. With AllValue, you can rest assured that you are getting value for the price paid. AllValue offers flexible payment and disbursement options, secure transactions, and a dedicated account team with 24/7 customer support. AllValue is home to thousands of eCommerce stores that can speak of the value. Visit the AllValue website to create your eCommerce store and enjoy a 30-day free trial upon signing up.
