Ecommerce - Open your Online Store now

Selling online is part of the future, but of a future that is already here. The eCommerce (electronic commerce) is growing with figures of double digits worldwide. And every day we are more online buyers. In Mexico, growth was 28.3% in the period from 2016 to 2017, with a turnover of more than 17 billion dollars, with the forecast for 2018 being a notably higher figure (Source: Asociación de Internet.mx ).

According to a study by Asociación de Internet.mx they are:

• Three out of four of Mexicans online made a purchase in 2017 in the last three months; an increase over the previous year.
• General online spending (excluding travel) was 6,920 pesos, compared to 2016, with an increase in purchases in some categories.
• The increase in cross-category purchases was primarily driven by smartphone shoppers.
• The top categories purchased were consistent with 2016: clothing and accessories, digital downloads, and event tickets.
• International spending increased year after year, among those who bought internationally, almost half of their purchases were made outside of Mexico. These buyers were motivated by price and loyalty to buy elsewhere.
• Awareness of digital payment tools increased in the previous year, mainly driven by PayPal, MercadoPago, and Visa Checkout.
• Offline payments continue to grow as an option for Internet buyers, the most used were Oxxo and Bank deposit.

With these data in hand, the digital channel stands as essential for many companies, which due to its economic activity, the online channel represents an opportunity to grow at the national level and in many cases, at the international level.

Some of the strengths on which e-commerce is based are:

• Sales availability 24/7 365 days a year.
• Compete at any level, face to face with the greats.
• Develop international business, without leaving your office.
• Many intermediaries disappear and control of the sale is maintained.
• Cost reduction compared to physical stores.
• Market Places give visibility to your products - at a global level - in hours.
• New market opening tests become accessible by reducing costs.
• New professions are born to attend electronic commerce.

Source: Forbes, e-commerce in Mexico, a great opportunity

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SHOPIFY VS MAGENTO

The million dollar question, which Ecommerce platform should I choose? In this article we detail the main advantages and disadvantages of two of the most used platforms when starting an online business to implement Ecommerce as an entrepreneur: Magento and Shopify.

The main difference between the two is that in Magento you must take care of the hosting and development of the platform, that is, you must have or subcontract the necessary infrastructure to host your Ecommerce, but the generated code is already your property. It also requires development support either in-house or through a service provider. In the case of Magento there are many certified partners in Mexico, of many sizes, we recommend that you select one that has previous experience implementing these solutions since there may be integrations with legacy systems, ERPs and CRMs that can be expensive and take a long time to implement. implementation, the great advantage is that you can have customized and specific configurations for your business since you are in control of the development of the platform. In our case, we already have more than 10 years in the development of ecommerce with Magento, if you like we can support you.

On the contrary, Shopify is a cloud platform, which with the payment of a monthly rent ensures the hosting of the platform that provides you with a secure server in compliance with PCI and an SSL security certificate, in addition to any modification, update or change In the code it is implemented in a general way through specific maintenance windows and with prior notice, its initial cost is much lower because it does not require such a large investment in infrastructure or development support, most of the plans include hours of service that They can cover small modifications or required changes, the administration experience is much simpler with drag and drop options, however the customization options are limited, for example it has its own payment gateway and some partners such as PayPal, but its options are few compared to Magento.

In general, we recommend Shopify for micro, small and medium entrepreneurs who are starting their business, since it allows a quick implementation and with a lower cost, the key to success is the product catalog and its administration since the 80% depends on this. sales on this type of platform, so we recommend that you develop a solid commercial strategy before starting with this platform, have your products with the most information and photos of the best quality possible, in addition to making a digital marketing plan. as aggressive as possible within your company's budget.

In the case of Magento, we recommend it for medium and large companies with an infrastructure and development capacity within their Information Technology department, internal or external, to customize, support and develop the platform's functionalities. This platform also provides greater scalability with modules such as B2B fully assembled and designed to have a price catalog per customer.

Finally, you know your business better than anyone, so you can evaluate if you prefer Shopify to start your business with little investment and grow it exponentially, or establish a more robust platform like Magento with the potential to further diversify your business with high customization. Just remember to establish your initial parameters such as investment capacity, infrastructure, development, support and administration of the platforms prior to selecting it. Fortunately we have had very good experience with the implementation of both platforms. Count on our support to make your online business profitable and successful on your own terms, remember, “Hard problems, Software solutions”.

Magento Commerce

Designed for growth, Built for flexibility

Magento is a modern cloud commerce platform with an open source ecosystem. Flexible for B2C, B2B, and hybrid solutions, Magento extends beyond the shopping cart for every shopping experience, including email, mobile, in-store, and marketplaces.

• Handle millions of orders with 99,999 % availability.
• Customize your store for a truly unique experience.
• 24/7 support and more than 270,000 developers and partners.
• Over 1000 high-quality integrations and extensions.

Shopify

Create your business online and sell everywhere

Promote your business

Marketing with confidence with built-in tools that help you create, run, and analyze digital marketing campaigns.

Manage everything

Get the useful information you need to grow your business and use a single dashboard to manage orders, shipments and payments wherever you go.

Over 1,000,000 businesses around the world trust Shopify

Shopify takes care of everything: from marketing and payments to secure payments and shipping.