Got an idea to start a grocery platform like instacart? You have to at once take into consideration a lot of things. Not everyone is tech savvy to understand all the technicalities of the ecommerce marketplace. And thus we hunt for an ecommerce solution provider. One of the most important tasks is to choose which solution provider to power your grocery store. By solution provider we mean the company that will help you set up your on-demand grocery platform and give post set up support. I researched about the lots of instacart clone solution providers before writing this blog and thus what you are about to read is solely based on my experience working with various e-commerce platforms.
You would have come across many popular and recommended ecommerce platforms over the internet. But did you think that if one ecommerce platform is a great tool for them doesn’t mean that it’s the right solution for everyone. There are lots of other great solutions based on your needs and your abilities. But before we get into the specifications of each platform we need to understand the difference between Hosted & Self-hosted solutions.
Hosted & Self-hosted solutions
A hosted solution is a third party server where your software/ website run. In most cases you will not have access to the code of software / website. You use their platform to make changes to your website. A good example to this is Facebook, neither is managed by you nor do you run it. You just create an account, edit your profile and do tasks via their website. E.g. Bigcommerce, Shopify.
A self-hosted solution runs the software on your own machine. You can see the code and do customizations. A good example would be Opencart, WooCommmerce, and Magneto. You have complete control to update it, and if you have any technical problems you have to resolve them out yourself or by in-house developers, or outsource it.For stability purposes, I recommend self- hosted versions because you always have control over your software and can update anytime over a long-run. Unlike hosted software where you will have to pay a monthly fee, and sometimes it can be pretty high.
Upgradation, Support and Customization
Once you decide upon your solution provider, do take time to consider their version upgradation frequency. This is because technology is updating day by day and you cannot stick onto the same version of the software for years. Continuous upgrades will help you to keep pace with technology and thus your ecommerce software will always work as per customer demands.
Support is another important point to consider while choosing your solution provider because post installation support and training will help you to ignite your ecommerce store the right way. These support and training are promised by maximum ecommerce solution providers but very few stick on to their words after sales.
Solution providers if accept customizations too, then that’s the best part. Because that solution provider already has the complete knowledge of the coding and thus will take very less time to implement any customization at a cost effective rate.
Thus I have put forward a few of the essential points to consider while choosing your solution provider for the grocery platform. And this decision matters a lot because if you compromise on your grocery platform quality and security, then say goodbye to online customers.
