Overview

What is SAAS-based eCommerce and How can it Benefit Your Business?

SaaS is an anagram for Software-as-a-Service. To elaborate, it is a software licensing and delivery model. Its primary objective is to license software to the users, accessible via the internet. SaaS eCommerce platforms are cloud-based systems accessible through any web browser.
The most significant benefit of SaaS platforms is that the system isn’t introduced on-premise or maintained by the client. Instead, your eCommerce platform runs on the hosted servers of the SaaS suppliers. Your third-party supplier takes care of the security, maintenance, and execution of several applications on their servers.
Users can access licensed SaaS applications as per their subscription. They can purchase the subscription by paying a monthly fee. The fee amount will depend on the number of features and level of service or support the users wish to access. The licensing model gives complete flexibility to the merchants as they can have a secure and constant connection to their eCommerce store anytime, anywhere. The most prominent examples of SaaS eCommerce providers are BigCommerce and Shopify.
Business Models

Types of Ecommerce Business Models

B2C

Business-to-Consumer (B2C)

C2A

Consumer-to-Administration (C2A)

B2B

Business-to-Business (B2B)

B2A

Business-to-Administration (B2A)

C2C

Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C)

C2B

Consumer-to-Business (C2B)

How Do You Choose an Appropriate SaaS eCommerce Platform for Your Business?

With many exceptional SaaS eCommerce platforms in the market, merchants may feel perplexed and intimidated to choose one. An eCommerce business is essentially a simple online shopping store. However, many back-end operations and features make it a success. Examples of such elements are stocking, secure payment options, warehousing, inventory management, order processing, and much more. Most beginners and startups often commit the mistake of not selecting the right platform to build their store. To ensure you don’t duplicate the errors, below are some curated factors to help you make a suitable choice.

Business-Objective

Business Objective

Every business has unique needs, and identifying them will help business owners arrange their priorities. One should ponder over the below questions:
  • What should be my business size?
  • Who is my target audience?
  • How much capital can I invest in an eCommerce platform?
Design

Design

Building an online store from scratch requires a lot of groundwork. The advantage of choosing SaaS eCommerce platforms is that you can have your store up and running in an hour or so. However, not all of them provide the same amount of convenience while designing and developing your store.
Budget

Budget

Different eCommerce platforms have other subscription plans. Nevertheless, most of them offer a basic or free trial plan to help you get the knack of its working. Investing in any SaaS eCommerce platform is a long-term commitment, and that’s why you must meticulously research before making any purchases.
Self-hosted-or-Cloud-based

Self-hosted or Cloud-based

One of your primary tasks is to choose between a self-hosted eCommerce platform and a hosted/cloud-based platform for your business. Self-hosted platforms will run the site on your server and have complete control over maintenance and management. You will require some expertise in the technical and software area to operate self-hosting sites such as WooCommerce and Magento.

SaaS-eCommerce-Platform

Future of SaaS eCommerce Platforms

The current pandemic and the technological improvements in the past decade have changed the retailing landscape and encouraged more businesses to shift to the eCommerce model. It is vital to invest in progressive SaaS eCommerce platforms to ensure that your business stays profitable and competitive. The merchants may never have complete control over the functionalities of SaaS-based eCommerce platforms, and that can be a blessing in disguise. It is a highly responsible task to build a platform that will immediately and efficiently cater to your needs, not to mention the advantage of community support the platform will now have. SaaS eCommerce platforms seem to be the future of online retailing, and it is a sign for the readers to switch to one today.
FAQ's

Frequently Asked Questions

What's the critical difference between SaaS and eCommerce business?

A SaaS business sells a service that can be accessed through paid subscriptions and probably receive recurring payments. It provides platforms for an eCommerce business to develop and grow. An eCommerce business sells a tangible product or a downloadable file, and the transaction happens through a website.

How do you differentiate between Open source and SaaS platforms?

SaaS platforms are built, maintained, and hosted by the provider on their servers and licensed to merchants for use. E.g., BigCommerce and Shopify. Open source platforms allow merchants to change, view and distribute the source code for personal purposes. It is developed collaboratively by the public, e.g., Magento and WooCommerce.

What are the three different types of eCommerce businesses?

Three leading types of e-Commerce businesses are Business-to-Business (B2B ) like Salesforce, AliExpress, Business-to-Consumer (B2C ) like Amazon, and Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C) like eBay. SaaS ecommerce platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, and Magneto are ideally used to run B2B and B2C eCommerce.

Can I get technical support for Magento?

Since Magento is a famous SaaS eCommerce platform, many professionals provide top-notch support services to business owners. pyromis has a team of highly qualified experts who have sufficient experience to offer a wide range of Magento services to grow your eCommerce business. For more information, feel free to contact pyromis.

What are some of the issues faced by SaaS eCommerce startup companies?

Not all startups with SaaS experience success and profits. Some of them fail at the very beginning for several reasons. The preliminary reason is a lack of strategy. Other significant reasons include a weak business model, lack of an efficient management team, slow growth rate, and inadequate resource management. 

Is Shopify profitable for small businesses?

This SaaS-based eCommerce platform is highly recommended for small businesses. Firstly, it is user-friendly and beginner-friendly, so you don’t need additional technical support to run your store. Secondly, it includes all tools required to run an eCommerce business and manage operations. These features cut down the costs needed to set up an online store.

ecommerce-saas-faq
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