AspDotNetStorefront vs SquareSpace
Starting an ecommerce business involves you making a large number of decisions, like choosing a name, products to sell, target audience, finances, etc. For many businesses, deciding the ecommerce platform that they will operate on is one of the last decisions made, and it is not given much thought.
Realistically, business owners should do ample research on what ecommerce platform is best for their business. Having the right platform can save your business lots of money and labor hours in the long term. There is a huge quantity of ecommerce platforms to choose from, how do you find out which one is best for your business? I will be discussing two of the more popular ecommerce platforms on the market, and sharing our opinion on which one is the best for your business.
In this article we will be discussing the key differences and similarities between SquareSpace and AspDotNetStorefront ecommerce platforms.
SquareSpace is a well-known ecommerce platform because of its advertisements on main stream media. It starts as a free trial then charges a monthly subscription fee for different packages. AspDotNetStorefront is less well-known platform. It charges, the user’s choice, of a monthly subscription fee or a one-time payment for use of the platform. We will dive much deeper into the pricing later, after discussing each platform’s major features and customizability.
Customization
Customization is a supremely important part of an ecommerce platform. If you want to maximize your business’s revenue, having an appealing website visually willl help drive new sales and engage returning customers. One of the best parts of SquareSpace is the 100+ smart templates available when building your ecommerce website. AspDotNetStorefront is no slouch when it comes to customization either, as it is known for being a versatile platform for customization. SquareSpace also has 4 mobile apps for editing your website, while AspDotNetStorefront has no app for editing your website. With all of this website customization, it seems like there is no downfall to SquareSpace, but there is. Many SquareSpace users complain about bad usability of the website editor in general, which is especially difficult for somebody who has not built an ecommerce website before.
Features and Applications and Modules
When it comes to features and applications, SquareSpace does not even compare to AspDotNetStorefront. The quantity and quality of applications and features that AspDotNetStorefront offers is on a whole different level. The platform offers email marketing, multistore tracking, inventory tracking, customer accounts, return management, catalog management, order management, multi-channel selling, PayPal integration, and a multitude of 3rd party applications. The only similarities that SquareSpace has are customer accounts, and some minor product tools. AspDotNet Storefront has great SEO tools, which is amazing for getting your website on the first page of Google searches. SquareSpace has good SEO tools, however, it has low ratings by Google page speed tool, which hurts your website’s traffic analytics.
Security/PCI
A large downfall of SquareSpace is that it is not PCI Certified, it is only PCI compliant. PCI compliant means that the platform has not completed or passed the PCI test administerded by the PCI Council, however, the platform operator(s) believe that the site meets the criteria to pass. PCI Certification declares that the platform is secure against hackers and fraudulent online activity. AspDotNetStorefront is PCI Certified, which ensures that your business and your customers will be protected from illegal online activity.
Pricing
The pricing options for SquareSpace are $12/month for personal which has minimal features, $18/month for business features, $26/month for basic commerce features, and $40/month for advanced commerce features. For AspDotNetStorefront the pricing structure is $180/month for full access, or a $5,500 one-time payment for the most up to date version with overhaul updates sometimes costing an additional fee.
Now that you have all of the information for both ecommerce platforms, which one fits best for you and your business?
If you’re interested in creating an inexpensive ecommerce website, then SquareSpace is what you should be using. If you are a user of SquareSpace you will be managing most of the order, inventory, and customer processes without assistance from the platform, which can become incredibly time consuming, especially for a business making numerous transactions per day.
If you’re looking for an ecommerce platform that provides tools to your business that allows it to grow to a large scale, effectively market, and assist you in managing logistical processes, then AspDotNetStorefront is what you need to be using. AspDotNetStorefront does cost more than SquareSpace does, but it also provides so much more as a platform, especially for those looking to grow a highly efficient ecommerce business. Using AspDotNetStorefront is simple for the basic features of the platform; however, the more complex features can take months of patience, practice, and trial and error learning.
That is why equaTEK creates a relationship with businesses looking toward that next step in ecommerce. We make designing a business’s next generation of website simple and easy to manage, as we do most of it for you. Our experience allows us to build an ecommerce website that makes an immediate impact on your business, with the properly functioning features and tools, to help you grow your business right away. If you are looking to take the next step in your ecommerce business contact us today.
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