Why a Bespoke Website?

The internet's most influential and profitable e-commerce systems are often bespoke e-commerce systems. Custom e-commerce websites acknowledge that no two businesses are identical and that a 'one size fits all' approach doesn't work. The services or functionality considered essential for one company may be unnecessary to another, and the way one organisation goes about marketing, selling or processing orders may differ entirely for another.

When running your business online, be sure to pay close attention to the benefits of bespoke e-commerce websites, as they can be your greatest asset, allowing you to carry out precisely the kind of business you want in exactly how you want to do it. This is compared to an off-the-shelf system, which forces you to adapt your business to the software.

Bespoke e-commerce benefits can include the following:

• Total flexibility over style and design
• Reflect on your brand identity
• Offer a customised shopping process
• Choose from various options to suit your business, e.g. customer loyalty schemes.
• Bespoke-designed shopping cart system
• Personalised newsletters/forum integration
• Enables you to stand out from your competitors
• Bespoke integration with Payment Gateways
• Improved SEO
• Grows with your business (you can add new features as you go)
• Can be integrated with other IT business systems (such as stock systems etc.)
• Enables you to stand out from your competitors

DigitalFlare's Bespoke e-commerce websites are built on a solid foundation, namely that of a stable e-commerce platform which has been tried and tested. This forms the base of a custom-built system. The rest of the system is built up to suit your needs. Additional functionality, such as eBay integration or 3D visuals, which enable customers to view a product from different angles, is available. Other options include product reviews, special offers, promotions and fraud prevention.

Bespoke e-commerce or 'off the shelf'? This depends upon three things:

• Your budget
• Features/functionality
• Ease of use

As a business, you need to consider these when making a decision. Consider what you need from an e-commerce system and how it fits your business. What features do you require? Who will be maintaining it? How easy will it be to use? What skills and services do you need to shout about?

It also depends upon what you are selling. If you have several interchangeable or complex product ranges, then a bespoke system would be better. Some examples can include e-commerce websites:

• Selling wheels or tyres which only fit certain vehicles
• Selling clothing with various sizes or style options
• Selling footwear with filtering options such as 'Shop by Brand'. (i.e. a Page where someone can search for only 'Nike' trainers).