While Amazon is clearly a powerhouse in the e-retail industry, the company was apparently not quite as successful in providing an e-commerce platform for other online businesses. It is official – Amazon will be closing the doors on the Amazon Webstore for good in July of 2016. While this may be less than ideal for companies currently using the platform, the Amazon web store closing can be an opportunity for ambitious businesses to embrace better alternatives.
Reasons for Closing
Sometimes even giants like Amazon can’t make a concept work if people are not willing to embrace it, and as of 2015, there are only roughly 100 companies actively using Webstore. The Amazon Webstore shutdown clearly is not generating enough profit to be worth the cost of upkeep and maintenance. After a relatively quick run of six years, the platform simply refused to pick up the momentum necessary for it to continue to be a worthwhile endeavor.
Why Web Users Did Not Embrace Webstore
Amazon Webstore catered to small- and medium-sized businesses. Unfortunately for both parties, Amazon is often the biggest competition for e-retailers, and being associated with the biggest name in the business may not be very appealing. Amazon’s name and logo is clearly visible on the Webstore pages, giving plenty of customers a subtle nudge to simply buy directly from Amazon. Whether that was Amazon’s intention is unclear, but the outcome is the same. With the Amazon web store shutting down, online retailers can switch to less intrusive eCommerce platforms.
Choosing an Alternative
For the few companies still using Amazon Webstore, this transition could end up being a blessing in the long run. The Amazon Webstore shutting down opens the need for change, and change can be a positive thing when done right. The big names in eCommerce platforms right now are Shopify, Magento CE, and our favorite – Bigcommerce. Coalition is very proud to be a core design, development, and SEO partner with Bigcommerce. Our many years of firsthand experience allow us to confidently say that Bigcommerce is the clear choice for a myriad of reasons.
Why Go With Bigcommerce?
For starters, Bigcommerce is extremely functional. The platform is a pleasure to use for the store’s owner and for the customers. It is also highly customizable. Bigcommerce offers 24/7 support, 365 days out of the year, so if you ever have any issues at all, a solution is just a quick phone call away. Bigcommerce also offers excellent mobile templates, allowing your company to reach a much broader audience. As you can see, the Amazon Webstore shutdown is an exciting opportunity to see what you have been missing!
Other Bigcommerce Benefits
SEO is so important these days. If your website isn’t ranking high on the major search engines, you are going to lose a great deal of business. Bigcommerce offers fantastic search engine optimization options, allowing your web store to reach the top. Many top web designers and developers refuse to use other platforms for this reason. You can take advantage of Bigcommerce’s included SEO tools, or integrate other marketing tools into the website. Having options is essential, and Bigcommerce provides plenty.
Transitioning from Amazon Webstore
So you have to move an Amazon Webstore to a new platform. How do you get started? The first step is to give us a call. We will be happy to discuss exactly what we can do for you. Our expert team has solutions that are ready to go today. We have an exceptional Bigcommerce portfolio, and we are confident that you will be pleased with what you see. Your website may need to be redesigned and redeveloped, and we have the skills and experience to take your online business to the next level.
Improve or Maintain Your Site’s SEO
As you migrate from Amazon Webstore, consider what you have been missing, and use this opportunity to rectify current issues. The SEO experts at Coalition Technologies are highly skilled at bringing your website right to the top of the pile. If you have had troubles in the past, now is the time to really give your company a push forward. On the other hand, transitioning from Amazon Webstore can cause you to lose some of your current search engine rankings. Coalition can help you to preserve your status so you don’t fall down to the bottom of the pile.
Moving Data
You are going to need to transition your critical data, such as customers, shipping, inventory, and products, to your new platform. As you can imagine, this can be an arduous, time-consuming task, especially if you attempt to do it yourself. Understanding what data must move and where it must go can be a technically challenging, so having professionals on your side is key. You also need to prepare for the migration in advance so that your business is not interrupted when the shutdown occurs.
Integrating eCommerce into Your Entire Website
Most online businesses don’t use their webstore as their only page. It is important that your customers can easily access your webstore page through your existing website, and that can take some careful planning. You may need to integrate your new webstore platform with your accounting system. Previous integrations with Amazon Webstore will need to be reconfigured. Fortunately, the alternatives to Amazon Webstore are very unlikely to shut down, so you should not have to worry about transitioning a second time.
Let Coalition Technologies Help
Whether you just need to migrate Amazon Webstore data, or completely redesign your entire website, we can make this transition painless. Here at Coalition Technologies, we take tremendous pride in the work that we do, and it shows. We go above and beyond to not only realize our client’s visions, but to provide exceptional service that is consistently applauded. For a free consultation, give us a call at (310) 827-3890. Start the migration process today.