Choosing the right e-commerce platform for publishers

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E-commerce for publisher: checkout

This article was originally published with InPublishing for their E-commerce special. Our piece specifically focuses on checkout. 

Q:What is best practice now?

A: Freedom and flexibility, in short! There’s a myriad of options on the market - from the super niche to the more generalist ecomm platforms. We see success in tools that adapt as your business grows, rather than picking the ones that box you in. The checkout isn’t just the final step in a sale journey, it’s where products, subscriptions, loyalty schemes, offers, search and data all connect.

Good checkout design starts with a strong, vibrant ecosystem of tried and tested, reliable integrations: payment providers, shipping tools, analytics, marketing and CRM platforms, subscription tech amongst many others. Choosing well connecting software means you can plug in whatever you need without needing to rebuild from scratch as your business evolves.

Security, speed and reliability are non-negotiables. What really defines a good checkout is it not existing in total isolation as many industry-bespoke checkouts do. It needs to talk to everything else and allow automated access to data and insights across the whole purchase journey. If you’re still copying and pasting data between systems, or juggling spreadsheets to see all the factors that lead up to and influence checkout, your ecommerce set-up is not yet best practice. A good system lets information flow freely across tools, so you and your team can concentrate on what’s important - customers, not admin!

Personalisation is also super important to consider. Your audience already expects a shopping experience that feels like it’s built for them personally - all the big online retailers have trained them already. By being able to link customer profiles with behavioural data and content engagement, you’re able to give your customers an experience at checkout that recognises their history, preferences and interests. The trick is to use data thoughtfully, creating real value for customers through dynamic recommendations, tailored offers and personalised messages to returning or regular customers.

And finally, there’s the all-important human side. The commerce may be ‘e’ but your customer is not. A good checkout feels effortless. It has a clean layout, minimal steps, clear pricing and no surprises. Abandoned baskets are often the result of journey friction rather than poor product sets so avoid too many clicks, limited payment options or convoluted, confusing forms to complete. Remove the barriers and build confidence.

If you’re looking at ecommerce options now, think of the big picture. Pick one that’s part of an established marketplace with proven partners and open integrations. A publishing specific solution may be tempting because they promise all kinds of tailored features but they can restrict long-term growth. 

Embrace the platforms with large and comprehensive selection of apps so that your teams can grow your ecommerce experiences for customers over time. Take time to consider whether the platform allows you to add plugins that seamlessly work with your site rather than require developers to configure them so that your marketing teams and ecommerce teams can experiment and grow revenue.

Instead go for a scalable, flexible platform then tailor the experience to your business by plugging in the publishing focused tools as and when you need them. This approach keeps your checkout experience first class now, while also future proofing your business.

Q: How do you see it changing in the future?

A: The next wave of innovation will make checkouts smarter, faster and even more personal. AI is already reshaping ecommerce experiences through conversational interfaces where readers can renew, buy or manage and order directly from a chat window or voice assistant. 

Over time I predict that even the idea of going to the checkout will fade away. Transactions will happen wherever the customer is - in a message, app, or even inside an article they’re reading. Checkout will become less of a page or part of a website and more of a capability of a great ecommerce-optimised digital experience.

Payment continuity is also worth a mention. Most good platforms can handle expired cards and renewals automatically using secure tokens and live payment updates, which will be music to any subscription-led publisher’s ears. 

We’re seeing success come in this modular approach to building an ecommerce experience and because of the rate of change and development, see tonnes of merit in following the big dogs rather than creating your own through publishing-specific tools that will struggle to keep up with the pace and demand for proper integration. 

Q: What are your three top tips for publishers when it comes to ‘checkout’?

1.  Don’t go with a small, publishing-specific ecommerce checkout. They will be your problem as you grow. These systems should be about driving growth, not preventing it. 

2. Make sure you and your provider do an audit of your existing landscape of software to see whether your other tools will integrate with your chosen ecommerce. If they don’t then you know what to do!

3. In ecommerce it is time to go with a large marketplace enabled platform that will have integrations with the things you already use and solutions for future needs.