Which One to Choose? SAAS eCommerce VS. Licensed eCommerce Software

When starting a store/website (select the appropriate) there appears a dilemma whether to choose SAAS or a licensed software for your site. Your choice will depend on your personal needs.

If you don’t want to be bothered with backend functionality improvements, coding issues or other things that make you break out in a cold sweat, then it’s definitely SAAS eCommerce. But if you’re like a fish in a sea, when it comes to finding and fixing bugs – licensed software is exactly what you need...in case you got enough money to buy one.

Further we’re going to highlight all pros and cons of SAAS and licensed software. Let’s start with SAAS.

What is SAAS platform? This abbreviation stands for a software-as-a-service, you have to pay money for using it, pay even more if you want to get some additional features and functionalities. Sometimes it’s really convenient, especially when you’re out of time but you need to start a site as soon as possible.

SAAS

Website builders are really popular these days, seems like people prefer using SAAS eCommerce platform but not a licensed one. This option is justified in case you will run a small/medium size store/website. But still, there are pitfalls you need to keep an eye on.

Starting with SAAS all you have to do is to sign up to the service, pay the fee, connect your domain or use one provided within your account. Next, you need to choose a template and add your content. Overall it takes a working day (or less, depending on a number of pages, or amount of content) from registration till site launch.

One more solution that's being mentioned on the top eCommerce platforms list quite often is Weblium. This is the first do-it-for-me website builder that's been ever presented to the online world. It goes beyond any eCommerce platforms comparison chart due to its unparalleled structure.

To put it simple, https://weblium.com is a drag-and-drop website builder that is intended to help you get started with online projects of any level of difficulty in a couple of days. This is one of the best SAAS eCommerce platforms that let you create responsive, good-looking, and feature-rich sites absolutely code-free.

Weblium will match your needs if you are looking for the best eCommerce platform for startups. Is that the best eCommerce platform for small business that will match your personal interests? Weblium can handle it all. If you refer to SAAS eCommerce platform reviews, you will discover that Weblium is the ultimate website builder that can handle small personal projects and large corporate web resources perfectly well.

In order to start your own website with Weblium, simply complete a brief specifying what kind of a project you would like to launch, what are your personal preferences in regards to the design/structure/functionality of your future web resource. These details will be delivered to Weblium team that will provide you with a ready-to-go website in 48 hours.

The thing that makes Weblium one of the best eCommerce platforms is the 100% moneyback guarantee. Just in case you are not happy with the look and feel of the website that was built for you, Weblium team will return the full cost that you paid for the subscription. Moreover, you will be able to review your website and request additional fixes. As soon as the ready-to-go web page is approved, you will be provided with a ready-made site featuring an intuitive drag-and-drop admin panel. You will be able to tweak all of the site's settings without the need to modify a single line of code. Impressive, don't you think?

Unlike other site builders like Wix and Weebly, Weblium includes:

• speed-optimized page layout;
• hosting, domain name, and SSL certificate for 1 year;
• smart SEO settings and integration with Google Analytics;
• a growing collection of pre-designed niche-specific skins, etc.

There is no need to look for the costly eCommerce SAAS companies or eCommerce SAAS vendors. Choose Weblium as the ultimate solution to deliver ant small to medium-sized business to the web in a couple of days.

JUST TRY

6 Reasons Why You Need to Pick SAAS

• Using SAAS there is no need to buy the whole piece of software, all you have to do is to park it for a specific period of time. Parking will cost a lot less than buying a licensed piece of software.
• You'll have an access to features and functionalities you need, but not a whole set of unknown things (this eliminates cases when “it breaks itself”.)
• There is no need to get into the basics of the software, since you have a drag & drop interface (or something similar.) You'll get a finite product, it solves a problem of running a website, how it’s done it’s of SAAS developers concern.
• Maintaining the software is also not your concern; you just pay the rent and enjoy benefits of the platform.
• SAAS is quite scalable; it can be adapted to needs of all users due to some extras(like apps, extensions, plugins, etc.)
• To access the platform you need a login and pass, you can enter it from anywhere without installing additional pieces of software.

These were the most important pros of SAAS. Most important reason to use it, is that it relieves the headache you can get from anything else but SAAS.

5 Reasons Why Not to Pick SAAS

• You need to pass over your commercial data to the third party.
• The speed of your interaction with the software depends on your internet connection.
• Downtime is quite possible since you never know how responsive are the admins or how constant is the power supply.
• Rapidly developing Internet technologies, development of encryption, strengthen the image of SAAS and dispel all those insecurity fears.
• The biggest issue is pre-written in terms of any cloud service - the software provider is not responsive for your data. In case something unexpected happens, and if your data gets damaged there is no chance to recovered it completely.

Licensed eCommerce Software

Ok, these were pros and cons of SAAS, if some of these statements do not agree with you, you are free to object in the comments below.

Now let's precede with the licensed eCommerce software - further you will find it's to and fro's.

When you need to build a site or store using one of licensed platforms you'll have to fulfill number of steps (that were omitted or just combined in one place, like SAAS did it.)

You need to start from hosting, and be sure that it's compatible with with your preferable platform, than goes installation of an engine, template, customization, content management and for sure this takes more time than SAAS needs.

3 Reasons Why You Need to Pick Licensed Software

• Licensed eommerce platforms are often the most flexible and powerful “shopping carts” available to online retailers, but they can demand more in terms of expenses and development time.
• Licensed shopping carts — or, perhaps more accurately, ecommerce platforms — are hosted on a merchant’s own servers or at a hosting company. In the case of open-source licensed carts, there are often a significant number of extensions that can be used to connect with third-party tools or solutions. Any licensed cart makes it possible to customize an installation, tailoring it to fit a particular merchant’s needs.
• Enterprise-level solutions can do much more, but they may also cost much more. Others are a nice combination of features and cost, suitable for small online merchants.

7 Reasons Why Not to Pick Licensed Software

• High or Very High setup costs (for code customization, template integration, testing, implementation).
• There is a high learning curve for most users. Easily implemented and maintained by a specialized developer.
• Hosting fees charged separately, and upgrading and downgrading server capacity is complicated.
• Great flexibility to customize features through extensions and custom coding – but these cost.
• No support from software developers – support must be contracted privately.
• Any customizations of code have to be manually integrated with future versions and bug fixes released by the software developers.
• Root files are accessible and basically any 3rd part software can be integrated.

* * *

What's more

SAAS

• https://weblium.com/ - from $8.25/mo
• WIX – free (minimal fee for an upgrade $4)
• Shopify – from $14
• Volusion – from $15
• Magento Go - $125
• Big Cartel – free (minimal fee for an upgrade $10)
• Goodsie – from $30

Licensed eCommerce software

• Magento Enterprise - $15,550/year; $77,990/year for Premium
• Prestashop – free
• Zen Cart – free
• OpenCart – free
• VirtueMart – free
• Ubercart – free
• WooCommerce – free
• OsCommerce – free

* * *Now it's your chance to shed some light onto this topic. Comments section at the bottom is ready to accept your reasons. If you had experience with any of these we'll gladly listen to your ideas, as well as users who are not so experienced in this field.

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