Zoho Commerce: The Affordable E-Commerce Solution With the Reporting You’ve Been Looking for
Many retail businesses have been forced into online selling during the pandemic, and have found out that it is an excellent sales channel even when used in addition to brick-and-mortar sales. Stores will continue to offer online buying options long after we have COVID-19 vaccines because they realize how good it is for their business. Zoho Commerce* is an e-commerce solution that will enable any business — no matter how small — to sell online. The moderate fees for Zoho Commerce are over and above any fees you pay for a Zoho One subscription, but the solution integrates very seamlessly with all of your Zoho One apps.
What does Zoho Commerce have to offer over Shopify or my existing ecommerce solution?
Shopify obviously has the pole position far ahead of Zoho in the e-commerce race. Zoho is looking to take a bite out of that business with two things Shopify doesn’t have: seamless integration with Zoho One apps, including Zoho CRM, and advanced marketing and financial analytics. Being able to see in real time exactly how much money your business is making with Zoho Analytics is well worth the cost of Zoho One all on its own.
Shopify, however, still has the brand recognition lead and many e-commerce platforms already run on Shopify. And, as with most of its other products, Zoho manages to provide more for your dollar than Shopify does.
If you have poured thousands of dollars into your current e-commerce solution and it is working for you, it is still possible to enjoy all of the benefits of Zoho One’s marketing and business intelligence analytics. As a Zoho Advanced Partner, ion8 can create the necessary integrations between your website and your reporting tools, whether you are using Shopify or another solution.
Where Zoho Commerce shines: Integration with Zoho Inventory, Zoho Analytics, and other Zoho One apps
Zoho One allows for one low cost subscription per user to all of the solutions you need to run your business. Zoho Books can replace your accounting package, Zoho CRM speaks for itself as one of the foremost CRM solutions in the business, and Zoho Analytics allows for advanced financial reporting and forecasts. Zoho Inventory can manage inventory, and so on. No matter what your needs are as a business, Zoho One has an app for that.
Zoho Commerce sleeves in with all of these apps to do things like automatically update Zoho Books and Zoho CRM when a customer record is created and automatically update all of the data flowing through Zoho Inventory and Zoho Analytics so that you always know stock status and what your margins are. Keeping an eye on your business’ profitability has never been more important than now, and Zoho Analytics will tell you if you are making mistakes such as losing money on a product by putting it on sale. Zoho Marketing Hub will take the data from your Zoho Commerce website (or any website) and show you exactly what your ROI is on your digital advertising efforts right down to the last cent.
Where ion8 stands out — we’re website developers, marketers, and solution-agnostic
The best part of coming to ion8 for your e-commerce solution is that we are solution-agnostic. While we are very much on board with all of the fabulous things Zoho has to offer, we are also a Shopify Partner and will recommend the platform that suits your business best. In some cases, such as if you require multiple languages, or do over a certain volume of orders, Shopify or even other e-commerce solutions may be best for you.
We’re a full-service business consulting agency, and being a Zoho Advanced Partner is just a part of our widely diverse skill set. We can set up your website, integrate an e-commerce solution with the rest of your software, and set up and customize Zoho One for you — as well as help you execute on your digital advertising and marketing. In short, if it touches technology, we can do it for you or train your team on how to manage it. Get in touch with us today to find out more.
- Zoho Commerce was released in April 2019 as Zoho Commerce Plus. It has since been renamed to Zoho Commerce.
