What technical limitations do you have?

Is there any part of the build that you won’t be able to do by yourself?

What sort of commitment are you thinking of putting into the project?

Will your company seek to employ dedicated personal and devote resources to the project, or would you need to seek help?

No maintenance required. >> You don't need to worry about updating the software, fixing bugs, backups or recoveries and so on. All this is handled for you.

Additional services >> Many hosted solutions come with value-adds such as 24/7 support, SSL certificates, analytics, CRM software, and marketing tools (such as AdWords vouchers).

Fixed costs >> Usually you pay a one-off fee to buy the license, then you can use the software as long as you like with no additional monthly fees.

Can be hard to customize. While often more flexible than a hosted solution, off-the-shelf software can still be hard to customize extensively. For example, you may find it difficult to use a different page layout, SEO your store, or integrate the software tightly with the rest of your site.

Better integration >>You (or your coder) can seamlessly integrate the store software with other aspects of your site, such as forums and blogs.

High maintenance >> If you need to fix bugs in custom software, or add new features, you (or your developer) need to make the changes, which adds to ongoing costs.

Admin/Inventory Control

Set Up Fee

Monthly Service

Annual Service

Store Setup Wizard

Customizable

Thumbnails and Large Image Views

Integrated Store Search

Template Creation and Flexibility

Automated SEO Integration

Data Import Wizard (Bulk Upload)

Inventory Control

Catalog Manager

Live Order Tracking

Automated E-mail Confirmations

Customer Address Book

On-sale, Up-sell, Cross-sell Module

Merchant AccountIntegration

Paypal Payment Compatibility

Mobile Access application

Accounting Integration

Backorders/Partial Shipments

Hard Goods (physical)

Soft Goods (Downloadable)

Coupons, Gift Certificate, E-Coupons

Real-Time Credit Card Processing

Accept Payment In Any Currency

Checks, Phone orders, COD, E-checks

Customizable Checkout/Shipping Pages

Affiliate Program Setup

Sales Reports Included

Promotional Mail/Customer Follow up

Social Media Connectivity

Customizable

Automated

SSL Secure Socket Layer

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