How & Why is MEM better than WooCommerce for small businesses?

Here is the hard, blunt, and truth: unless you have established an online presence for your business in the modern digital world, you are missing out on a substantial opportunity to grow your profits and expand your business as well as on sizeable and profitable demographic.  

The e-commerce business market is considered the world’s leading industry today, having emerged onto the scene only a couple of decades ago.

With small businesses being the fastest to adopt innovative platforms, the digital world is crawling with all kinds of businesses today. 64% of all small to mid-sized businesses (SMBs) already have a website. So, what are you waiting for?

Global e-commerce retail sales are expected to reach a mind-blowing 4.9 trillion USD by the end of 2021. We are talking about a huge global market that is only going to get bigger and better as time goes by.

Due to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have witnessed the largest lockdown to happen in decades on a global scale. With people having almost nothing to do but access the web, the online world has become more populated than ever. Reports show that a smashing number of 1.79 billion people made at least one purchase over the internet last year.

Table of contents

1. 5 advantages of having a website for a small business
2. What is MEM?
3. Why should MEM be your go-to e-commerce solution?

Before we go further and strike the essence of this article, let us go through some interesting benefits your small business will be enjoying once your website is up and running.

5 advantages of having a website for a small business

1. 24/7 online presence

Statistics show that 88% of all online shoppers perform online research before buying a product to ensure they are getting a good deal on an item.

 Having a website will give you the advantage of being available to your customers and accessible on a 7-day 24-hour basis even when your physical shop is closed and without taking breaks for holidays.

This will also help you reach a wider audience and secure new customers thanks to the reduction of distance, making the whole globe within your reach.

Side tip: do consider applying a responsive web design for smartphones and tablets to provide a satisfactory UX for mobile users.

2. Low budget web development and costs

The sooner you create a website for your small business, the sooner you will get a profit. Given that small businesses often have to operate on a limited budget, establishing an online presence may seem expensive.

However, no matter how much your up-front capital is, low-budget web development will give you the opportunity to obtain a simple yet efficient website or app that is completely able to convert visitors into paying customers.

Add to that the reduction of large in-store operating costs such as staff wages and rental utilities to name a few. This will allow you to lower your prices and give your business that real competitive edge.

3. Brand visibility, credibility, and recognition

It is crucial for you to get as many people informed about your business, especially if you have just launched a startup or small business. Today, 70% of small to mid-sized businesses are investing more into their digital presence, so it is safe to say that having a website that represents your business can let people know what you do and how it can be useful for them.

This will help you provide online visibility and discoverability for your brand, as well as establish and improve brand recognition. Once visitors are able to have a clear and detailed view of your brand, it is more likely for them to perceive it as credible and thus convert into paying customers.

4. Easy online promotion

36% of all small or personal businesses are making their sales on the internet. Combine interesting website content with SEO optimization and the right marketing and advertising strategies and tools and you will get the chance to attract more potential customers and convert them.

Note that promotional videos are highly engaging and can sell your business in an effective and cost-efficient way.

Moreover, having your own website makes promoting your small business on various platforms of the digital world way easier: for example, you would be able to include links in your social media posts that direct social users to your website for more in-depth information.

5. Consumer insights

Tracking user behavior on your website will allow you to match and exceed your audience’s needs and expectations thus reach customer satisfaction and earn customer loyalty.

Having a website makes it easy to monitor how users interact with your brand, what product or service do they like the most and least, which geographic locations are they from, and much more. These insights can help you form a clear vision of your buyer persona and hence adapt your business to maximize purchases through your website.

If you are thinking about using WooCommerce as your e-commerce platform of choice, you should know that there are cheaper and more effective solutions.

Here at Maze, we offer a fully integrated e-commerce solution that is more of a service than a platform, making it ideal for those who are new to the world of website design.

Allow us to introduce you to the mesmerizing world of MEM.

What is MEM?

Amongst many of our services, MEM is our company’s flagship product. Maze e-commerce Management, or MEM, in short, is a customized web development platform that allows small and medium-sized businesses to launch their online store within a notably short period.

MEM was developed with simplicity, practicality, and personalization in mind. One web development platform that has the e-commerce trifecta under its belt: MEM helps busy business owners sell anywhere as easily as possible, market their brand, and manage their online store.

Feels like it is too good to be true, right? Well, no need for a pinch because you are not dreaming. Curious to know more about this service? Click here to unravel the answers to all your questions about MEM.

Interested to know more about why you should choose MEM for your small business?

Keep reading to find out the limitations of WooCommerce when it comes to SMEs and how MEM can fill these gaps both in knowledge and services.

Why should MEM be your go-to e-commerce solution?

1. Expense

If you read any online reviews about WooCommerce, you will discover that although the core software is free, the cost of all the necessary extensions will soon add up. For example, when it comes to payment processing, if you want any other option other than PayPal standard, you are going to have to pay for it. Furthermore, this is not a one-time fee but one that recurs annually.

However, if you choose MEM as your e-commerce solution of choice, we offer bespoke packages that are best suited to your needs as a small business. Moreover, you won’t have to pay any hidden fees or any commission on sales. Instead, we will create a plan that fits your budget, and this price will not change.

2. Support

If you do not have experience with building a website, you should know that WooCommerce offers very little ongoing support. There is no central support available, and the amount of help you get will be completely dependent on the theme, plug-in, and hosting provider you choose to use.

That being said, with MEM, you will get support throughout the entire design process and even aftercare once your website is up and running. We provide help with everything from payments to shipping, photography, to promotions.

3. Technical ability

You should know that even though you can customize WooCommerce with other plug-ins which will allow you to add features to your website and grow your business, you need to know the languages WordPress and WooCommerce are written in, i.e., PHP, jQuery, JavaScript, and MySQL. As many small business owners will not be familiar with this level of coding, you will have to outsource this to a third party at an additional cost.

Again, however, if you choose to let us help design and build your e-commerce site, all the above will be taken care of for you and will be included in the price agreed at the start of our professional relationship together.

4. Jargon

In the same way that you need to have a basic understanding of code to build a website with WooCommerce, you also need to know the basic jargon. This includes the jargon associated with WooCommerce themselves, including listings, checkout flow, and payment tokens, as well as the jargon associated with WordPress, such as permalinks, pages, and plug-ins.

To put it simply, it’s a huge learning curve that you may not have the time or resources to undertake.

With MEM, you don’t need to worry about any of this. We will build you a stunning e-commerce site, launch it in under 10 days, market it and help you with its ongoing management. Plus, we can scale your website or down if needed, which can prove problematic with WooCommerce.

Book a free consultation here today and become a major online player within the month.