How to Build a Web Store for Free

By Paul Lang, Editor, Sell It!
July 19th, 2000

Although Web based commerce is still relatively new, the software that makes it all possible has already moved through three distinct phases:

Phase 1: At first, there was no complete Web storefront packages available and the Web commerce pioneers had to create a website either by lashing together a number of tools from different vendors or by creating their own scripts.

Phase 2: A whole new breed of storefront building solutions was launched, such as iCat Web Store and Yahoo! Store. These packages aimed to provide Web merchants with all the tools they needed to build and run a Web store, albeit at a fairly high price.

Phase 3: The competition between the many new storefront building packages grew significantly with the introduction of an increasing number of free store building solutions.

Not surprisingly, these free solutions have proved very attractive, particularly to small businesses, and the most popular services have quickly signed up thousands of Web merchants.

If you’re thinking about taking your business online, you may well be tempted to take advantage of these free solutions yourself. However, just like any other business decision, you need to take the time to ensure that this type of service is appropriate for your business, and then to choose the solution that best meets your needs.

I have to say upfront that in general I am not too keen on these free services. I belong to the “no such thing as a free lunch” school of thought: after all, these free commerce providers need to make their money somehow.

So what are the problems with these free services? Here are some of the things you need to look out for:

1. Advertising: some free commerce services make their money by placing ads in your store. Not only can these ads be distracting to your customers (after all, you want them to focus on your sales message and not on some flashing graphic) you usually have no control over what products are advertised, so you may end up carrying ads for one of your competitors!
2. Hidden costs: most of these ”free” solutions only offer a limited number of services free and then make charges for what they define as “value added services”, for example online credit card processing. Sometimes they’ll insist that you use their merchant account provider whose rates may not be the most competitive, so your “free” store may end up costing you a lot more than a paid-for store would with lower processing costs.
3. Strict terms and conditions: the Terms of Service for free commerce providers tend to be fairly restrictive. For example, they may prohibit you from placing links on your site to any other Web site. They are also usually fairly one sided (in the provider’s favor of course!): for example, they may allow the provider to close your store at any time without giving you any reason, notice or compensation.
4. Limited capabilities: some of the free solutions lack the range or depth of tools that the paid-for services provide. For example, they may not provide a detailed reporting system or may have limited customization options.

If you’ve checked out the above points and your happy that a free e-commerce solution is right for you, then go ahead and sign up. However, and this is very important, before making a final decision ensure that the service is capable of meeting your needs both today and in two years time. The last thing you want to have to do is to completely re-build your Web store with a new provider just because you’ve outgrown the services that a free solution offers.

To help you with your selection, here is a list of some of the main free commerce solution providers along with a summary of the services they offer:

Important: the information in these tables is current at the time of writing. It is, of course, subject to change and you should contact the service provider to check that these details are still accurate. In particular credit card processing rates are guidelines only and actual rates will vary dependent on the nature of your business, credit history etc.

BigStep.com

What you get for free:	Unlimited number of Web pages
What you have to pay for:	Credit card transactions: No set up or application fee; $24.95 per month; 2.35% + $0.20 per transaction.
Advantages:	+ Free search engine submission service. + Mailing list management.
Disadvantages:	- Limited to 12Mb of storage space for images. - Merchant accounts only for US businesses. - Must apply for merchant account from Bigstep.com’s partner to process payments online. - Can’t use own merchant account to process payments offline.
Contact:	http://www.bigstep.com

eCongo

What you get for free:	Storefront with an unlimited number of items and categories
What you have to pay for:	Credit card transactions: No set up or application fee; $19 per month; 2.49% + $0.30 per transaction.
Advantages:	+ Free search engine submission service. + Ad creation tool and exchange service. + Can use own merchant account to process payments offline.
Disadvantages:	- Merchant accounts only for US businesses. - Must apply for merchant account from eCongo’s partner to process payments online.
Contact:	http://www.econgo.com

FreeMerchant.com

What you get for free:	Storefront with an unlimited number of items
What you have to pay for:	Credit card transactions: $399 set up; $25 per month; 2.69% + $0.35 per transaction.
Advantages:	+ Free search engine submission service. + Can use own merchant account to process payments offline. + eBay integration.
Disadvantages:	- Online payment processing must be done via Intellipay or AuthorizeNet.
Contact:	http://www.freemerchant.com

Mal’s E-Commerce

What you get for free:	A shopping cart that can be added to an existing Web site.
What you have to pay for:	$5 per month for access to main credit card payment gateways (e.g. CyberCash, AuthorizeNet). $6 for Web site hosting (if required).
Advantages:	+ Not tied to a specific merchant account provider or payment processing service.
Disadvantages:	- Need to build Web site yourself and then integrate service in to it.
Contact:	http://www.ait2000.com

See Also:

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