When a retail business is trying to go digital, it goes through decision making process wherein the key decision makers have to choose from a variety of options varying based on the managed/mismanaged, hosted / self-hosted, open source and customized further/ fully bespoke, etc. Due to cloud technology advances in last decade, a new deployment – development model appeared on the horizon is a SaaS model which at its very nature is managed, cloud – hosted and continuously upgraded.

“SaaS applications are subscription based, which means no huge technology licensing, purchase or hardware purchase costs. No upfront licensing or purchase cost significantly lower the initial cost of starting the digital business. SaaS providers develop updates and manage upgrades, there are no complicated patches for customers to download or install. They also manage availability, reliability, and scalability so there’s no need for businesses to add hardware, software, or bandwidth as the user base”

So the decision makers have to now choose whether they would like to go with something which is customized by using an open or closed source, self-hosted platform or go for fully managed SaaS platform. While both models work, one needs to decide on some key aspects of their e-commerce business when making a choice –

• Is your core strength technology or retailing?
• What are you going to focus on to build and grow your business: acquiring more customers, marketing & promotions, getting the best products/deals to your consumers at the best prices? Do you think consumers would care about what technology you are using?
• How much effort would it take for you to customize an open source platform or develop something from scratch? How much time would it take? Would it make a big dent in your startup fund? Would you rather not spend that time and money to acquire some customers & to keep them loyal?

The popularity of SaaS is rapidly increasing because it makes management of your online store very easy and also reduces customer acquisition costs. With a multitenant approach, you get a solution that is proven across thousands of businesses and incorporates requirements for all kinds of business scenarios. That means your system is flexible and ready for your requirements as you scale. Moreover, you can scale as fast and as much as needed without replacing costly infrastructure or adding IT staff.

Some of the highlighted capabilities that SaaS enables are –

• Your online store and management interfaces are accessible from anywhere with an internet connection
• There is no need for a local server installation
• You pay subscription fee only
• You can scale very fast
• System maintenance (backup, updates, security, etc) is included in the service
• Upgrades, new feature additions etc. are automatically available to you
• Your systems work with high reliability as the entire infrastructure is managed

SaaS has several benefits over traditional software platforms including websites & online businesses: –