Detailed review of the service: "Rent online store"Rent online stores. What it is? Advantages over CMS. Contract-offer to use the service. What you need to know. Customer support. Additional services. Possible problems. Company overview
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The service of renting online stores in the CIS countries is just beginning to develop. As representatives of the service, most companies offer a boxed version with the possibility of renting for any period, plus additional services. In the west, this service has grown into a more advanced offer called Software as a Service * - software as a service, which implies the outsourcing of the technical component of the store (an article on the topic of SaaS will be written soon).
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Rent a store - one of the branches of the evolution of online commerce. I believe that now any company entering the e-commerce market should begin its journey by renting an online store. For small businessmen (a shop in a city, or a beginner) and an average (several shops with a good turnover), access to the Internet is accompanied by certain risks: the budget has a certain framework, so it can be tough to compete with market leaders. In this case, there is always the likelihood that the business will be unprofitable (or the profitability will be too small).
According to tenant companies, businessmen with offline business become customers, aspiring entrepreneurs, and there are more cases when businessmen cut down or turn off offline activities and go online.
Wanting to open an online store, businessmen often have no idea about the technical component, design, promotion. They know their product, how to sell it and how to keep accounts. Such clients want to give technical issues in one professional hands. The output for them can be two options:
1. Find a web agency that, for a certain amount, will make an online store with an original design, develop a corporate identity and promote the store. Often the amount ranges from 2000 to 5000 USD
2. Rent a shop. In this case, the technical component, design and promotion fall on the shoulders of the provider. At the same time, the cost of rental services and additional services is reduced significantly.
Buying a CMS and searching for artists on programming, design and promotion is suitable only for experienced online commerce owners.Renting an online store, a businessman has the opportunity to test future business and virtually eliminates large material losses in case of failure.
“The most important thing is that the buyer of the store doesn’t care whether the rented solution is from the seller or not. Outwardly, this distinction cannot be noticed, "- says Pavel Korotov, chief editor of
TurnoverWhat are the advantages of the store rental service:
1. Payment is extended in time and does not require large material investments at the start. It is like a loan: it is often more pleasant to pay a loan more, but gradually, than a large amount at once.
2. Carry out all the necessary technical measures, as well as help with the content and advertising of the store can the support service of the tenant for a fee. Some technical activities are included in the rental price. This solves the problem of finding other contractors.
3. “In addition, the rented store is almost immediately ready for work, you just need to add the product and call the wallet number. While buying a boxed CMS, it must also be installed, set up and screwed in the design, ”adds Alexey Leonov, executive director of
Shop-rent.ruFor all the indisputable advantages, there are also disadvantages:
1. The risk of theft of confidential information about customers and the database of goods. “From third parties, providers of such solutions are protected very adequately (they can allow the means and specialists in the matter of data protection). It is difficult to protect yourself from insiders, therefore, only information relating to personal data (for example, credit card number) is protected, ”said Aleksandra Brovchuk, commercial director of
Isales .
“Our contract does not spell out the parties’ responsibility for information leakage, since there is a country’s law that fully regulates the attitude of the parties when a similar problem arises, ”adds Alexey.
2. In the case of a change of provider, there will be difficulties with transferring data to another functional, while there is a risk of data loss. Alexandra advises to clarify in advance the availability of methods for unloading goods and transactions either into another system or in the .csv format.
3. The dependence of the success of your business on the competence of the service provider. The provider may not master your dynamic development, which may require changing it or hiring third parties. Change is accompanied by certain risks, sm. 1 and 2.
4. Contractors can be changed only in advertising and design. The search for new can take a long time and there is a risk that the people found will be irresponsible. But providers often limit third-party access to the store, which can result in numerous problems.
5. Each functional has a number of specific features that are found only during operation. This also applies to design, because it is always drawn (imposed) for a specific engine. Standard design versions have their limitations.
“The design of a rented engine is almost impossible to change (except for logos, color solutions), navigation is what it is. To alter the arrangement of elements in a standard design does not have the opportunity, "- Alexandra, Managing Director of
Alo Alo Ru LLC , shares the negative experience, using the services of the
Bornet provider
It turned out that there are 2.5 times more minuses. But in practice, competent providers do not have most of the listed disadvantages, and the advantages outweigh.
Contract offerHonestly, I have never entered into a contract for the provision of any services, some customers who applied to me to make an online store did not require a contract either. Everything suggests that many work on trust. Trust is good. But it is worth considering what the trust of tenants can cost?
It is necessary to admit that many firms are irresponsible and their actions can settle only the contract, but even large and responsible companies make mistakes, and they can only be responsible for them under the contract.
“From the point of view of the client, the contract should have what is important for him: description of services, terms, prices, guarantees, property rights, terms of renewal and termination, maintenance conditions, confidentiality,” notes Alexander Frolov, managing director of
Shop2you , and states : "The contract must be required!"
Need to knowEven in spite of the fact that at the end of the article almost all rental conditions were laid out with which tenant’s websites were supplied, it is necessary to check the information personally and ask questions to the support service:
1. Find out whether the contract is concluded (if it is not on the site). View contract clauses. Unclear treaties are interpreted in the same way as they are written. When registering a domain with the help of a tenant, find out whose name it is being registered in (necessarily in the name of the client)
2. Find out all about the payment. Hidden payments, specific amounts, the number of goods placed in the tariff. Learn about the precedents of late payment services. Specifically (complete list) that is included in the rental price.
3. To study the demo version of engines. It is possible to learn in advance about the functional from parameters, but the theory from practice differs in details - they are important. Having studied the demo version, find out the average cost and timing of engine modification. “For a rented solution, refinement is an unaffordable luxury. After all, in which case, the finalized solution will remain with the service provider, ”warns Pavel
4. Are additional services provided: promotion, assistance in filling the product catalog, etc. In the absence of services, it is not a fact that third parties will be given access to carry out the listed activities.
5. Clarify what is possible to change in the design, for what amount changes will be made in the design. The cost of individual design.
If you do the design on the side, you need to know how the design should be laid out.
6. Ask a question about access to the third-party site, both from yours and from the tenant.
7. Customer support is provided by almost all tenants. But it is necessary to clarify clearly what questions the service will answer (technical, promotion, marketing, etc.).
8. Find out in advance if you will be given a database and store design files when changing providers.
Look at the company's portfolio, check whether the sites are convenient for the buyer, whether they open quickly, evaluate the quality of the design.
Customer supportCustomer support as an important and relevant issue of renting online stores. The support will largely depend on how successful the business will be.
In the sales process, every week I encounter the fact that in the CMS of my store I have to fix something somewhere, change the little things. Every month there is a problem to do something less serious in terms of functionality. Such questions are addressed to the tenant and customers. As you familiarize yourself with the engine in the process of work, there will be more and more questions about the capabilities of the system, there will be incomprehensible points that are not mentioned in the instructions.
“The main issues are already spelled out in the“ most popular ”with a detailed indication of where to go and what to do (just by administering the store) - you can send any employee there who deals with this issue,” says Alexandra, the key is to start doing and watching and be able to articulate wishes in a language understandable to developers. ”
If the provider's support provides advice on the development, marketing and advertising of the store customer should use it. The provider's employees have extensive experience in organizing a catalog for specific products (each category of products requires an individual approach), they thoroughly know the functionality and have the experience of advertising other customers.
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Responsibility, politeness, tolerance and competence of the support service - this is what is not said on any of the sites, but it has a primary task that needs to be solved before purchasing the service.
“As practice shows, users do not really like to read the instructions. Therefore, more often we answer questions by mail or by phone. We try to respond promptly, during the day, seven days a week, ”notes Alexey.
additional servicesRefinement functionality. Often, beginners do not know what they want or what should be in the functional, because they do not understand this, this fact was clarified during a personal survey of visitors on the Turnover forum. Therefore, it is necessary to know in advance the cost of the service and deal with the demo version using the example of your own products.
“Most often, changes can be made in the process of ordering, in charging discounts, working with wholesalers, determining the cost of shipping and displaying goods,” admits Alexander Frolov.
Promotion. One of the most popular of the additional services. The psychological factor acts the same way: if the support works responsibly and competently, it means that the rest of the services are provided at a high level.
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Design. You need to know about the design before ordering its drawing. You can draw the logo, but you shouldn't rush into the design. Cost, terms are discussed with tenants. The problem is that different layouts are needed for different engines, and there may be difficulties integrating the design drawn on the side of the design into the tenant's engine. Some tenants warn about this.
Content Almost did not see the services of filling the site with content. Most likely the provider can offer their services, for this you need to contact the manager. The current average cost of adding a single product is 1.5 USD (depending on the complexity; responsible executives). Writing texts about 600 rubles. for 1000 characters.
Possible problemsThe problems of renting an online store are a thread running through the whole article. In order for me not to repeat, it is enough to reread the article.
“The rented solution makes the client seriously dependent on the service provider. Therefore, many stores prefer to work according to the following scheme: first, the software is rented for several months, and then the program is redeemed, ”says Pavel Korotov.
“A few pitfalls were caught at the store’s promised registrations in the systems. Supposedly bonus, in fact, the store is registered with those keywords that are needed by those who passed the engine for rent, which for newbies may not be noticeable at the start, but very surprising and annoying afterwards, ”Alexander warns.
Company OverviewSites are taken from search engines Yandex, google.ru and google.com.ua. The information was taken from the pages of the sites and not coordinated with the support service, there may be some inaccuracies due to an illiterate description of the services on the sites.
List of services:
Shop2you (with comments by Alexander Frolov)
Clearly: the cost of opening is 3000 rubles. Rents from 600 rub. Duration of opening is from 5 days
Optimally: the Classic tariff (it corresponds to the normal set of functions), the rent of which costs 1500 rubles.
The price includes: the creation of two pictures for the site’s caps, and an individual color setting (elementary color change of the design elements). This is in 8 variants of ready-made free templates. Those. backup support and storage.
There is a demo version
It is not clear: "It is possible to install your design" - check with the manager how much it is free, because from the words on the site is not clear.
HTML , , Lite Classic 6000 ( )
“Specialist consultations”, it is unclear what kind of consultation plan. If on the engine, it is everywhere for free, even with the purchase of a CMS.
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"Solving the problem with hosting" - it is not clear what they mean? Free hosting or you provide it for a fee?
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It is not said about the opportunity to buy a fully boxed version.
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No word on contract or agreement
I agree, we need to prepare a documentation section on the site.
We work with individuals under an offer agreement, which can be found when ordering a store. With SP and legal entities we conclude exactly the same contract, which differs only in the header.
ShoparsenalI took them only for the fact that they are quite high in the search. This is their only plus.
It is clear: Rents from 700 rubles. Installation in 2 days. Hosting is included in the rental
The price includes: the provision of advice on promotion, advertising, revision, it is in addition to technical issues.
Development of a unique design from $ 200.
There is a demo version. It is possible to buy a fully boxed version.
Optimally: PRO tariff, rent 700 rubles per month. Functional enough for a full-fledged store. The guys took the basis of Shop-script PRO.
Not clear: There is not a word about the contract or agreement. No portfolio. The site is vague and casts great doubts about the quality of the company's work.
Insales (with comments by Alexandra Brovchuk)
It is clear: Rent from 0 rub month. Take your time: 2% of sales and only 200 products.
Optimally: Growing Tariff 750 rubles per month and 1000 goods. The percentage of sales is no longer
There is a demo version of the Ruby on Rails engine platform. There is a portfolio (but small). I liked the site itself, which has a little. There is a contract.
, - CMS CMS
It is not clear: Good functionality, but nothing is said about the system of discounts.
Nothing is clear about the “Service Insales” referred to in the “Terms of Use”. There is no specific reference to the description of services. Judging by the "Agreement", the services include only technical support and the provision of the engine (not a word about hosting!).
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It is not said about the opportunity to buy a fully boxed version.
, , - SaaS .
Important: The principle of renting here is a bit different than all. The quantity of goods and the turnover of the store matter, it turns out a compulsory payment, depending on their achievements. Although the company itself is not making any effort.
- . 500 5000 .
BornetIt is clear: Rents from 750 rubles per month. (monthly 1050)
The price includes: Start shop 1 day. Free hosting and logo. Technical support.
The cost of the original design is 2900 rubles.
Powerful engine functionality. There is a demo version. It is possible to buy a fully boxed version. Judging by the description, the functionality allows for complex * marketing manipulations with the product.
There is a large portfolio.
Not clear: There is no contract or agreement. All that is not included in the price - for a fee.
* implies more than: 2 prices, recommended products.
Shop-rent (with Alexey Leonov's comments)
Clear: Rent from 450 rub / month (the lowest price on the market)
The price includes: Start shop 1 day. Free hosting. Technical and advertising support. Several free templates.
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The cost of the original design is 7900 rubles.
There is an offer contract, there is a large portfolio.
Good engine functionality. There is a demo version. It is possible to buy a fully boxed version (by agreement).
It is not clear: Does the design include the creation of a logo (from 3,000 rubles)?
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OsgIt is clear: The rent is from 1500 rubles a month. Up to 1000 products
The price includes: Start shop a couple of days. Free hosting. Technical support 1 hour (per day or at all?). Several free templates.
The cost of the original design is 7900 rubles. (really the same prices)
There is an offer agreement, demo version, there is a large portfolio.Honestly, I won’t say anything about the functionality of the engine. Written text for people far from online commerce. Almost no word on specific functions. Ability to buy fully boxed version.Not clear: everything is clear, but insanely expensive.ShopbuilderClear: The rent is 1900 rubles a month. PHPShop engine (the company is a subsidiary of developers)The price includes: Start of the store a couple of days. Free hosting and domain. Technical support. 5 free templates.The cost of the original design is 17900 rubles. Change of standard design 5000 rub. Creating a logo 5600 rubles. Additional modules from 2500 rub.Good engine functionality. There is a demo version, a large portfolio. Ability to buy fully boxed version.It is not clear: There is a mention of the conclusion of the contract, but I did not find theWebstolica itself (I’m wondering how quickly I will find what I’m going to say)Clearly: The rent is 1690 rubles. AmiroCMS engine.Internet-shop and mini-market packages do not suit you (you can see why)There is a demo version and an offer agreement.It is possible to buy the full boxed version.Not clear: Actually for 1690 rubles. you buy only the engine. Everything else is paid and the cost to know you are sent to partners Amiro.EtechsClear:The rent is 1500 rub. Month (300 UAH.). One-time fee 3000 rub. Installation in 10 days.The price includes: Free hosting. Technical support. Site registration in search engines. Website optimization (I think this is the setting of the standard template functions). Customize the color scheme of the design and placement (rather than drawing) of the logo.Good engine functionality.No demo version !!! Large portfolioIt is possible to redeem a fully boxed version.It is not clear: why is there no demo version? Nothing is known about the creation of individual design and logo. It is not known about the cost of finalizing the functionality.Script.kiev.uaClearly: the average rent is 25 months per month.Included in the price:Free hosting. Engine Shop-Script PREMIUM in use. Several free (terrible) templates.It is possible to buy a fully boxed version.It is not clear: Actually, little is said about the service itself. Apparently the guys are just second-hand dealers, so it’s hard for me to say something approving in their direction.1c-bitrix Aseparate conversation with them. The fact is that Bitrix does not offer rental Internet solutions. They sell a SaaS platform for renting their internet development.The cost of 250,000 rubles. on 500 sites.Added them to the list for the sake of interest)* Experts say that SaaS is a further development of the rental market for online applications, including online stores. Renting boxed solutions has a number of limitations; in turn, SaaS solutions have indisputable advantages over renting a CMS: creating marketplaces, stores on other people's products, placing store goods on content resources, and doing everything centrally. More about SaaS services, I will tell in a separate article.If any site is not submitted, write to me.