Free e-commerce setup using Facebook Pages + ECWID
Do you own a small business and would like to get more sales? Have you ever thought about selling your products online, but worried about the cost of hosting and technical learning curve? Then no worries, I'm going to show you how you can make an ecommerce site for free using things you already know. By using Facebook Pages and ECWID, you can be up and running with a free e-commerce site in no time. If you don’t already have a Facebook Page for your business, consider getting one first as there are plenty of reasons to do so.
Before I get started, let's go over exactly what ECWID is. ECWID is essentially an e-commerce CMS backend. After registering an account for FREE, you can manage an entire inventory of products, customer database, and multiple types of shipping options. In a standard integration of ECWID, you would simply insert a small code snippet into your existing website, and pow - instant e-commerce site.
You may be asking now, “Great, but I don’t have an existing web site.” I would proceed to ask, “Well, do you have a Facebook Page for your business?” and you would say, “Why yes, I do!” then I would say... alright, let’s just cut to the chase. In the control panel under Promotions, there is a tab called Facebook App. Use the easy to follow instructions to link your store directly to your Facebook page. Once it’s linked up, on your main Facebook Page, you can see the Shop icon that goes directly to your ecommerce store, managed through ECWID.
So what are the advantages of using ECWID? Well to start, it’s about as easy as it gets from beginning to end. A clean, intuitive interface with help all along the way with an easy to manage backend and storefront. Also, if you already have a Facebook Page, you might be interested in the social media realm. Did you know you can enable Facebook comments and share buttons on products to allow your customers to more easily share your awesome products? Talk about making marketing easy, ECWID. Customers can share on tumblr, Twitter, Pinterest, etc. Want to moderate comments? Grab a Facebook App ID and plug it into the backend.
Seriously, this couldn’t get any better... oh wait.
On some of the technical side, what about security? ECWID passes all transactions through SSL and has great support on how to add additional security on your site. ECWID also supports multiple payment options such as the inevitable PayPal, Google Wallet, Authorize.net, and many more. But what if you already have an existing site, such as a CMS like Drupal or Wordpress? Well, there’s a module... or plugin... or add-on for that. ECWID supports a multitude of CMS’s, in addition to a whole community of supporters who can help you with your integration. Of course, if you would like to create a more integrated solution, you could use Drupal Commerce, Magneto, or any other number of open source e-commerce solutions.
Did I mention that everything I just did was free? Well, it didn’t cost me a dime and it won’t cost you either. Of course you can upgrade to their Silver membership for some more functionality, but if you just need a basic e-commerce system with a lot of easy-to-use features, what are you waiting for? If you would like to read more about ECWID and it’s amazing features, surf on over there and check it out for yourself.
Have any comments? Feel free to let us know below.
