www.ShipStation.comECOMMERCE SOLUTIONS
Finding a decent web host is hard enough if you’re running a regular website, never mind if you’re looking for one that can power an online store. To make your life simpler, we took it upon ourselves to look for the some of the best e-commerce hosting solutions out there. Not all hosting solutions are made equal, however. If you’re in the field of e-commerce, you need something more robust and safer than regular hosting plans can give you. That way, you can provide a top-notch experience for your customers.
In this article, we’ll compare three of our favorite e-commerce hosting solutions. We’ll cover the features they offer for online stores, the state of their support and security systems, and their performance. We have a lot of ground to cover, so let’s jump right in. The key features of an e-commerce hosting solution. When choosing a web host for your e-commerce site, you need to be a bit pickier than usual. We’re not talking strictly about performance either some hosts simply offer more features specific to e-commerce needs.
Let’s not forget, it’s your business that we’re talking about here having the site down for even a relatively short period of time can be brutal on your wallet. For instance, it’s estimated that Amazon loses $2 million for every minute of downtime. Granted, the situation is probably not as brutal for you, but still any dollar lost due to website problems is something you shouldn’t have to deal with. These are the key features you should keep an eye out for when looking for the right host-
PCI compliance
If your online store will accept credit card payments, it’s crucial that your host is fully compliant with PCI standards. This is a requirement. Don’t dismiss this as something you don’t need yet. The crucial part where PCI applies to ALL organizations or merchants, regardless of size or number of transactions, that accepts, transmits or stores any cardholder data.
Secure Sockets Layer certificates
SSL certificates enable you to encrypt your customer’s data for added protection, and they’re quickly becoming the standard even beyond e-commerce . Ideally, you should look for a host that facilitates the setup process for you. If the host works with let’s encrypt which is complimentary hence, even better.
Dedicated IP addresses
Dedicated IP addresses are reserved for non-shared hosting plans. These may be a bit more expensive, but a professional e-commerce site usually warrants the cost. Furthermore, having your own IP address ensures that you can access your site even if your domain is down, and lets you opt for a private SSL certificate.
Backup functionality
There are plenty of ways to set up scheduled backups for any platform, but it’s always nice when a web host takes care of that aspect for you. A comprehensive hosting plan will include regular backups and provide you with simple restore options.
Firewall solution
This is hardly a groundbreaking feature, but it’s still nice to know that your host has its own firewall solution set up. That way, it can protect you in case your website gets attacked by some bot network or another kind of automated DoS attempt – meant to prevent genuine users in this case, your customers from accessing your online store.
Around-the-clock support
Downtime is the stuff of nightmares for any online store. Not only do you lose out on potential sales each time your store is unavailable, your customers may get the impression your operation isn’t professional. That’s why a good e-commerce host will take all necessary measures to minimize downtime. Below you will get to know what web hosts offer each of these features, which should help you make an informed decision. If you don’t see a particular feature listed under the host’s e-commerce specific features section, then that host doesn’t offer it. We’ll also let you know when a key feature is only available on certain plans.
That said, we recommend you don’t make your choice based solely on a list of features. After all, each web host has unique strengths that you’ll want to take into consideration, which we will discuss below. The three best e-commerce hosting solutions compared in a nutshell. If you don’t have time to read an in-depth comparison right now, check out this summary of our results and come back later for the full story:
| Best WordPress E-Commerce Hosting Solutions Compared | |||
| InMotion | SiteGround | A2 Hosting | |
| E-commerce plans start at ($ per month) | $3.99 | $3.95 | $3.92 |
| Support knowledgeability and response times | 3/5 | 5/5 | 5/5 |
| Security features | 4/5 | 5/5 | 3/5 |
| Minimum page load time (in seconds) | 0.27 | 0.73 | 0.21 |
| Maximum page load times (in seconds) | 0.37 | 0.89 | 0.45 |
| Performance (taking into consideration the scores above) | 5/5 | 4/5 | 5/5 |
| Overall score | 4/5 | 4.6/5 | 4/5 |
The best e-commerce hosting solutions compared. If you’re involved in the field of e-commerce, then you know how important picking the right host can be. It’s a choice that can have a severe impact on the success of your online store. With that in mind, we’ve selected three hosts that stood out in the results of our own hosting survey.
