【Comparison of Online Stores】Monthly Fee Stores vs. Customized Stores

There are currently two popular types of online store platforms in the market.

One is the monthly fee store platform, which charges a monthly fee ranging from a few hundred to several thousand dollars.

The other is the one-time fee custom online store, which may only require payment for server maintenance fees annually (ranging from $2,000 to $3,000).

Mshop, as a leading online store platform, will compare the pros and cons of these two types of online store platforms to help merchants choose the most suitable platform for their needs.

Content:
・Pros and Cons of Monthly Fee Store
・Pros and Cons of Customized Store
・Mshop combines the advantages of both e-commerce platforms

1. No IT Knowledge Required

   With the monthly fee online store, it is rented out to multiple merchants in the form of templates. Therefore, merchants can manage their online store backend without any IT knowledge. They only need to pay the required fees on a monthly or yearly basis. They don’t have to worry about server stability, security, technical issues like domain renewal, and can focus on running their business.

2. Comprehensive Features
   

   Since it caters to multiple merchants, the monthly fee online store provides a wide range of features. It continuously updates and enhances its e-commerce functionalities to attract new customers and retain existing ones. Merchants can enjoy up-to-date e-commerce features without extra costs.

3. Better Customer Support

   Due to the regular “rental” payment structure, monthly fee online stores often offer better customer support. When facing difficulties, merchants can usually find online customer service support to assist them.

1. Long-Term Costs
   

   Considering a period of 5-10 years, the monthly fee model may be more expensive compared to one-time website development. However, it offers regular website updates, maintenance, and better customer support.

2. Limited Scalability

   Since monthly fee platforms aim to serve a large number of merchants, they may not support the development of exclusive features tailored to your business needs. At most, you can make minor design changes using HTML/CSS. If you require substantial customization, you may need to compromise with the platform or consider migrating your online store.

3. Inability to Migrate the Online Store

   When using a monthly fee platform, you only have data ownership of your store, which can be exported in formats like Excel for member, order, and product data. However, you do not own the functionality and backend programming of the online store. Therefore, if you need to migrate your online store, you would need to adapt to a new platform and its operations.

1. Lower Long-Term Costs

   After the initial payment, the annual expenses for server and domain maintenance are relatively low (around $3,000 to $4,000). Therefore, the long-term costs are generally lower compared to monthly fee platforms.

2. High Scalability

   In the market, popular open-source platforms like WordPress, Magento, and Opencart are commonly used to develop customized online stores. These platforms offer a wide range of plugins that can be installed to meet specific functional requirements.

3.  Complete Ownership of the Online Store

   Since many companies operate these open-source platforms, if you are dissatisfied with your current online store provider, you have the option to migrate the entire online store to another provider. However, it’s important to note that most IT companies only offer migration services and may not be willing to take over the development of an online store that was originally developed by someone else.

1. Bugs
   

   It is true that many plugins, even well-known open-source platforms, can have bugs. However, with customized online stores that charge a one-time fee, the suppliers are typically only responsible for server maintenance after the warranty period. They are not obligated to resolve these issues for you. As a result, you may need to pay additional fees to address these technical problems, and there’s a chance that some issues may not be resolved.

2. Lack of Regular Updates

   As the IT industry advances rapidly, new payment methods, logistics options, and promotional strategies emerge. With a customized online store, you may need to continuously pay fees to the provider to obtain assistance with upgrades or system-related issues.

3. Vulnerability to Fell into Traps

   Based on our interactions with numerous merchants, the majority of providers who claim a one-time fee of thousands, tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of dollars for a customized online store often end up being unsatisfactory or failing to meet expectations.

Mshop is an online store platform that combines the advantages of both monthly fee platforms and one-time fee online stores.

Mshop operates on a monthly fee basis, making it ideal for small and medium-sized enterprises. It provides high-quality customer support services and continuously develops new features for the online stores, ensuring that customers can enjoy the latest functionalities.

As customers grow their businesses to a certain scale, they also have the option to develop exclusive features on top of the existing Mshop template. By leveraging the comprehensive functionality of the template-based online store development, customers can significantly reduce their development costs. Additionally, they can also benefit from discounted prices to “upgrade” to new features developed by Mshop in the future.