Blogs

AWS for eCommerce

Written by Yarden Shitrit | Sep 15, 2020 8:02:40 AM

Fact: Consumers expect lightning speed performance and seamless eCommerce experiences. 

The competition in online commerce has heated up in massive ways too. Consumers nowadays are far more knowledgeable about their shopping wishes. They know what they want, how much they should be paying for it, how fast they can expect to receive it, and with competition a mere click away – you are expected to provide a shopping experience that is no-less than perfect – every step of the way. 

ECommerce business owners are increasingly turning to cloud hosting solutions to supercharge online shop performance by taking advantage of its scalability and advantages to create a seamless user journey. 

Let’s review some of the AWS advantages for eCommerce applications

 

AWS Capabilities that Improve eCommerce Potential

AWS has numerous unassailable capabilities that position it as a reliable eCommerce cloud solution. These include security, scalability, server uptime, and a favorable pricing model. 

Security and Compliance 

It’s like a data breach Armageddon out there. Data security is the biggest agonizing factor for startups that focus on eCommerce. Business processes online involve the handling of sensitive customer data, such as credit card information. A recent data breach report shows that 62% of consumers do not trust the confidence of their data with retailers. 

AWS bolsters cloud security with absolute compliance with global data security and data privacy regulations. The provider can speed up your compliance through certifications such as SOC 1,2 & 3. You can run your eCommerce store knowing that your business and customer data are safe.

The commerce cloud computing solution will reliably secure your eCommerce store as you focus on securing the data you put on it. It is a shared responsibility model that speeds up compliance for businesses while reducing operating costs. To learn more about how to implement security best practices on the cloud – check out this ebook

AWS security features include:

  • AWS compliance program – It helps businesses attain compliance through best practices and audits 
  • Physical security—AWS guarantees the security of data centers across the world 
  • Data backup—This is an automated function on AWS and is critical for business continuity and disaster recovery. 
  • Transmission protection — the provider uses a cryptographic protocol that protects against eavesdropping and tampering 
  • 24-7-365 network and infrastructure monitoring and incidence response
  • Multifactor authentication, passwords, and access keys 
  • 509 certificates
  • Security logs 

 

Auto-scaling

Ecommerce traffic can be as unpredictable as the weather. For success in this digital business environment, one needs a hosting solution with limitless auto-scaling capabilities to handle sudden bandwidth surges in the middle of the night or holidays. 

The AWS cloud hosting solution is architectured to expand or shrink based on business demand. It helps to ensure that your eCommerce store doesn’t crash on peak season. The auto-scaling function covers all resources, including bandwidth, memory, and storage, guaranteeing steady and predictable performance for your cyber business.

How it works

  • AWS auto-scaling tracks the usage demand for your apps and auto-adjusts capacity 
  • You can budgetize and build auto-scaling plans for resources across your eCommerce platform 
  • You get scaling recommendations that can help to optimize performance and costs



On-demand pricing model

One great advantage of using AWS for eCommerce is cost-effectiveness. The provider uses a pay for consumption billing model, which means that you only pay for what you use. There are no upfront costs, and in the face of business uncertainties today, you might appreciate that clients are not tied with long term contracts on AWS. 

The pay per consume model empowers small startups to keep costs low and achieve business survivability. On top of that, you can explore other ways to reduce costs such as:

  • Using Compute Savings Plans 
  • Using Reserved Instances (RI)
  • Review and modifying the auto-scaling configuration
  • Leveraging lower-cost storage tiers

 

Global hosting for consistent brand performance 

AWS has data centers around the world. It makes it easy to deliver a consistent and seamless eCommerce performance for customers in any corner of the globe.  

This globalized hosting capability means that you can serve customers from each country uniquely in their languages. You can gather relevant regional data for accurate operations. All the while, you will be able to meet the global speed and performance demands and safeguard your business from costly downtimes. 

 

Consistent speed with a new and improved CDN

The AWS CDN will enable your eCommerce website to deliver images, videos, and the entire website faster regardless of bandwidth or geographical location. The CDNs speeds up load times and the overall user experience on your eCommerce store. Requests for content are automatically routed to the nearest server location, saving customers from high latency.

 

AWS eCommerce Support 

AWS provides customer support through people and tools that can help you amplify performance and reduce costs. Depending on your AWS SLA, you can get human support with a response rate of under 15 minutes, 24-7-365.

Types of support you can get on AWS  include:

  • Architectural guidance and introduction 
  • Operational and security guidance 
  • Dashboard monitoring solutions
  • Other benefits of the AWS architecture for eCommerce 

 

Broader cataloging 

ECommerce customers expect thousands of product options when browsing. Extensive cataloging is one of the reasons why Amazon is the leading eCommerce store. AWS can grant you a similar capability with its auto-scaling features.

 

A smooth and faster checkout process

Checkout service is a critical building block for any eCommerce store. AWS enables better coordination of checkout workflows and compliant storage and processing of credit card data and purchase history, leading to faster order processing. 

 

Ecommerce integration:

Several third-party providers have built platforms on the AWS infrastructure. You can leverage these integrations, including CRM, email marketing, and analytics solutions for better eCommerce. 

 

To Summarize

Hosting on the AWS eCommerce cloud computing solution can simplify your online business and accelerate growth in diverse ways. You are assured of security, availability, scalability, speed, and seamless shopping experience for your customers.

Need some more in-depth advice to get you started? Click here to schedule a free consultation call.