Self Hosted eCommerce

Self hosted means you have installed the software on your own computer - examples of self hosted eCommerce platforms are WooCommerce and Magento.

Advantages

• More flexibility on customisation of look and feel of the store, providing your customers with the user experience you want them to experience
• Easy to change as your business evolves
• Policies regarding what is displayed, ownership of images etc. are controlled by you, not by the host provider
• If the host company closes its doors, you are not impacted and your shopfront will still remain operational.

Disadvantages

• Coding knowledge and outsourcing is often required (increasing your costs to start up your online store)
• Poor implementation can result in increased system vulnerability and exposure to fraudulent activity by hackers
• Increased costs to ensure extra security
• There can be limited support beyond forums and blogs.