Cloud based hosting is increasingly becoming the favoured option for ecommerce companies and the reason for this isn’t far fetched considering all the benefits involved.

When it was originally introduced, cloud computing was regarded as a great innovation but not many businesses were willing to take a gamble on it just yet. But with the breakthroughs made in the field in recent years, cloud computing has gone from being just a great idea to being something e-commerce business owners actively pursue in order to gain an edge over competing businesses – as well as increase their operation efficiency.

One particularly attractive aspect of cloud computing is that any business – regardless its size – can benefit from using it. For instance, a globally recognised ecommerce brand can benefit from cloud based hosting just as much as an upcoming ecommerce website run by tech savvy personnel can.

Benefits of cloud based hosting for ecommerce

Some of the more specific benefits of having an ecommerce website set up on a cloud based hosting service that businesses worldwide are currently enjoying include;

1. Trust

When ecommerce businesses initially came to the fore, the first barrier they had to break in order to get shoppers to buy was to prove that they were trustworthy. At the time, shoppers were unwilling to make purchases and reveal their sensitive information to ecommerce websites that had not yet proven that they could be trusted with sensitive data. But has time passed, ecommerce companies managed to prove their reliability.

The problem of trust is one that present day upcoming ecommerce companies still face especially if the retailer is an unknown one. But with the advent cloud computing, this problem can be easily bypassed. This is possible for both existing businesses and start-ups by taking advantage of the trust that has already been built over the years by the cloud system they are using. For instance, a new ecommerce company instead of taking years to build trust can show it is trustworthy by indicating it is backed by a Google, Amazon, or Salesforce cloud based system. This will show potential customers that the ecommerce platform is backed and secured by a leading and reliable cloud engineer that’s capable of ensuring the safety of shoppers.

2. Cost savings

Saving cost is actually one of the primary factors that ultimately drives a business to opt for moving to the cloud. Compared to local server hardware, a cloud-based system can significantly reduce the costs of operation for a business.

E-commerce businesses are already significantly less costly to run than a traditional physical store, but this cost effectiveness can be further heightened by taking advantage of the cost benefits cloud hosting can provide.

3. Security

Experts at www.discountdomains.co.nz say that compared to ecommerce stores that utilise most other forms of hosting services, those hosted on cloud based systems are offered better security features that guarantee the safety of customer data as well as online transactions. Many reputable cloud service providers possess third-party certification such as SysTrust audits and ISO 27001. Other security features typically provided by such service providers include data encryption, certification through third-party vulnerability assessment programs, biometric screening of personnel, and more. These features all come together to make ensuring the safety of customers as well as the business itself more efficient.

4. Reliability (Less downtime)

Frequent downtime is a problem ecommerce businesses usually have to contend with due to an ineffective hosting service. Such issues are significantly prevented by cloud hosting as the more reputable firms can guarantee impressive uptime and very little downtime. While 100% uptime cannot be guaranteed, an ecommerce company who signs up with the right cloud hosting service can enjoy as much as 99.99% uptime.

5. Intuitive and virtual

Virtualisation lies at the centre of cloud computing. Virtualisation technology consists of virtual machines (VM) which have the ability to scale computing power. This is carried out by a virtual machine monitor which is referred to as a hypervisor which is responsible for creating and running VMs. Virtualisation is what makes it possible for cloud hosting to scale as necessary to meet the needs of a hosted ecommerce website.

With scalability, an ecommerce website will have access to the quantity and quality of resources and processing power it needs when it needs it. For instance, during periods of high traffic and peak sales, an ecommerce website hosted on the cloud doesn’t have to worry about reduced performance as all the computing power it needs will be provided. And when the surge of traffic reduces, the resources allotted to the website will be reduced to match its current needs.

6. Speed and responsiveness

With cloud based hosting, ecommerce businesses can have access to a data centre with the capability to store and manage their data within a short time. This means that an ecommerce company can open for business and actively start transacting within a short time if it opts for a cloud computing option. This is possible because a cloud partner already has available the infrastructure that the e-commerce site needs and these resources can be ordered for immediately.

7. Redundancy in cloud services

Cloud-based architecture is in most cases designed to be disaster tolerant. This includes cases of fires, flood, and other forms of force majeure. The benefit of this is an ecommerce business hosted on a cloud-based platform will have built-in redundancy that can save it from data loss. Because data is secured and safely backed up as well as easily accessible, if anything were to happen to the website or the business itself, the data can easily be retrieved from the cloud system to get the business going again without having to start from scratch.

In conclusion

If you own an ecommerce business, there’s a lot you stand to gain by switching to cloud based hosting. What is important is that you ensure you sign up with a cloud hosting service company that actually has a reputation for delivering the quality of services you require. It’s the best way to guarantee that your ecommerce business benefits the most from a cloud hosting arrangement.