Colorado Web Solutions

Yahoo Stores – the Perfect Solution

Posted on July 30th, 2012 by Brent Carey

The Yahoo store platform is in many ways the prefect solution for first time web store owners. Granted there are many competing platforms out there, but it’s been our experience at Colorado Web Solutions that Yahoo offers one of the better user interfaces, a web store platform full of quality features and with their basic plan starting at just $29.96 – a price that won’t break the bank.

Nowadays, most small businesses are looking to have an online presence. Many of those business owners have little to no experience managing an online store. They also seldom have the available budget to bring in a dedicated employee with the skills necessary to create/manage their new online initiatives. We thought we’d list three key reasons we feel the Yahoo store platform is one of the premier choices for first time web store owners.

 

Highly Functional Dashboard

Often times a store owner’s first exposure to a new web store or web platform causes a state of shock. There is a bewildering amount of data and processes that a new store owner needs to become familiar with and use effectively in order to make their store a success. Yahoo has helped mitigate some of the stress by creating a very comprehensive User Dashboard that provides quick access to every key function within the store.

From shipping procedures to coupon management, site statistics to order processing – everything can be found via their dashboard. First time store owners are very impressed with the logical arrangement the Yahoo dashboard offers. If you’ve ever been involved with managing sites that don’t offer a detailed dashboard, you’ll have to agree that having one available makes it so much easier to understand how to effectively manage a store. Also, we feel it important to mention that Yahoo provides an extremely comprehensive online library accessed via the dashboard which provides store owners quick solutions and detailed information concerning all store-related questions.

 

Easy to Upload Content

The sheer amount of content that a new store owner will need to upload can be intimidating. If you’ve ever created/uploaded hundreds of products to a store, you’ll know how time consuming this can be. While a Yahoo developer such as Colorado Web Solutions will create an attractive store, owners are responsible for content uploads including all product information and related images.

While this process is a major undertaking regardless of the functions present to facilitate it, Yahoo offers a fairly easy interface to assist the store owner. Product content can either be uploaded one product at a time via the Store Manager back-end or in bulk using an Excel file. While the product upload interface Yahoo has created is pretty seamless – using an Excel file is even more efficient. A new store owner gets to choose which method they want to use. Images, another time consuming process can be added in a similar fashion – either one at a time or in bulk. The bulk image upload can really save a lot of time.

 

Scalable Feature Set beyond Basic Offering

Yahoo stores – out of the box, provide a decent feature set that is competitive with any basic web store platform. Yahoo provides a way for non-developers to create their own sites via a “Design Wizard”. For more advanced features, most store owners consult with a dedicated Yahoo developer. Yahoo designed its store platform in such a way to allow relatively easy integration of more advanced features at any time – from any authorized developer. From Advanced Pagination to Advanced Shipping procedures to Product Reviews, Yahoo gives store owners the ability to build the store to fit their specific business model. As the store grows, so too can the feature set the site offers. We’re proponents of enhancing a store as it grows rather than starting with all the bells and whistles that a store may or may not need. Having the ability to add more features as the need arises is a major benefit when deciding which platform to choose.

For more information on creating a Yahoo store, please see: http://www.coloradowebsolutions.com/yahoo-dev-build-new-yahoo-store.html

 

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