Cloud computing in eCommerce: a coffee-break guide

Online shopping is the new normal. How can cloud computing help you stay competitive in this new retail landscape? Find out in our guide.

The 2020s have barely begun – but they've already been a period of intense and rapid technological change. You have to take notes pretty fast if you want to keep up with the process that tech bods call "digital transformation".

One area that's seen dramatic change is the world of retail. For many of us, online shopping has superseded trips to the high street. The convenience and sheer range that online shopping has to offer means that brick-and-mortar retailers are having to change tack.

This shift in consumer habits has created opportunities for many retailers to build, grow or cement their online presence. Window displays are being replaced by web stores. And the tone of your marketing emails is now at least as important as your tone of voice when speaking to a customer in store or on the phone.

Underpinning this shift is the internet, of course. But it's more specific than that. These changes have been made possible by cloud computing technology.

What is cloud computing?

Cloud computing is an umbrella term for platforms or services that are accessible from any device in any location.

Let's rewind 20 years. You're working late in the office on a sales report. You want desperately to get home before the kids go to bed.

Unfortunately, all your data and software are tied to your office environment. Those documents belong in the store cupboard or on the intranet.

Or let's say you want to collaborate on a document with a colleague. It's not impossible – but it's a logistical headache that you could really do without.

Cloud computing has made all this a distant, painful memory. Now, you can keep working on your laptop as the train trundles home. You can make edits and suggestions to a colleague's document from anywhere that has an internet connection.

Cloud computing is the new normal – but not all retailers have migrated their workloads to the cloud yet.

When things go mainstream, it's easy to assume that their benefits are obvious to everyone. However, that's not always the case.

So how, exactly, can cloud computing help a retailer to grow its brand?

The basic benefits of cloud computing

As well as providing accessibility to corporate data, cloud computing enables companies to leverage powerful existing infrastructure.

Public cloud providers like Amazon and Google have hundreds of data centres. Each data centre consists of hundreds of servers. These are mammoth facilities that provide storage for companies all across the globe.

Now compare your on-prem data centre. It does the job – but if it breaks down or just gets old, you're going to need to fork out for maintenance. You can't rely on your public cloud provider to do that for you.

It's the difference between having a butt in your garden to collect rainwater and paying a water company to supply your home. You might well grumble about the cost of the bills and the shareholders' profits, but it's still saving you a huge amount of time, money and effort.

But when it comes to the benefits of cloud computing to eCommerce, this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Scalability

Nobody gets into business to stay the same size forever. Even if you're not solely motivated by profits, you're still going to want to grow.

In a traditional office environment, that means more shelving, more folders, more box files. With an on-prem data centre, it means days of productivity lost to maintenance.

But cloud computing allows you to scale up your online storage as and when you need it. It's as simple as changing your subscription tier – not a hammer or nail in sight.

Stability

In the age of eCommerce, you can't let your website go down, even briefly. Server outages mean lost profits – and when there's so much competition, people are more than likely to shop elsewhere the minute they see that "site not reached" message.

If a public cloud provider hosts your IT infrastructure, you get to enjoy unmatchable levels of availability.

This is covered in something called an SLA or "service level agreement". Most of the big providers promise "five nines" – that's 99.999% uptime.

This gives you peace of mind that no matter how much traffic your site gets, you'll stay up and running – and selling.

Speed

Let's go back to our water butt. You're off-grid – a latter-day Henry David Thoreau. Free from the rat race, you're happy to wait until that water butt is full before you run a bath.

Now try running a business with the same model. You'll soon find yourself running back into the arms of corporate water suppliers.

The same is true of cloud computing. Public cloud providers have infrastructure that has high speed in its favour as well as high availability.

It's like replacing a nest of wires with an extension lead – simple, efficient and fast. If you're hosting a web store, you won't look back.

Cost-efficiency

In eCommerce, it all comes down to the bottom line.

Whether you're boxing up orders in your spare room or are an SME renting warehouse space, cloud computing can help you cut costs and be a lean, mean selling machine.

Those savings can then be funnelled back into branding, product development and all the other things you need to make your business sing.

Security

Finally, cloud computing provides high levels of security.

Security has always been important – but never more so now that most retailers handle large quantities of customer data.

If a hacker breaks in and steals your customers' details, you're not only letting them down – you're also in line for a slap on the wrist from GDPR.

Or let's say a hacker brings your website down with a DDoS attack. There's no two ways about it – it's a surefire way to lose both individual sales and return customers.

Looking for a cloud migration partner for your eCommerce business? Here at Ascend, we've helped hundreds of businesses get their workloads where they need to be. Get in touch today for a free, no-obligation consultation.