Ecommerce website templates sound great, but one part of your company that gets diminished with a template is the brand.
That’s what Nexternal Ecommerce is trying to avoid.
After speaking with the folks at Nexternal Ecommerce and testing out the platform myself, a few things are clear: The company is focused on making sure that its client websites are true representations of their brands.
Therefore, they avoid templates that you would generally find with platforms like Shopify and Bigcommerce. It’s a completely separate module from your website builder, so the brand of your website remains the same, and you have the flexibility to construct new designs around the shopping experience provided by Nexternal Ecommerce.
Let me be clear when I say that this is not your typical off the shelf ecommerce solution. It’s for established companies that want to expand past the cookie cutter templates of most starter online store builders.
It’s an intriguing idea to completely get rid of the templates, since we’re prone to expecting that. So, keep reading this Nexternal Ecommerce review to understand what features stand out and if it’s the right choice for you.
Nexternal Ecommerce Features
Marketing Bliss
One part of the Nexternal Ecommerce platform I noticed was the onslaught of marketing tools. From SEO to social integration, I like the fact that you don’t need to constantly go out to find an extra plugin to make your site more functional.
In addition, a full email marketing platform is provided for sending out post-sale promotions, along with newsletters for keeping content fresh for your customers.
Tons of Integrations
Yes, plenty of tools are packaged into the Nexternal Ecommerce system. That’s one of the main reasons I like it so much. That said, some areas of an online store require you to reach out to other tools and services.
Therefore, Nexternal Ecommerce has partnered up with various companies to make integrations that aren’t all that difficult to set up. For example, shipping carriers, popular payment gateways, Amazon, Salesforce and MailChimp all combine rather well with Nexternal.
In addition, Nexternal is part of the Highjump company, so it'll integrate into any backend accounting software you can think of by using the TrueCommerce system. The beauty of HighJump Engage is that it takes all of its settings from the Nexternal system so a merchant simply “turns it on”. There is basically zero configuration needed.
Unique (And Often Unheard Of) Product Page Features
The most impressive part of Nexternal comes about when you land on a product page. For example, social media sharing incentives are possible if you’d like to give out discounts when users share the page on Facebook.
You’ll also find that Nexternal has an incredible B2B system, with large quantity selections for customers to quickly scroll through and select based on the pricing.
If you like the idea of how users can sign up for subscriptions on Amazon, you’ll love Nexternal. The platform allows for automated customer reordering, boosting recurring payments and making things easier for the customer.
Along with preferred delivery dates, coupons, gift certificates and discounts for VIP customers (like if you had a wine club or a loyal B2B customer,) the product pages from Nexternal fail to disappoint around every corner.
The Netflix Effect
Netflix has a feature where you start watching a show on a tablet or phone, then you can move to another room or device and start again from the same point. Nexternal uses this technique except for your customers.
Let’s say Roger adds a golf towel and two packs of Pro V1 golf balls to his cart. The only problem is that he’s buying at his office and he needs to head home soon. All he has to do is go home, login to his account and all of those items are still sitting in his shopping cart.
Beautiful App, Dashboard and Stats
Nexternal delivers the ability to view stats, reports and other information on your computer dashboard or through an app. The app is available for download on the regular app stores, and regardless of the device you're on you can see sales reports broken down by state for understanding why you may not be selling in some areas.
Amazon orders are shown, along with phone orders and batch orders. Each of these different orders are displayed right on your dashboard to consolidate them into one fluid interface.
Useful Customer Details
For those webmasters who would like to offer exceptional customer service, Nexternal has some interesting solutions for you.
First of all, customer details are stored in profiles so that you can upsell people on the optional point of sale. If a customer likes purchasing one item all of the time it will suggest these items, or complementary items, to the person at the POS.
You can also take notes for all customers, similar to a customer relationship management tool. So if you need to call a customer next Monday or remind yourself about what you talked about last time, you should have no problem doing so.
Nexternal Ecommerce Pricing
A 15-day free trial (without the need to punch in a credit card) is given to you from Nexternal. You can’t go wrong with this, considering it gives you a chance to play around with the tools and understand if it’s worthwhile for your company.
As for the pricing, you have to contact the company in order to get a list of the options. It seems as if some of the pricing will change a bit depending on your situation, but sending in a quick email to Nexternal will give you the results you need.
Keep in mind that for all plans you don’t have to pay for bandwidth charges and the unlimited customer support comes in handy. The pricing is always going to be the same regardless of the number of products you have, while you also gain access to unlimited staff logins.
Along with load balanced security, ongoing software enhancements and no storage costs, the extra benefits seem pretty solid.
Nexternal Ecommerce Support
As stated in the pricing section, unlimited support comes along with all of the plans.
What does this entail?
Nexternal is active on several social media sites, so if you have a question or would simply like to check out some of the updates from the company, Facebook and Twitter are good choices.
The Nexternal blog delivers articles for growing your business and understanding topics like shipping, email marketing and holding photo contests. They have a plethora of quality posts that are bound to help you out at some point.
Finally, you have access to an app marketplace, platform knowledge database for completing your own research and numerous ecommerce marketing guides. Not to mention you can call the support line, email them or start a live chat, showing that Nexternal covers just about every support medium you can think of.
With Nexternal, all clients have a dedicated account executive that they work with so they get to talk with the same person ever time they have questions or need help.
Who Should Be Using Nexternal Ecommerce?
We recommend Nexternal to established brands that need a next generation platform. If you’re trying to move from a startup system this is an impressive choice with tools you can’t find anywhere else. You’ll have the chance to keep around your branding, while also establishing a beautiful, and powerful, ecommerce website along the way.
If you have any questions about this Nexternal Ecommerce review, feel free to drop a line in the comments below.
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