The eCommerce market has changed over the years. Amazon and Alibaba stand on their own, with billions of revenue each year. There are thousands of small players as well, selling everything from baseball bats to television sets. B2C e-commerce sales were more than $1.2 trillion dollars in 2013 alone. The numbers are expected to rise, with eCommerce sites picking up in newer regions and countries like India, with the market expanding phenomenally. Amazon’s entrance into newer markets and the rising dominance of newer players portray a bright outlook for eCommerce business.

In turn, this seems to be the right time to jump on the eCommerce bandwagon. So, how do you want your eCommerce site to be? Most website owners looking at eCommerce want to explore the different development options available.

There has been an increasing focus on introducing a mobile-friendly version of your eCommerce website. The reason for this is simple – going mobile increases customer loyalty and allows you to reach out to customers even when they’re on the move. With more people owning smartphones and the number of users using traditional desktops paling in comparison, it’s but natural to woo in those mobile users. Statistics suggest that 75 percent of mobile subscribers now own smartphones in the US alone. By December, the figure is expected to touch the 80 percent mark. You can even develop a mobile app for your site that’s easy to connect and fast to close sales. The user interface can The question is, how do you go about your custom application development?

Using ASP.NET for developing eCommerce websites

Most website owners look at ASP.NET when developing their eCommerce site. The reasons are many. For one, ASP.NET  follows the standard.NET event-driven model that ensures that the application responds to user requests easily, regardless of whether they’re accessing it from smartphones or traditional desktops. The ability to be mobile friendly is just one of the advantages.

You can easily create ASP.NET pages for mobile device browsers. ASP.NET has a System.Web.Mobile namespace that aids in mobile web development. The namespace allows for customizations, including creating web pages, and applications that can run on smartphones.

The ASP.NET Web Server ensures that users can access the mobile web pages easily, no matter which device they’re accessing it from. The output rendered is specific to the mobile device of the user, enabling better viewing experience.

More importantly, you can create separate web pages for mobiles using ASP.NET. This is because your desktop pages will not offer ample space to be replicated in a mobile browser. The desktop layout might be impossible to follow in smartphones with the smaller screen sizes and thus requires a different format of web pages. Users do not need to click several controls to get to page content – you need to enhance the user experience. The specialized adapters in the .NET framework that is employed by ASP.NET ensure that developers can create mobile web applications to a wide range of mobile devices. Here is a look at some of the other factors that make web developers choose ASP.NET.

1. Performance

Minimized Javascript and CSS combined with the fact that there are fewer graphics ensure that performance is improved. System.Web.Mobile namespace made only for mobile applications allows.

2. Database Management

Database management is easy. Websites built with ASP.NET can allow different modifications like adding and deleting items from the cart and saving the user information in databases quickly.  ADO.NET, the technology that you use to connect to the relational database from ASP/NET code, allows you to communicate with other Database Management Sytems like Oracle database or SQL.

3. Security

Your mobile site cannot compromise on security. Ensure protection of customer information. Product catalogs are maintained easily and offer a safer environment. 120-bit encryption algorithm offers added security. Users can be required to sign on with added credentials that include usernames and password for added security of user accounts. Creating login pages and managing authentications in applications is easy too.

4. Simple Mobile Website

Don’t rely on a static mobile site that can’t pay you in the long run. Make your site a dynamic one- ensure there is a good user experience with less loading times. Keep the mobile pages less media heavy because the mobile data connection may not offer a high data transmission rate, and nobody likes to access pages that require a while to load.

5. Easy Integrations

A common problem for web developers is to enable integrations in the eCommerce site. Designing an eCommerce site requires the availability of many integrations – from integrating the site with social media plugins to directories to other plugins. ASP.NET allows you to integrate even with other CMS systems, offering you complete flexibility when it comes to designing web pages and maintenance. The idea is to build a world-class website well complemented by mobile apps that work in tandem with the growing requirement of the customers. eCommerce has changed and so has ASP.NET, enabling developers to build simple mobile websites that work like a charm.