Disadvantages of Ecommerce Hosting

Whenever you select a hosting package that is geared towards a specific industry, there are going to be downsides that may not appeal to many consumers. Ecommerce hosting is geared towards online merchants and while there are many features that are necessary to running an online store included with these hosting packages, there are also a lack of other features that may be necessary for other kinds of websites.

If you are not planning on running an online store with your website, an ecommerce hosting package will most likely not be a good fit. Unless you need a shopping cart, or a secure certificate, you might be overbuying a hosting package if you select an ecommerce solution without intending to run an online store.

Ecommerce hosting packages typically cost more than average hosting plans. This is because there are normally full featured shopping carts included with these plans and they are quite expensive. When you pay for an ecommerce hosting plan, you are really paying not only for space, but for these extra features. If cost is something you are concerned about, this is certainly something that will need to be factored into your decision.

Since ecommerce plans include a lot of features for selling online, they are typically not as feature rich in other areas, such as disk space, bandwidth allotments and extra email accounts. Many basic hosting plans offer unlimited email accounts, large amounts of disk space and higher bandwidth limits.

Most ecommerce plans limit the amount of email addresses you can have, which may not appeal to a large company that needs several different email addresses. You might actually be better of purchasing a basic hosting plan that offers an unlimited amount of email addresses and purchasing a shopping cart solution in addition to your hosting plan.

Databases are another area of contention. This is an area of hosting that can limit you severely, depending on the type of database you are using to store your data. If you use Access, you will need to find a Windows ecommerce hosting solution, while if your data is store in an SQL database, a Unix host would be more functional for you. Before purchasing space on any server, basic or ecommerce, you will need to make sure that this important criteria is met, otherwise you may end up with a hosting contract that does not meet your needs, leaving you to pay extra for a solution that will.

Basically, ecommerce hosting plans are for businesses that need ecommerce solutions. While the ability to have a shopping cart and other selling features may appeal to webmasters seeking extra functionality, it is important to look at this practically. There is no point in paying extra for features you may not use, and there are many free shopping carts that you can install on any site.