As web programming language and applications become more efficient in incorporating backend databases and shopping carts with maximum web site functionality, the growth of ecommerce has been exponential. But, web site performance has always depended on web hosting quality and when the needs of a site surpass the limits of a hosting plan or provider, ecommerce can suffer.
A website reliant on online transactions must have the full hardware and software capacity of dedicated hosting in order to maximize revenue and future growth. While some ecommerce sites may begin with shared hosting, or even VPS, the truly large online stores must invest in their own servers and dedicated hosting. Smaller sites that see enough growth also come to realize they need to bump up to dedicated hosting.
With dedicated servers an ecommerce site has full control over the traffic, bandwidth, disk space, databasing, and applications of its online presence. Advanced shopping cart platforms can be directly managed and hardware can be customized as needed. User/customer experience is central to an ecommerce site and just as with a brick-and-mortar company, this aspect of customer service is vital to the success of the company. A bad website experience can cause an ecommerce site to fail. Slow response times and failed transactions are things that can be avoided with dedicated hosting.
Above all, security is vital to ecommerce sites. Shared or VPS hosting scenarios just do not provide the level of security needed for the volume of transactions an ecommerce site generates. Shared hosting offers limited or no security for site information and transactions; and VPS hosting does allow for security management but it can still be compromised with high volume and other server functions that may cause poor performance. If a company is serious about their ecommerce revenue and truly wants room to grow, investment in dedicated hosting is necessary for security and traffic management. With dedicated hosting, the nuances of managing software security become easier, with port and connection customization now possible since the company owns the server.
The price tag for dedicated servers is not to be taken lightly. If company revenue has plateaued, the potential for increased revenue from increased online performance can be the tipping factor in going for dedicated hosting. The initially high investment cost for dedicated hosting drops over time as revenue increases in the future. If an ecommerce site generates enough revenue, the expense becomes lower as revenue grows and the operating budget becomes greater. With higher website performance and increases in customer satisfaction, dedicated hosting is an investment that will bring high returns over time.