Am I wasting my time building eCommerce website?

Question

I see a lot of companies such has ekmpowershop, volusion, eshops, prostores and so on that give customers power to build and customise their website (in detail). On the other hand I see companies such as RedTechnology (http://www.redtechnology.com/) that build eCommerce applications for customers. I had a look at How to decide between using an existing eCommerce solution and building your own? as well. Also you have big companies such as Amazon, NextPlc, that will never use the above service.

I would like to be self-employed in perhaps developing eCommerce applications, but I am a little reluctant as I see some comments "As with most Stack Exchange sites shopping recommendations are considered to be off topic as they become out of date so quickly". Also I am unsure of the amount of competition out there.

So would I be wasting my time building eCommerce application for customers? As I believe this will cost more from the customer's point of view and time constraint. In turn customers will be more favourable to the companies such as ekmpowershop, volusion, eshops and prostores?

Finally going back to ekmpowershop, volusion, eshops and prostores. How would one build those kind of applications? I am from .NET side.

Answer 1

If your proposed solution solves a real problem that your potential consumers have, then you certainly could try.

Personally though, you're likely a talented individual with the capability of building anything you want. The waters are rough in that market, with some big sharks already in it... do you really want to build yet another e-commerce "solution"?

In my completely biased opinion: Unless you plan to solve a real problem like I mentioned, then yes, you would be wasting your time.

Answer 2

For the same reason small retailers rent buildings for retail space. You should focus on the business part, not the technology part.

Answer 3

Yes, I think it would be a waste of time.

You are a one person shop. You wants to build a solution and hope someone comes, but there are several prebuilt solutions out there. I think you would be better off choosing one of the prebuilt systems and becoming a guru for getting that system up and running for others. For example: "I specialize in zen-cart installation, configuration and implementation."