Review: Izzonet, a feature-rich e-commerce platform

[This is a sponsored review for Izzonet]

There are a lot of options out there for building an online store if you don’t want to self-host or start from scratch, Shopify; BigCommerce; Volusion; and IzzoNet.

It’s important to carefully consider your options for ecommerce software before making a decision. IzzoNet has an extensive feature list and full flexibility means you can adapt it to fit your needs, rather than the other way around.

Free, professional templates help get you started right away. Not satisfied with an out-of-the-box template? The built-in website builder has a drag and drop interface to let you easily move around the huge number of custom widgets to get your website laid out exactly as you want it. You can add as many widgets to your site as you need to in order to get the functionality and layout you want.

Features

If you want to customize the design of your store, you can use the CSS generator. You can change your store’s background, colors, buttons, and more, without needing to know how to code. If you are comfortable coding, rest assured that you have full access to the HTML code for your site.

Combined with the rest of the design tools, this means your custom e-commerce site will be up and running in no time, without looking exactly like a dozen other stores in your niche.

IzzoNet takes e-commerce management a step further. In additional to standard shopping cart features, it includes web-based supplier relationship management (SRM) software that lets you easily communicate with your suppliers. You can view and manage your balances and invoices, track orders, and more. This is an invaluable tool if your online store uses dropshippers for order fulfillment.

Not sure which supplier is the best one to use? Check out the IzzoNet supplier analysis system to figure out which supplier can best meet your needs, based on cost, communication, and product quality.

You can use the IzzoNet platform to become a dropshipper, too. Sell your products to other stores and manage everything from the exact same control panel.

If you’ve run an e-commerce store for long, you may have run into issues with fraud or chargebacks. IzzoNet gives you tools for managing the security of your site. You can choose specific settings for each payment provider or blacklist problem customers so you won’t have to deal with them again, among other anti-fraud measures.

Most online e-commerce platforms restrict you with the number of products or bandwidth you can use. In fact, most of them start you out with only 100 products on their most basic plans. IzzoNet doesn’t do that. Regardless of what plan you’re using, you’ll get unlimited products and unlimited bandwidth.

While you’re getting your store set up and focusing on marketing, management, and improving conversion, IzzoNet has a dedicated support team to help you out. They offer video tutorials, guides, and 24/7/365 live chat, email, and phone support.

If you have a large staff managing your online store, you’ll need to be able to manage permissions for your staff members. Give them access to exactly what they need and nothing more.

Even more features

As already mentioned, IzzoNet has a ton of great features. Here’s a sampling of the other things they offer:

• Online product reviews
• Brand management
• Manage multiple online stores from a single interface
• Duplication of an existing store to speed up new store setup (coming soon)
• An expanded category display — just hover to see sub-categories
• QuickBooks accounting integration
• Webmail services
• Secure ecommerce hosting
• Unlimited content pages
• A built-in task manager
• Multiple product categories
• Easy backup system to backup all of your products, templates, orders, and more
• Quick data import for faster store setup
• Unlimited product fields
• Order management
• Dynamic menus
• Wholesale and bulk sales support
• Professional reports
• A built-in CRM
• Social media sharing tools
• Facebook store integration and LinkedIn integration
• Tools for selling on MySpace, Twitter, and Craigslist
• Mobile apps for your online store and store management
• Webcam social shopper
• Digital product sales
• Product comparison tools
• Payment provider and shipping company integration
• Gift wrapping options
• Currency options
• Serial numbers for digital products
• Coupon distribution and management
• SMS marketing
• eBay store integration
• Support for 15 price comparison sites, including Amazon, Yahoo! and Google
• Live chat with your customers
• Barcode creator
• Landing page generator

More advanced management and reporting tools

IzzoNet has built-in management tools including:

• SEO analytics review
• Affiliate management tools
• Online reputation management tools
• Automated e-mail management
• Press release submission
• Online survey tools
• Affiliate network partnership tools
• Newsletter creation and management
• Analytics integration
• PPC management

An easy to use dashboard

The IzzoNet dashboard is well designed and easy to use, with clearly labeled sections. There are a ton of options there, but it’s organized in a way that makes it easy to find what you’re looking for. You shouldn’t run into any issues using the dashboard, which is vital for running an efficient e-commerce site.

Conclusion

IzzoNet is among the leading e-commerce platforms out there, with some compelling features that beat out the competition. The best thing is that you can try out IzzoNet for 15 days for free, with no credit card required. When you’re ready to buy, they have plans starting at less than $20 per month and ranging all the way up to $300 per month.

[Disclaimer: This post is a sponsored review, the opinions expressed in the article are the author’s only.]

Cameron Chapman

Cameron Chapman is a freelance writer and designer from New England. You can visit her site or follow her on Twitter.