Choosing an ecommerce solution

If you are a one man band then you can pick and choose any platform you like as it will be yourself that will have to learn how it all works. This can be fairly quick or quite tedious depending on the complexity of the solution. I see most "developers" now opting for woo-commerce as they are used to how Wordpress works. This can work fine until you come up against competition for your product keywords and find you are down on the search listings.

When products are competitive you need a code light solution so pages work faster and more visible to search engines. The cost of an easy to put together solution can be soon outweighed by the ability to market the products.

 

I am coming to this late but

 

On the other hand I e-mailed shopwired saying I was thinking of switching and asking a few questions. I received zero response. So much for the supposed good support...

Unless you are already experience in php, html, ajax, mysql, etc.,... the source code from an "open source" solution will be opaque gobbledygook, and you will end up paying for someone to do any but the simplest modifications for you.

Whichever system you choose, make sure you, or the provider, have a solution for the registration spam that you will suffer from.

 

It also depend on pricing and payments, online support and security.

 

I'm a big Opencart fan. I find it easy to set up, easy to use, easy to develop and customize and very affordable for things like extensions and themes.

 

Agree with William04 - Pre build CMS are best option easy and quick to customize

 

Choosing E-commerce platforms or way to customise your website depends on your needs. If you have a few products and sub categories then Pre build CMS are best option easy and quick to customize. If you have a lot and require regular updates, then a bespoke option is better. A bespoke option is better for SEO because Google prefers it. It prefers website pages that have less code and more visible content. A pre-built template will restrict you, but it could be a better option if you only have a few products to sell.

 

Practical advise : I get exposed to many of these questions when talking to different customers and have seen this question come up multiple times during discussions. With what I have seen a successful model (implemented by few) is -

• go with a hosted solution on day 1, for e.g. Shopify or something like that, quick to rollout / launch
• as the business grows, go with a bit more sophisticated solution which can integrate with shipping systems e.g. woocommerce / zoho commerce
• if it grows further then go with a full fledged "custom" solution which meets the business needs e..g Magento

even though this looks like throwing away previous investments with each new step, there are many practical advantages like -

• you only invest in what you need
• you revisit your real business requirements / model - there by optimizing the business everytime and stop focussing on unwanted items
• you are aware of how much inventory you are carrying .... (yes many people get lost in the huge database on what they have with them)

 

Having just migrated from Opencart to Prestashop around September last year...it's not a process I would want to do that often, so I'm now firmly in the camp of "establish what you need, research....roll with it, and hope you never have to migrate away!" ...the notion of migrating every couple of years makes me want to curl up in a corner in the foetal position.

FWIW I did my research & Prestashop was on the up & up, good support community, running costs are low...I'm happy with my choice

 

Switching platforms is usually tough, no matter what platform you are going from and to. Alex

 

Agree this is complex, but immaterial of what anyone says, businesses end up doing this anyways - if - the business grows. So, why not plan for this upfront

 

Yes we like Prestashop too, it was up there with OpenCart when we reviewed them all. Paul.

 

Mindful of the fact that this sticky thread was created some time ago now so probably doesn't contain completely up-to-date and accurate information (though some of it still relevant as is quite generic), I remembered that last year, I published a beginner's guide to starting up an ecommerce store which lists what options are available currently in the market and weighed up the pros and cons. It's also going to be a guide that I regularly revisit, keep up to date and maintain as things change as well. You can check it out at the below link. Thought it might be useful to anyone that visits this sticky thread on here...

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ecommerce-solutions-options-2019-geoff-jackson/

 

You have discussed everything all about Ecommerce Solution. In my last thread on this forum, I have asked people regarding OpenCart. Since everyone give me positive response and suggested me to go with Opencart, since its has no limitation to add multiple products in a day.

 

Thanks for the great article. I personally prefer to have control over my website and store, hosting solution works the best for me as I can edit my website as much as I can while it's being hosted by a company.

 

We're just switching from Shopify Advanced to Shopify Plus - yes it's expensive but we're at the stage now where we need to take that step.

Overall Shopify has been very good and easy to use in our experience.

 

Yes, WordPress is the best source for creating a website, Easily manageable.

 

The OP asked for an Ecommerce Platform, Wordpress most definitely does not tick this box! Alex

 

As per the E-Commerce WordPress Also best for E-Commerce Store. Along with WooCommerce Plugin we able to setup the E-Commerce store on WordPress.