Ecommerce platforms

[-Chris-]

Which ecommerce platform do you use . . . . . . . and why?

What would you say are the pros and cons of what you have chosen?

 

[fisicx]

I use woo for no other reason than it’s the one I’m used to. But it’s a plugin for Wordpress rather than an actual platform.

Pros are it’s really easy to use with loads of support and a huge range of extensions. It’s also free.

Cons are is can affect performance and it’s not a proper e-commerce platform.

The right platform is the most suitable for the project. There is no best.

 

[Beautinow]

I also think there's no 'best platform', but in do think in practice you only have two options:

1. Shopify
2. Woocommerce (by Wordpress)

There used to be Magento, but it's dying. And there might be some country based solutions, but it's I believe hard for any of them to be better than the two above, simply because not all third party services will easily be able to connect with those.

 

[-Chris-]

Thanks for the input, always appreciated.

I have checked out a few Shopify and Woo checkouts and they always seem to load slowly? Any feedback on that at all ?

 

[makeusvisible]

Thanks for the input, always appreciated.

I have checked out a few Shopify and Woo checkouts and they always seem to load slowly? Any feedback on that at all ?

As an agency, we have two platforms we manage in the main, one of which is WooCommerce.

As you know Woo is a bolt-on to Wordpress. It is comprehensive and suitable for most ecom stores. On last count I believe it can handle upwards of 100k SKUs. the beauty of its popularity, is the developer base, which is constantly releasing plugins. Its extremely well supported by third-party systems; from everything like Mailchimp for email marketing to Stripe as a payment gateway. Most things work with Woo.

If your see a Woo site running slowly, in all likelihood, that is down to the Wordpress setup/configuration rather than Wordpress or Woo.

Remember that Wordpress with Woo is just a CMS (Content management system). It converts data into HTML files delivered to the user's web browser. If you stick a PNG file that's 2.5mb into the CMS, instead of a 250k JPG, then that resulting page will likely take 10 times longer to load than it should. If the person developing the site uses 25 plugin which are poorly coded, your going to experience loading issues.

Is wordpress/woo slow - no

Are there slow Wordpress/woo sites - yes, absolutely, because its the most popular CMS on the planet, and some of the people building websites have no business doing so.

If your concerned about speed, find a chosen and trusted developer/agency, and let them work with their preferred CMS.

 

[fisicx]

Thanks for the input, always appreciated.

I have checked out a few Shopify and Woo checkouts and they always seem to load slowly? Any feedback on that at all ?

Shopify is slow. No getting round this.

A woo site is slow because of how it’s configured, the chosen theme and often the multitude of plugins people add. A properly set up site on decent hosting can be blisteringly fast.

 

[Paul Norman]

We built our own, in around 2008.

We sold it, with some success for a few years, and it is still in use in a couple of places.

Personally, I loved it. I loved the reporting, and the back office funtionality that meant I could run the store totally from it.

We are no longer in that space with the technology company, however. However, if I wanted to fire up the online stores to their previous glory I would dust it off and get the team to upgrade it.

 

[paulyh]

I also think there's no 'best platform', but in do think in practice you only have two options:

1. Shopify
2. Woocommerce (by Wordpress)

There used to be Magento, but it's dying. And there might be some country based solutions, but it's I believe hard for any of them to be better than the two above, simply because not all third party services will easily be able to connect with those.

I'd disagree on that one, there are quite a few different options out there, these are just the main two that everyone talks about.

 

[Russ Michaels]

I have used most of the ones mentioned already, and most people who use WordPress will use Woocommerce as standard.
Woocommerce is fine but overly complex for a lot of people and can be unwieldy, it also gets expensive very quickly when you need to start using 3rd party plugins to add additional functionality.
Plus the ongoing management/maintenance can be a PITA if you are not technical or cannot afford to pay someone else to do it for you.

I actually prefer ECWID, even with WordPress, as it is super easy for my clients to use and manage, and because it is a standalone cart, it can be integrated into any Website, so doesn't lock you into WordPress or any CMS system. You can easily change at any point, or just run the standalone shop if thats all you need.

You can also easily sell your products on social media with ECWID as well, which is handy.
Another solution I have been using lately for clients who just want a very basic website/shop is kopage.uk

 

[antropy]

Which ecommerce platform do you use . . . . . . . and why?

Many years ago when we started getting more and more requests for ecommerce websites, I did a thorough review of the most popular open source platforms and OpenCart and Prestashop came out on top in terms of code quality, features, and speed.

Out of those two, we prefer OpenCart as it's simpler to work with.

Paul.

 

[Russ Michaels]

Many years ago when we started getting more and more requests for ecommerce websites, I did a thorough review of the most popular open source platforms and OpenCart and Prestashop came out on top in terms of code quality, features, and speed.

Out of those two, we prefer OpenCart as it's simpler to work with.

Paul.

I have tried both of those, years ago mind, and opencart seemed to be geared more towards web developers like yourself looking to provide bespoke solutions, rather than computer illiterate end users.

 

[antropy]

I have tried both of those, years ago mind, and opencart seemed to be geared more towards web developers like yourself looking to provide bespoke solutions, rather than computer illiterate end users.

Then as a skilled web developer you would have found it perfect

Paul.

 

[japancool]

We use BigCommerce - because it had all the features we needed, at a price we which we felt was appropriate.

 

[Russ Michaels]

Then as a skilled web developer you would have found it perfect

Paul.

I have not been a developer for over 10 years now. I never learnt PHP.

 

[Beautinow]

I'd disagree on that one, there are quite a few different options out there, these are just the main two that everyone talks about.

So what other platforms are alternatives? I honestly don't see many that are that future proof. You've to also look at where the talent is going. In the past Magento was great, but today I see developers stop developing new extensions and updating old ones. Instead, I see they start providing Shopify related plugins and services. When you choose a platform, you've to be sure that you can rely on it for the next ten years. Maybe Big commerce, and some more local/national options, but there aren't that many big alternatives.

 

[DontAsk]

opencart seemed to be geared more towards web developers

I am no web developer but I do have programming experience so can pick up the basics of most languages.

I have had to make a few tweaks to the OC source, most recently this month when my host upgraded to PHP 7.4 which broke some old style syntax in some of the payment methods.

I also coded my own filter for undesireable customer registrations.

Upgrading to the latest version may have helped but I'm still on OC 3.0.2

They've all been relatively easy fixes with a bit of googling to understand the error message, and seraching/asking questions on the OC forum. Some of the responders on the forum can be a bit arrogant. Antropy's posts there have always been helpful.

Having a couple of years experience I would recommend OC.

 

[paulyh]

So what other platforms are alternatives? I honestly don't see many that are that future proof. You've to also look at where the talent is going. In the past Magento was great, but today I see developers stop developing new extensions and updating old ones. Instead, I see they start providing Shopify related plugins and services. When you choose a platform, you've to be sure that you can rely on it for the next ten years. Maybe Big commerce, and some more local/national options, but there aren't that many big alternatives.

Bigcommerce, Ecwid, ShopWired to name a couple, who have all been around for a decade+ and are evolving to match the modern environment, just like Shopify. There are quite a few options out there, you just have to look beyond the obvious and it also depends on what you need from an ecommerce platform.
There are also new platforms being launched that have been in development for a couple of years that could quite easily be players in years to come.
You can't really tell what will be around in 10 years and you kind of pointed that out for yourself as Magento was a big player who is now becoming an afterthought. I think looking at a shorter 3-5 years span is more realistic due to technology constantly evolving.

 

[ValenDigital]

As others have suggested WordPress/Woocommerce is a good setup for an online store that's not got a huge inventory.


Its free to install WP and WOO and the related plugins which often free ones will be more than adequate.


The cost comes when you need additional features and a more professional looking theme. Even then its the cost of a theme (less than £100) and premium plugins (each less than £60 one off).


Glueing it all together requires time OR the skills of someone who's experienced in it and will often be the most costly expense but highly worth it. We have rolled out a few woo sites and with the right setup it definitely performs and by no means is it sluggish. That's usually down to a poor theme, plugin usage and/or web host.


For what you get with a couple of K spent its well worth it.


Those that have a bigger inventory should look at Magento. Its a brilliant platform. Again there is an open source (free version) which has all the basics any site needs. Plenty of themes and absolutely loads of plugins to bridge any gaps in functionality.


Of course a few downsides. Its a huge learning curve. You need the right server setup especially since latest versions need elastic search for it to work correctly and someone experienced enough to deploy everything in the correct way.


You don't need to spend stupid amounts of money either. All you would be doing is paying someone (if needed) for there skills and time to put everything together so it all works!


We have done lots of Woo sites and Magento sites. Magento has to be our favourite. Mainly because your not having to update the core or plugins every other minute as with wp/woo (but its not that much of a pain TBH).


Platforms we have dabbled with are Shopify (not customisable) BigCommerce (when it was a script and not SAAS) and Opencart, which is actually pretty good but not as many plugins for it yet to be a serious contender imho.

 

[14Steve14]

Which ecommerce platform do you use . . . . . . . and why?

When I started my online business over 12 years ago now I used OSCommerce. It did what I wanted and worked. Later development stopped and the community started coding it as the originator gave up, and it went through a few changes and now it is CE Phoenix. A total stand alone ecommerce platform. Why do I still use it, because it still does what I want it to. It is being constantly developed and it is getting better.

It may not be the most popular but I like the way it is going and after 12 years its good to know that it still does what it is supposed to. It could do with a few other developers getting interested in it. It is cheap as its open source and as its getting even more modular it is easy to add new packages.

 

[makeusvisible]

When I started my online business over 12 years ago now I used OSCommerce.

OSCommerce...there's a blast from the past. The first ever website I build as a start-up was OScommerce based. Dev wise it was a fairly solid framework to work on, and once built was robust, and quick. It was sadly left behind by the size and developer base of other platforms like Magento and WooCommerce, which was a shame. There's always going to be a VHS/Betamax scenario in the world of CMSs and Ecom platforms....the best-built system won't always prevail.

 

[justine sugden]

I am considering trying Shopwired, I have had a few people recommend it to me as an alternative to Shopify.

 

[Marbman]

Without a doubt if you are on WordPress then you will probably want to look at WooCommerce although Im no big fan of it and I always try to steer new clients away unless they are already using it.

Yes Woo is free but you will most likely end up paying for an extension to really make it work how you want.

Your choice will really depend on exactly what you want your store to do aside from just selling of course.

Currently my preference for WordPress is the WPEasyCart plugin using one of the paid packages.

 

[webjaved]

We at work use Woocommerce heavily alongside Shopify for e-commerce stores. The odd Magento 2 enquiry comes through.

Woocommerce isn't slow if used correctly. Don't just install it and then install every free woo plugin you can find, keep plugins to a minimum where possible, and make sure the theme you are using isn't bloated, make sure images are optimised and you have decent hosting. We use Cloudways and it's brilliant. We custom code where we can so we know what's going into the theme.

As for Shopify, I don't think you have the same flexibility that Woocommerce allows you but it's a decent platform.

 

[Russ Michaels]

FYI, if you decide to use Woocommerce, one trick that I have used to improve performance and also to reduce the load/risk on the main website is to keep them separate,
So you can setup a separate WP install on a subdomain, e.g. shop.yourdoamin, just for Woocommerce.

This means that the shop only needs a theme, Woo and related plugins.
And the main site won;t need any of those.

It also reduces the risk of compatibility issues breaking the site/shop.

 

[Peak District SEO]

We recommend Woo commerce on WordPress. It's easy to set up and manage. Make sure you have some form of support package with your developer or host though.

Magento is overpriced, Shopify and some other packages are a walled garden ecosystem where devs and SEOs cannot edit site files to ensure optimal performance.

 

[PromoSavvy]

We use at PromoSavvy mainly Woocommerce and we also recommend it to all our clients for the following reasons:
- It is free of charge unless you want to use some advanced features and add complex products and services to your website, then you might need to buy some extentions and pay for some features
- A lot of plugins and extentions that are free of charge which are compatible with woocommerce
- Secure and reliable when it comes to online payment methods integrations

On the other hand, anything can have cons and the only con of woocommerce is that it can be a bit complicated for beginners to use and some things require you to modify the source code in your function.php file (recommended to use child theme for modifications) which can be a bit overwhelming for people who do not know anything about coding.

 

[Taelor]

Woocommerce suits a lot of small / medium businesses but at some point moving towards a proprietary ecommerce solution is the right choice.

 

[dx3webs]

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[dx3webs]

OSCommerce...there's a blast from the past. The first ever website I build as a start-up was OScommerce based. Dev wise it was a fairly solid framework to work on, and once built was robust, and quick. It was sadly left behind by the size and developer base of other platforms like Magento and WooCommerce, which was a shame. There's always going to be a VHS/Betamax scenario in the world of CMSs and Ecom platforms....the best-built system won't always prevail.

We started out with OScommerce.. I can still remember the relief when we switched to Magento.

 

[dx3webs]

I also think there's no 'best platform', but in do think in practice you only have two options:

1. Shopify
2. Woocommerce (by Wordpress)

There used to be Magento, but it's dying. And there might be some country based solutions, but it's I believe hard for any of them to be better than the two above, simply because not all third party services will easily be able to connect with those.

As the saying goes.. Rumours of death are greatly exaggerated

• Magento stores increased 5.5% quarter-over-quarter in 2022 Q3.
• Magento stores increased 14% year-over-year in 2022 Q3.
  

 

[fantheflames]

If you don't have much experience with websites or e-commerce, I'd suggest Shopify would be the best option for you.

Shopify is a good choice because it has an easy-to-use interface and provides you with a lot like built-in payment processing and fairly effective marketing tools.

Although, WooCommerce is the option I would recommend as it gives you more or less everything you need for an e-commerce site and it's free - unless you upgrade!

It's more flexible than Shopify in my experience, and works wonders with WordPress.

Good luck.

 

[Moeezba]

Which ecommerce platform do you use . . . . . . . and why?

What would you say are the pros and cons of what you have chosen?

I use WooCommerce simply because of the freedom it gives me to customize my online store. Couple that with a good hosting such as Cloudways and you have a powerful platform that allows you to add thousands of products and manage them easily.

The only Con of WooCommerce is that it gets technical as you move into advance customization. I usually need a developer because I don't use plugins for every functionality.

 

[danishnaseer]

Which ecommerce platform do you use . . . . . . . and why?

What would you say are the pros and cons of what you have chosen?

WooCommerce and Shopify are both designed for the ecommerce industry. According to the Builwith survey trend, WooCommerce is considered to be one of the most popular ecommerce platforms. WooCommerce contains 28% of the websites using ecommerce technologies while Shopify contains 20%.

According to the CMS market share analysis, WordPress has the largest share in the CMS market. We know that WooCommerce is the most used plugin for the ecommerce industry, along with WordPress.

Pros​

• Using WooCommerce means that you’ve access to a close-knit community. You can take leverage to learn the platform and discuss your issues with the experts.
• WooCommerce is a free and open-source platform for ecommerce websites.
• The platform is completely customizable by accessing source code.
• As a WordPress-oriented platform, WooCommerce offers great flexibility with its theme designs, layouts, and store management.

Cons​

• WooCommerce does not have a dedicated customer support team. You can access communities for the issues you are facing.
• WooCommerce does not provide everything out of the box, for certain features you will have to install additional plugins.
• Some additional plugins are very expensive but still necessary.
• Sometimes it slows down the site when loading information.

 

[fisicx]

That wasn't in their post.

it got deleted.

 

[Nicola78]

I am using Shopify, but if your website on WordPress then use Woo commerce.

 

[Silas C]

Hey everyone, I'm new here so realise I'm a bit late to the party but found this thread really interesting! There are some B2B specific platforms around these days which are gaining popularity - obviously they're not as established as the likes of Magento and WooCommerce, but they are much more suited to the B2B use case - for example they support multi-site customers, customer-specific pricing, credit limits etc out of the box and they usually integrate well with ERPs and accounting systems, which is a massive plus!
WooCommerce and Magento still dominate the space, but these niche players are definitely worth looking at!