Ecommerce platforms: What to look for
Selecting an ecommerce platform is more complex than deciding what to have for lunch. You must assess your team’s abilities, the future growth of your business, the level of convenience for both front and backend usage, and, naturally, the expenses involved.
In order to choose the platform, it is important to first identify your priorities.
Is the platform interface intuitive? Do you need to invest a significant amount of time in learning how to use it?
Ideally, you would benefit from an ecommerce platform that can expand as your business grows. Does the solution you are considering support businesses of all sizes, from small to large enterprises?
Do you possess complete authority over the platform, or are you dependent on a provider? For instance, platforms such as SaaS ecommerce solutions undergo frequent updates similar to social media platforms, and you are required to adapt to these changes in order to sustain your operations.
Maintenance and security should be taken into consideration. Do you possess the technical aptitude to handle these tasks independently? Do you possess the necessary resources to employ someone for this purpose? Alternatively, would you prefer to have the platform’s team take care of maintenance and security for you?
Cost: Are the platform’s plans affordable for both short and long terms? For instance, SaaS solutions simplify managing an ecommerce store, but expenses may substantially increase as your store expands.
Can you handle software problems on your own, or would you require customer support from the platform?
Features and customizability: Does the platform provide the features you desire? If you decide to commit to that platform, will you be satisfied with its built-in features, or do you desire access to third-party tools? If the latter is the case, it is advisable to search for an ecommerce solution that is highly adaptable and open to integrations.
Open source ecommerce platforms
Open-source ecommerce solutions provide the opportunity to modify the platform according to your preferences by allowing access to the source code.
If you want to build your online shop, an open source platform offers flexibility, customizability, and scalability to realize your dream. You can use the source code for free, but additional costs may arise for ecommerce hosting and extensions, in addition to your other website costs.
Open source platforms give you the freedom to personalize your ecommerce shop, but they require you to handle tasks such as installation, management, security, hosting, maintenance, and updates. Therefore, open source platforms may demand more attention compared to SaaS platforms.
Because open source platforms have steep learning curves, it is common for companies to initially use SaaS solutions and then transition to open source once they surpass the capabilities of the SaaS platforms.
Open source ecommerce platforms are not only available to big companies with large teams of web developers, but also accessible for starting small and expanding gradually. Moreover, various open source ecommerce platforms provide managed hosting options to offer the benefits of both worlds.
Best open source ecommerce platforms for 2023
1. WooCommerce
WooCommerce, which powers over 5 million ecommerce websites including New Balance and Subaru, is a well-liked ecommerce plugin that provides ecommerce functionality to the WordPress content management system (CMS), including inventory management.
Among the top 1 million ecommerce websites, WooCommerce and Shopify are the most popular ecommerce platforms, with WooCommerce accounting for 29% of the market share and Shopify accounting for 21%.
WooCommerce, which is free to use but needs WordPress hosting, offers Kinsta’s specialized hosting features designed specifically for WooCommerce. Despite the usual need for technical skills in open source ecommerce platforms, learning and optimizing WooCommerce for speed is surprisingly simple.
The characteristics are:
- Flexible and customizable, like WordPress
- Wide selection of free and paid WooCommerce themes
- Huge library of extensions
- Built-in security features
- Multiple integrations supported
There is no charge for the service.
2. Adobe commerce (Formerly magento)
Adobe Commerce (previously known as Magento) is included in the Adobe Experience Cloud, functioning as an ecommerce software.
Adobe Commerce, an open source platform, is utilized by over 250,000 enterprise-scale online stores globally. These stores, which manage various products and experience high traffic, benefit from the platform’s strength, flexibility, scalability, and customizability. Notably, even HP (previously known as Hewlett-Packard) employs Adobe Commerce.
Adobe Commerce requires advanced technical skills because it is derived from Magento, a platform known for targeting developers.
The features are as follows:
- 24/7 customer support
- Multiple extensions via Magento marketplace
- API integrations
- Native SEO features
- Built-in analytics
The Magento Open Source pricing is free, while the pricing for Adobe is undisclosed and can be obtained upon request.
