E-commerce Website Development : Getting your first website up and running is straightforward. Select a reasonably template for under $100 and slap it on one among the leading open source platforms and you’re open for business. But how does one expand into the planet of selling online? That’s where things start to urge a touch trickier.
To help you opt amongst the varying platforms, We’ve dwindled it right down to three credible and powerful self-hosted options: WordPress, Drupal and Magento. These big-hitters all have plus points and drawbacks – your final judgment depends on the precise needs of your business.
To make things that tiny bit simpler, we’ve laid it all out for you with a no-holds-barred review of every platform for E-commerce Website Development.
WordPress
Estimates for the share of total sites that use WordPress is around 20%. Regardless of which way you narrow it, it’s fair to mention that this platform is that the hottest content management system out there. But does it pile up against other eCommerce platforms?
First of all, like most WordPress plugins, there’s no single solution. You’ve got a good array of various eCommerce options to settle on from, all varying in quality and price. a number of the large names include Woocommerce, cart66, and WP e-commerce.
The clear advantage that WordPress holds is its sheer simplicity and therefore the incontrovertible fact that it’s so user-friendly. Its interface is intuitive while powerful at an equivalent time. Even technophobes tend to seek out it easy to urge started.
Saying that, WordPress can sometimes feel a touch restrictive. This is often very true for developers that are wont to holding the reins when developing an eCommerce project from the bottom up. Plugins are easy to connect to your site, but perhaps almost so simple to tweak to your needs.
Drupal Commerce
Web geeks were excited by the prospect of Drupal Commerce the minute it had been announced – and there’s no reason to doubt that excitement so far. Its release in 2011 gave Drupal a much-needed injection of quality within the commerce space, giving users a formidable open-source alternative to paid options.
Using the superb Drupal CMS framework for E-commerce Website Development, Commerce piggybacks onto the system as an add-on module. It’s much more advanced than its weaker Drupal predecessor and counterpart Ubercart. It’s flexible, uses the strength of other modules like Views, and is overall far more adaptable.
The advantage of Drupal Commerce for E-commerce Website Development is that you simply can do just about anything. If you’re a ‘tweaker’, it’s easy to urge your platform just the way you would like it without always having to delve into the code. For more advanced users, writing complementary modules may be a snap.
Of course, this flexibility also means it’s not the simplest ‘out of the box’ solution out there. Novices will perhaps be surprised that it won’t just work with the press of a button – it’s slightly more involved than that.
Magento
Our final entrant is Magento, the Nestor of the eCommerce game. It’s been around for an extended time and features a wide user base – over 200,000 businesses currently have an installation of Magento running on their websites. So what’s it that creates it such a well-liked option?
To put it simply – Magento for E-commerce Website Development is an out-of-the-box solution that provides you advanced modules that employment immediately the bat. they’re all tried and tested, ensuring you won’t run into any teething problems you’ll get from younger alternatives. Though you are doing need technical knowledge to urge these working properly – sometimes just a couple of clicks could also be quite enough to optimize it properly.
The clear advantage you get with Magento (over, for instance, Drupal Commerce) is that it’s a mature platform. regardless of what your specific sales platform requirement, there’s every chance that an add-on exists to tackle your situation. For other platforms, a touch custom work is required.
If you’re trying to find something that permits you to delve into the nitty gritty, however, Magento for E-commerce Website Development might not be suitable. In terms of coding, there’s a really steep learning curve and it’s not always straightforward to vary the inner workings of the quality functionality. For developers, this might be a touch frustrating.
Magento won’t be the simplest choice for a content management system either, and might require combining it with an honest CMS to manage your blog, a CMS like Drupal or WordPress.
But Which One Should I Choose?
Instead of second-guessing our position or bias towards one platform or the opposite, leave with this: all three platforms provide the framework for a few huge online household names and are all solid choices. The simplest solution really does depend upon your specific needs.
Usually, for little ecommerce stores a WordPress with Woocommerce (a free eCommerce toolkit for WordPress), or a Drupal installation would be an honest choice. For huge stores however, Magento is just an outstanding solution.
Consider carefully how you would like your online shop to function today and tomorrow. Are you’re willing to forgo having your eCommerce shop exactly as you would like it in exchange for plug-and-play functionality? Gauge whether you’re capable of doing a touch little bit of coding, or whether it’s best to go away it to the experts.
Remember: being realistic about your goals, your own capabilities, and your real business requirements is what is going to drive a successful E-commerce Website Development.
