Online presence is essential if you want to stay updated in today’s competitive e-commerce world. This is true in the case of both small and medium companies. In any case, before reaching an e-commerce webdevelopment company, it is vital to pick the correct stage that meet your business needs. Every organizations are unique in one or another way. They may be following different procedures and target different audience etc.
In this article, we will discuss about the top e-commerce platform you can choose. Using this information you get a clear picture of the best open source e-commerce solutions in 2018. The world is changing and there are many open source e-commerce solutions evolving for every business day by day.
Magento
Many online retailers believe that Magento is the best open source e-commerce platform. Because Magento holds about 26% of the e-commerce software market. And hence Magento is an industrial leader. Magento does not suit for all companies. Magento enterprise edition mostly used in economically bigger companies worth about $16,000 a year. By and by, Magento additionally has a solution for small and medium organizations. With a Community Edition, online retailers can appreciate heaps of highlights for free. The most outstanding highlights are; utilizing diverse monetary forms and supporting languages, dealing with different stores, and traditions modules. Another benefit of Magento is, a wide range of plugins and add-ons that provides. By this way they always find solution for the customers with flexibility. Magento deals with many pros and cons. Let’s discuss pros and cons.
Pros
- It has the ability to manage multiple stores
- It includes support for multiple languages
- It has a wide range of plugins and extensions, that are created by the community.
- It offers a wide range of scalability and flexibility
Cons
- It takes time to find all answers you need.
- Magento doesn’t offer any technical support so you will need to sort out your problems in your own way or with the help of others.
Woocommerce
In case you’re into WordPress and need to start an online business, we can offer you a few choices. Be that as it may, in this part, we will tell you regarding the most well-known WordPress plugin WooCommerce.This leading open source e-commerce solution is great and user-friendly. One of the benefits is, you can manage online shop without any technical knowledge. This user-friendly admin panel is very popular among retailers. This platform is mobile friendly too. You can order from any mobile device and tablets that have an internet connection. As a result, you increase your sales. Take into the account for woocommerce works only in WordPress websites. Woocommerce will be great options for your online retailer business and should pay for extensions and templates. Woocommerce is discussed about some pros and cons.
Pros
- It offers a large number of plugins and themes from woothemes
- There is a large and active community forum that help when a problem arises.
- There is seamless integration with WordPress.
- It’s easy to scale
- It is very user-friendly
- It also be used in mobile devices and tablets.
Cons
- It only works with WordPress so you can’t open another platform
- You should pay for extensions and templates
OpenCart
This e-commerce platform is perfect for online retailers. Because this is the simplest solution that can easy to set up. Opencart is basic e-commerce startup, that can be helpful for starting your first online store. Then, at the principal phases of setting up an OpenCart site, you have to employ an online business organization to assist you with some code. To add more capacities and to make your online shop more adaptable, you can utilize various plugins. Some plugins do not work together sometimes. Another drawback is updated information that never comes. Let’s discuss about their pros and cons.
Pros
- It is easy to set up and run
- It doesn’t require much technical knowledge
- There are numerous themes available
- There is a wide range of plugins as a flexibility.
Cons
- Hence It’s an older version, it doesn’t have much features.
- It relies heavily on plugins which can create conflicts.
Prestashop
This open source e-commerce solution is very popular among online retailers. For this reason, we decided to add PrestaShop in the list of best open source e-commerce solutions. Prestashop is easy to install in e-commerce websites. With this stage, you can decide the level of technical control since there are self-facilitated and completely facilitated choices. And of course there are some drawbacks for PrestaShop: there is limited options for website customization. Prestashop is discussed about their pros and cons.
Pros
- It has thousands of modules and templates to add on to the core functionality
- It supports one-page checkout
- It allows for cross-selling
- It supports shipping discounts
Cons
- You have limitation in customization features with PrestaShop.
Shopify
Shopify is one of the best e-commerce platform. Shopify is based on the Ruby on Rails structure, which is broadly utilized and very easy to work with. The strategic steps of deploying your domain are also takes lesser time than compare to Magento. Usefulness can be added to the essential e-store but it is limited to what the monthly subscription allows you to do. Shopify has packages beginning as low as $29 every month. Month to month membership incorporates the unlimited web facilitating charges. The advantage is that your expenses are managed.
Pros
- Shopify is simple to use and can be managed by a nontechnical user
- It is a cost-effective solution
- Shopify hosts all information in a secure way
- It prevents interference or damage to the integrity of the store
Cons
- Its options are limited
- Core functionalities cannot be modified easily
These are the best open source e-commerce platforms in 2018. Without knowing your business size, specific and needs it is impossible to say which platform is best suitable for you. We hope our open source e-commerce article helps you to gain knowledge about the available open source e-commerce platforms.