To help you decide, we’ll look at the features of several popular platforms that are most popular in online store development. Some of them are paid engines, and some are free (open source). In this article, we will look at free CMS.

In addition to good prices, product range, and many other factors, the quality of the technical implementation of the site also affects the success of the online store, namely the functionality available and the ability to fix it.

An important factor in the success of e-commerce is the choice of CMS. Which to stop at The simplest solution to get started quickly, or deploy a complex and resource-demanding platform with what an online supermarket claims? Or maybe there is an optimal solution, the golden mean? It is easy to get lost in this variety.

After launch and in the early stages of business development in online trading, it seems that the main thing is to make sales and get customers first. But when the sales flow stabilizes, and the volume and presence of goods start to increase, you may face a number of technical limitations. Then comes the understanding that the right choice of CMS for the online store is, in fact, far from ultimate importance for the success of the project as a whole.

After a few months, it becomes clear that the sales limit has been exhausted, and in order to move forward, it is necessary to expand the limit. and significantly refine technical functionality – to reach a new level of growth and customer service.

If you have initially chosen the wrong script online store, which is not ready for scaling and load, this task will cost the business owner a lot of money. Also, in some cases, the implementation of the set goals may be completely unfeasible. This means you have to start everything from scratch.

A similar situation occurs when using a self-written engine as a CMS for an online store. Compared to paid “box” systems, the cost of such development by default will be several times higher. There will be no less expensive support, maintenance, permanent bug fixes, etc. In addition, in the case of modifications, you will often have to spend the budget on implementing the capabilities that are available by default in ready-made systems.

I think you already understood what the wrong choice of tech platform to start a business can mean for a business owner. This is the criterion that should be guided when choosing a CMS for an online store.

Design Patterns

This is a kind of the face of your online store, and hence, this issue should be given top priority. In many ways, it also depends on the trust in the seller, because the potential buyer evaluates the site mainly from the visual side. The more paid and free themes available to choose from, the more likely you are to create an online store that will look exactly the way you want it to look. It should be understood that the same adaptive design has already become a necessity.

Catalog and Card of Goods

These are the most important components of an online store, and therefore, should be given priority when analyzing the engine for future use. Adding products should be simple, and managing product catalogs should be flexible and understandable. It should be possible to customize various features, citing additional features, for example, discounts, etc. Here’s a sample of what a good quality product page looks like:

Similarly, with regard to product inventory, you need to pay attention to the display of inventory and the ability to control their sorting using various filters. For example, it can be sorted by price, date of receipt, different technical characteristics. Such functionality is especially in demand on the part of the user.

Delivery and Payment Methods

Different people have different preferences, and what is convenient for one person will be inconvenient for another. Therefore, the owner of the online store must provide his customers with a choice between different options of delivery and payment. For example, a resident of a large city would contact one method using a courier and cash, but a buyer who lives in the outback would prefer mail and cash on delivery. In addition, you need to remember about such an option as the final recalculation of the purchase price in the basket taking into account the delivery price. The customer has to see how much he will pay after the fact.

Extended Capabilities

In addition to the above points, the functionality of the engine for an online store can include a very large list of possibilities. Of course, not all of them are critically important, but some directly affect usability, conversion, and other factors on which profit depends. This includes deleting related and recently viewed products, sales hits and innovations, building product sets, managing orders and customer data, a wish list, flexible discounts, and more.

Maintenance Costs

This point is usually not clear until the business owner is faced with the negative aspects associated with it. Regardless of whether you are using a paid CMS for an online store or an open-source one, sooner or later you will need to implement various additional functions. And their cost can vary greatly depending on the engine. Usually for a popular system with high-quality architecture, not only is it easier to find a specialist, but the price of the work will be more affordable, as it is decided by the market.

Free Platform for Online Store

There are quite a few CMS available for online stores. At the same time, some of them are already outdated both ethically and in terms of technologies, and some are not even supported by the developers themselves. Therefore, we decided to consider the characteristics of those who are in the top three

Despite the fact that the developers of the system are bribed with the promised functionality, technical support, and other buns, the open-source CMS for online stores is equally popular. Due to the fact that many of them offer functionality, which meets 90% of the needs of a typical online store, and refinements in most cases are of an individual nature, these functions are completely controlled by the experts of the web agency. is done. In this case, the modules available in the native assembly don’t get much use. The most popular free engines for online stores are Magento, Prestashop, and OpenCart.

Magento

One of the most popular CMS for online stores in the US and other western markets. One of the major advantages of Magento is the huge number of possible templates, plug-ins, and other extensions that greatly simplify adding new functionality. True, most of them are paid.

Features of Magento:

• Developed platform with great functionality and wide possibilities of adjustment;
• A large number of extensions available in the market, both paid and free;
• Scalability capability allows you not to be afraid of possible problems when developing an online store in the future;
• For high performance and speed, you need a dedicated server.

PrestaShop

CMS with open source code, which, due to its flexibility, is actively used in the development of online stores of various levels. At the moment, the creators of PrestaShop have integrated into the system more than 300 functions to solve various business tasks. Virtually everything needed is already available free of charge, and non-standard individual needs are addressed through third-party extensions or additional functions.

This engine is a European development and according to Wikipedia statistics, the number of stores created on this CMS has exceeded 250 thousand.

Features of PrestaShop:

• A large number of built-in functionality, which is more than enough for most online stores;
• Many modern design templates optimized for use on mobile devices, most of which are really high quality;
• High speed of work even with a large list of products with thousands of products;
• Ability to scale from a small online store to a large online supermarket;
• The cost of some modules exceeds the average (60-70 euros), so in some cases, it is more profitable to order modifications than to buy a ready-made solution.

PrestaShop is suitable for owners of online stores who want a project “to themselves” with extensive basic functionality, modern appearance, and flexible management.

OpenCart

One of the easiest management engines for online stores. The main factors are the ease of mastering the admin panel, adding and managing stuff. True, the disadvantages of OpenCart. The simplicity of the start replaces the costs associated with the need for constant completion and correction of errors. The web agency is an expert in e-commerce solutions, responsive web design, custom web development and creation of online shops on various CMS platforms, development of personalized software, services, etc. It can help you with current tasks and fixes.

Features of OpenCart:

• Ease of management of the online store by the user;
• Lots of plug-ins, both paid and free;
• The system itself is simple and “lightweight”, will work on virtual hosting without any problems;
• Low cost of additional work, as there are many specialists working with this system;
• Design templates are usually optimized for a specific version of the engine;
• The large number of duplicate pages that the engine generates is one of its main drawbacks.

In general, this option is only for small and limited in terms of functional sites. If you need to develop an online store, running OpenCart will require a lot of refinement, and the complexity of scaling will be a major problem.

Which CMS is better for an online store?

In general, each engine is good in its own way, and when choosing you need to build on the specific needs of your business. It is necessary to take into account the specifics of the business, the available resources, and the planned development strategy. Otherwise, the wrong early choices will result in a loss of time and money in the future.

The beauty of working with a free CMS is that you can download and install any open-source engine you want to try it out at work. But it will not be easy for a person to choose the engine for the online store without the appropriate technical competencies. So, if you have such questions, and you do not know which one to stop at, please contact the web agency experts, and they will surely help you make the right decision.