7 Open Source E-commerce Platforms To Help Businesses In 2019

By Author: Nicole Khoo
Total Articles: 1
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The e-commerce industry is rapidly growing and giant players are dominating the market. As per the survey, more than 45% of internet users purchase products online and the number is still increasing which explains online buyers are increasing undoubtedly. In today's world, online presence is essential for your business if you want to stay competitive and it possible through creating an attractive e-commerce website to achieve global recognition.
Before you choose an e-commerce agency, make sure you know the right platform that will meet your business needs. Software-based e-commerce or online store platforms are designed to be flexible for clients. In the market, most of them available are open-source or free and works with WordPress.
Various open source e-commerce solutions share unique functionality.

However, listed below are some common benefits they offer:
1. Free (open source)
2. Custom opportunity
3. Scalable and flexible
4. Community support

• Magento
It is one of the top e-commerce platforms that provide full control over user experience and content, making it collectively the most powerful one. To avail the desired functionality in your e-commerce store, one needs to hire a dedicated Magento Certified Developer for his Magento project.

Benefits using Magento
1. Comprises of all e-commerce features
2. In-built SEO
3. Delightful customer experience
4. Multiple gateways for payments
5. Easy Integration with Google Optimizer and third-party applications
6. Transaction secured by SSL

• WooCommerce
It is a free plugin for Wordpress that allows users to sell anything they want directly from their Wordpress-based websites. WooCommerce is currently one of the most famous e-commerce solutions on the Internet, providing more than 35% of all online stores and being one of the best platforms in 2019.

Why choosing WooCommerce for the business
1. Multiple numbers of plugins and themes for download and installation
2. Large and active community forum for help
3. Mobile friendly
4. Payment gateways available
5. Fully customizable and scalable

• osCommerce
More than 300000 online stores have been created using this platform and multiple companies are using this as they find it effective and useful. It is relatively simple to use and allows you to customize your e-commerce store with various plugins.

Benefits of using osCommerce
1. Solutions for thousands of problem available
2. Large support community
3. Multiple free plugins and add-ons for developers
4. Advanced customizations

• Prestashop
Prestashop is the famous PHP-based e-commerce platform that powers over 270,000 online stores in 195 countries. Being an open source CMS platform, it is easily available. This platform supports multiple payment gateways such as Google Checkout and PayPal and requires fewer servers and resources as compared to other e-commerce development platforms.

Benefits of using Prestashop are as follows:
1. Multi-vendor support
2. Supports multiple languages and currency websites
3. Over 2000 templates
4. User-friendly features for banners, layouts, quick views etc.

• Open Cart
It is a perfect choice for small businesses and most recommended platform for start-ups to achieve online market goals. Unlike other free e-commerce platforms, OpenCart is easy to operate and allows store owners to create online stores with rich features and useful functionalities.

Benefits of Open Cart
1. SEO friendly
2. Product reviews
3. Sales reports (weekly and monthly)
4. Custom templates
5. Fast loading speed

• Drupal Commerce
It is popular for its most unique functionality for managing complex payment method. Drupal offers various great deals over digital marketing support that helps you in its e-commerce system. It is the most powerful and secure platform that can be operated by only professional developers.

Benefits of Drupal Commerce
1. Complete product administration, along with shopping carts, and checkout forms
2. Supports multiple languages and currencies
3. Online community to solve problems
4. In-built security system

• Spree Commerce
Spree Commerce is the growing automated e-commerce platform that proved to be the best for hi-tech developers. It is visually appealing, advanced and different compared to all other platforms which have large active developer’s community.

Benefits of Spree Commerce
1. Mobile compatible
2. In-built Google Analytics
3. Core functionality manage orders, products, and payments
4. Quick and rapid development solution

One of the best parts of all these platforms listed above is that they are free to use and keep on constantly developing, which is an advantage for your business. However, building an online store requires major technical skills and knowledge, so the organization needs expert developers to build portals using these platforms to set up, adjust, and maintain the entire website.

Nicole Khoo has current profile of expert digital marketing consultant at VertexPlus an - iOS App Development Company in Singapore. She holds 10+ years of experience and worked on various cutting edge technologies.