In this post, we’ll explore a couple of our top picks for hosted e-commerce solutions and share the pros and cons of each. We’ve chosen two of the most popular and well-supported platforms, Magento and WooCommerce.
First up, Magento
Magento is the undisputed heavyweight in the open-source e-commerce world. It’s a fully-fledged, feature-packed online platform suited to shops of all shapes and sizes. Magento has been around for many years and gone through two major iterations, and as such is an established, robust choice when considering what store platform to use.
Pros:
- A well-developed, stable, and mature platform that’s been around since 2008.
- Large userbase and community, with comprehensive documentation and forums.
- Performs well with the right hosting solution; we recommend a Cloud or Dedicated server depending on how busy your store is.
- Large extension ecosystem to support cross-channel selling and integrations with popular platforms, including online marketplaces and fulfillment services.
- Flexible design system, including a drag-and-drop editor in version 2.
- Built with large platforms in mind, so it scales well to stores with thousands of products.
- Security focused, with regular patches and updates issued.
Cons:
- Complexity. Magento is a comprehensive product and whilst great strides have been made in usability in recent years, there’s still a learning curve to be navigated. If you’re new to web development it may be worth using a developer or agency to help you get started.
Next, WooCommerce
Woocommerce is something of a challenger entrant in the field of online e-commerce software. Instead of being an independent platform, WooCommerce is a WordPress plugin that enhances your site with shop functionality. This ease of integration has led to widespread adoption and popularity amongst site owners who want to add shopping cart functionality quickly and easily to their websites.
Pros:
- Simplicity: if you’re familiar with WordPress already, WooCommerce will be easy for you to install and use, as it takes the form of a WordPress plugin.
- No developer needed: easier for rookies to get their head around WooCommerce compared to Magento, and it’s easy to add WooCommerce to an existing website.
- Growing ecosystem of integrations with third parties, such as payment gateways.
Cons:
- Performance can suffer on bigger stores, particularly if you have a large number of WordPress plugins installed.
- Less features than Magento – whilst new themes and plugins are being developed all the time, WooCommerce is ultimately a newer product and offers less features than its rival.
Hosting options
Prostack are hot shots when it comes to tuning, securing, and optimising your store to get the very best out of it. We know that page load times dramatically affect user experience and overall sales which is why we offer a number of solutions tailored specifically to these products:
- Our Cloud and Dedicated servers come with tuned software configurations to get the most performance for your store.
- We integrate caching layers (Varnish, Redis, etc) to speed up frequently visited pages.
- We use industry-leading security software (Imunify360) to keep your site secure
- We offer consultancy and advice on how to get the most from your online platform.
For more information check out our page on e-commerce solutions here.