With the invention & advancement of Open Sources like WordPress, Opencart & Magento, not only CMS website development has been made easier but also eCommerce websites can be built easily now. In this blog, I am going to share a few pros and cons of 3 major open sources for developing an online store.
WordPress (Woocommerce)
Woocommerce is not a standalone eCommerce system; it is a system that works within WordPress.In other words, Woocommerce is one of the great plugins available in the WordPress directory which you can incorporate into your existing WordPress website and convert into a professional eCommerce website.
Born in 2011, WooCommerce is pretty young when we compare it with Opencart and Magento. But if you talk about its popularity, it has been increasingly demanding for WordPress users who find it easy to manage their online store without leaving the comfort zone of WordPress’s easy-to-use backend. eCommerce website development was never so easy until the birth of WooCommerce.
As we all know, WordPress is one of the best CMSs, and it is straightforward to use, even for a layman. Woocommerce has added another feather to the cap. Even a newbie can develop an eCommerce using Woocommerce. All you need to do is attend a short WordPress training, and you can set up an online store and customize it as per your requirements. With so many free & paid themes available today, you can customize the design of your online store in the way you want. You can also consider hiring a WordPress developer to build your online shop using WooCommerce. Let’s take a look at the pros & cons of using Woocommerce:
Pros
- Free to download
- Easy to Use.
- Can turn a WordPress website or blog into a robust eCommerce website.
Cons
- The default plugin provides only basic eCommerce features. There could be a need to buy some premium plugins.
- It is not useful for websites that have not been built on WordPress yet.
Recommended post: 5 Myths about using WordPress for eCommerce websites
OpenCart
Born in 2008, OpenCart is an easy-to-use open source that is available free of cost to download and install to set up an eCommerce store. It comes with several features that can fulfill the needs and requirements of basic and advanced stores. It also has good documentation to help you understand its flow and working structure, just in case you get confused. Additionally, there are many options for you to hire an OpenCart developer in Singapore to design or redesign your online shop.
Several themes and extensions, both free and paid, are available for OpenCart (developed exclusively for OpenCart) and can help you enhance your online store.
The backend of OpenCart is also pretty easy to understand and manage for an eCommerce business. With basic training on the backend operation, one can easily handle the store. Regarding performance, OpenCart lacks the cache and SEO plugins; however, this can also be achieved with a few customizations in the core files. You will need to hire an eCommerce developer to help you.
Pros
- Several themes & extensions are available.
- Easy-to-use interface for both users (frontend) and webmasters (backend).
- Helpful documentation
Cons
- Lacks Cache & SEO plugins.
- Need web developers to customize the extensions and themes.
Magento
Magento is no longer a new name in the eCommerce website development industry. It comes with both a Premium license and a free version. Of course, the free version doesn’t have advanced features, so we can say that Magento is not a free CMS for businesses to set up online stores.
On the positive side, Magento has several advanced features for a high-end eCommerce website that are unbeatable by any other open source. In other words, Magento is suitable for high-end eCommerce businesses that want advanced features and have the budget to spend.
The plugins available for Magento are also on the higher side and may range from $100 to $1000. Other than this, you will need an eCommerce web developer to customize or make any changes in the theme or plugins of Magento because its framework is not easy to learn for a layman or a newbie web developer.
In my experience, I have noticed that many small & medium size businesses would also want Magento just because of its popularity and without knowing its ins and outs. One must consider that apart from the development cost of Magento, there are a few secondary overheads as well.
For example, a Magento website will require a VPS or higher-spec server because it can’t run successfully on a shared server. So, Magento is not a cup of tea for small and medium-sized businesses.
Pros
- Advance eCommerce features.
- Highly scalable and customizable
Cons
- Expensive paid plugins
- Requires high specifications server
- Steep learning curve
Recommended post: How Much Does An Average eCommerce Website Cost in Singapore?