In this era, an online presence is a must for any business seeking to thrive. Your business must be available in the virtual space and allow customers to buy from you through the same. Whether you run a small or large enterprise, you can only remain competitive by having an online store. The first step in this journey is choosing an e-commerce platform. You need to make a perfect choice of a platform that meets your business needs processes and target audience.
When it comes to an e-commerce platform, you have an option for hosted/enterprise platforms or open sources. For this purpose, our focus will be on open-source e-commerce platforms. These platforms are free to use and modify. They help you save on monthly or yearly expenses.
With the rising adoption of the open-source approach in the development of e-commerce platforms, many tech companies have come up with their frameworks. This aspect can make it hard for you to pick your preferred platform to match your business.
In this article, we discuss the top best open-source e-commerce. Keep reading to get to know all those best open-source e-commerce together.
WooCommerce
WooCommerce is a leading open source e-commerce platform from WordPress. It is a WordPress plugin that helps you to transform your website into a functional online store. So, if you use a WordPress website, you can open an online store with all functions such as inventory management, coupons, and product pages by adding this plugin.
The plugin is easy and free to install. You do not need a tech or be one to install it on your website. Also, WooCommerce is mobile-friendly. This aspect makes it the first consideration by many small businesses. As you know, customers are mobile and want to shop using their tablets, smartphones, and other mobile devices.
Beyond the mobile-friendliness aspect, this platform allows users to create apps for their online stores. So, you can have a mobile app for your brand which your customers can install on their mobile devices. The only shortfall is that it is only available for people using WordPress websites.
Also, it comes with some additional costs for theme, domain, and hosting. Nonetheless, WooCommerce is a perfect open source e-commerce platform that is helping many businesses launch online stores.
Magento Open Source
Magento is another popular open-source e-commerce platform. The platform comes with a wide range of functionalities that support all aspects of an online business. With this platform, you can create a membership, discounts, subscription plans, and other marketing aspects.
Also, it comes with a variety of extensions that help you access tools for managing your online venture. You have the freedom to choose from thousands of themes and features to help you run your e-commerce business smoothly.
As well, the platform features a strong community for support. You also have a chance to choose between a free and paid plan depending on your budget. Hence, it is a superb open-source e-commerce platform that can help you try your leg in the online space with fewer challenges.
PrestaShop
PrestaShop is another awesome open-source platform for e-commerce purposes. This platform comes with a marketplace for extensions and themes. It is easy to set up and use. However, it does not have a one-click installation app. You must visit its website to download and set it up on your site.
Also, you have the freedom to customize your store according to your desires. However, you have limitations in tweaking the graphic elements unless you purchase some themes and templates which is a shortcoming for this platform
Zen Cart
Are looking for a platform with a perfect product management system? No doubt, Zen Cart is a perfect idea. This platform gives you the power to do anything pertaining to your products. You can control your inventories, create special discounts and sales offer. However, Zen Cart works well for small businesses.
If you run a venture with massive products, your online store based on this platform will become slow. This issue can affect the performance of your online store. Also, the Zen Cart has an ugly look. You must tweak and modify it after installation. Otherwise, you will find it hard to win customers due to a lack of appealing aspects. As such, the only smart programmer can use this platform to build their online storefronts.
OpenCart
Lack of programming knowledge can lockout from using many open source e-commerce platforms. OpenCart understands this aspect. For this reason, it designed its platform for business owners with little programming experience. The platform is less complex and simple than others in this category.
It comes with a range of plugins to enhance the functionalities of your online store. Unlike Zen Cart, it is fast and does not slow down due to additional products. However, relying on plugins is a major downside of this platform as it is likely to have some compatibility issues.
Drupal Commerce
Like WooCommerce, Drupal Commerce is a platform for people running their websites on Drupal. This platform has great features that enable you to manage your online business without any challenges. Its administration system helps you handle complex payment models. For instance, it is easy to have a subscription model in your business that is running on Drupal Commerce.
Another crucial aspect of this platform is SEO-friendliness. Your online business will be easy to rank on the search engines when you build it on this platform. However, being a Drupal exclusive platform is its major downfall.
nopCommerce
nopCommerce is a popular open-source e-commerce platform on the Microsoft framework. This platform is the home of over 50000 online stores. It comes with a variety of features that power the functionalities of any online storefront. Also, nopCommerce helps you handle different complexities by allowing you to run multiple vendors.
The platform has features that support multicurrency and Multilanguage. Apart from this, it has a strong community and premium support. The only drawback of nopCommerce is that you cannot build your store on it unless you have insightful technical knowledge.
The Bottom Line
In a word, the above open-source e-commerce platform is a perfect choice for any entrepreneur. You can pick the right platform that aligns with your business goals and objectives. So, consider assessing them before choosing one.
