Open Source eCommerce Platforms

Following on from our discussion of eCommerce platforms this week, we’re going to discuss open source eCommerce platforms today, and their benefits for your business.

To recap, open source eCommerce platforms means that you don’t need to worry about where your eCommerce website is hosted, so it’s perfect for people who are knowledgeable in the world of web development, who are able to work with the code and develop the perfect store. Those who don’t have coding experience are probably not best suited to work with open source eCommerce platforms on their own, as they may not have the necessary experience. It’s best that individuals who wish to use an open source eCommerce platform hire a web developer to aid in the coding of their eCommerce platform.

One of the best examples of an open source eCommerce platform is Magento, which we’re going to look at in some detail today.

Magento allows you to sell your products the way you want to. Launched in 2008, Magento was developed by Varien and built using the Zend Framework and today, is owned by eBay. Using Magento, you can create native mobile storefronts for your customers.

Using Magento allows you to streamline the online buying process with custom design, and a variety of plug-ins, extensions and modules make Magento an easy to use platform.

Some other benefits of Magento include:

It’s Rich in Features – Features include; SEO, browsing of products, customer service, various payment options and mobile shopping options.

Open Source – This is a big one. It’s free to use and there’s a community of help.

Easy to Use Administration – Flexible and simple to use, once it’s all set up, of course.

Various Extensions – Highly customizable and allows you to combine a lot of extensions.

These are just some of the benefits to using Magento, but to really get a great understanding of the platform, it’s best to get familiar with it yourself. Have fun!