It is a human tendency to look for free stuff, especially in software. This is understandable, and sometimes, free software can be surprisingly powerful. This happens in the case of open-source software, especially in the e-commerce segment. Then you have developers who use the open-source platform to offer e-commerce suites and implementation at affordable prices. Take a look at the free and inexpensive stuff. You may conclude that for serious e-commerce business, you need custom eCommerce solutions.
Best Free or Inexpensive eCommerce Platform
The freeware in e-commerce
Open-source free eCommerce platforms offer a surprising number of features, such as the design of your storefront, inventory, tracking orders, and customer and payment gateway integration. Some of the most widely used eCommerce platforms are:
- OpenCart
- Magento
- WooCommerce
- Presta Shop
- OsCommerce and
- HipKart
The above power some of the best-known online marketplaces and are the basis of online business for small and large enterprises worldwide. The catch here is that most of these are self-hosted. This means you must take care of some minor development and customization and install it on a hosting service. It needs some tech skills to set up your store, manage it, and handle payments, updates, and security. These need time and effort and prove more expensive. Then there are hosted solutions like Shopify, VirtueMart, and HipKart. The difference is that shopping on the hosted eCommerce platforms is easy since the software provider configures Magento or any other backend platform. In addition, you have funny support. Hosted solutions are cheap, maybe subscription-based, a one-off payment type, pay-as-you-go, or revenue-based. Ecomz is another hosted and inexpensive eCommerce platform with a high de—G..ree of flexibility.
Nothing is free really.
The platform is free. However, it requires technical skills and expertise, and time to set up an eCommerce platform or rope in a custom eCommerce solution provider to set it up for you. Magento, for instance, is free, but it is quite complex. It does need an expert in Magento to set up an online store for you. You pay the service provider and still have to stay within the constraints of a free platform, missing out on the advantages of a tailored solution to fit your eCommerce model.
The next best thing
The best solution to set up an online eCommerce store is to opt for an open-source platform like Magento. It is jam-packed with your needed features and is amenable to plugins and customizations to extend functionality even more. Then, get a provider of eCommerce development solutions like Smart Sight Innovations to develop a custom eCommerce solution based on open-source technologies. Depending on your business model, even OSCommerce, Open Cart, or WooCommerce may be chosen. It proves inexpensive, but what you pay the custom eCommerce developer is more than recouped by increased sales.
What you get with inexpensive custom eCommerce development
E-commerce developers like Smart Sight Innovations fully know Magento and other open-source technologies. They will analyze your business needs and develop a custom eCommerce design and storefronts based on these open-source technologies. Alternatively, they may find something Shopify fits you, so they will fine-tune it and launch your store on this platform. You get standard features and custom features such as:
- Features such as custom invoicing, tax, and link to inventory as well as buyer database
- Social media integration into your eCommerce platform for better customer experience
- Easy integration of various payment channels and management of payment gateways with hi.gh-security levels
- The ship, deliver track.
- Upsell, cross-sell and make product recommendations based on data gathering and analytics.
- Rewards and loyalty program
E-commerce is all about business and revenue generation, so forget about free eCommerce platforms unless you are tech-savvy enough to take on Magento or anything similar. It makes sense to rope in professionals offering eCommerce development solutions based on open-source, free platforms. This way, you pay for their services and are assured of flawless performance, plus ongoing support to refine your store. Engage Smart Sight Innovations for custom eCommerce development; it will make a world of difference to your online sales.
