E-commerce platform comparison: web store software at a glance

You want to put your own store online? Today, it’s one of the easiest things you can do: entrepreneurs have various technical possibilities open to them for selling products and services over the internet.

Basically, an online store is the development of an internet presence in the form of website with special e-commerce functions. This includes software components like:

• A shop database for product information
• An administration database for admin information
• A presentation system

• An interface to payment systems, stock control, sales and web analysis

In principle, an online store can be programmed on your own from scratch with the necessary know-how and a sufficient amount of time. But such an approach is an anomaly today, and many online merchants rely on professional e-commerce software instead. The selection of proprietary online store solutions ranges from flexible, cloud-based rental shops to inexpensive open-source platforms.

With MyWebsite eCommerce, IONOS is launching a web-based online shop software that can be used to implement both small and large e-commerce projects. You have the choice between three different paid subscriptions, which combine all necessary components of your e-commerce offer in one package: In addition to the shop platform, you also receive a suitable domain, an SSL/TLS certificate and several e-mail inboxes. In addition, IONOS takes care of your store’s hosting and is also a strong partner with 24/7 support.

Magento is an open source e-commerce platform of the company with the same name, Magento Inc., based in Culver City, CA. The shop software is distributed under a dual license. In addition to the free community version, users also have an expanded enterprise edition available to them as a commercial product. This way, the Magento Enterprise Cloud Edition can be used as Software-as-a-Service.

Shopware AG, headquarted in Schöppingen, Germany, also offers an e-commerce solution with the same name in a dual licensing system. Since 2010, users have access to a free community edition in addition to Enterprise, Professional, and Professional Plus versions. With 16 years of marketing experience, 100 employees, and more than 54,000 customers, the self-financed company has established itself as a major player in the e-commerce scene.

Shopware’s enterprise edition features extensive marketing features for emotional storytelling. The goal of the developer is to make online shopping more colorful, more emotional, and more diverse. Users of the community edition have to deal with clear restrictions to their available range of functions, or rely on paid extensions. Shopware also doesn’t offer a warranty for the free version, but users can find help in a public online forum that’s integrated into the corporate website.

The shop system, written in PHP, features a user-friendly backend and comprehensive extension possibilities. The main features of the community version are:

• Intuitive design of the online store without programming skills
• Consistent flat design
• Responsive images
• Off-canvas menus and controls optimized for touch gestures
• Integrated SEO optimization
• Multi-shop capabilities

A live demo of the e-commerce platform Shopware can be viewed on the official website. It lets you get a glimpse into the backend of the e-commerce software.

OXID eShop is an e-commerce platform for OXID eSales EG, a popular Germany company. The software is available to users as an open source community version as well as a professional edition and enterprise edition for the commercial sector. Primary target groups of the online store solution are small and middle-sized companies in the area of B2C. Since 2015, the product range has been supplemented by an enterprise B2B edition.

With a large selection of extensions and countless interfaces for connection to third-party systems, OXID eShops has established a flexible, well scalable alternative to Shopware and Magento. The PHP-based e-commerce platform works with a modular architecture, which allows the lean software core to be adapted to the specific application. Users rely on a large number of existing modules or integrate new functionalities using self-developed extensions via the OXID API. Software modules are available over the international marketplace OXID eXchange and the module catalog, oxmod. The price ranges from free models to extensions, which can cost up to several thousand dollars.

OXID eShop offers the same range of functions in the open source community version as in the professional edition. Users who opt for the community version only miss out on the ERP/SOAP interface and the professional manufacturer support. But the full range of functions including multi-client capability, cache management, B2B features, as well as rights and role management is only available to users in the Enterprise edition.

Highlights of the community version are:

• Integrated content management system (CMS)
• Web 2.0 package including tagging, rating, and Facebook integration
• SAP connectivity
• Article SEO features
• Search engine friendly software design

Multilingual online stores can also be implemented with the free community version. Users have centralized language management, and individual language packs can be purchased at manageable prices via OXID eXchange and integrated as desired.

To provide customers on various devices with the best possible user experience, OXID eShop contains a responsive template in all editions. An individual online store design can be realized through the integrated template engine, Smarty.

While the software has a well-structured frontend, the backend is less intuitive when compared to other online store solutions. You can get an impression of how the software works by requesting your personal demo via the official webpage of the e-commerce software.

WooCommerce functions via a WordPress plugin, which allows the most popular content management system to take advantage of the wide range of extended e-commerce functionalities. Originally developed by WooThemes, the project is now sponsored by Automattic. The open source software seamlessly integrates with the existing WordPress website and can be customized with more than 400 extensions to suit individual needs. The software benefits from the wide distribution of the WordPress CMS and constitutes 21 % of all online stores worldwide, according to BuiltWith (as of June 2019).

The WooCommerce plugin is available for free. But many functions are only available to users in connection with paid premium plugins. The central features of the WooCommerce core include:

• Diverse preinstalled payment options
• Geolocation functions
• Flexible shipping options
• Integrated functions for tax calculation
• Coupon system
• Support for downloaded products (i.e. e-books or MP3s)
• Basic reporting and analysis functions
• Tools for customer relationship management

WooCommerce contains a basic template for all online store design elements and can be combined with any WordPress theme. In addition, users can purchase specific WooCommerce themes to customize the design and layout of the basic shop to suit their own needs. A live preview of the official WooCommerce standard themes Storefront can be found on demo.woothemes.com/storefront.

The e-commerce solution, Shopify, was founded in 2006 and has quickly grown into a major player, both for small companies and large franchises. It offers a large range of functions, as well as a huge combination of free and paid extensions. The software itself comes in four payment plans, from the lite version to Shopify Advanced, which afford users different levels of functionality and support, and all users have access to a 24/7 dedicated help service. Users who want to test the platform before purchasing a monthly pass can also utilize the 14-day free trial period before making their decision.

The e-commerce software, Gambio, started as an offshoot of the popular German software solution xt:Commerce, and was further developed by the Bremen-based company Gambio GmbH as an independent open source project. The software is distributed under the GPL/GNU license (2.0), but is only offered by the developer team in combination with a paid support package. In addition to a 12-month guarantee, the paid download also includes a proprietary stylesheet editor as well as a PDF module. Without support, the open source shop system can only be purchased via third-party vendors.

Since May of 2016, Gambio GX3 has been available to users with a new system architecture and completely reworked backend. With the new version, Gambio has tried to shake off the dust of the original xt:Commerce offshoot and extend its own sphere of influence to major online retailers. According to the press release, the company is striving to transform from an entry-level solution to a start-of-the-art professional system with the release of their newest update.

To pique the interest of professional agents, Gambio is furnished with well-documented REST-API and a standardized interface for developers. The development of your own templates and layouts is also easier than in previous versions. The responsive standard template, “Honeygrid”, is based on established standards like the CSS framework Bootstrap, HMTL5, SASS, and jquery and can be adapted to individual needs without the need for programming knowledge using the built-in stylesheet editor StyleEdit.

The software’s range of functions includes:

• Extensive SEO features such as search engine friendly URLs, caching or sitemaps
• Interfaces to relevant payment providers, merchandise management systems and price comparison portals
• Integrated warehouse management
• Internal store rating system
• Support for downloaded articles
• Invoices and delivery notes in PDF format
• Pre-certification for trusted stores

For test purposes, Gambio GmbH provides three different test shops including backend access on its website. Registration is not required.

The e-commerce platform PrestaShop, developed in France, is used by more than 300,000 online retailers in more than 200 countries. The international software is available in various language versions, and contains pre-certification for certain markets. According to their own statements, more than 1,000 developers are also actively involved in the further development of the open source online shop software, which is published under the Open Software License (OSL) 3.0.

With a focus on small and medium-sized companies, PrestaShop is intended for beginners who want to get online quickly and easily with a low-cost e-commerce solution. The software combines an impressive range of functions with a clear, well-structured user interface. Like the other shop systems mentioned here, PrestaShop is also available via web browser. Unlike Magento, PrestaShop can usually be installed and configured without an agency service or the support of specialized developers. Among the more than 300 standardly integrated functions, the highlights are:

• Responsive frontend
• Customer evaluation function and product recommendations via social media
• Customer service tool for the management of customer questions
• Integrated tool for processing returns
• Multi-shop capability and multilingual
• Integrated CMS for standard pages, like “About Us” or “Terms and Conditions”
• Merchandise management (including warehouse management)

The PrestaShop add-ons marketplace has more than 3,000 extension modules and over 5,000 professional templates available – many of them in responsive design. But users who want to expand the free software core with add-ons will have to deal with additional costs. PrestaShop modules from the core development team and official partners are relatively pricey.

PrestaShop also offers a demo shop where prospective customers can get an impression of the software from the customer’s view and also switch to the backend view, all without requiring a login.