Choosing an eCommerce Platform: Open Source vs. Proprietary

When it comes time for an online merchant to decide on their first or next eCommerce platform, it can be difficult to decide which company to go with. The first crossroads a merchant approaches in this decision presents the choice of going with either open source or proprietary software.

The answer is hidden in a heated debate that’s been going on for years, and every article and blog entry you find does little to conceal its obvious bias for one or the other. Proprietary-vested writers will speak of established and trusty brand names, ease of installation and duration of direct support, downplaying the associated costs while criticizing the security of open source software. OSS advocates downplay the length of time it takes to fix the bugs infected by those who access the code for evil, refute lack of support claims by pointing to an entire community of vested professionals at your disposal, and pepper in the “free” price tag as often as possible.

Fortunately your friends at 1Digital Agency (a bit of shameless self-promotion… sort of) are partnered with both proprietary (Volusion and BigCommerce) and open source (Magento and WordPress) eCommerce software platforms. We’re here to give you the skinny on the pros and cons of each without downplaying or exaggerating anything to sway you one way or the next.

I’ll start with open source. OSS allows you to look under the hood, so it’s great for customization and innovation. There’s easy access to a wide network of extensions, plugins, and the open source development network. This carries the advantage of a customized store that showcases a personal developer’s touch. There are no coding language restrictions, and integration of payment gateways is easy. In order to maintain a functioning framework, it’s important to assess whether you’re up for customizing and stringing third party applications into the platform.

As attractive as that sounds, it’s likely that you can’t allocate all of your operations in one centralized location, making open source more appropriate for those willing to be extremely organized, knowledgeable, and creative when it comes to researching and assembling the resources they choose to make a functioning store.

To sum up who I think would generally be better off with OSS:

• Smaller eCommerce businesses or companies that only need to build a shopping cart
• Experienced developers
• Those who would like to learn about eCommerce development

Obviously with proprietary systems you don’t have access to the code. However, this isn’t a problem for most merchants that know what they want. You can’t use outside or third party input, but it allows tailored plugins and management systems to work to your benefit. There is a uniform appearance that goes with proprietary platforms. Integration with other systems is much easier than with OSS, handling extensive functionality that can handle and achieve other business goals. For example, PS platforms will most likely handle feature-packed CMS systems, simple ERP integration, and a list of module development and module capability. Given that, it can handle large numbers of visitors and large transactions.

Again, those who are generally more suited for the benefits of a proprietary system:

• Larger companies that handle large traffic and big transactions
• Those who want greater functionality
• Those who want easy and efficient integration

Fortunately for diversity, there is no best solution across the board, and the boring answer is that the best type of eCommerce system depends on your needs as an individual company. The general rule of thumb is the smaller your eCommerce needs are, the more open source is a suitable option. Larger companies are more likely to benefit from a proprietary solution to assist with the many online transactions they receive a day.