In the world of eCommerce, having the right platform is crucial for building a successful business. You need to be able to manage your website, inventory, analytics, and customer details from a central location. This will help to give a streamlined and seamless experience for your customers as well as your employees. If you get it right, you’ll be operating at full strength. However, if you get it wrong, you could be faced with an uphill battle. In custom eCommerce platforms, as well as out-of-the-box ones, developmental issues can be rife. These can impact functionality, project delivery times, and even customer experience. Therefore, when you’re choosing a new platform, you need to be sure you choose the right one.

There are many eCommerce solution providers on the market today. Many larger companies such as BigCommerce take a cookie cutter approach, trying to be all things to all businesses. This leads to problems when your business doesn’t fit the usual mold, or when you want to try different approaches. Conversely smaller companies often don’t have the support network to provide adequate backup to their client base. The Magento platform is one of the largest on the market, and is often praised for its open source nature. We’ll explore what Magento is, some of the issues the platform has, and what Magento alternatives are available.

What is Magento?

Magento is an open source eCommerce platform that was first established in 2008. The company’s aim is to provide businesses with a complete eCommerce package, from shopping cart and online store to SEO and marketing. Part of the appeal of Magento is that businesses can be heavily customize their website to create a unique look and style. Users can also make innovative changes to site functionality. Many businesses have chosen the platform over the last decade, and they have provided over 200,000 online retailers with websites. These huge numbers show how popular the infrastructure is. Furthermore, the company recently launched version 2.0 of their software to improve their service.

There’s no denying that Magento is an impressive platform. However, it’s not for everyone. There is a lot to love about it, but there are also aspects that will make it unsuitable for many businesses. Despite its popularity, there are some organizations that crave for a Magento alternative.

Magento Issues

Every platform has its bugs, quirks, and curiosities and Magento is no different. However, these aside there are still some issues that are undesirable when you a choosing a new eCommerce platform:

• Running Costs: Although the software has a Community Edition that is available for free, serious businesses will want to go with the Enterprise Edition. This has all of the features you would expect from an eCommerce platform. However, the cost of this can vary greatly. The Magento website doesn’t give any concrete details on pricing, yet other sites have suggested that the Magento running costs could come in anywhere between a staggering $15,000 and $50,000 per year depending on the package you choose. These exorbitant costs put it out of the range of all but the biggest companies.
• Development Costs: The open source platform is coded in PHP. This makes it flexible and easy to customize. However, with this comes the need for constant development to keep up to date with industry trends. This is fine if you can code the site yourself, but can end up being costly otherwise.Magento developers are expensive, costing around $150-$200 an hour. Not only does it cost a lot, having to work with external developers can slow down the progress of integrating new functionality.
• Implementation Issues: Getting set up with Magento isn’t easy. If you’re inexperienced with the development and implementation of platforms like Magento, you’re going to have a hard time setting up your eCommerce website. This is a platform that definitely isn’t for the inexperienced user.

Given these issues, many businesses will look to alternatives to Magento in order to start or transition their eCommerce business.

A Magento Alternative: Independent Developers

For those who want to develop their own unique platform, it’s possible to turn to independent developers. This means that you can design a custom solution that is built to your exact specifications. Building from the ground up gives you room to tailor your back end systems and website to match your business. Many successful businesses have done this, and it’s a great way to innovate the industry and introduce new features. There are many companies that will deliver an independent solution that is built to match your business, and it’s a particularly tempting prospect for those with a new and unique business. Established CMS software and eCommerce platforms don’t always allow for companies that break the mold.

However, like any bespoke software, there are issues that can be encountered along the way.

Independent Developer Issues

Unfortunately, using independent developers isn’t always the ideal solution it may seem to be. Custom builds are often fraught with delays, unexpected issues, and unmet potential. Some of the most common issues encountered are:

• It’s Expensive: Creating a whole new platform just for your business can quickly become expensive. If you don’t have your own team of developers, you’ll be paying an agency high fees to create your perfect vision. It’s rare to see a project of this nature that comes in under budget.
• It’s Time Consuming: Expenses aside, it takes a while for anyone to develop a new platform. When using independent developers, it’s highly likely you won’t be their only client. Delays are common, and these setbacks can take you further away from launching your new site and making money.
• It Can Be Restrictive: Once you’ve got your new platform in place (and solved the many bug issues you’ll inevitably encounter) hopefully your business will thrive. However, when it comes time to expand, you may find it difficult to build upon your bespoke platform. It will take further time and expense to meet the needs of your developing business.

A Magento Alternative: Shopping Cart Elite

Professionals looking for a complete eCommerce solution should consider Shopping Cart Elite as the provider. Over the last 15 years, Shopping Cart Elite have continued to grow and innovate the eCommerce sector. Our ethos is to provide businesses with all the tools, help, and focus they need to create a website that consistently delivers results. We’ve worked hard to ensure that our customers have the freedom to express their unique selling points on our platform, without compromising on the functionality and integration they need to succeed.

The Shopping Cart Elite team is dedicated to providing a quick set up for a new website, whilst delivering all of the essential eCommerce features out of the box. Websites on our platform are fast, responsive, and constantly updated with the best and latest functionality. There are many aspects of our unique approach to eCommerce that make us stand out against the competition, and we feel this is what makes us such a good1caf Magento alternative.

Shopping Cart Elite Benefits

Below are some of the key areas in which our platform can benefit your business, regardless of the size or complexity:

• Fast Setup: Our dedicated team can deliver your new and completed site within 30 days. We know the importance of working fast and being responsive. That’s why we eliminate the grind and inconvenience that is so often associated with creating or migrating a website.
• Constant Updates: In the online sector, originality is vital. When we test new functionality for our clients and find it works well, we roll out the developments to our master templates so that all of our customers can reap the benefits. You’ll no longer have to wait for an external development team to deal with your request.
• Full Support: With the various support plans that we have available, you can rest assured any issues you encounter will be dealt with by a world-class customer service team. We go above and beyond to ensure your every need is met in a timely manner.
• Affordable Running Costs: There are often many extra costs associated with running an online business. At Shopping Cart Elite we have come up with a fair and inclusive price structure that allows clients of all sizes to thrive in their online space. You won’t be met with exorbitant monthly fees when you choose to do business with us.

A True Magento Alternative

From what we’ve explored in this article, it’s clear that Magento is a very powerful platform. However, it’s also clear that it’s not suited to every business, and that there are some very reasonable alternatives available. The team at Shopping Cart Elite is confident that we can deliver an effective and affordable alternative to any major eCommerce platform currently available. Our commitment is to giving our clients the flexibility, creativity, functionality, and support they need to build a website that is good for both your customers and your business.