Looking at the world of e-commerce one thing that jumps at you is how quickly things change and how difficult it is to stay ahead of the curve. Keeping pace with the latest technological advancements isn't easy but it's essential for businesses which want to stay competitive and attract new customers. The most important choice is the platform and the one you pick can either be of immense help or a complete stumbling block, which will only waste your time and effort.
Platforms galore
There's a number of shop platforms to choose from: Shopify, Shoper, WooCommerce, IdoSell, OpenCart, Volusion and many, many others. Choosing the right one isn't easy and usually requires a lot of research and a bit of trial and error. It definitely did in our case - we've been through them all! Recently to our surprise, we found a fresh e-commerce solution that finally had what we were looking for. E-commerce platforms provide good out of the box services, but most (if not all) have a lot of problems when it comes to customization. They usually handle this via some clunky workaround or band-aid solution that works so-so and often creates more problems than it solves like Shopify's liquid syntax (which almost everyone wraps with JS anyway). This often leads to numerous problems with customization, performance and SEO.
Setting up a shop quickly using some Wordpress-like platform isn't a problem. The real issues will keep popping up down the line since you're forced into the Wordpress ecosystem with all its benefits and all its many many flaws. It's quick and easy by design and it is meant as a one-size-fits-all solution, and when that 'one size' stops fitting you're going to be in trouble. From SEO, through mobile responsiveness and performance, everything will work so-so and improvements will be nigh impossible due to the underlying issues of the platform and the way it's built. That's why Vendure has attracted our interest - it offers far more flexibility than any other platform we've come across. Its developer-friendly approach allows for nearly limitless customization and creating a store that works just like you want it to without worrying about platform limitations or workarounds.
Developer friendly
Developer-friendly in the case of Vendure means relying on Node.js, TypeScript, and GraphQL while being fully open source. Node.js and TypeScript are industry standards when it comes to web development - they ensure high performance, scalability and better code quality. GraphQL is a backend technology that focuses on fostering better collaboration between frontend and backend developers while also greatly improving efficiency by eliminating the problems with over and under-fetching. With that combo working with Vendure as a dev is a breeze, especially in comparison with clunky cms-like tools known from other e-commerce platforms. Vendure's modular and extensible architecture allows businesses to tailor the platform to their needs, applying whatever customization features and functionalities they need and integrating with third-party services. If you want to check out an idea of what you can do with Vendure just check out our demo shop at shop.aexol.com
Vendure forth!
Even a quick look at the demo should give you a good idea of the lightning-fast performance of the store. That can serve as a glimpse of what you can achieve when developers are aided by the tools of the platform instead of being hampered by them and that's where Vendure really shines. Sure we could set up a demo shop using any other platform but it wouldn't be as fast or as easy to do and most importantly wouldn't be anywhere near as enjoyable to work on. So the simple question is why settle for a bland WordPress shop that will look just like everyone else's when you can set up something that will set you apart from the competition both in terms of look and customer experience?
We've got you covered
We're an official partner of Vendure and as you can see we quickly got a hang of its possibilities. We can also easily guide you through the entire process, setting up your store to be lightning-fast and easily scalable right from the start! Vendure's flexibility lets us adopt your design or create a unique one from scratch and integrate your store with whichever payment platforms or other third-party services you require. Whether you are embarking on a new venture or seeking to revitalize your existing store, Vendure's feature-rich platform, backed by real-life examples, is the solution to take your online business to the next level. Check out their official website to explore the possibilities and embark on the Vendure ecommerce journey - just remember to tell them you came from us :)