As a marketing decision maker of your lifestyle brand, selecting the right eCommerce platform is crucial for your business’s success. With multiple options available, it can be challenging to identify which platform will best serve your brand’s needs.
Top 5 Ecommerce Platforms
- Salesforce Commerce Cloud
- Shopify
- Shopify Plus
- Adobe Commerce
- Woocommerce
We will focus on customization, pricing, maintenance, integrations, and layouts to help you make the most informed decision possible for your lifestyle brand.
Salesforce Commerce Cloud
Formerly Demandware
Demandware, now known as Salesforce Commerce Cloud, is a cloud-based ecommerce platform that allows businesses to create and manage online stores. It provides a suite of tools and features to help businesses create personalized shopping experiences, optimize product merchandising, and streamline the checkout process. For example, this platform was chosen by luxury fashion brand Jimmy Choo.
Customization
Demandware, now part of Salesforce Commerce Cloud, is a highly customizable platform. It offers a comprehensive set of APIs and robust developer tools, making it possible for your team to create a unique and tailored shopping experience for your customers.
Pricing
As an enterprise-level solution, Demandware operates on a revenue-sharing model, meaning you’ll pay a percentage of your sales as a licensing fee. This can be a double-edged sword, as you’ll need to carefully weigh the benefits against the costs, especially if your business experiences significant growth.
Maintenance
Demandware’s cloud-based infrastructure ensures a high level of security and automatic updates. This means you won’t need to worry about server maintenance and can focus on your core business. However, you might require a skilled developer or agency to maintain your custom integrations and features.
Integrations
With its extensive API library and strong partner ecosystem, Demandware provides seamless integration with 1000+ third-party applications, including CRM, ERP, and marketing tools. For tasks that require assistance, Workato, among other platforms, can provide solutions.
Layouts
Demandware supports a wide variety of responsive layouts and themes, allowing you to create a visually appealing and consistent shopping experience across multiple devices.
Shopify
Shopify is a cloud-based ecommerce platform that has revolutionized the way businesses sell online. Founded in 2006, the platform was created by a group of entrepreneurs who wanted to sell snowboards online but found the existing ecommerce platforms too complicated to use. Today, Shopify has grown to become one of the leading ecommerce platforms, with over 1 million businesses using the platform to sell their products and services. Shopify has proven to be a popular choice for many successful businesses, including Kylie Jenner’s Kylie Cosmetics and Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty.
Customization
Shopify is known for its user-friendly interface and easy-to-use templates. While customization options are available, they might be limited compared to other platforms, especially if you require advanced functionality.
Pricing
Shopify’s pricing model is tier-based, with plans starting at $29 per month. This makes it an affordable option for small to medium-sized businesses. As your brand grows, you can easily upgrade to a higher plan.
Maintenance
Shopify is a fully-hosted platform, meaning they take care of server maintenance and updates. This ensures a reliable and secure environment for your online store. Additionally, Shopify’s extensive app store offers a vast range of plugins to extend your store’s functionality.
Integrations
Shopify offers a large number of native integrations and apps, covering everything from marketing to inventory management. However, keep in mind that using too many apps can slow down your site and may lead to compatibility issues.
Layouts
With its wide variety of pre-built templates, Shopify makes it easy to create a visually appealing online store. The platform also supports custom layouts, but advanced customization may require the help of a Shopify developer. One fortunate aspect is that they have an extensive network of experts who can assist in resolving virtually any issue.
Shopify Plus
Shopify Plus is a cloud-based ecommerce platform designed for high-growth and enterprise-level businesses. Launched in 2014, Shopify Plus has quickly become a popular choice among big lifestyle brands, including Gymshark or Allbirds. In fact, during Black Friday Cyber Monday 2020, Shopify Plus merchants collectively sold over $5.1 billion worth of products, setting a new record for the platform.
Customization
Shopify Plus is an enterprise-level offering from Shopify, designed for larger businesses and high-growth brands. With enhanced customization options and access to Shopify’s powerful API, you can create a more tailored shopping experience.
Pricing
Shopify Plus pricing starts at $2,000 per month, making it a more expensive option than the standard Shopify plans. However, the increased flexibility and scalability may justify the investment for larger brands.
Maintenance
Similar to Shopify, Shopify Plus is fully-hosted, ensuring a secure and reliable environment for your online store. The platform also offers priority support, giving you access to dedicated account managers and technical support.
Integrations
Shopify Plus offers exclusive integrations and apps, specifically designed to accommodate the needs of enterprise-level businesses. These include advanced analytics, multi-channel selling capabilities, and global expansion tools.
Layouts
With Shopify Plus, you’ll have access to a wider range of premium templates and custom design capabilities. This allows you to create a visually stunning and highly functional online store that aligns with your brand’s identity. If you remain committed to the development process, you can connect with specialized experts, similar to what Color and Code offers.
Adobe Commerce
Formerly Magento
Adobe Commerce (formely Magento) was launched in 2008, Adobe Commerce has since become one of the most popular ecommerce platforms, powering over 250,000 websites worldwide. An interesting fact is that Magento was acquired by Adobe in 2018, and has since been integrated with Adobe’s Experience Cloud to provide a more comprehensive ecommerce solution. Helly Hansen and Land Rover are among the many high-profile brands that have chosen to use Adobe Commerce as their ecommerce platform.
Customization: Adobe Commerce is an open-source platform, giving you complete control over your online store’s appearance and functionality. With a vast range of plugins and extensions available, you can tailor your store to meet your unique requirements.
Pricing: Adobe Commerce offers a free Community Edition, which is suitable for small to medium-sized businesses. For larger brands, the Adobe Commerce Pro is available at a starting price of $22,000 per year. This version provides additional features and support services. If you were to compare it with Shopify, this platform offers a downloadable report.
Maintenance: As a self-hosted platform, Adobe Commerce requires you to manage your server environment and updates, which can be time-consuming and require technical expertise. Additionally, you may need to invest in ongoing development to maintain custom features and integrations.
Integrations: Adobe Commerce’s extensive library of plugins and extensions allows for seamless integration with various third-party applications, such as CRM, ERP, and marketing tools. However, some integrations may require developer assistance to implement and maintain.
Layouts: Adobe Commerce doesn’t have too many themes and layouts. Advanced customization may require the help of a Adobe Commerce developer or agency.
Wordpress Woocommerce
WooCommerce is a powerful, open-source ecommerce plugin for WordPress that has become a popular choice for businesses looking to create and manage an online store. Launched in 2011, WooCommerce was developed to seamlessly integrate with WordPress, offering a flexible and customizable platform for online merchants. Today, WooCommerce powers millions of online stores, providing a robust solution for businesses of all sizes. Notable lifestyle brands using WooCommerce include the the fashion retailer Root Science, XXX
Customization
WooCommerce is renowned for its extensive customization options. As an open-source platform, it allows developers to modify every aspect of an online store, making it highly adaptable to any business’s unique needs. With thousands of themes and plugins available, you can create a store that truly reflects your brand’s identity and functionality requirements. Furthermore, advanced users can leverage hooks and filters to customize functionalities, while less technical users can utilize page builders like Elementor or Beaver Builder to design their site with a drag-and-drop interface.
Pricing
One of the most appealing aspects of WooCommerce is its cost-effectiveness. The core plugin is free to use, making it an excellent option for businesses on a tight budget. However, additional costs may arise from purchasing premium themes, plugins, or hosting services. Despite this, WooCommerce remains a flexible and scalable option that can grow with your business.
Maintenance
Unlike fully-hosted platforms, WooCommerce requires you to manage your own hosting, updates, and security. This provides greater control over your online store but also means that regular maintenance is necessary to ensure optimal performance and security. Although, using managed WordPress hosting providers like WP Engine or Kinsta can offload some of the maintenance burdens by offering automatic updates and enhanced security features.
Integrations
Since a bespoke platform is built to your specifications, it can be designed to integrate seamlessly with any existing systems or third-party applications. For payment gateways, WooCommerce supports popular options like PayPal, Stripe, and Square, allowing for flexible payment processing. Shipping integrations include services like ShipStation and UPS, which streamline order fulfillment and tracking.
Layouts
With a bespoke platform, you have complete control over the design and layout of your online store. This allows you to create a unique shopping experience that stands out from the competition.
Conclusion
Selecting the right eCommerce platform for your lifestyle brand involves carefully weighing the pros and cons of each option. When making your decision, consider the factors discussed above. Demandware and Shopify Plus cater to enterprise-level businesses, while Shopify and Magento are more suitable for small to medium-sized brands. A bespoke platform offers the highest level of customization but may come with additional maintenance and cost considerations.
To make an informed decision and choose the best ecommerce platform for your lifestyle brand’s growth and success, it’s important to understand the nuances of each eCommerce platform. For example, if you want to learn more about webshop functions, you can click on the link to gain a better understanding of the features offered by each platform.
