E-Commerce Software & Shop Systems in Comparison

Definition: What are shop systems?

Shop systems enable businesses to offer physical or virtual goods for purchase to their visitors. For this purpose, visitors of the shop are shown the entrance and landing pages and of course all articles as lists and on detail pages. In addition to these information pages, the main functions are the ordering process and the management of the user account. In the back office – the control console of the shop – content, articles, orders and users are managed. Depending on the scope of the overall architecture, individual systems can be outsourced, for example a PIM that only manages the article information. 

Why should companies use shop software?

If you as a company want to sell your products: Then grab some shop software. Of course, all features of the shop can be developed in-house, but this is usually only worth it for a range of functions as large as required for corporate businesses or when licensing costs would be higher than in-house development.

Keep in mind: The shop software is the virtual version of what the traditional brick-and-mortar store used to be. It is therefore an essential part of your company and not just the intern's project. Therefore, when setting up your shop, you should look for a solution that suits your needs today and your goals for the next 2-3 years. 

Large shops are actually impossible to organize without an appropriate webshop system. They offer, among other things, a broad product (information) management system, establish the connection to the most important payment services and merchandise management systems, facilitate multichannel sales, and have SEO tools on board.

What types of shop software are there?

In general, there is a distinction between SaaS solutions, Open Source shop software, and Enterprise solutions.

• SaaS solutions often offer the entry into your own shop. Without much effort, you can set up and set up your own shop on a website. SaaS solutions offer a simple and proven application in the back office and a standardized frontend. For beginners, SaaS solutions are optimal because they also offer flexible cost accounting, usually tied to turnover or product quantity.
• Open Source shop software is ideal if there are other applications in use within the company that are connected to the shop. Open Source systems are installed on a server and can be extended as desired. Prefabricated plugins offer countless possibilities. The advantage is that theoretically all functions are possible, whether in the user interface or in the connection of other systems. However, too many plugins are not always compatible and programming knowledge is necessary to create functions.
• Enterprise solutions are ideal if you are already making online sales and your shop needs more functions. Here you can expand in all directions, you can even become a marketplace provider, export your products back and forth and sort them. When setting up enterprise solutions, you should definitely be able to access development resources to cover all requirements. A sufficient budget for the setup should also be included in the budget.

Meanwhile, the boundaries between the three areas are blurring: SaaS providers offer customizable versions, open source solutions can be converted to enterprise, and enterprise solutions offer beginners easy access via SaaS. This expands the possibilities for the operators – but does not necessarily make the selection of the system easier.  

One special solution still needs to be considered: the plugin shops. You already use WordPress or have your website at WIX? Here you also have e-commerce plugins and options available. These are great as an addition to the existing shop or if your website primarily serves another purpose. 

What functions should one pay attention to when choosing the right shop system?

Which shop software represents the best solution in the respective company context depends on many individual operational factors. However, the shop system should fulfill the following requirements in practically every case.

Customer-side usability

An online shop can have many and perhaps very special features – but if customers cannot find their way around when surfing, high sales cannot be achieved. Therefore, it is extremely important that the shop system offers a good usability approach. The shop should be precisely tailored to the expectations of your own target group. The basis for this are a clear and detailed product presentation and a clear, understandable navigation.

Search and filter

The more items a shop combines, the more difficult it becomes for customers to find the desired product. A search function and filters help with orientation. Basically, all e-commerce platforms offer such features, but the quality differences can be enormous depending on the shop system. A thorough test is therefore recommended here.

Payment systems

The payment options a shop offers today play a major role in its acceptance. If the payment method preferred by customers is not available, they are likely to leave the shop again without having placed an order. Most shop systems have interfaces to the major payment service providers. However, not all platforms offer all payment methods. So it is important to find out whether a targeted shop software supports the services favored by the respective target group.

Inventory management system

Just as important as an interface to the appropriate payment systems is the one between the shop system and the inventory management system. After all, customers should be able to find out in real time whether the desired products are currently in stock or when they will be back in. Therefore, it should be checked beforehand whether a connection of the inventory management system to the online shop software in mind is possible.

Multichannel

If retailers plan to launch an online shop in addition to the stationary business, then the possibilities of networking the local shop with the e-commerce platform should be considered. A mix of different channels brings many advantages today. In particular, customers love to check the availability of products online and then pick them up directly in the store. Multichannel is not a standard in shop systems, however.

Mobile optimization

The share of products ordered via smartphone and tablet is increasing from year to year. In addition, the multichannel sales, mentioned in the last paragraph, can only fully unfold its advantages if the online shop brings optimal mobile added value. Therefore, it is necessary that an e-commerce platform offers the best conditions for mobile use of the shop operated with it.

Marketing

Marketing is extremely important on different levels so that a shop effectively stands out from the crowd. Accordingly, when choosing a shop system, attention should be paid to which marketing functions are on board out of the box or which can be added: Is it possible to create coupon codes? Are there interfaces to price and product search engines, such as idealo or Google Shopping? Or is there an automated connection to other sales channels, such as Amazon or eBay? These and other questions need to be asked - depending on marketing requirements.

SEO

Today, customers primarily start their product research via Google. The shop should therefore be easy to find there. For this, specific SEO (search engine optimization) measures need to be taken. This can mean a lot of effort - but luckily most shop systems are quite well positioned in terms of SEO. They generally offer search engine-friendly architectures and provide various important features for integrating keywords or for ideally aligning product pages.

Legal security

Even before the GDPR, the legal requirements for shop systems in Germany were very high. The European data protection regulation has added additional urgency to this issue. Since many shop systems come from the United States, there can be problems here and on other legal levels. The online shop software should meet or at least permit retrospective adjustment to the following legal compliance requirements through extensions:

• The price labels of products must be made with specific VAT information.
• The button labels during the ordering process must meet legal requirements.
• Terms and conditions and the right of withdrawal must be actively acknowledged and confirmed by the customer before the purchase is completed.
• A complete and correct imprint must be present.
• The privacy policy and the handling of user information must meet the requirements of the GDPR.

This list, of course, does not constitute binding legal advice.

With most shop systems, an online shop is legally safe to align. As an operator, you should not waive legal advice.

What do shop softwares cost?

With basic tools like Shopify, the licensing costs for beginners are very low and are less than €50 per month. In return, however, the platform wants a percentage of the turnover. This is an exciting model if you don't know your sales yet or if they will be low at the beginning. Enterprise models like SAP, Spryker or commercetools can cost up to several hundred thousand euros in license fees per year, but they also provide an immense range of services and support.

Comparing the cost of the shop systems available for selection is, of course, very relevant to finding the suitable program. Depending on whether an agency is commissioned, which takes over the design and maintenance of the shop, or if everything is done in-house, different costs are incurred. Some systems are indeed easy to use and even allow lay people to create a first class shop. These solutions, however, usually carry one-time costs or also monthly fees. Furthermore, it must be calculated that a shop after the launch needs permanent maintenance and optimization in order to be able to provide long-term success. This of course does not work without financial expenditure either. An open source software is generally completely free. However, getting an optimal result with this always means a lot of effort. Often such systems can not be launched and operated completely independently. Whether a company can go its own way or requires support depends largely on its own competences or the manpower in the company, the digital helpers integrated in the shop system and the scope of the e-commerce project.

How do I set up a shop?

If you have decided on a solution with your own hosting, the first step is to provide the servers and set up the software according to your hosting concept. As the topic of hosting with preview and live environment and backup is a topic in itself, we leave this topic out at this point.

Once you've set up your shop, you can work on these points:

• Create users: Who works with you in the system and has access to the back office. Your colleagues may also need training. Tip: Always create at least one other user who is familiar with the system. This will ensure you're covered if someone falls ill.
• Determine skinning: Your shop should look good, of course. Most programs offer a variety of very good templates that you can import, so you don't need any separate design. If the look of your brand is important to you and you want your shop to stand out from the crowd, an individual design that reflects your brand is a must.
• Create products: a shop without articles - in the back office, articles are created in categories and with their existing features.
• Payment provider: Paypal, credit card, invoice - depending on what you want to offer your users as a means of payment, the choice falls on a different provider for the payment solution.
• Landing pages: Landing pages, such as the homepage or pages for special areas of application, make it easier for users to get directly to the appropriate products.

And then you can already start promoting your shop.

How do you choose suitable shop software? What should you pay attention to?

The best way to start is by writing down your requirements for the shop. This should include:

• Product quantity and assortment
• Expected sales figures
• Systems to be connected
• Amount of languages/countries
• Special requirements or wishes.

Now, compare this list of basic information with the available shop systems. The rankings provide a good orientation as to which systems are particularly popular and work well. Many providers are also directly approachable at trade fairs and events, so you can present your concept there and directly compare the suitable solutions. When purchasing a shop system, pay attention to its functionalities, expansion options, and of course to the set-up and follow-up costs.

Also useful is to look in service provider directories or developer platforms: This way you can see which providers are available who can set up the shop for you or optimize it later.

What requirements must shop software meet?

The presentation of products and the management of orders and users is given in every shop system. In addition, functions and plugins are available for almost every use case:

• Multi-client systems: If you want to create multiple front-end shops with your products from one system, pay attention to this functionality.
• Marketplace capable: Many systems offer the possibility to open your own marketplace so you can offer articles from other providers on your site. This way, you provide the system and benefit when others sell via the platform.
• Interfaces: Depending on the other IT systems you already have in use or are planning, it is worth taking a look at the API (interfaces) that the systems offer as standard.
• Subscription: Subscriptions are becoming increasingly popular, meaning customers order once and you deliver the products at regular intervals. The shop takes care of the timely payment processing and the information to the shipper.
• Content: A good shop not only contains items, but also plenty of information about the use of the products and services. This content is also very relevant for search engines. So make sure that the content is easy to maintain or that a separate CMS can be connected.

In which areas/departments can shop software be used?

Often, a company's internet presence falls under the responsibility of marketing, and the shop is provided from there. Often, however, the shop is also seen as part of the technical infrastructure and is located in IT. But the solution that the sales department opens up another channel and launches a shop is not rare either. In larger companies, there is usually a separate eCommerce department that does not belong to any of the areas mentioned and can focus entirely on the shop and the users.

These are popular shop systems and web shop softwares:

• Shopify and Shopify Plus

• WooCommerce (based on Wordpress)

• shopware

• Spryker

• ePages

• Adobe Commerce Cloud

• JTL Shop

• spreadshop

• PlentyMarkets

• OXID