# Choosing the right ecommerce solution ## Which ecommerce platform is right for my business? At Engine Room Technology, we primarily deal with two ecommerce platforms, WordPress plus WooCommerce and Magento Open Source. Each of these has merits and is targeted to different market sectors. The following tips, though not exhaustive, may help guide you to the best ecommerce solution for your particular business needs. ### WordPress + WooCommerce The combination of the WordPress content management system with the WooCommerce ecommerce plugin offers an ideal entry-level package for an online store. It presents small-to-medium businesses the chance to develop a professional, feature-rich store at a relatively low cost - Simple installation and set-up - Designed for ease of use - Widely-supported minimum server requirements - Wide range of ready-made, customisable themes - Large choice of third-party extensions - Requires minimal tech skills to manage - Control the entire site & store from the WordPress admin - Open Source software - Not tied to a proprietary platform [WooCommerce Package](https://engineroomtechnology.com/web-design-development/ecommerce-development/#wordpress) ### Magento Open Source Magento Open Source is one of the most popular dedicated ecommerce platforms in the world and is trusted by many major brands for their online stores. It is a solution that has a higher up-front & recurring cost but returns dividends in performance, professional architecture, and extensibility. - Manage multiple stores from a single installation - Designed for heavy traffic & high performance - Database architecture dedicated to ecommerce - Native multi-lingual functionality - Multiple inventory locations - Designed to be extensible and suited to bespoke integrations - Customisable design - Open Source software - Wide choice of third-party extensions [More on Magento](https://engineroomtechnology.com/web-design-development/ecommerce-development/#magento) #### Pick Up An All-Inclusive ecommerce Package ## WordPress + WooCommerce Plan ## The complete, pay-monthly ecommerce service ### Everything you need to start an ecommerce business, for one low monthly price. Everything you need to start an ecommerce business, for one low monthly price. ### We provide the package, just add your products If you would like to get your business online, but don’t know where to start, this comprehensive starter package is for you. We provide the hosting, domain name and email, plus all the software, set-up and support to quickly establish your ecommerce presence. All you need to do is bring your product catalogue. We’ll get everything else set up for you, including payments, shipping and essential marketing. #### What’s included in our WooCommerce package… ### Professional Set Up Our WooCommerce package includes the installation of WordPress and WooCommerce, set up of PayPal or Stripe payment gateways, initial product import, and configuration of shipping rates and taxes. ### Premium Theme We install a market-leading premium theme that will give your site a professional appearance from the start. The theme also includes page-builder tools that make customisation and content creation a snap. ### Added-Value Extras With this, we bundle a valuable suite of plugins enabling you to import & export products, enhance Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and site speed, market your goods via social media and email, monitor performance with Google Analytics, and much more. ### Hosting, Domain Name & Email We take care of the set-up and ongoing provision of web hosting, domain name, and email service, all on our own servers at our UK data centre, and we’ll even provide a free initial consultation on SEO and digital marketing. #### The benefits of open source ecommerce software ## Why choose WordPress and WooCommerce? WordPress is a free, open-source content management system (CMS), perhaps the most popular CMS today. It’s written in PHP and uses a MySQL or MariaDB database. If the benefits of these technical details are not immediately apparent, then let’s clarify that you can host WordPress with most hosting providers. So if you’re not happy one place, you can move your site elsewhere. That’s not the case with proprietary systems like Shopify, Wix, Squarespace or the sites offered by Yell which are popular with businesses new to the web. While these platforms have their merits, they run on software which is copyrighted by these companies and as such cannot be transferred elsewhere. That of course means your site is tied to the platform and so if you want to move, you need to start from scratch. WordPress is easy to use, regularly updated, and has a huge choice of free and paid add-ons (known as plugins) to extend its basic features. One of these plugins is **WooCommerce**, which adds a full ecommerce store to WordPress. This enables you to publish and sell products online as easily as you would publish a blog post. All you need to do is add product information, photos, add a payment method (easily done with integrated PayPal and Stripe set up), shipping rates, and you can start selling online right away. As your business grows, this set-up can grow using either some of the plug-ins that add functionality to WooCommerce itself, or through bespoke integration. Whichever path you take, we can be there to support you every step of the way. ### ecommerce Packages ###### Recommended ## WordPress & WooCommerce From £2750 - Premium Responsive Design - Secure Payments - Unlimited Products - Custom Domain & Email - Web Hosting* - SSL Certificate - Merchandising Support - Search Engine Friendly - SEO Tools - Multiple Channel Sales ###### Enterprise Option ## Magento 2 £ASK - Bespoke Responsive Design - Secure Payments - Unlimited Products - Custom Domain & Email - VPS Hosting* - SSL Certificate - Merchandising Support - Search Engine Friendly - SEO Tools - Multiple Store Fronts - Dedicated Project Manager - Conversion Optimised - Stock Management - Bespoke Shipping Modules \* 1 year hosting included with package price, renews at applicable rate in 2nd year. #### Why choose Magento for your ecommerce store ## The Power of Magento Magento 2 comes in two editions. Firstly, there's **Magento Open Source**, which is a free, open-source product that can be hosted on any compatible web server. Then there's a commercial product, **Adobe Commerce** (formerly Magento Commerce) which offers a larger feature set and can optionally be hosted in the cloud by Adobe as a SaaS package. Pricing on the latter remains somewhat opaque, and support is provided via Adobe and certified partners. Engine Room Technology are expert Magento web developers and as such, we provide a complete hosting, development and support service for Magento Open Source. We believe that this is an ideal platform for businesses who wish to take their ecommerce website to the next level. It strikes a balance of cost versus performance and functionality, gives our customers access to personalised support and creates the opportunity for extensive customisation tailored to business goals. To get an insight into whether or not Magento ecommerce development is the right choice for your business, we might consider some of the features of Magento Open Source and see if these coincide with your objectives. Magento's architecture, and particularly its database structure, is entirely designed for ecommerce, rather than being an add-on to a content management system. Magento is designed for high performance under heavy load with the ability to handle high volumes of simultaneous transactions. Support for multiple inventory locations (e.g. stock in different shops or warehouses) and multiple languages are offered as standard as native features. Multiple stores can be run from a single installation of Magento with no need for extensions. However, a wide range of extensions and themes are available to add extra functionality. Magento is intended to be fully extensible and customisable, both in visual design and in functionality. Therefore it lends itself to bespoke development such as integrations with third party systems. If these sound like features that meet your requirements, contact us today for a no-obligation discussion on how we can help with your Magento 2 development. #### Integrate your ecommerce store with payment and warehousing for added efficiency ## Added-Value ecommerce Development Services [**Ecommerce Payment Integration**](https://engineroomtechnology.com/web-design-development/ecommerce-development/ecommerce-payment-integration/) Effective payment gateway integration is essential for all online retailers, and is a key part of a successful ecommerce site where ease of use, security and customer reassurance are all paramount. [**Ecommerce Stock Integration**](https://engineroomtechnology.com/web-design-development/ecommerce-development/ecommerce-stock-integration/) We have extensive experience in the integration of ecommerce stores with warehousing, distribution, stock handling, accounting and EPOS systems, including bespoke solutions.