This guide identifies some basic strengths and weaknesses of several ecommerce platforms. It is intended for advanced users.
If you do not yet have a website with an ecommerce component or are considering switching your ecommerce platform, the following information is worth consideration. If you already have a website you're satisfied with, this guide will be of limited use.
For additional details, read our guide about aACE ecommerce integrations.
This review is not a comprehensive list of ecommerce platforms. The following three platforms are presented because aACE already has an integration with them. Note: You can deploy multiple online sales channels and aACE can download orders from each of them.
The pros and cons presented for each platforms also are not exhaustive. They focus on various aspects of each platform, given an order fulfillment process with aACE in the middle.
WooCommerce
Pros — Highly customizable; a large community of developers
Cons — Does not include a shipping component (I.e. When aACE marks an order as complete, it cannot send tracking information to customers.)
Shopify
Pros — Includes a shipping component (I.e. aACE is able to complete orders and send a notification with tracking information to customers.)
Cons — Not as customizable as some other ecommerce platforms
ReadyCloud
This solution is typically used in conjunction with the aACE+ ReadyShipper integration. ReadyCloud processes orders from most major ecommerce sites (e.g. 3DCart, Amazon, BigCommerce, eBay, Magento, Shopify, and WooCommerce), periodically querying these sites for new orders and downloading them.
Likewise, aACE can periodically query ReadyCloud for these new orders and download them. When the order is ready to be shipped in aACE, the details about the shipment are passed back to ReadyShipper.
Pros — Integrates with many more ecommerce platforms than aACE currently supports
Cons — Integrations focused on shipping orders (I.e. It does not take advantage of the full scope of the platform's API capabilities.)
Custom Web Store
Pros — Provides full control over every aspect of the web store
Cons — This would entail custom development and require a current support agreement. A rough estimate for completion can only be provided after the requirements are evaluated in detail.