“Examples: BigCommerce + Webflow or another CMS.”
“Best balance of flexibility and maintenance”
“Commerce handles products, inventory, orders, payments and checkout.”
“Low maintenance and future flexibility | BigCommerce + separate CMS”
“Trade-off: More integration work initially, but less infrastructure maintenance.”
“Example: WooCommerce + managed WordPress hosting.”
“You own more of the website, data and customization.”
“Huge ecosystem of plugins and developers.”
“Great integration with content marketing, SEO and blogging.”
“Can be extended with custom functionality.”
“Ownership and cost-conscious customization | WooCommerce + managed hosting”
“Trade-off: Plugin conflicts, updates, backups, security and performance need ongoing attention.”
“Examples: Shopware and PrestaShop.”
“Strong options for European retail operations.”
“More control over business logic and integrations.”
“Can support multi-language and multi-currency storefronts.”
“More room for specialized retail workflows.”
“Trade-off: More technical administration than a fully hosted SaaS solution.”
“Shopware in particular can become a substantial implementation project.”
“Examples: Medusa and Saleor.”
“Separate frontend and commerce backend.”
“Build the exact customer experience you want.”
“Connect ERP, CRM, CMS, marketing and other services independently.”
“Avoid being tied to one storefront framework.”
“Trade-off: Requires developers, deployment, monitoring and ongoing technical ownership.”
“Examples: Medusa and Saleor.”
“Separate frontend and commerce backend.”
“Build the exact customer experience you want.”
“Connect ERP, CRM, CMS, marketing and other services independently.”
“Avoid being tied to one storefront framework.”
“Long-term technical flexibility | Medusa + custom frontend”
“Trade-off: Requires developers, deployment, monitoring and ongoing technical ownership.”
“Example: Ecwid by Lightspeed.”
“Add a store to an existing website.”
“Hosted checkout and commerce functionality.”
“Relatively simple product and inventory management.”
“You can retain your existing website and brand experience.”
“Particularly attractive if you have a small catalogue and want to avoid rebuilding your website.”
“Trade-off: Less freedom to customize complex checkout flows or commerce functionality.”
“Examples: Shopware and PrestaShop.”
“Strong options for European retail operations.”
“More control over business logic and integrations.”
“Can support multi-language and multi-currency storefronts.”
“More room for specialized retail workflows.”
“Trade-off: More technical administration than a fully hosted SaaS solution.”
“Examples: BigCommerce + Webflow or another CMS.”
“Webflow or another flexible frontend”
“CMS handles brand storytelling, landing pages and editorial content.”