These days, there’s almost no limit to the number of eCommerce platforms you can find online to help you build an effective, profitable business. As the digital world continues to grow, and more people do their shopping online, endless vendors have appeared to help companies from all backgrounds build a store in a matter of minutes.
OpenCart is just one example of the kind of products you can use to build your sales environment. This open-source ecommerce platform is free to use, and it allows anyone to scale a business immediately. There’s even access to a dedicated community that helps you get the support you need to grow. So, is OpenCart a food eCommerce platform? Let’s find out.
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The Pros and Cons of OpenCart
One of the best things about OpenCart is the fact that it’s an open-source service. This means that you don’t have to pay for accessing the functionality you need to build your site. Instead, you can focus your budget on things like OpenCart SEO, marketing, and developing your digital brand. You can find guides on the best OpenCart SEO strategies for beginners online in no time.
OpenCart is a suitable solution for building an international eCommerce presence, complete with plenty of reports and metrics where you can track your most loyal customers and manage your store at the pace that suits you. However, OpenCart can be more complicated to use for people who want a full hosted experience. The solution is often seen as too lightweight for some bigger companies.
Pros:
- International eCommerce functionality is available for bigger brands
- You can find reporting and metrics to help you guide your investments
- Data filtering is available for your reports
- Easy to manage your store with customizable back-end modules
- Payment gateway options to choose from, including PayPal and Sage
- You can choose the shipping method that suits you with tons of partnerships
- Dedicated technical support and community guidance is available
- Many of the add-ons and plugins for OpenCart are free to use
Cons:
- Open-source solutions aren’t always ideal for people who want to spend less time working on their site, and more time working on their company.
- Importing your inventory list can be complicated, and without help, you might have canonization issues with your SEO.
- The system is a little lightweight for some growing companies who need access to an advanced or highly scalable service.
Should You Use OpenCart?
There are plenty of different platforms out there for ecommerce companies. Deciding which solution is right for you means thinking about your needs carefully. If you want the freedom to adapt and customize your site at the pace that’s right for you, then OpenCart is a great choice. It comes with access to tons of helpful features, as well as a great community with dedicated technical support. If you’re a fast-growing enterprise company with a lot of unique demands, however, you might need to work with a solution that’s a little more advanced. You might also want to stay away from OpenCart if you don’t want to deal with hosting your service yourself.
