Choosing Between osCommerce Templates and Shopify Themes

It can’t be stated often enough: Your choice of e-commerce platform has a direct and significant impact on your business.

With the right platform, you can save on costs and make your operations more efficient. You can ensure your business is sufficiently scalable and flexible, allowing you to address the changing needs of your buyers. You can more effectively reach out to new markets and more customers. A good e-commerce solution plays a key role in making your store more visible and competitive, leading to increased profitability and growth for your enterprise.

If you have narrowed down your options and you’re now choosing between Shopify and osCommerce Templates, here are some considerations that will help you make your final decision.

Price. If you’re bootstrapping, osCommerce is an attractive option because it’s free and the templates are ready to use. Plus, it works with any host of your choice, so you can further increase your savings if you can find cheap hosting.

Meanwhile, Shopify is free only for the first 14-day trial. After that, you can use it under the monthly pricing package you have chosen which starts at around $9 per month.

While it’s easy to go for the free choice, it’s important to check first if the vital features you need can be more accessible (and turn out to be cheaper in the long run) if you choose the paid service.

Features. osCommerce has unique features such as the ability to add product attributes, an alert when you are already low on stocks, and a tool to help you manage your newsletters. Meanwhile, Shopify’s features allow you to manage many factors of your business under one platform, including your site design and content, affiliates program, customer data, SEO, on-site search tool, merchandise display and more.

Customer experience. Take a cue from today’s leading e-commerce sites: They’re easy on the eyes, smooth, and fuss-free to use. Customers today know that they can just easily transfer to competing brands if they encounter any difficulty while using their site, so they expect the experience you offer to be top-notch.

In this regard, Shopify is proven to be more reliable than osCommerce in helping you ensure a pleasant and efficient experience to visitors due to the following reasons:

- Shopify’s features and aesthetics are by default customer-centric, providing you more ways to make your online store safe, secure, and easy to understand and navigate for your customers. One of the best features you can take advantage of and offer in your site is the speedy checkout process and built-in security features – all crucial elements if you don’t want to lose the focus, interest or trust of your potential buyers.

Best of all, Shopify themes are mobile-friendly, unlike osCommerce templates. As you know, mobile shopping has long outperformed online shopping via desktop platforms.

- It’s possible to carry out some modifications with osCommerce, but the adaptations you can implement on the ready-made templates will usually need graphic design and programming knowledge to carry out.

Meanwhile, making your online shop more tailored to the needs, behaviors and preferences of your audience is simpler with Shopify’s app store and its drag-and-drop design. This system also makes your store easier and less time-consuming to manage, allowing you to pay attention and spend more of your resources to other equally important components of growing your business.

If Shopify is the right choice for you, we offer conversions from osCommerce (or whichever platform you use). Just contact us to get started. We will also give you an unlimited free trial, so you don't have to pay your monthly fees (in both places) until you are launched. You can keep that unlimited trial whether you work with us or not. If you want the regular 14 day trial, just click the banner below:

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