As the e-commerce platform and technology landscape continues to evolve, many retailers and startups alike are left with the never-ending question of “What is the right technology stack for e-commerce today?”. There is no universal answer to this question, as technology stacks and platforms are not a one-size-fits-all solution.
Considerations for selecting a technology stack for e-commerce
There are many things to take into consideration when choosing a technology stack. Here are our top recommendations on the matter:
- Who is on your team: The first consideration is what talent you have in-house. If you have an existing technology team in-house and you’re not looking to completely replace them, your options can be limited in the path that you choose. There are adequate e-commerce platforms for most technology stacks. We are advocates for protecting your team and culture to support scale, so we recommend starting with your skillset in-house and working upwards.
- What is your sales model: Have you got a simple sales model with a basic e-commerce funnel? You should probably check out Shopify or BigCommerce, as your focus will likely be building your brand and marketing activities to drive sales. On the other hand, you might have a complex sales funnel, possibly subscriptions, and maybe direct-to-consumer and wholesale sales. Now this is Magento’s sweet spot. Any type of complex sales funnel or sale process will not be well-supported by a SaaS platform.
- How do you envision fulfillment: Do you need control over fields, statuses, and workflow in your e-commerce platform, instead of being in a shipping platform or ERP? You won’t go far with a SaaS platform here. Magento offers open-source technology with full customization capabilities.
- What is your budget: Budget is a major factor in the cost of building, maintenance and ongoing operation costs. If you’re not used to investing in ongoing support and feature development within an e-commerce platform, Magento may take a bit of time to get used to. Nevertheless, if you see technology as a critical path to growth within your organization, Magento is a good fit.
What’s in a coding language?
Nowadays, the coding language used by a person can tell a lot about them. PHP, Linux, .NET, Ruby, and other coding languages all have their advantages, but execution can supersede any technology stack. Each language and platform certainly has examples of large e-commerce sites with significant volume. If you’re looking to launch something that is global in scale and 100M in annual revenue or above, this is when the coding language conversation comes into play.
Magento’s unique history
Now that you know a thing or two about Magento’s benefits, you might be interested to learn more about its history. Though Magento, Inc. was created by an American company (Varien, Inc.) in 2007, the first Magento development company was established by Varien specifically in Ukraine (our region). Since the start of the platform, numerous Ukrainian developers and companies have flocked to it and made it the engine driving their work.
It should come as no surprise that to this day, Ukraine maintains one of the highest counts of Magento companies and developers, and can be called the Magento market leader in many aspects. We are incredibly proud to work with this innovative and convenient platform and contribute to its development. If you are considering building a Magento project or switching to Magento, feel free to reach out to us for a quote and more details on how we can achieve it.
