Top 8 Most Popular eCommerce Platform Integrations
The growing popularity of online shopping is increasing the complexity of online retailers’ business operations and, consequently. Software providers who propose their services to e-retailers must have the ability to integrate their solutions with eCommerce platforms and have access to the data stored in those platforms. The information needed includes orders, products, shipments, customers, baskets, taxes, etc.
Retailers can choose from a number of platforms and marketplaces when setting up their online stores. However, the question is which of the major eCommerce platforms software providers need to choose for integration primarily. The choice of an eCommerce platform is not simple, as various criteria must be taken into account. The location of online shops’ owners, the functionality of shopping cart software, and popularity among customers are all important considerations.
Integration with eCommerce Platforms
eCommerce integration is the process of tying your app or software with those of external shopping platforms such as Magento, Shopify, WooCommerce, etc. The integration allows you to access data from your clients’ online stores and process it within your software. This includes the product, shipment and order data, customer, and other information.
For example, if your clients use Shopify and you are running a repricing software for them, it is essential for your solution to have an integration with Shopify. So that you can access the data from Shopify in order to update prices and perform other operations.
No matter what kind of software for e-retailers you provide, you have to develop the connection with shopping platforms your clients use.
The process of integration with multiple platforms can be slow and costly. It requires platform investigation, integration development, and further support and upgrades. Therefore, you should choose the best platforms for connection with them or find a service that will help you provide this process more effectively.
Most Popular eCommerce Platforms for Integration
- Shopify
Shopify claims that it is the best eCommerce platform and has over 1,500,000 active stores. Most of these merchants are based in the United States, with Canada coming in second.
Shopify provides a high-quality service at an affordable price. e-Store owners choose it for its built-in marketing tools, tech support, and access to automatic shipping rates. Shopify supports more than 50 languages.
The integration of your app with Shopify means that you can dramatically increase your clients’ number. It is also a good option if you are targeting the USA market.
However, the Shopify integration process is not without its challenges. For example, it can take approximately one month to integrate with Shopify’s API (Application Programming Interface). Additionally, Shopify releases a new API version every three months, and changes in the API can affect your software’s integration with the platform.
2. WooCommerce
WooCommerce powers more than 30% of all online stores. It is an open-source eCommerce platform built on WordPress, with a customer base of 3,000,000+ people. WooCommerce allows selling different types of goods for free and for a fee: physical products and digital downloads, monthly subscriptions, or bookings for services.
WooCommerce has multiple API versions. What does it mean for developers? Every time new version of this eCommerce platform appears, developers need to make the changes in their code. Consequently, it requires a lot of effort and time. It is difficult to build the integration with the oldest and the newest WooCommerce APIs at one go. However, it is a must-have as store owners that are using the earliest WooCommerce versions may not have a desire or the means to upgrade. So, if you want to satisfy all WooCommerce e-store owners, you need to have a smooth connection with all its API versions.
3. Etsy
Etsy is a popular e-commerce platform, especially among the dropshippers. Its main clients are those who sell vintage items and handmade crafts. The platform allows uploading up to five images for each item and adding video. It provides detailed statistics to its clients.
Statista reports that more than 2 million sellers from 234 countries list goods for sale through Etsy.
Even though the Etsy API provides an easy-to-use RESTful interface, it takes from 4 to 6 weeks to integrate it with your software, and highly experienced professionals are often required.
4. Magento
Magento, with over 250,000 store owners using it across the globe, provides an open-source platform for eCommerce. It offers customizable design, a great number of product attributes, product comparison, etc.
The difficulties in integrating with Magento can be connected to EAV (Entity-Attribute-Value) database model, 40+ various tables containing product and category information, and data import issues.
5. OpenCart
With 7 years of experience and 350,000 satisfied store owners, OpenCart is a leading eCommerce platform. With 120,000 stores in the USA, 13,000 stores in the UK, OpenCart has a worldwide presence.
The integration of your software with OpenCart will require significant time, energy, and money. It is also necessary to learn the basic architecture of OpenCart. There are a few versions of this platform.
6. PrestaShop
PrestaShop enables users to create online stores quickly, allowing them to use multiple payment options and detailed analytics. It is available in 45 + languages and can be set up in a few minutes. More than 260,000 store owners are already using PrestaShop to power their stores.
The following countries use PrestaShop the most: Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Australia, and Canada.
By integrating with PrestaShop, you can increase your client base and expand your software sales.
7. BigCommerce
BigCommerce is an all-in-one eCommerce solution. It is popular with small to medium-sized businesses. More than 90,000 e-stores from 65 countries use the BigCommerce platform. The product provides customizable design themes, professional SEO tools, and abandoned cart saver features, among others.
BigCommerce has detailed documentation for its API, but the process of integration with it is not as simple as it seems. Integration requires strong technical experience and expertise.
8. CS-Cart
CS-Cart has a good position in the eCommerce market for more than a decade, and in that time, 40,000 stores have been built on its platform. Its customers appreciate the platform’s drag-and-drop user interface and wide variety of themes featuring various payment methods.
CS-Cart has a mobile app for Android and iOS systems. It also allows users to conduct business in foreign currencies.
CS-Cart has a RESTful API, four methods for viewing and modifying objects, detailed API documentation for experienced developers, and a dedicated support team.
Conclusion
To succeed in the B2B software market, you can integrate your application with the eCommerce platforms we’ve listed above.
In order to integrate your software with any eCommerce platform, you must consider the technological complexity, the size of your budget, and the amount of time that it will take for your developers to develop the connection. However, there is a solution that can help you avoid these difficulties.
API2Cart offers a unified API, which allows you to integrate more than 40 eCommerce platforms in one go. This list includes Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, OpenCart, and PrestaShop. All you need to do is connect your application with API2Cart and enjoy the result. You will be able to work with all the data required from your clients’ stores — products, orders, shipments, customers, baskets, and so on. Moreover, you won’t need to deal with the shopping platform integration support and maintenance as API2Cart takes care of this for you.
