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Ecommerce platform

An ecommerce platform is the software an online shop runs on: it holds the products, shows them as pages, takes payment and records orders.

Also known as
  • Ecommerce software
  • Commerce platform

Lead developer

What it means

An ecommerce platform is the software behind an online shop. It stores the products, builds a page for each, runs the basket and checkout, and keeps the orders. Shopify and WooCommerce are two of them.

They differ in who runs them. Shopify calls itself “a cloud-based and hosted platform”,1 so Shopify looks after the software and the servers. WooCommerce is “the open-source ecommerce platform for WordPress”,2 an add-on for a WordPress website. The site can be hosted wherever its owner chooses.3

Each one holds product data its own way, so the same supplier file has to be shaped differently for each. Shopify ties a product’s rows together with a handle, while WooCommerce points each variation row at its parent.45

Think of it like this

It is like a shop building with the shelves and tills already fitted. You bring the stock and dress the window, and the platform provides the floor, the shelving and the checkout.

For example

The same kettle in three colours goes into Shopify as three rows sharing one handle, with Colour as the option. In WooCommerce it is a parent row of type variable and three variation rows, each naming the parent’s SKU.45

Why it matters

Your platform sets the rules every product file must meet: its column names, its required fields and its units. Shopify wants weights in whole grams,4 while WooCommerce reads a bare number in whichever unit the store is set to.56 Moving platform means reshaping the data as well as copying it.

Not to be confused with

A marketplace is a different thing. On an ecommerce platform you run your own shop, under your own name. A marketplace such as eBay or Amazon is someone else’s shop, where you list products alongside other sellers.

Sources

  1. Shopify. What Is Shopify and How Does It Work?.
  2. WordPress.org Plugin Directory. WooCommerce.
  3. WooCommerce. WooCommerce home page.
  4. Shopify Help Center. Using CSV files to import and export products.
  5. WooCommerce documentation. Product CSV Importer and Exporter.
  6. WooCommerce documentation. Products Settings.

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