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description=We examine the pros and cons of both proprietary and open source ecommerce platforms and which is right for your business...;

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Text of the page (random words):
drink 3 fraud 1 fulfilment 4 games workshop 1 gdpr 1 gifting 16 gisela graham 2 global ecommerce 17 global ecommerce awards 1 godiva bearings 1 google 5 google analytics 2 google chrome 1 google tag manager 2 hair beauty 3 hansaworld 1 health nutrition 8 health supplements 3 healthspan 6 homeware 7 horticulture 4 industrial supplies 1 integration 3 it 12 jewellery 1 kerridge 1 kestronics 1 krm building supplies 1 longacres 4 loyalty 7 magento 1 magento 2 2 marketing 12 marketing merchandising 4 mcadams 1 merchandising 5 mfa 1 microsoft dynamics 365 business central 1 microsoft dynamics ax 1 microsoft dynamics gp 2 microsoft dynamics nav 5 monkey office 2 mozilla firefoz 1 multi channel ecommerce 9 multi site ecommerce 2 my account 2 napit 4 national technology awards 2 nutrition 1 office outlet 3 office supplies 1 omni channel 1 omni channel retail 18 onsite 1 on site search 2 on site social commerce 1 onsite support 1 order in store 2 order management 1 order rules 1 orderwise 2 packaging 2 packaging online 1 payment 5 personalisation 6 pet family 8 pet supplies 9 petfamily 1 pets corner 3 pim 6 pme cake 5 ppe 3 pricing 2 prima 1 product bundles 1 product categories 1 product recommendations 4 promotions 4 pulsin 1 quotation management 2 recommerce 1 red technology 1 replatforming 1 responsive web design 9 retail ecommerce 10 retail systems 8 retail tech insights 3 rubinacci 2 rwd 7 safety 4 sage 200 6 sap 1 sap business one 4 sass belle 5 schema org 1 scribbler 1 security 3 seo 2 shopify 1 silmid 3 sme news 1 something different wholesale 6 sorting 2 sports nutrition 7 stateside skates 1 stock in the channel 1 subscriptions 6 tactical ecommerce 1 tax 1 the craft company 1 tieva 1 tradeit 41 tribal pet foods 1 triggered email 4 tropicana wholesale 9 uk digital excellence 1 ultimate industrial 1 ux 13 vat 1 version 8 0 0 5 vetvits 1 we pet 1 webinar 2 westcoast 5 whitehill tools 1 winman 2 winsor newton 2 wish lists 2 woocommerce 1 zeus packaging 1 latest articles red shortlisted for b2b website of the year at the 2026 ecommerce awards for onsite support when ecommerce becomes a competitive advantage saas vs paas ppe suppliers better service is what retains clients designing b2b customer experience beyond checkout why b2b customer portals are now critical for winning and servicing public sector education it contracts choosing the right online order management system packaging suppliers social login for ecommerce how single sign on improves conversion experience and trust electrical trade ecommerce why is it important for growth in 2026 red technology wins bronze at 2025 ecommerce awards for b2b excellence with napit occastore launches scalable b2b ecommerce platform with red technology insights proprietary vs open source ecommerce software which is right for your business friday 16 november 2018 it s a question we are often asked and a question for which there is no right or wrong answer the decision comes down to what is best for the user s requirements their business needs the importance of the ecommerce function to their business expected growth their budget and their required roi what is proprietary proprietary software is computer software for which the software s publisher or another person retains intellectual property rights usually copyright of the source code but sometimes patent rights what is open source open source refers to a product or service whose design blueprint or code is free to use and modify pros and cons of proprietary vs open source ecommerce software let s look at some of the pros and cons of both proprietary and open source ecommerce software proprietary with a proprietary solution you tend to be dealing with the developers of the platform so will have more influence over your entire ecommerce eco system it s likely you ll have a single point of contact for all design development integration training hosting and support meaning you have far greater control and stability as a result any issues will be far easier and quicker to resolve this is vital for sites that are processing a significant number of orders and transacting large amounts of money pros of proprietary knowledge and protection of code base means sites are more secure because they are developed in a controlled environment by a concentrated team with a common direction this team is the only group that can view or edit the source code deep knowledge of own code means integration with third party software is often easier upgrades are handled by the vendor tend to have complete access to the core code to make changes upgrades allowing easier functionality development and solutions tailored to exact client requirements able to handle a large number of visitors and transactions more scope to expand and grow without expensive upgrades or replatforming platforms can scale in line with businesess and through additional channels or modules international multi brand b2b retail avoiding the pain and expense of changing platforms once you have outgrown them often a single point of contact for entire ecommerce operation including design development implementation training hosting support and integrations although this might not be true of lower end solutions functionality designed for non technical users making sites easy to manage and requiring much less developer input despite the increased sophistication 24 7 365 support and maintenance is just a call away vital for mission critical software cons of proprietary code is locked so can be at the mercy of the development company although some can open up code for local access and customisation by external developers initial cost can be higher but what you get in return is a more customised product from a trusted brand higher levels of security and functionality continuous innovation greater scalability ongoing training and support and a lower requirement for technical skills if you have to move it requires a whole new rebuild re platforming project although this is more than likely the same for open source software in reality open source the main benefits of open source ecommerce are the easy access to the base software wide range of documentation plethora of developers though not always good ones library of third party plug ins and the potential lower cost of entry pros of open source lower cost of entry in theory with the right resources and or technical personnel open source platforms can be managed in house to gain more control numerous agencies developers familiar with most of the popular technology stacks to choose from overseas agencies can potentially offer lower costs for development although it might be difficult to gather references assess quality of their work and manage the project wide network of extensions plug ins and add ons readily accessible and usually at a low cost quality may vary considerably though a good offering for small business ecommerce needs due to lack of complexity and functions code is available to everybody so there is more scope to develop further functionality although this is not co ordinated in a structured way free online knowledge base through various community blogs forums q a s cons of open source fewer standard features limited functionality particularly in low end versions no upgrade path improvements are piecemeal as components are improved over time designs layout often limited to standard templates or themes which look like thousands of other sites limiting your ability to stand out higher security risk open source by definition means the code is available to everybody including hackers this can become a real issue if sites are not regularly patched with security updates penalties for security breaches are understandably severe negative pr and loss of customers from such incidents can be potentially ruinous you may need to manage multiple agencies third party vendors as you will need expertise for database web server and application level components or manage all of these in house which will increase costs considerably multiple plug ins are resource hungry and can make the site slow unresponsive and clunky most offer very poor functionality for b2b ecommerce without numerous bolt ons even enterprise versions lack key b2b tools agencies don t have access to the core code and are still reliant on the actual software owner to upgrade that users are potentially at the whim of the software owner to upgrade see recent decision by magento to force all users to upgrade to magento 2 which is a full rebuild standard of agencies and developers varies greatly many agencies outsource development to off shore companies with non english speaking staff to reduce costs but this often involves more time and resource negating any potential cost savings getting support can be a challenge more sophisticated functionality such as advanced advertising promotions personalisation ai and content management are not often available or easily handled particularly in low end platforms additional functions often include hidden costs or require paid for bolt ons integration with other systems can be a challenge without an experienced and knowledgeable partner potentially not suitable for bigger solutions higher data transactions and large number of visitors changing agency supplier isn t as easy as just switching the site across most agencies would look to use their own code designs integrations rather than use your existing ones although software is billed as potentially free the cost of designing building maintaining supporting and hosting the solution will not be unless you do it all yourself but even that has some costs there are hidden perils when dealing with developers who don t and never will have access or control over the core code specifying requirements and development can be far more time consuming and costly as a result of this approach in summary for a very small start up retail company or one man band a basic proprietary system that works straight out of the box and requires very little maintenance or responsibility is probably the cheapest and quickest route to market the vendor takes care of hosting ensures transactions are pci compliant and monitors tests network security which means the merchant is responsible for far less if there is some technical knowledge within the company then open source might be the best route in this instance as it is potentially cheaper and may be more customisable at this basic level but most will opt for a simple but inflexible proprietary system like shopify or bigcommerce if a business is slightly larger they are either likely to use an agency to build their site for them or try and build it in house with their own developers using the agency route they are liable to be at the whim of their agency as to what platform to use unless they have a specific preference beforehand otherwise it s likely to be one that the agency is most comfortable building on the one they regularly use or the only one they know rather than a straight choice between proprietary and open source some agencies only build on one platform where as others will build on several different ones so may advise clients which is the most suitable for their needs but this may also dilute their knowledge taking this route may mean you actually have to manage multiple agencies third party vendors as you will need expertise for database web server and application level components in order to gain the most control or at least the perception of most control and seem like they are saving the most money they may decide to build their own site in house employing a development team and managing their own hosting and support in this case it s probably more likely they will build their solution using open source software as that is more widely used and there s more people to choose from in terms of employing their own developers as a business grows ecommerce is likely to take on a larger function so the reliance on open source software becomes greater and the risks of using it security lack of support inability to scale become far less attractive this is also the case with b2b ecommerce businesses which aren t well catered for by open source software at this point when you need more advanced or sophisticated functionality more complex proprietary solutions will be the logical choice as they are more likely to be functionally richer and can often be tailored to a merchant s exact needs due to their flexibility sites should also be quicker more secure and perform better as code is optimised and enriched rather than including layers of core code agencies customisations and any plug ins or bolt ons on top of each other when moving into enterprise level ecommerce nearly all businesses will opt for a proprietary or bespoke solution as their businesses will be heavily dependent on the software and can t afford any issues it ecommerce directors will tend to choose well known and proven platforms from global brands such as ibm oracle or sap due to the scale of their operations support and service offered they are also willing to pay the additional costs for these services for the peace of mind they provide to their business need help deciding which solution is right for your business contact our team of ecommerce specialists today for a one on one consultation ecommerce tradeit ecommerce platform magento 2 ecommerce platform digital storefronts mobile application content management search recommendations ecommerce marketing punchout connect dropship integration commerce orders integration hub ecommerce cloud services ecommerce solutions retail ecommerce b2b ecommerce dtc ecommerce b2b ordering portal omni channel retail global ecommerce multi channel ecommerce subscription ecommerce ecommerce solutions for erps ecommerce for 365 business central ecommerce for sage 200 ecommerce for sap business one ecommerce for microsoft dynamics nav ecommerce for 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