There’s a phrase that pops up regularly on social media.
A photo with the accompanying comment “If you know, you know”.
Well, if you’re reading this, you probably already know that if you want a top-notch bespoke website with a bespoke CMS, then Umbraco is the way to go.
All the big boys and girls use it, and with good reason.
But you know that already.
But what if you want that customised, bespoke approach for your e-commerce website?
What if you want a unique online store that grabs the user like these do?
Well, read on, dear reader, read on because Umbraco e-commerce has all that covered too.
We’ve been developing websites since 1998 (you can see some of the latest ones here), so we know how to make the development of your Umbraco e-commerce website a success.
Umbraco e-commerce
As you probably know, Umbraco enables high-quality bespoke CMS.
That’s the core of Umbraco, a great CMS.
Because they believe in providing the best CMS platform for developers and businesses, the Umbraco CMS doesn’t come with e-commerce functionality built-in.
They’ve intentionally left the Umbraco e-commerce side of things to specialist companies to create Umbraco e-commerce packages and apps.
And because Umbraco have ensured their APIs are versatile and easy to use, with top documentation, it means you can easily integrate e-commerce functionality using Umbraco recommended e-commerce plugins and packages.
This means you get a fantastic, bespoke e-commerce website of the highest quality.
Umbraco e-commerce extensions
The Umbraco community is a clever bunch.
They’re not any old Tom, Dick, or Harriet.
They’re specialist companies creating and supporting Umbraco e-commerce platforms.
You’ll find a fair few eCommerce packages available from Umbraco. And the real tried and tested ones they group and refer to as apps.
And if there still isn’t one that ticks all your boxes, your friendly neighbourhood Umbraco developer can use the open Umbraco APIs to build your own integrations and custom features.
So, let’s take a look at a few of the most popular Umbraco e-commerce options.
Do note that with some Umbraco e-commerce packages, you’ll need to take into account what version of Umbraco you’re running or planning to run. Your developers can help you with this.
UCommerce
This is probably the most used e-commerce platform for Umbraco, first starting life over 10 years ago.
UCommerce follows the philosophy set by Umbraco CMS – easy to use, great support and scalable.
There’s even a free version of Ucommerce for Umbraco for the smaller store, and then you can upgrade along your journey as your business expands.
When you upgrade to the enterprise version, Ucommerce can, as Umbraco themselves say, support ‘complex projects with multiple stores, custom products, complex data, catalogs, pricing and currencies in an easy and friendly way’.
It has a built-in product management system, but can also integrate with most ERP, PIM, DAM and CRM systems.
Merchello
Merchello is a free, open-source package for Umbraco CMS which you’ll need to use Umbraco V7.
It’s a great option if you’re looking for something that can work straight out of the box with minimal configuration, using their ‘FastTrack’ default starter kit.
There’s plenty of functionality built-in like product options and variants, invoicing and orders, multiple currencies, discount coupons, etc. It gets super reviews from developers and website owners for its ease of use.
However, one big caveat is that at the time of writing it looks like Merchello isn’t being developed or supported anymore, so best to check with your developers for the latest on this option.
Tea Commerce
This is another popular Umbraco commerce option created by Outfield Digital.
It’s primarily aimed at Umbraco 7.x platforms.
One of the nice things about Tea Commerce is its simple admin user interface.
It uses the Umbraco content section, so you’ll already be familiar with the layout, functionality and processes that you’ll use to manage your products and categories, etc.
You can have a play with a demo at https://demo.teacommerce.net/ using admin/1234 to log in.
Vendr
Vendr is an Umbraco e-commerce option specifically aimed at the latest version of Umbraco i.e. Version 8+.
(It's also our preferred solution!)
It’s created by Outfield Digital again, so comes with plenty of experience and know-how.
And, once again, simplicity is at its heart.
It’s very powerful, but, like Tea Commerce, you’ll recognise many aspects of the layout and user interface from Umbraco CMS itself.
And, like Umbraco, you can tailor this Umbraco e-commerce plugin to fit your exact needs – it’s fully customisable.
It also plays very nicely with other Umbraco packages and connects with any payment gateway.
Conclusions
So, although Umbraco CMS doesn’t offer built-in e-commerce solutions as such, you can see there are plenty of Umbraco e-commerce options out there.
The great thing about this approach is that it offers specialist high-quality e-commerce packages, with versatility and variety to suit every business need and bespoke requirement you may have.
What should you do next?
You can read a bit more about our e-commerce web design offering here.
But, as you can imagine, these things are often easier to talk through in person (or a COVID-safe equivalent).
We can answer any questions you have, advise on the best route to take and hand-hold you through the entire process, from Umbraco site development to Umbraco e-commerce to hosting.
Just drop us a line at hello@intuitiv.net to get the ball rolling or give us a call on 01844 888 777.