What Is Craft Commerce and Why it's Our Top Pick for E-commerce Websites

By Ferryn Xenakis
Feb 21, 2020

What is Craft Commerce?

Craft Commerce was created by Pixel and Tonic, the same guys that created our favorite content management system, Craft. We’ve been using Craft CMS to custom build websites for clients for a while. And when we heard about Craft commerce, we knew it was going to be a top-notch eCommerce platform.

Craft Commerce uses the flexibility of Craft CMS to build user-friendly, intuitive, and powerful eCommerce solutions.

So if you’re looking for a made-just-for-you eCommerce solution, then we would love to talk to you about how Craft CMS can help you build a rich eCommerce experience for your customers while being easy to manage for your team.

We are a boutique website design and development agency based in the Fort Worth, TX area, and we’ve been custom designing websites since 2005. If you need an innovative eCommerce solution in El Paso, TX, Baton Rouge, LA or anywhere else in the US, give us a call today at (214) 225-2011 to see how your eCommerce business can benefit from Craft Commerce.

How does Craft Commerce support your eCommerce needs?

An easy to use and intuitive admin control panel

If you find yourself needing to make changes or updates on your eCommerce site, then you’re going to love Craft Commerce’s control panel. It easily allows you to make simple changes and updates to your store’s content like contact information or if you would like to upload weekly blogs without having to call a developer every time, saving you time and money. And what store owner couldn’t use a little more time and money?

Cost of Craft Commerce versus Shopify

While eCommerce platforms like Shopify may seem like cheaper options at a glance, think again. Depending on the level of functionality and customization you need for your store, the cost of apps can add up quickly.

Below are some of the functionality that can cost you extra in Shopify.

  • Reviews and customer feedback apps
  • Theme and page layouts
  • Rewards or loyalty programs
  • Subscription options
  • SEO add-ons
  • 1-click upsells

So let’s say that you start with the Shopify basic plan that costs $29 a month because you think you only need basic functionality like product pages, shopping cart, and a home page. However, as you get deeper into the project, you realize you would like a little more creative control and need some additional functionality.

You purchase a few add-ons and hire someone to custom code some templates for you and before you know it, you’ve spent more money than if you had paid a custom eCommerce developer to build a website with a CMS like Craft Commerce.

Platforms like Shopify have their place, and we are happy to help you with your Shopify store if you already have one or think your business would benefit from one.

But if you aren't sure what the best eCommerce platform for your specific needs are, give us a call today at (214) 225-2011 for a free consultation.

Customer Support

As we mentioned, Craft Commerce is owned by Pixel and Tonic, and they are known for excellent customer service. Craft Commerce has unlimited support that is fast, super helpful and easy to access.

We realize that having that little bit of extra added support can be the difference in your experience with managing your eCommerce store, so we know this is a big plus for a lot of eCommerce store owners.

At Rocket Park, we are always here to help you. But if you prefer to do your own website maintenance, then having great customer service on your side is a game-changer.

Easy and intuitive integration

Craft doesn’t have themes, and we love it for that. It means that we can create something that is uniquely coded for your specific needs. So you can pick and choose the features that will aid your business rather than trying to rework a theme that just doesn’t fit for what you need.

Craft Commerce has a plethora of plug-ins that integrate seamlessly. So you can optimize for things like SEO, create easy check-out flows with customizable shipping and tax options, and add popular payment gateways with ease.

A platform that uses Twig coding language for a natural-behaving website

You don’t need to know a lot about coding languages to see the benefit of being able to code components of your website in a logical way. Coding in Twig creates a site that responds naturally, meaning that you can expect it to behave the way it should, which can’t always be said for other CMS or eCommerce platforms.

Coding with Twig allows us to build you something intuitive even if the project is robust and complex. This gives your site visitors a better user experience for increased conversions and sales.

Craft Commerce platform perfectly bridges content with your eCommerce store

Is content a part of your eCommerce strategy? If not, you might want to reconsider it. Content helps build authority and strengthen relationships with your potential customers, giving you a competitive advantage over other stores that are popping up around every (virtual) corner.

And the Matrix fields inside of Craft gives you a great way to structure your long-form content so you can create an ultra customizable and flexible page assembly structure. This makes it easy to create well-developed and structured eCommerce content quickly and easily.

So if you’re looking for a platform that allows you to build the perfect store while making it easy to host content, then Craft Commerce is a great option.

Flexibility

If you think your eCommerce store will grow and evolve, it’s imperative to have the flexibility of a carefully thought out architecture on your eCommerce platform.

Unfortunately, other eCommerce platforms can make it complicated to change your online store as your business needs grow and change. But with Craft Commerce, you are dealing with one of the most customizable platforms out there, making adjustments to your store easy breezy.

So if you need to add new products, create discounts or maybe even feature a subscription option later on down the road, you can do that with little to no hassle.

How Rocket Park can help with your eCommerce needs

Do you have an eCommerce store or need to build one that has complex functionality?

If so, Rocket Park can help.

We love to build custom eCommerce solutions to help your online store thrive. And we hope that this article has given you some insight that will help you make an informed decision about the best development strategy for your online store.

And if you think your eCommerce store could benefit from using Craft Commerce, contact us today to see how we can help your store convert more site visitors into fans and increase sales.

Innovative eCommerce solutions for your unique business needs because no one wants a cookie-cutter eCommerce store.