What is an E-Commerce Template?
An E-commerce Template is a ready-to-use framework for building an online store. These templates include essential visual and functional elements such as product pages, shopping carts, and user accounts. With a template, you can launch your store quickly without needing to build everything from scratch. Some popular E-Commerce Template platforms include Shopify, WooCommerce, and Wix.
What is Custom E-Commerce?
Custom E-Commerce is an online store that is designed and developed to meet your specific business needs. This approach provides a highly flexible and personalized platform tailored to your business processes.
This approach is ideal for businesses experiencing rapid growth or already established in the market. For example, Hijup, a pioneering Muslim fashion e-commerce brand in Indonesia, was founded in 2011. As the brand gained more popularity in 2019, customer demands and transaction volumes surged. To handle this growth, Hijup needed to customize its design, integrate an ERP system for inventory management, and enhance the user experience, especially during major sales events.
By leveraging e-commerce, Hijup is not only improved operational efficiency but also boosted its sales conversion rate by 25% within a year.
Advantages
Source: commsult's Digital Assets
Disadvantages
Comparison Between E-Commerce Templates and Custom E-Commerce
1. Customization
Template: This option is limited to the features available in the template. It is suitable if you need a quick solution without extensive customization.
Custom: Offers maximum flexibility to create a shopping experience tailored to your business needs.
2. Implementation Speed
Template: Fast and practical. Your business can start selling within days.
Custom: Takes longer to develop from scratch. However, the final result is fully customized to your needs.
3. Cost
Template: More affordable as it uses a pre-existing solution. (range)
Custom: Requires a professional development team. (range) However, it is a long-term investment that can yield significant benefits.
4. Features
Template: Limited to basic features provided by the template provider.
Custom: All features can be customized to fit your business needs, including unique integrations, customer personalization, and an enhanced checkout experience.
5. Scalability
Template: Limited by the platform's structure, making it difficult to scale as business needs grow.
Custom: Designed to grow with your business and is flexible enough to accommodate future demands.
6. Design
Template: Tends to be uniform, as many other businesses use the same template.
Custom: Unique and aligned with your branding, creating a memorable visual experience for customers.
7. Technical Management
Template: Easy to use with technical support provided by the platform.
Custom: Requires an internal or external IT team for technical management.
Similarities Between E-Commerce Templates and Custom E-Commerce
Despite their differences, E-Commerce Templates and Custom E-Commerce share some similarities:
1. Main Objective
Both aim to create a platform for selling products or services online.
2. Technology Support
Both use web-based technologies such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. They also support integrations with payment gateways, logistics systems, and other essential features
3. Ease of Access
Both are online-based and accessible from various devices, including desktops, tablets, and smartphones.
4. User Focus
Both are designed to provide an optimal user experience (UX) for online shoppers.