Choosing the right e-commerce solution could make or break your business — in many cases, quite literally. It doesn’t matter whether you're an established company looking to streamline operations, or a new player aiming to hit the ground running — your choice of an e-commerce platform can significantly impact the growth trajectory of your business.
In this article, we look at two widely popular e-commerce solutions:
Shopify and
Sana Commerce. We sum up the benefits, features, interface, integrations, and other characteristics that you should consider before committing to an e-commerce solution.
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What Gives Pimics Authority to Provide Advice on E-commerce Solutions?
We’ve seen it all: Our background is built on extensive experience and years of hands-on involvement with both
Sana Commerce and
Shopify. Over the years, we’ve worked closely with numerous companies across various industries, helping them
streamline product data management by implementing Pimics as their PIM tool. Including
integration with e-commerce platforms.
Our deep understanding of the strengths and limitations of each e-commerce system, coupled with our track record of successful implementations, allows us to offer expert insights and guidance. Topped off with an
out-of-the-box integration of Pimics with both
Sana Commerce and
Shopify.
Shopify: Popular, Flexible, Customisable
The popularity of
Shopify is easy to prove: over 9 million of online stores have been created on the platform, with current 5+ million shops up & running. At the moment,
Shopify is present in 175 countries, and over 76+ million consumers worldwide purchased goods in 2024 from online stores powered by
Shopify.
The solution is renowned for its
user-friendly interface and exceptional
flexibility. Much-loved by
B2C businesses and
small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), it’s a great choice for those who prioritise design, value customisation, and general user-friendliness. Here are some of the most appreciated features:
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→ NOTE: If your company operates within the Microsoft ecosystem, you’d be happy to hear that
Microsoft and Shopify have joined forces a few years ago. That means integrating
Shopify with your business systems got easier, seamless and pretty much out-of-the-box. And Pimics uses this to our customers’ advantage.
Sana Commerce: Perfect for Businesses That Need Deep Integration with their ERP
Although
Sana Commerce is also perfectly usable as a B2C e-commerce solution, its customers tend to be
B2B businesses. It’s mostly due to its tight integration with ERP systems like
SAP and
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.
Here's where
Sana Commerce shines:
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Your Cheat Sheet for E-commerce Shopping
During our 20+ years of practice, we implemented Pimics at companies of various sizes, operating in numerous countries and industries. We humbly think that our summed-up experience might help you choose the most suitable e-commerce platform for your business — so we’ve put together the following cheat sheet to help you.
Before committing to an e-commerce solution, honestly answer the following questions:
1. What type of business model do you have?
- B2B, B2C, or both? Consider also the desired future outcome and how you would like to scale your business.
2. What’s your product range? Ever-growing, large, smallish?
- Do you have a large, complex product catalogue? Do your products differ in many attributes (sizes, colors, variations)? Sum up how you need/want to handle your product data and inventory.
3. What level of customisation do you need?
- How much control do you need/want over the look and feel of your website? Do you require custom features and out-of-the-box templates?
4. What is your current tech stack, what integrations do you need?
A crucial point. For instance, if your company runs on Microsoft products, implementing an e-commerce solution will get much easier if you choose one that already has an out-of-the-box integration with Microsoft. (Both
Shopify and
Sana Commerce do.
Sana Commerce ticks the box also for SAP users —
Shopify doesn’t.)
5. How complex are your business processes?
- Review and describe your processes — supply chain, inventory management, customer journey. Consider the nature of your internal systems (ERP, CRM, and others) and find out which available e-commerce solutions offer out-of-the-box integrations with the systems you’re using.
6. What’s your budget for initial setup and ongoing costs?
- How much are you willing to invest upfront in platform setup, as well as in maintenance and transaction fees down the line? Budget thoroughly (don’t forget to add a buffer), then look for a solution within your price range.
7. Do you see yourself scaling your business?
- If the answer is yes, you need an e-commerce platform that is easily scalable. Do you plan to expand to markets abroad? Choose an e-commerce solution that enables multiple languages and localisation.
8. How in-depth are your reporting and analytics requirements?
- Does the platform provide in-depth analytics for tracking sales, customer behavior, and inventory?
9. What’s your team’s technical expertise?
- Do you have in-house technical experts, or do you need a platform that’s easy for non-technical teams to manage?
10. What’s your plan for mobile e-Commerce?
- Does the platform offer responsive, mobile-first design to ensure a seamless experience for customers using smartphones and tablets? (Note: This point would most likely be relevant primarily for B2C businesses.)
11. How much stock do you put in security and compliance?
- Does the platform meet industry standards for security? Is it compliant with regulations like GDPR, AML, does it offer fraud prevention tools?
12. How well does the platform support customer experience features?
- Does the platform offer tools to personalize the shopping experience, recommend products, or offer live chat and other support features? (Again, this would be more relevant to B2C-oriented websites.)