20 reasons to switch to osCommerce. Reason 2 - Hybrid Ecommerce platform

[osCommerce-Official]

Day 2 of 20 of posts why I think osCommerce is the platform businesses shall consider switching to, or using straight away. So far it is easy to write, as there is so much information about osCommerce features and solutions I'd like to share. There is already a list of 20 post themes in my Google Keep, and many more could be added there but let's do the first 20 first.

 

Hybrid Ecommerce - it is my reason #2 to choose osCommerce. We have come up with this name ourselves, and would like to explain what it means for team osCommerce.

 

There are at least two types of Ecommerce platforms out there (perhaps many more, but for us these two are the most important ones) - open source Ecommerce and SaaS Ecommerce (EaaS). Open source examples are old osCommerce, Magento (Adobe commerce), ShopWare, X-Cart, Zencart, Open cart, Woo commerce, and more. SaaS are the likes or Shopify, Big Commerce.

 

Open source is great for people who like to dig into the software and change stuff. If you have code knowledge, are a developer, like to change and customise - open source is great for you. Ahh, one more - open source is often free. Or starts free and then offers special Pro versions, support, etc 

 

SaaS is different as it is closed code model, not open for customisations. It is the same code base that is used for all of the customers. You can surely customise the design and content, and add. 3rd party apps via hooks or API. But the system is a bit rigid and you depend on what the owners think how it should be developed further. 

 

One of the benefits of SaaS Ecommerce is that you get updates automatically as soon as they are released. With open source Ecommerce you have to update to the new version yourself, which becomes a lengthy time- and cost-consuming process. 

 

Now, the beauty of osCommerce is that it kind of combines both open source Ecommerce and SaaS Ecommerce in one platform. That's thanks to the effort of the amazing development team behind it. People thay have been creating Ecommerce websites and solutions for the last 20 years, who learnt personally the good and the not so good ideas in that time. We call it Hybrid Ecommerce. 

 

So osCommerce is and will be open source. You can look into how it is made. You can add things. Modify existing apps or modules. We do not recommend modifying the core. But there's nothing that stops you from changing everything else. Since it is hybrid, osCommeece can update itself to the latest version almost automatically (yes, you'll need to press a button or two). This part works as if it was SaaS, although it is the SaaS Ecommerce that you get free of charge and can look into! There is the App shop too, which allows searching for free and paid apps. Apps are open source too, but you don't need to install them yourself - the App Shop "SaaS" interface does it for you. 

 

Thats the beauty of Hybrid Ecommerce approach we implemented in osCommerce - that it takes the best of both worlds and gives it to you!