E-commerce sales are projected to reach $6.3 trillion globally by the end of 2024. With online shopping becoming a dominant force, choosing the right platform for your e-commerce store is crucial. Drupal Commerce stands out as a leading solution for building versatile e-commerce platforms. With its powerful customization capabilities, seamless integration options, and focus on scalability, it offers businesses the tools they need to create feature-rich online stores.
I'm Nazanin Ghasemi, a marketing expert at OPTASY with over five years of experience in digital marketing. Today, I’m exploring the key features and strategies of building powerful e-commerce solutions using Drupal Commerce. To gain deeper insights, I interviewed several experts from OPTASY: Adrian Ababei, CEO and Expert Drupal Developer; Mihael Shumelov, Project Manager; and Mark Yuasa, Business Analyst.
Their experiences and perspectives will help illustrate why Drupal Commerce is a compelling choice for businesses aiming to create scalable and effective e-commerce platforms.
Key Features of Drupal Commerce
Drupal Commerce is a powerful e-commerce solution that offers extensive flexibility and scalability. It is built on top of the Drupal framework, which allows for deep customization and integration with various third-party systems.
By leveraging Drupal Commerce, businesses can build tailored online stores that provide a seamless shopping experience for customers.
In this section, we’ll explore the core features that make Drupal Commerce a compelling choice for e-commerce businesses.
Adrian shared that Drupal Commerce offers a highly flexible set of modules for e-commerce development. "Drupal Commerce is very complex. The commerce set of modules can build almost anything you need," Adrian noted. He highlighted that one of the strengths lies in its extensibility—it is highly customizable based on the specific requirements of each project.
Mihael added, "Drupal is known for its ease of integration with third-party systems, security, and extensive content management capabilities. For e-commerce businesses, key features include third-party payment integrations, compare basket functionality, media support for customizable storytelling, product catalogs, and personalized shopping experiences." He emphasized how these capabilities make it ideal for providing a seamless user experience and detailed control over product offerings and customer engagement.
Custom E-Commerce Stores Built Using Drupal Commerce
Drupal Commerce has been used to create a wide variety of e-commerce solutions, each tailored to meet unique business needs. This flexibility makes it possible to adapt the platform for everything from standard online stores to highly specialized projects.
Here, Adrian and Mihael share their experiences in developing custom commerce stores.
Adrian shared some success stories of custom commerce solutions they've built: "We’ve built a few custom commerce solutions using Drupal for the Maple Leafs and Toronto Raptors owners. Additionally, we maintain a module called Auctions, which allows users to create auctions on their websites and integrate Drupal Commerce functionality to sell their products through auctions."
Mihael mentioned that his experience has focused on integrating complex listings, comparing tools, and connecting with market tools like Salesforce and Google Analytics. He stressed that Drupal Commerce can be used to build more than just basic e-commerce platforms. "It’s about creating an entire digital experience that encompasses everything from marketing to sales," he explained.
Payment Gateway Integrations
Integrating payment gateways is a crucial aspect of building an e-commerce platform. It ensures that customers can easily complete their transactions in a secure manner. OPTASY's experts discuss their approach to integrating various payment gateways with Drupal Commerce.
When integrating payment gateways, OPTASY focuses on understanding the client's specific needs.
Adrian said, "First, we analyze the gateway. If there is no existing contributed module to integrate the API, we create a custom module to build the functionality." He also mentioned that clients often dictate the choice of payment gateway based on their bank accounts and financial needs.
Mark also highlighted the importance of security when dealing with payment gateways: "We approach payments with great care because of legal and liability concerns. The best way to handle payment information is to offload responsibility to trusted gateways like Square or PayPal, which have built-in encryption and security." He emphasized that this approach avoids storing sensitive information on the website, thereby reducing liability and enhancing security.
Optimizing Drupal Commerce Sites for Conversions
Conversion optimization is a critical goal for any e-commerce business. By making the user journey as straightforward as possible, businesses can ensure a higher conversion rate and improved customer satisfaction. Mihael and Mark provide insights into how they optimize Drupal Commerce sites for better conversions.
Mihael emphasized the importance of simplicity in the user journey. "We advise our clients to keep the user path as short and as clear as possible. Imagine you are a visitor and you see three call-to-action buttons on a page—it’s not clear what you need to do," he said. Mihael continued, explaining that the process should be straightforward: "Check out a listing, add a product to the cart, and proceed to checkout. Simplicity is key for increasing conversions."
Mark added that using rich content to attract potential buyers is another effective strategy. "You can integrate products and sales closely with other content types on the website. Things like tutorials, product reviews, and video features help to convert curious browsers into customers," he said. The ability to merge informative content and sales into a cohesive experience is one of Drupal Commerce's major strengths.
Mobile-First Approach in Drupal Commerce
A mobile-first approach is essential in modern e-commerce, especially considering the growing number of users who shop using their mobile devices. Drupal Commerce supports this approach, ensuring that e-commerce websites provide an optimal experience on mobile devices.
Mihael explained that developing with a mobile-first approach requires specific considerations for Drupal Commerce projects.
"When developing a Drupal website, we need to pick a theme that works well when switching from desktop to mobile. We ensure that our content specialists are fully prepared to utilize responsive themes." He stressed the importance of optimizing performance for mobile, such as using image optimization techniques like WebP formats, lazy loading, and implementing caching strategies. "Strategies like image compression, advanced aggregation, and caching help improve site performance and ensure a seamless experience for mobile users," Mihael added.
Mark agreed, noting that mobile responsiveness is crucial as "the vast majority of users, especially outside of North America, use mobile first." He mentioned that leveraging trusted third-party payment gateways familiar to users, such as PayPal or Stripe, also helps create a better mobile shopping experience.
Multilingual Capabilities
The global nature of e-commerce means that businesses need to cater to diverse audiences across different languages. Drupal Commerce provides robust multilingual support to help businesses achieve this goal.
Adrian pointed out that Drupal 10 has multilingual capabilities built into its core, and Drupal Commerce leverages this functionality. "All the custom solutions we build are multilingual. We can create content in any number of languages that the client requires," he explained. This makes Drupal Commerce an attractive option for businesses targeting diverse customer bases across different languages and regions.
Best Practices for Businesses Considering Drupal Commerce
Before adopting Drupal Commerce, businesses should consider their specific needs and objectives. OPTASY's experts provide some advice to ensure a successful implementation.
Mihael's advice for businesses is to start by understanding their requirements thoroughly before jumping into development.
"Don’t just start building without a plan. Make sure you know what you want. You can always extend the project later, but start with a solid foundation," he said. He used an analogy to explain the importance of planning: "You can build a second floor that’s as big or slightly bigger than the first floor. But if your first floor is too small, you can’t suddenly build a 1,000-square-meter addition on top of it."
Mark added that businesses should consider the type of products they are selling, the variations they need, and whether they want to run promotions.
"Drupal Commerce offers robust support for product variations and promotions. You can start with a simple setup and add functionalities like discount codes or buy-one-get-one offers as you grow," he explained.
Conclusion
Drupal Commerce offers a robust platform for businesses looking to build customized, scalable, and secure e-commerce solutions.
With its extensive integration capabilities, strong multilingual support, and focus on providing a streamlined user experience, it is well-suited for a range of e-commerce needs—from traditional product sales to unique functionalities like auctions.
OPTASY's experts emphasize the importance of starting with a clear plan, leveraging third-party payment gateways for security, and optimizing the user journey for simplicity and effectiveness. Whether you are a large enterprise or a growing business,
Drupal Commerce can be tailored to fit your needs, providing both flexibility and a rich feature set to help your e-commerce store thrive.
If you're looking for a Drupal partner that can adapt to your needs and keep your project on track, contact us today.
