Would you settle for out-of-the-box functionality and still dare to “dream big”? To aim at above-the-average conversion rates on your Drupal ecommerce site?
Or are you determined to go beyond the “by default” set of features and to supercharge your online store with some extra power, too? With a couple of additional Drupal 8 ecommerce modules, as well?
And it's only then that you'll feel entitled to hope for “truckloads” of online shoppers!
Now if the second scenario best fits your strategy, then you must probably be slightly overwhelmed right now as you dig through the wide array of modules for Drupal ecommerce sites.
How do you avoid “stacking” non-essential Drupal 8 modules on your website? How do you filter them and “extract” only the “bare essentials”, the ones that shouldn't miss from your ecommerce site if you have big plans for it?
You use our list here below for sorting them out, that's how!
1. Drupal Commerce
Take it as your site's transition from a basic online store that pretty much just... takes orders, to a fully-fledged, feature-rich and perfectly equipped ecommerce “machine”!
And this “transition” is actually made possible thanks to a heavy “arsenal” of features and functionalities that the Drupal Commerce module supercharges your site with.
Let's list just the most notable ones of them:
- it enables you to have multiple payment gateways
- it integrates social media
- it comes with mobile responsiveness capabilities
- it enables you to display international currencies
- it empowers you to create product types having tailor-made attributes
- it grants your web designers more freedom
- it's PCI compliant (your servers won't ever store your customers' credit card details)
- it makes “joggling with” dynamic product displays possible
And the list is actually a never-ending one. It's a multi-purpose, “Swiss army knife” type of module (or “cluster” of sub-modules?) that covers all aspect related to:
- products
- orders
- customers
- payment processing
If you dare to go big, to build out a large-scaled website, to go international, as well, then this module shouldn't miss from your own “arsenal” of essential Drupal 8 ecommerce modules!
2. Ubercart
Now if you want to start small (right away) and grow big, then Ubercart makes the perfect Drupal e-commerce solution for your strategy!
It will help you get your basic shopping cart system up up and running in no time! Take it as a basic online shop “kit” that you can assemble hassle free!
And when we say “online shop” we do refer to a wide variety of ecommerce industries that a Ubercart-powered website can serve:
- digital downloads
- selling physical, shippable goods
- subscription billing services
… and it's ideally easy to administer it, as well!
Once you've set up your online store, you get to instantly “harness its power”, to use the entire plethora of Ubercart features at its full potential:
- manage products and orders
- keep track of your stock levels with a simple mouse click
- create configurable product catalogs
- incorporate your favorite payment system (and even add a whole “bunch” of them, that your customers can choose from)
- generate product and customer reports
- add multiple images to each one of your products
- set up an automatic organizer for your items
- display shipping quotes
Note: by far the most notable Ubercart feature is the one-page checkout functionality. And we all know to what extent a simplified, just-a-few-steps check-out process can positively impact UX and, therefore, the sales, too, right?
3. SEO Checklist: One of the Must-Have Drupal 8 Ecommerce Modules
So let us recap! You want:
- a module that should instantly supercharge your site with all the needed functionality that would turn it into a powerful sales-generating “machine”
- another Drupal module that could help you set up your store hassle free, providing you with all the needed features in the form of a kit to put together
Yet you'd end up with nothing but a “deserted” site, that no one would visit (for no one would know about it) if you didn't have your on-page SEO in place, right?
And since “SEO” sure means a never-ending “to do” list, what more convenient way to take care of your ecommerce site's SEO than by actually... checking off a list? A functional list presenting you with all the tasks you need to carry out!
Guess-working is out of question, maybe hiring a team of SEO “gurus”, as well, and venturing all by yourself into the “deep see of SEO possibilities” doesn't sound like a strategy. Therefore, installing and leveling this module's “convenience” and superpower is a must!
Haven't you “sprinkled” enough (proper) keywords across your piece of content? Have you entered the right title tags? Have you chosen a riskily lengthy title?
When in doubt, let the SEO Checklist module show you the right way to optimize your site!
When you've missed to complete a certain SEO task, the same module will instantly signal it to you!
Moreover, it's regularly updated! So, you don't need to worry about being left behind Google's algorithm changes. Your list of tasks to check off will get automatically adjusted to those changes!
Note: not only that your SEO checklist “warns” you about the wrongly completed or missed tasks, but it enables you to keep a close track of your work, as well. To closely monitor your progress!
Take it as more than just one of the indispensable Drupal 8 ecommerce modules: take the Drupal SEO Checklist as a “handbook” including all the best SEO practices that ensure you a place right into the spotlight on the search engines' stage!
4. Adsense
Thinking of running Adsense adverts on your Drupal 8 ecommerce site? There's a module for that!
Practically what Drupal Adsensde module does is providing you with the needed “kit” of add blocks that you can then easily move around and display on your site to your liking. It even enables you to point out the roles that it should disable those ads for!
Note: do keep in mind that you'll need to sign up with Google Adsense first things first, before you go ahead and trigger this module's functionality on your site!
5. Currency
Now let's go back to your “go international” plan! You're now facing a whole plethora of challenges, ranging from “going multilingual” to... displaying your product's prices in each one of your visitors' currency, right?
Well, you know there's always a module in Drupal for pretty much every functionality you need. And currency is no exception!
The Currency module is one of those Drupal 8 ecommerce modules that “encourages” you to keep dreaming big!
What it does is what its name says:
- it displays your prices in multiple currencies, along with relevant currency information, too
- it boosts your site with a currency conversion functionality
And it looks like we've reached “the bottom” of our list including all the “can't live without” Drupal 8 ecommerce modules!
How does you own list of “bare essentials” modules look like? Does it include other modules indispensable to your online store, as well?
