Photo by Christopher Gower on Unsplash
It is natural to seek out as many freebies as possible in these difficult economic times. Open-source software has a vast selection and is completely free. But first, read the following article and then decide because everything has pros and cons.
Open-source software can have a significant impact on your entire business, whether it is inventory, accounting, personal productivity applications, contact management, or even operating systems. You can even build your website and online e-commerce store with open-source software.
Here are some significant advantages of opting for open-source software.
- High-quality software
- No vendor lock-in
- Simple license management
- Lower software costs
- Abundant support through community
- Scaling and consolidating
But it has notable disadvantages or points of consideration, which can also impact your business adversely.
1. Hard to Install software
Open Source eCommerce solutions are mostly built on open source technologies. Installations of such software sometimes need software installation knowledge and server-side configuration knowledge. It may be difficult for novice users to understand them at such times, so they may have to take the help of web developers, which will cost.
2. Complex to Use
Most of the time, such open source-based e-commerce solutions are developed to cater to many different levels of users, so such software features reach but are complex to use. If the e-commerce software is not that easy to handle, there are great chances that you will give up using such an application. It is a waste of time and money.
3. Hire a Developer
Free to use but complex to install and operate an e-commerce application may lead you to hire a software developer or outsource your work to a company that can handle the job for you. It is going to cost you. Ultimately your software may be free to download and use, but it costs you to run and use it. Please consider such points before you reach any conclusion.
4. Is it secured?
Security is the most critical requirement one must check and recheck when setting up a cart. As most of the transactions, be it your customer's billing page transaction or product selection page, transactions should be completed in a completely secured environment. Please check your selected application provides enough security features.
5. Overhead Costs
You'll realize how much you paid for your ostensibly free e-commerce software when you add up all the costs. Your expenses will look like this:
- Hired Developer
- Buy a digital certificates
- Added more payment modes by asking the developer to redesign the cart.
You can't bring back the time you wasted on its installation, operation, etc.
There are many more factors still we are analyzing for you, but for now, I think this article might have given you some insight into if free software is FREE? And I hope you will make the right choice while selecting one for you.
Over to you
- Let us know your experience
- Try Ninjin, a no-code, user-friendly e-commerce solution for your online store.