No ecommerce platform is perfect. Each technology stack has its own set of pros and cons, which need to be carefully evaluated. The platform you select will have an impact on your operational efficiency and resource plans.
We’ve been in several discussions where businesses are considering the benefit of building their own custom ecommerce solution, using a modern technology stack to provide flexible, modular services. Typically, most decide to stay with a proven application vendor, even if they build out an internal engineering function to bring frontend control in-house. But what is the benefit of having an ecommerce platform custom-built for your business? Is it the holy grail, does it remove common barriers that ecommerce teams bemoan when constrained by a vendor solution? Or does it simply introduce a new set of problems and stifle the business in other ways?
Objective advice
We wanted to answer these questions and explore the pros and cons of a custom built solution. We reached out to a respected ecommerce leader who has worked for multiple large brands and has direct experience of delivering ecommerce growth on both bespoke and COTS packages.
For our 76th episode, we’re joined by Matt Curry, Ecommerce Manager at Graham and Green, and a highly respected voice in the ecommerce industry.
You can also listen to our episode on bespoke vs. off-the-shelf platforms via the following:
Key discussion points
- How do you approach systems architecture when doing a custom build?
- What are the operational benefits of it being tailor made?
- How does a bespoke solution cope with international expansion?
- How fast can businesses be when it’s custom built – does it create speed to market efficiency?
- What technical resources are critical to make custom builds work?
- You now work with Magento; what have been the benefits?
- What’s it like working with an agency vs. an internal team?
- What’s the ideal role of an ecommerce agency: focus on development or do they need to do/know more about the ecommerce ecosystem?
- Where does the hybrid model come into play – use an COTS platform but do the development work in-house?
