Your ecommerce platform is a critical part of your business. It should give you the tools to design, build, maintain and grow your online store in line with your goals without creating unnecessary limitations as your business evolves.
With so many ecommerce platforms available, choosing the right one can be difficult. Ease of use, functionality, integrations, flexibility and cost will all play a role in the decision.
But there’s another consideration that shouldn't be overlooked: performance.
The platform you choose can have a significant impact on how quickly your website loads and how well it performs as your store grows. Site speed isn't simply a technical metric; it can directly influence the customer experience, engagement and conversions.
Why site speed matters
Site speed is one of the most important factors to consider when thinking about the day-to-day performance of your online store.
It can also be easy to overlook. When comparing platforms, it's tempting to focus on the functionality available today and the features you can add later. But every additional layer of technology can potentially introduce complexity and affect performance.
Research has consistently demonstrated the relationship between website speed and ecommerce performance.
Research by Portent found that ecommerce conversion rates are highest when pages load between 0 and 2 seconds, with conversion rates declining as load times increase.
Research from Unbounce also found that almost 70% of consumers say page speed affects their willingness to buy from an online retailer.
The message is straightforward: a slow ecommerce website can create unnecessary friction at precisely the point where you want customers to be making a purchase.
Our own research has also highlighted how widespread performance issues can be. Using Google Lighthouse, we analysed nearly 1,200 Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) websites and around 2,300 websites built on Open Source platforms.
More than 400 of the SaaS websites we analysed had a load time of more than 10 seconds. For Open Source websites, that figure rose to 1,127.
With site speed having such a significant role to play in the customer experience, it should be considered when selecting, or replatforming, an ecommerce solution.
So how do the different approaches compare?
Software-as-a-Service platforms
Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platforms such as Shopify are popular with retailers because they make it relatively straightforward to launch and manage an online store.
Hosting is managed as part of the platform, and retailers don't need to manage the underlying infrastructure themselves. SaaS platforms can also provide a straightforward route to scaling an ecommerce operation.
The trade-off is control.
Because the platform provider manages the underlying environment, retailers have limited control over the infrastructure that sits behind their website. You're reliant on the platform to maintain performance and provide the flexibility you need as your requirements change.
Functionality can also be expanded through apps and integrations. These can be useful, but each additional technology introduces another layer into your ecommerce environment.
That doesn't mean every app will negatively affect performance. But retailers should understand what they're adding to their technology stack and consider whether each piece of functionality is genuinely necessary.
The question to ask: does the functionality you're adding justify the additional complexity it introduces?
Open Source platforms
Open Source platforms such as Magento and WooCommerce offer considerably more control and customisation.
For retailers with complex requirements, this flexibility can be valuable. Developers can access and modify the underlying code, while the wider ecosystem provides access to extensions and integrations.
However, that flexibility also means more responsibility.
Open Source platforms generally require retailers or their agencies to manage hosting, updates, security and ongoing development. The performance of the finished website can therefore depend heavily on how the platform has been implemented and maintained.
Extensions and modules can also introduce additional complexity. Poorly built or unnecessary additions can affect performance, create compatibility issues or make future development more difficult.
For retailers considering an Open Source solution, the question isn't simply whether the platform can do something. It's also whether the implementation can continue to do it efficiently as the business grows.
Bespoke platforms
A completely bespoke ecommerce platform gives retailers significant control over functionality, infrastructure and design.
This can be particularly attractive for businesses with highly specific requirements that aren't easily accommodated by an existing platform.
However, building from scratch also means taking responsibility for maintaining and developing the entire environment.
Over time, bespoke platforms can become increasingly difficult to adapt. New functionality may require further bespoke development, while legacy code and previous decisions can gradually increase the complexity of the system.
The result can be a platform that was originally built for speed and flexibility but becomes increasingly difficult and expensive to maintain.
And as complexity grows, so does the potential for performance issues.
The question to ask: can the platform evolve without continually adding layers of technical complexity?
What should retailers look for in an ecommerce platform?
There isn't necessarily one platform model that is right for every retailer. The important thing is to look beyond the initial feature list and consider how the platform will perform over the lifetime of the business.
When evaluating an ecommerce platform, consider:
Performance: How quickly can the platform deliver pages and content to customers?
Infrastructure: How much control do you have over the environment supporting your store?
Extensibility: Can you introduce new functionality without unnecessarily complicating the platform?
Maintenance: Who is responsible for keeping the platform secure, updated and performing effectively?
Scalability: Can the platform support increasing traffic, product ranges and transaction volumes?
Development: Does the platform give your agency or development team the freedom to build around your requirements?
Looking at these factors together gives you a much better indication of whether a platform is suitable for your long-term ecommerce strategy.
The Aero approach
Aero is designed to combine the flexibility retailers and agencies need with a streamlined technical foundation.
The platform provides core ecommerce functionality out of the box, while its extensible architecture allows agencies to customise and develop around individual retailer requirements.
That means retailers don't have to choose between a rigid platform with limited flexibility and a completely bespoke solution that requires everything to be built and maintained from scratch.
Aero is built on Laravel and designed with a lean core, helping to minimise unnecessary complexity while providing the foundations for high-performance ecommerce.
Ultimately, site speed shouldn't be an afterthought once your ecommerce store has been built. It should form part of the decision-making process from the beginning.
Looking for an ecommerce platform built for performance, flexibility and long-term growth?
