In the first of this series I compared BigCommerce and Volusion, both hosted shopping carts, in features and pricing. In this part, I’ll find out how easy they are to set up, and how they deal with mobile commerce. Finally, I’ll have a look at their partner programs to see how interesting they are for you as a developer.
在本系列的头我比较的Bigcommerce和Volusion ,托管型购物车,在功能和价格。 在这一部分中,我将了解它们的设置非常简单,以及它们如何处理移动商务。 最后,我将看看他们的合作伙伴计划,看看它们对您作为开发人员有多有趣。
设置BigCommerce (Setting up BigCommerce)
I’ll start with BigCommerce, and what better way than to show you the steps in a Prezi presentation:
我将从BigCommerce开始,还有什么比向您展示Prezi演示文稿中的步骤更好的方法:
As you can see, BigCommerce is really easy to set up. The Quick Launch Wizard lives up to its name, but finishing all the steps doesn’t necessarily mean you’re done. That’s because a phase is marked as ‘done’ after you perform one of the specified steps. But in most cases you need to configure more options or products. You’ll probably want to add more than one product, and you might want to have multiple shipping options, for example.
如您所见,BigCommerce真的很容易设置。 快速启动向导名副其实,但是完成所有步骤并不一定意味着您已完成。 这是因为执行指定的步骤之一后,一个阶段被标记为“完成”。 但是在大多数情况下,您需要配置更多的选件或产品。 例如,您可能想要添加多个产品,并且可能需要多个运输选项。
The wizard is, however, a great way to show you where to configure each step, and that’s probably its intended purpose. After finishing the wizard, you’ll probably spend another 30-60 minutes configuring your shop, which is not long. It all works very intuitively, and almost every field you need to fill in has a little pointer telling you what to do.
但是,该向导是向您展示在何处配置每个步骤的好方法,这可能是其预期的目的。 完成向导后,您可能还需要花费30-60分钟来配置您的商店,时间不长。 所有这些操作都非常直观,几乎您需要填写的每个字段都有一个小指针,告诉您该怎么做。
设置Volusion (Setting up Volusion)
Now let’s see how Volusion does it, and of course they have their own Prezi too:
现在让我们看看Volusion是如何做到的,当然他们也有自己的Prezi:
You can notice right away Volusion doesn’t have a handy quick start wizard as BigCommerce does. This means there’s no actual trigger for you to open your store, knowing you have configured everything that’s needed. However, the Prezi I made has the same steps that BigCommerce takes you through, so it can serve as your own quick launch wizard. There is a Quick Start, but it’s on the front-end and it’s very limited.
您会立即注意到,Volusion没有BigCommerce那样的便捷快速入门向导。 这意味着您无需实际触发即可打开商店,只要知道您已配置了所有需要的东西即可。 但是,我制作的Prezi具有与BigCommerce相同的步骤,因此它可以用作您自己的快速启动向导。 有一个快速入门,但是它在前端并且非常有限。
I am quite impressed with Volusion when it comes to configurability. You can set it up pretty much how you want it, and I only covered the basic setting up. There are many more settings than I showed you, and also more than BigCommerce has. It all just works the way you expect it to, and you really don’t need a manual (except for the tax settings). But seeing that it’s that easy, I was a bit disappointed by the way you need to turn on mobile.
当谈到可配置性时,Volusion给我留下了深刻的印象。 您可以按照自己的需要进行设置,而我仅介绍了基本设置。 除了我向您展示的内容之外,还有更多的设置,也比BigCommerce的更多。 一切都按您期望的方式运行,并且您实际上不需要手册(税收设置除外)。 但是看到这很容易,您打开手机的方式让我有些失望。
There should be a big “Turn on Mobile” button or something, or at least you should find it in the theme settings. But instead it’s in the general settings, and you really have to look for it. And you can’t exclude an iPad, which often doesn’t need a mobile version, but you also don’t know if it is included (no further settings). But more on that in the next section about mobile commerce.
应该有一个很大的“打开手机”按钮之类的东西,或者至少您应该在主题设置中找到它。 但是,它是在常规设置中,您确实必须寻找它。 而且你不能排除一个iPad,这往往不需要移动版本,但你也是否包括 (没有进一步的设置)不知道。 但在下一部分有关移动商务的内容中,将有更多介绍。
A big advantage of Volusion is that you can translate it into any language. Combine this with the option to use any currency (and character encoding method), and you can even use Volusion in the Netherlands (where I live), for example. And remember, they use Akamai as their CDN, which has an excellent global coverage so your customers won’t see any speed limitations. BigCommerce doesn’t have this feature, and that limits its market. You can hire someone to code it in (or do it yourself), but the whole thing could be lost in an upgrade so it’s not recommended.
Volusion的一大优点是您可以将其翻译成任何语言。 结合使用此选项可以使用任何货币(和字符编码方法),例如,您甚至可以在荷兰(我居住的地方)使用Volusion。 请记住,他们使用Akamai作为其CDN,该CDN具有出色的全球覆盖范围,因此您的客户不会看到任何速度限制。 BigCommerce没有此功能,因此限制了它的市场。 您可以聘请某人对其进行编码(或自己编写),但是升级可能会丢失整个内容,因此不建议这样做。
As with BigCommerce, setting up your store will take you around 1 or 2 hours, not counting the time to add products.
与BigCommerce一样,开设商店大约需要1到2个小时,这还不包括添加产品的时间。
移动商务 (Mobile commerce)
As I mentioned in my previous articles, mobile commerce is becoming more and more important. So let’s see how both solutions compare.
正如我提到我 以前 的文章 ,移动电子商务正在变得越来越重要。 因此,让我们看看两种解决方案的比较。
BigCommerce手机 (BigCommerce mobile)
仪表板 (Dashboard)
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Order overview, courtesy of BigCommerce | Order detail, courtesy of BigCommerce |
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订单概述,由BigCommerce提供 | 订单明细,由BigCommerce提供 |
In the first part of this series, I established that BigCommerce doesn’t have a mobile app, but they do provide a modified mobile version of the regular dashboard. This allows you to see your order information, like awaiting payment/shipment, pre-orders etc. It’s read-only, but for those wanting to keep track while on the road this could come in handy. For full processing you need to switch to the desktop version (which can’t be done with an iPhone by the way, since you can’t switch).
在本系列的第一部分中,我确定BigCommerce没有移动应用程序,但是它们确实提供了常规仪表板的修改后的移动版本。 这使您可以查看订单信息,例如等待付款/装运,预购等。它是只读的,但是对于那些希望在旅途中保持追踪的人来说,这可能会派上用场。 要进行完整处理,您需要切换到桌面版本(顺便说一下,iPhone无法完成此操作,因为您无法切换)。
前端 (Front-end)
The optimized for mobile front-end is enabled by default, but in the Prezi “Setting up BigCommerce” I showed you how to enable/disable it yourself. You can opt to serve your iPad visitors the mobile theme as well (disabled by default), but I wouldn’t recommend this. Mobile themes always look a bit silly on an iPad, and the screen is large enough for the desktop version.
默认情况下,已启用针对移动前端进行优化的功能,但是在Prezi“设置BigCommerce”中,我向您展示了如何自行启用/禁用它。 您也可以选择为iPad访问者提供移动主题(默认情况下处于禁用状态),但是我不建议这样做。 在iPad上,移动主题总是显得有些愚蠢,并且屏幕足够大,可以容纳桌面版本。
Visitors can enjoy the full mobile experience, from browsing to checking out (and, most of the time, payment providers have a mobile version).
从浏览到结帐,访问者都可以享受完整的移动体验(大多数时候,支付提供商都拥有移动版本)。
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Mobile homepage | Category overview | Product details |
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Shopping cart | Create account (or login) | Checkout |
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行动首页 | 类别概述 | 产品详情 |
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购物车 | 创建帐户(或登录) | 退房 |
It looks great, but it has one major drawback: this is the only mobile theme you have (despite offering 100+ desktop themes). So, all of the BigCommerce hosted sites that have mobile enabled look the same. And it isn’t responsive, so it isn’t based on screen size but on browser agent. There is a way to customize your mobile theme, but that’s a work-around and it isn’t perfect.
它看起来不错,但是它有一个主要缺点:这是您拥有的唯一移动主题(尽管提供了100多个桌面主题)。 因此,所有启用了移动功能的BigCommerce托管站点看起来都是相同的。 而且它没有响应能力,因此它不是基于屏幕大小,而是基于浏览器代理。 有一种方法可以自定义您的移动主题 ,但这是一种变通方法,并非十全十美。
You can develop a custom theme for your store with responsive functionality built-in – have someone do it for you. It will take some work (though there is some help from BigCommerce), so expect it to be expensive. But essentially you should be able to select from a number of mobile themes instead of one, which I believe BigCommerce should provide. For now, this isn’t the case.
您可以使用内置的响应功能为商店开发自定义主题-有人为您做。 这将需要一些工作(尽管BigCommerce提供了一些帮助 ),因此希望它会很昂贵。 但是从本质上讲,您应该能够从多个移动主题中进行选择,而不是我认为BigCommerce应该提供的主题。 目前,情况并非如此。
Volusion手机 (Volusion mobile)
仪表板 (Dashboard)
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Revenue overview | Dashboard |
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收益总览 | 仪表板 |
Volusion offers an app for you to check your sales stats on the road. Even though it’s always nice to have a quick way to check your sales, it won’t allow you to be any more productive while on the road. There’s no mobile-optimized admin, so you’re left using the desktop version. This works, but requires a lot of zooming in to make sure you select what you want.
Volusion提供了一个应用程序供您检查旅途中的销售统计信息。 尽管快速检查销售情况总是很好,但在旅途中却无法提高工作效率。 没有针对移动设备进行优化的管理员,因此您只能使用桌面版本。 这可行,但是需要进行大量缩放以确保您选择了所需的内容。
前端 (Front-end)
Volusion also has a mobile theme, which you have to turn on yourself (this is explained in the Prezi “Setting up Volusion”). There isn’t any configuration possible, it’s just on or off with no detection of which browser agent is used. And, just like BigCommerce, the mobile theme isn’t responsive.
Volusion还有一个移动主题,您必须打开自己的主题(在Prezi“设置Volusion”中对此进行了说明)。 没有任何可能的配置,它只是打开还是关闭,没有检测到使用哪个浏览器代理。 而且,就像BigCommerce一样,移动主题没有响应。
That’s not the worst aspect of the Volusion mobile theme. It’s the fact that the shopping cart and checkout process aren’t included. So someone can visit your mobile site, browse around and put products in their cart. But when they actually want to pay, they see the desktop version of your site.
这不是Volusion移动主题最糟糕的方面。 这是事实,其中不包括购物车和结帐流程。 因此,某人可以访问您的移动网站,浏览并在其购物车中放置产品。 但是,当他们实际要付款时,他们会看到您网站的桌面版本。
This isn’t so bad when they are using a tablet, but on a phone this is far from convenient. This can really cost you sales, not to mention it looks unprofessional. And while these issues are the most visible ones, there’s also a whole set of limited functionality (read their FAQ).
当他们使用平板电脑时,这还算不错,但是在电话上这并不方便。 这确实会花费您的销售成本,更不用说它看起来不专业。 尽管这些问题是最明显的问题,但也存在一整套有限的功能(请阅读FAQ )。
So what they basically did was optimize the front-end so it looks mobile-optimized, and left it at that. Even though they acknowledge the importance of mobile commerce, they don’t give you the proper tools to work with. Hopefully, this is something they improve soon.
因此,他们基本上所做的就是优化前端,使其看上去针对移动设备进行了优化,然后将其留给了它。 即使他们承认移动商务的重要性,他们也没有给您合适的工具。 希望这很快就会有所改善。
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Mobile homepage | Category overview | Product details |
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Shopping cart (not optimized) | Checkout / create account(not optimized) |
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行动首页 | 类别概述 | 产品详情 |
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购物车(未优化) | 结帐/创建帐户 (未优化) |
As with BigCommerce, Volusion offers only one mobile theme. But, at least you can pay for a nicer theme, although these come with a $995 price tag (you buy a new desktop theme, and receive a matching mobile theme).
与BigCommerce一样,Volusion仅提供一个移动主题。 但是,至少您可以为更好的主题付费,尽管这些主题价格为995美元(您购买了新的桌面主题,并获得了匹配的移动主题)。
Or you can edit the mobile theme code yourself, but editing Volusion templates is limited and requires a lot of patience. So, as with BigCommerce, (hiring someone for) customizing your theme can be quite expensive.
或者,您可以自己编辑移动主题代码,但是编辑Volusion模板是有限的,并且需要很多耐心 。 因此,与BigCommerce一样,(雇用某人)自定义主题可能会非常昂贵。
合作伙伴选择 (Partner options)
To conclude, I will have a quick look at both their partner programs, to see how you as a developer can benefit.
总而言之,我将快速浏览他们的两个合作伙伴计划,以了解您作为开发人员将如何受益。
开发人员/解决方案合作伙伴计划 (Developer/solution partner program)
Both providers give you the opportunity to develop apps for their platform. With BigCommerce, you will sign up as a developer for their partner program, where product sales will be your source of revenue. They assume you already have a working app/site to connect with, but you can always pitch your idea for a new app.
两家提供商都为您提供了为其平台开发应用程序的机会。 使用BigCommerce,您将注册为合作伙伴计划的开发人员 ,在该计划中,产品销售将成为您的收入来源。 他们认为您已经有一个可以正常使用的应用程序/网站可以连接,但是您始终可以将想法推广到新应用程序上。
The same applies to Volusion, in that you become a solution partner. In both cases, you will benefit by being becoming listed in their marketplace, giving you some decent promotion. Be aware though, you are certainly not the only one and you should consider if it’s worth investing your time.
您也成为解决方案合作伙伴 ,这也适用于Volusion。 在这两种情况下,您都可以通过在他们的市场上上市而受益,从而给您带来不错的晋升。 但是请注意,您当然不是唯一的人,应该考虑是否值得花费时间。
专家程序 (Expert program)
Both BigCommerce and Volusion offer their clients a wide range of “Experts”, companies that specialize in providing assistance in certain areas like design and marketing.
BigCommerce和Volusion都为客户提供广泛的“专家”,这些公司专门在设计和营销等特定领域提供帮助。
BigCommerce offers experts in design, marketing, development and integration. There is no way to sign up for becoming an expert yourself. So there’s no business opportunity for you at the moment.
BigCommerce提供设计,营销,开发和集成方面的专家 。 您无法自行注册成为专家。 因此,目前您没有任何商机。
Volusion is accepting new Experts and has the same areas of expertise, only they use the term “Business” for their integration Experts.
Volusion正在接受新的专家,并且具有相同的专业领域,只有他们的集成专家使用术语“业务”。
As an Expert, you can list your specialities, describe what you do and indicate what your rates are. Being included in their Expert directory will cost you a monthly fee, but it presents excellent opportunities for new business. You aren’t competing with tens of companies in a given speciality, so your chances of being selected are certainly worth the effort.
作为专家,您可以列出您的专长,描述您的工作并指出您的费率。 被收录在他们的专家目录中,您将每月收取费用,但它为新业务提供了绝佳的机会。 您不会在给定的专业领域与数十家公司竞争,因此,被选中的机会当然值得付出。
结论 (Conclusion)
It’s hard to select one provider over another. Even though they offer the same product, BigCommerce and Volusion use a different approach, which gives each one its own benefits.
选择一个提供商而不是另一个提供商是很困难的。 即使它们提供相同的产品,BigCommerce和Volusion也使用不同的方法,这给每个人带来了自己的好处。
Let’s list the pros and cons
让我们列出优点和缺点
大商务 (BigCommerce)
+ Integrated CMS
+集成式CMS
+ Great help in setting up (Succes Squad, Quick Launch Wizard)
+设置方面的强大帮助(成功小组,快速启动向导)
+ All features included in every plan
+每个计划中包含的所有功能
+ Decent mobile theme
+体面的手机主题
– No useful mobile dashboard
–没有有用的移动仪表板
– No multi-language capabilities
–没有多语言功能
– No interesting partner program
–没有有趣的合作伙伴计划
体量 (Volusion)
+ Lots of features (Deal of the Day, ROI Tracking etc.)
+许多功能(每日交易,投资回报率跟踪等)
+ Lower pricing (but limited functionality in lower priced plans)
+较低的价格(但在较低价格的计划中功能有限)
+ Multi-language capabilities
+多语言功能
+ Interesting partner program
+有趣的合作伙伴计划
– No useful mobile dashboard
–没有有用的移动仪表板
– Limited mobile theme
–有限的手机主题
From a customer point of view, you can’t go wrong with either of them. It depends on your requirements and budget, but if you want to do it on your own BigCommerce does give you a warmer welcome than Volusion.
从客户的角度来看,任何一个都不会出错。 这取决于您的要求和预算,但是如果您想自己做,BigCommerce确实会给您带来比Volusion更热烈的欢迎。
As a developer, you will find Volusion more suited. They have a decent partner program, and their huge range of features gives you excellent opportunities for consulting jobs. And you can set up a Volusion store in any part of the world, which opens up a whole lot of markets.
作为开发人员,您会发现Volusion更合适。 他们有一个体面的合作伙伴计划,其广泛的功能为您提供咨询工作的绝佳机会。 您可以在世界任何地方设置Volusion商店,从而打开很多市场。
示范店 (Demo stores)
Both the demo stores I set up are on an extended demo license (thank you BigCommerce and Volusion!)
我建立的两个演示商店都拥有扩展的演示许可证(感谢BigCommerce和Volusion!)
BigCommerce demo store: http://sitepoint.mybigcommerce.com/ (available until June 14th)
BigCommerce演示商店: http ://sitepoint.mybigcommerce.com/(有效期至6月14日)
Volusion demo store: http://v1375417.53jtz2yd4vn3.demo6.volusion.com/ (available until June 30th)
Volusion演示商店: http : //v1375417.53jtz2yd4vn3.demo6.volusion.com/ (有效期至6月30日)
翻译自: https://www.sitepoint.com/bigcommerce-and-volusion-comparing-set-up-and-mobile/