When you are starting to think about how your e-commerce store wants to look, you might wondering whether or not you should make it simple and use a template, or make it possible to have more features with a customizable interface. Both have benefits and reasons you might want to use them, while there are definitely downsides, as well. What you need for your business might be different than what other e-commerce stores need.
Here are some reasons for and against using a template for your e-commerce store’s theme.
For using a template
Templates can be a great way to go if you don’t have much experience developing your own websites, and it can be perfect if you are working on a budget and need to get something up quickly. Much of whether you will choose to use a template can depend entirely on who your customers are and the type of product you are choosing to sell. The simpler you can make your site, the more likely it will end up directing customers to the right action.
This is where a template can be handy, since it has already been tested with users and has been proven to be successful. It can also allow you to set up your e-commerce store within a few days rather than taking weeks or months in order to do so. However, if you want to include any customized features or you are selling a product that requires more than a basic checkout, then you might have more difficulty creating the site that you want.
For using customization
Customization can be valuable when you really want to stand out from your competition and include exclusive features. Much of it will depend on what you are planning on selling or if you will be including multiple products on your site. Customization is usually best when you have some experience creating websites in the past, or you have hired someone to take over building and maintaining the website.
If you are planning on building your site yourself, you might want to consider a method like headless commerce, which allows you to separate the frontend and backend of your website and test which designs work best and what can be changed.
One the other hand, with customization, the entire process of creating the site is up to you, including making sure that the site is crawled by search engine, that it runs quickly, and that it is all in order to share on social media. Of course, you will need to have some experience doing this in order for the site to run successfully.
In summary
Whether you choose to use a template for your e-commerce store or customize it, you should have an idea of how much experience you have building websites and making sure they are technically sound before you make a decision. This can help you make an informed choice that will end up benefitting your brand and your e-commerce store overall.
