Ubercart was the first solution for turning Drupal into a mainstream platform for eCommerce, and the Ubercart/Drupal 6 combination has been particularly successful. As of January 2011, this combination powered more than 30,000 eCommerce sites of all sizes.1 However, both Ubercart and Drupal 6 have begun to show their age. Since the release of Drupal 6, in 2008, and Ubercart 2, in 2009, eCommerce developer expectations have changed in ways that challenge the viability of this platform. With the release of Drupal 7 and Drupal Commerce, these expectations are being met on a next-generation eCommerce platform such that Ubercart users are now interested in both migrating existing projects to Drupal Commerce and using it to launch their new projects.

“Drupal Commerce allowed us to build a truly international eCommerce website for language schools.” Peter Philipp, Cando Image (Switzerland)

Drupal Commerce: The next generation solution

The Drupal Commerce project was started by Commerce Guys in 2009. Having experienced the limitations of Ubercart in numerous eCommerce projects, the company tasked Ryan Szrama, the project lead of Ubercart at the time, to lead the creation of a better platform. This collaboration yielded the release of Drupal Commerce in August 2011. Drupal Commerce is a completely new solution, designed specifically on and for Drupal 7. It takes advantage of the best new features that Drupal 7 offers and makes no hard coded assumptions about how e-retailers want to run their eCommerce sites. The unprecedented flexibility it provides gives merchants freedom to engage customers in new ways, implement complex pricing strategies, and sell internationally through multilingual and multi-currency stores.

Enhanced customer engagement and international reach

Drupal Commerce supports multiple currencies, international shipping, tax calculation, and more than 100 languages, improving upon the functionality of Ubercart. It also provides a superior customer experience. e-retailers can display and promote products and services any way they want and can readily take advantage of customized workflows, checkout processes, and shopping cart blocks and forms.

“Ubercart users who will benefit the most by migrating to Drupal Commerce include anyone looking for new ways to engage their customers, anyone needing to implement complex pricing strategies that are simply no longer supported by Ubercart, and anyone selling outside the United States or in multiple countries." Ryan Szrama, Drupal Commerce Project Lead and original developer of Ubercart

Top reasons to move to Drupal Commerce when adopting Drupal 7

Drupal Commerce is designed from the ground up to work with Drupal 7. The two act as one solution, one system. This fully-integrated platform significantly improves flexibility, scalability, and overall performance. Furthermore, migrating to Drupal Commerce is often more cost-effective than trying to implement similar functionality using Ubercart. Drupal Commerce overcomes the limitations of Ubercart for international eCommerce. It provides huge core improvements in supporting multiple languages and currencies, international shipping, and tax calculation and display. Drupal Commerce enables a superior customer experience. Every aspect of the shopping cart, checkout process, and store administration interfaces can be customized through the user interface. These systems and screens can be tailored directly to merchants' product offerings, business needs, and administration habits. Drupal Commerce migration is fully serviced by Commerce Guys' suite of Professional Services. Commerce Guys specializes in Drupal Commerce and offers enterprise support, training, and consulting to help make your migration or new project launch a success.

“Drupal Commerce gives me the flexibility I need to meet my clients’ creativity” Bill O’Connor, CTO, Achieve Internet

Learn More Commerce Guys specializes in helping e-retailers realize all the opportunities of Drupal Commerce. Contact us at: 888-827-7142 or [email protected]