Joomla is one of the most popular content management systems (CMS) available right now. Developed by Open Source Matters, Inc, and a free, open-source system, it is estimated to power approximately 3% of the web’s e-commerce sites currently. Among other benefits, Joomla offers fantastic options for customizing e-commerce websites, so if you are looking to sell online, or you already are, here are just a collection of the great site development features that Joomla currently offers:

Great themes, that are easy to install

Joomla templates are incredibly easy to install, involving a simple two-step process. First up, find the template that you would like to use, and download it. From here, all you need is the extension manager offered by Joomla to upload the template you have chosen.

As well as being easy to install, Joomla offers some superb options. The ‘Splash’ option is perhaps the most generic, in that it’s suitable for any kind of e-commerce store, and has impressive visuals. It’s fully customizable too. ‘Yummy’, on the other hand, is more geared towards restaurants and other food-related e-commerce sites, as the name obviously suggests. The template that you download includes fully customizable menu templates and reservation forms, which are obviously incredibly critical to restaurant businesses.

‘Yummy’ also comes with blog and gallery templates, allowing you to post all kinds of content related to your e-commerce business,” adds Betsy Robinson, a tech writer at Writinity and LastMinuteWriting.

‘Trendz’, as the name perhaps suggests, is more linked to fashion, so if you have an e-commerce store selling clothing and fashion products, this could be the Joomla template option for you. As well as the standard customizable features which are shared by all Joomla templates, the incredible array of layouts and navigable menu options make it easy for potential customers to move around your site and view your offerings on any kind of sites. These options also allow you to display different ranges, seasons and types of wear in a number of different ways which are always easy to move between, charming users in the process,” enthuses Barbara Novak, a marketer at DraftBeyond and Researchpapersuk.

Joomla’s array of extensions

On top of these classic themes that Joomla offers are any number of extensions which you can apply to perform a host of different tasks which may be relevant to the type of e-commerce store that you want to have up and running. Here are some of the best examples of Joomla extensions which can complement your online store:

 

paGO Commerce

Designed and developed for developers, marketers, and integrators. For developers paGO Commerce is easy to deploy and extend, paGO Commerce plays well with others. Plus it’s modular, so you can grow with no hacks or workarounds. While it is great for developers is also a magic machine for Marketers. paGO Commerce has the built-in marketing tools you need to sell to your mobile, global buyers. Sell to them on any device, wherever they go. Can’t forget our integrators where paGO Commerce’s core platform is rock-solid, PCI compliant, high-performance software you can build a lucrative service offering around.

EShop

One of the inherent benefits of EShop is the advanced search options that it provides to your users. If those users are looking for something quite niche, and your site provides that, then it’s important that the search options allow users to customize their search in a way that their query gets as close to your specific offerings as possible, otherwise relevancy is lost, and you will see a higher bounce rate.

Other benefits of EShop are the visuals and layouts, which provide users with a clear picture of what is in their cart at all times (a key frustration that customers state with e-commerce sites). Another great additional feature of EShop is the alerts it gives when a product becomes available, if of course it isn’t when the user first looks for it. If that product is listed as ‘out of stock’, then as soon as it comes in, they will receive a push notification, which is great for getting users back to your site. EShop is also supportive of 15 different languages too.

VirtueMart

This incredibly popular Joomla extension allows a number of different options for your e-commerce store, starting with the ability to easily categorize and present products, which makes your online store responsive and easily navigable. It also allows you to set up specific shopper groups, whereby you can tailor promotional activities and prices to groups that you create, such as customers from a particular business that you are partnered with, or shoppers from a specific country. These incredible B2B and B2C options stand VirtueMart features out from the crowd in terms of e-commerce platform offerings.

VirtueMart has push notification options and cart pop-ups, and allows a from control over inventory management, ensuring you are able to keep close tabs on stock and what’s being ordered at all times. This helps protect against dissatisfied customers who are unable to get the products they want in the timeframe required, and is another integral feature of this particular Joomla extension, which also takes advantage of proven SEM techniques such as keyword and meta tag optimization.

DigiCom

As the name would suggest, this particular Joomla extension is a great option for the retail of digital products, and in a welcome advance, allows you to cherry pick the add-ons you are looking for, streamlining the options available and getting rid of unnecessary code. The drag-and-drop features are most welcome, and the DigiCom extension offers a full array of payment options to users, including PayPal, Bitcoin and 2Checkout, as well as the regular credit card options.

Joomla security extensions

In terms of security, Joomla also steps up to the mark, There are a host of options for you to select from, but two of the most popular options are Admin Tools Professional, which would cover your site against the most common types of cyber threats, and enables you to blacklist and block troublesome IPs. KeyCAPTCHA is another popular extension, and is one that most web users are familiar with at this stage, as it asks users to complete a task to prove they are not a spamming bot, for example. There are many more options which delve deeper into the types of modern cyber threats, and help to protect the integrity of your e-commerce site.

Summary

There is a very good reason why Joomla has cornered 3% of the market, and is growing. As well as being incredibly easy to install and set up, the huge variety of extension offerings cover your every need, allowing you to cherry pick the kinds of features you want based on what you are selling and the kind of e-commerce site you are looking for. Avoid being generic, and create something unique and specific to your needs with Joomla.

Professional writer, marketing, management and recruitment expert Ashley Halsey can be found contributing her business insights and marketing expertise at LuckyAssignments and GumEssays.