We have recently developed a Magneto 2 based website & the developer we used has stopped working on Magneto 2 because of the ongoing costs involved with Magento 2 & is saying companies are now changing to Bigcommerce & Shopifi. Is this correct & should we need to change considering the costs involved with the first development & then the costs to change over?
I have worked with many businesses who have both made the shift to hosted solutions and back to self-hosted solutions.
Many ecommerce brands have been making a shift to hosted solutions such as Bigcommerce and Shopify. There certainly are benefits to using a hosted solution - software management, uptime, security management, no need to worry about hosting, technical support. However there is also a still a case for self-hosted ecommerce solutions as well.
If you need to integrate with custom inventory or fulfillment systems, you may find a self hosted solution such as X-Cart or WooCommerce a good fit.
If you ever find yourself needed to "break the mold" of your ecommerce solution, you may find it difficult to do with a hosted solution. If you are okay with staying within the lines so to speak, then hosted may be the right avenue for your business.
With self hosted solutions you have full control over the code of the website unlike with hosted solutions (Bigcommerce and Shopify).
The expense of moving is six of one, half a dozen of the other. You'll find the need for both design and coding requirements from each solution; the expense of migration of customer order records and products can be expensive and most certainly time consuming to massage everything into the new platform.
If you require more specifics, feel free to setup a call with me to discuss your unique situation.
This is a questions that depends your business requirements. Shopify and other hosted solutions certainly reduce overhead in managing your own storefront, but there are limitations. If your business isn't structured around a traditional product sales model then you may require customizations beyond what Shopify or BigCommerce can offer.
If you'd like to talk more about your options to get a better idea on what the eCommerce landscape is like and what solutions would suit your model, I'd be happy to set up a call.
The platform you should choose is the one that works best for your business. There are plenty of Magento 2 stores out there. There are also plenty of Bigcommerce and Shopify stores.
It sounds like the real problem is your developer is no longer interested in Magento 2 and would prefer to not have clients using it. This means you either need to find a new developer or keep your anti-Magento developer and risk a decline in quality work. You can also change to Bigcommerce or Shopify, but that can potentially be an expensive option if you don't have a good reason for doing so.
