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When building a powerful eCommerce store on Drupal, selecting the right modules is crucial. With the right module, you can effectively leverage the complete power of Drupal Commerce.
To help you learn which ones to choose, we have listed the common and must-have Drupal eCommerce modules. We’ll also check the modules Drupal developers use to streamline shipping, payment, and your eStore’s overall user experience. But before beginning with that, let’s understand Drupal Commerce and the features it offers.
What is Drupal Commerce?
Drupal Commerce is an open-source eCommerce platform designed specifically for building eCommerce stores on the Drupal CMS. It provides a framework for creating online stores with features like product catalogs, shopping carts, and payment integration.
With the modular architecture of Drupal, you can build a highly customizable and scalable eCommerce experience. That makes it suitable for everything from small stores to huge marketplaces.
Key Features of Drupal Commerce
Drupal Commerce offers numerous features that let you streamline almost all aspects of an eStore. Here are the features it offers:
- Product management: Create and manage various product types with custom attributes, variations, and taxonomies.
- Order processing: Handle orders, payments, shipping, and returns efficiently.
- Checkout process: Customize the checkout flow to meet your specific needs, including payment gateways, shipping methods, and promotions.
- Customer management: Manage customer accounts, profiles, and loyalty programs.
- Marketing and promotions: Create and manage promotions, discounts, and coupons to drive sales.
- Inventory management: Track stock levels and manage inventory.
- Integration: Easily integrate with other systems, such as accounting software, CRM, and marketing automation tools.
These are some of the features that are provided and built into Drupal Commerce. You can use third-party modules to extend these features for eStores to fit your business needs.
Want to build a robust online store using Drupal Commerce?
Why Use Drupal Modules for eCommerce?
Drupal modules offer a robust and flexible platform for building eCommerce websites. Here are some key reasons why you should consider using them:
- Extensive Functionality: Drupal modules provide a vast array of pre-built functionalities that can be easily integrated into your eCommerce website. This saves you time and effort when developing custom features from scratch.
- Open-Source Flexibility: It is an open-source platform, which means you have complete control over your website’s code and customization options. This flexibility allows you to tailor your eCommerce site to your specific business needs and preferences.
- Scalability and Performance: Drupal modules are designed to handle high traffic volumes and scale as your business grows. They offer efficient performance and can be optimized for speed and SEO. This ensures a smooth and enjoyable shopping experience for your customers.
- Security and Reliability: Drupal is known for its robust security features and regular updates. This helps protect your website and customer data from potential threats. Additionally, Drupal’s large community of developers contributes to its ongoing maintenance and improvement.
- Cost-Effective: To use Drupal you don’t have to pay licensing fees. That can reduce the overall cost of building and maintaining your eCommerce store. Additionally, many modules are free, reducing your Drupal development costs.
These reasons make Drupal modules a valuable tool for building eCommerce stores. Now, let’s dive into some of the most used modules that Drupal development experts use to build eStores.
Best Drupal eCommerce Modules
Choosing the right Drupal modules for your eCommerce store can highly impact its functionality, performance, and overall success. Here are some of the most popular and used Drupal eCommerce modules:
Commerce Shipping
Specialization: Shipping and Fulfillment
Commerce Shipping is a Drupal module that provides shipping functionality for Drupal Commerce. It allows you to calculate shipping costs based on various factors such as weight, dimensions, destination, and shipping methods.
The module also integrates with popular shipping carriers like UPS, FedEx, and USPS, making managing shipping labels and tracking information easy. Plus, it integrates with other Drupal Commerce modules to provide a managed and integrated into the checkout process.
Key Features:
- Shipping Method Management: Create and manage various shipping methods such as standard, express, and overnight shipping.
- Rate Calculation: Calculate shipping costs based on factors such as weight, destination, and shipping method. It can also integrate with third-party shipping services for real-time rate calculations.
- Shipping Zones: Define shipping zones to manage different shipping rules based on geographic location.
- Package Management: Handle multiple packages and their respective shipping options within a single order.
- Custom Rules: Utilize the Rules module to create custom shipping rules based on conditions like order value, product type, or customer location.
Use Case: Calculate shipping costs based on weight, dimensions, destination, and carrier. Integrate with popular shipping carriers to generate labels and track shipments.
Commerce Stock
Specialization: Inventory Management
Commerce Stock is a Drupal module that helps you manage inventory levels for your products. It allows you to track stock quantities, set minimum stock levels, and handle backorders. The module also provides tools for managing product variations and assigning stock to specific locations.
It helps prevent overselling and ensures that customers only purchase products that are in stock. That lets you maintain the shopping experience and operational efficiency.
Key Features:
- Real-Time Stock Tracking: Automatically updates stock levels when a product is purchased or returned.
- Low Stock Notifications: Sends alerts to store administrators when inventory levels fall below a specified threshold.
- Stock Management Rules: Create custom rules for managing stock, such as automatically disabling products that are out of stock.
- Backorder and Pre-order Support: Configure products to allow backorders or pre-orders when stock runs out.
- Stock Level Display: Show available stock levels on the product page to inform customers of product availability.
Use Case: Track inventory levels, manage stock allocation, and prevent stockouts. Set minimum stock levels to receive alerts when inventory is low.
Commerce PayPal
Specialization: Payment Gateway
This module integrates PayPal with Drupal Commerce. It allows customers to make payments using their PayPal accounts, providing a convenient and secure checkout experience. The module supports various payment options, including Express Checkout, Adaptive Payments, and Standard Checkout.
Key Features:
- Multiple Payment Methods: Supports PayPal Express Checkout, PayPal Payments Pro, and PayPal Standard, catering to different customer preferences.
- Secure Payment Processing: Ensures secure transactions with PayPal’s robust security measures and compliance with PCI standards.
- Easy Configuration: Provides a straightforward setup process, allowing merchants to quickly integrate PayPal into their checkout process.
- Recurring Payments: Supports subscription-based billing and recurring payments, suitable for membership sites or SaaS businesses.
- Customizable Payment Experience: Offers options to customize the PayPal payment interface to match the site’s branding.
Use Case: Offer a convenient and secure payment option for customers using their PayPal accounts.
Commerce Stripe
Specialization: Payment Gateway
It integrates the Stripe payment gateway with Drupal Commerce. Stripe is a popular and versatile payment processor known for its ease of use, robust security, and broad range of features. The Commerce Stripe module enables Drupal Commerce sites to accept payments through Stripe, offering a secure payment experience for customers.
Key Features:
- Multiple Payment Methods: Supports various payment options, including credit/debit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and more.
- Secure Payment Processing: Utilizes Stripe’s advanced security features, including PCI compliance and encryption, to ensure secure transactions.
- Customizable Checkout: Offers options to customize the payment interface to match the site’s branding and user experience requirements.
- Subscription and Recurring Payments: Supports subscription-based billing and recurring payments, making it suitable for membership sites and SaaS products.
- Real-Time Payment Processing: Processes payments in real-time, providing immediate confirmation and reducing transaction times.
Use Case: Accept payments from customers using credit cards or other payment methods supported by Stripe.
Commerce Product Tax
Specialization: Taxes and Duties
The Commerce Product Tax module provides tax calculation and management functionality for Drupal Commerce. It enables store owners to configure tax rates based on location and product type and ensure accurate tax handling during the checkout. The module also supports tax exemptions for certain products or customers.
Key Features:
- Tax Rate Management: Define tax rates based on geographic location, including state, province, and country-level taxes.
- Flexible Tax Rules: Create custom tax rules for different product types, customer groups, or specific conditions.
- Tax Exemptions: Support for tax exemptions, such as non-profit organizations or tax-free weekends.
- Tax Display Options: Configurable options to display prices with or without tax, depending on customer preference or legal requirements.
- Integration with Tax Services: Integrate with third-party tax calculation services for real-time and accurate tax rate updates.
Use Case: Automatically calculate and collect sales tax based on customer location and product tax rates.
Commerce Cart Redirection
Specialization: Shopping Cart
The Commerce Cart Redirection module allows you to configure what happens when a user adds a product to their cart. It handles the redirection to the cart page or shows a confirmation message. This can be useful for promoting related products, providing additional information, or offering a discount.
Key Features:
- Customizable Redirects: Configure redirects to the cart, checkout, or custom pages after a product is added to the cart.
- Confirmation Messages: Display custom confirmation messages to inform users that a product has been added to their cart.
- Ajax Add to Cart: Support for AJAX-based add-to-cart functionality, allowing users to add items to the cart without a full page reload.
- User Role-Based Redirects: Set different redirection rules based on user roles, providing a personalized shopping experience.
Use Case: Redirect customers to a specific page after adding a product to their cart, such as a related product or a discount offer.
IP-based Determination of a Visitor’s Country
Specialization: Geo-Location Tracking
IP-based Determination of a Visitor’s Country is a Drupal module that uses the visitor’s IP address to determine their location. This information can be used to serve country-specific content, such as pricing, language, or shipping options.
The IP-based Determination of a Visitor’s Country module lets Drupal sites detect the location of their visitors based on their IP address. This information can be used to provide a more personalized shopping experience through dynamic content, pricing, and taxing. It’s a valuable tool for international sites that need to offer localized content.
Key Features:
- Automatic Country Detection: Uses the visitor’s IP address to determine their country, allowing for automatic content localization.
- Geolocation-Based Content Display: Show country-specific content, prices, and promotions based on the visitor’s location.
- Customizable Behavior: Configure how the site responds to detected countries, such as redirecting to country-specific pages or applying regional settings.
- Integration with Tax and Shipping Modules: Automatically apply relevant tax rates and shipping options based on the visitor’s country.
Use Case: Serve country-specific content, such as pricing, language, or shipping options, based on the visitor’s location.
Commerce Variation Bundle
Specialization: Product Bundling
Commerce Variation Bundle is a Drupal module that allows you to create bundles of product variations. This can be useful for selling products that are often purchased together, such as a shirt and pants or a laptop and mouse. You can set the price of the bundle and configure the available options.
Key Features:
- Bundle Creation: Create product bundles consisting of multiple product variations, each with its own attributes and pricing.
- Flexible Configuration: Configure bundles with different combination options, such as including or excluding specific variations based on user selection.
- Pricing Options: Set bundle pricing based on the individual components or offer discounts for purchasing the bundle as a whole.
- Dynamic Product Display: Display bundles dynamically on the product page, allowing customers to choose variations and see the total price in real-time.
- Integration with Other Modules: Works seamlessly with other Drupal modules like Commerce Stock and Commerce Coupons, enhancing the overall eCommerce functionality.
Use Case: Create bundles of product variations and may also offer them at a discounted price.
Commerce Coupon
Specialization: Discount Vouchers
Commerce Coupon is a Drupal module that allows you to create and manage coupon codes for discounts or promotions. You can set conditions for coupon usage, such as minimum order value or expiration date. The module also supports various coupon types, such as fixed amount, percentage, or free shipping.
Key Features:
- Coupon Creation: Create various types of coupons, including percentage discounts, fixed-amount discounts, or free shipping offers.
- Flexible Rules: Define complex discount rules based on conditions such as product type, customer group, or order total.
- Usage Limits: Set limits on coupon usage, including the number of times a coupon can be used per user or in total.
- Expiration Dates: Configure expiration dates for coupons to create time-limited promotions and encourage timely purchases.
- Customizable Redemption: Customize how coupons are redeemed and applied during checkout, providing a smooth user experience.
Use Case: Offer discounts, promotions, or incentives to customers using coupon codes.
Commerce Wishlist
Specialization: Wishlist Feature
Commerce Wishlist is a module that adds wishlist functionality to Drupal Commerce sites. It allows customers to save products they are interested in for future purchases, enhancing their shopping experience. The module integrates with user accounts, enabling customers to manage and share their wishlists.
Key Features:
- Add to Wishlist: Provides an option for customers to add products to a wishlist from the product page or shopping cart.
- Multiple Wishlists: Allows users to create and manage multiple wishlists for different purposes or occasions.
- Share Wishlists: Enables users to share their wishlists with friends and family, either through social media or direct links.
- Integration with User Accounts: Ties wishlists to user accounts, allowing for easy management and retrieval of saved items.
- Customizable Display: Configure how wishlists are displayed and accessed on the site, including options to show or hide wishlist links and buttons.
Use Case: Allow customers to save products for later purchases or share their wishlists with others.
Commerce Product Reviews
Specialization: Product Feedback
The Commerce Product Reviews module enables customers to leave reviews and ratings for products on your eCommerce site. This can help other customers make informed purchasing decisions and improve your store’s reputation. You can also configure the review process, such as requiring customers to be logged in or allowing anonymous reviews.
Key Features:
- Rating System: Provides a star rating system or other rating methods to quantify customer feedback.
- Review Moderation: Includes tools for moderating and managing reviews, such as approving, editing, or deleting submissions to maintain content quality.
- Customizable Review Fields: Customize the review form to include additional fields, such as pros and cons, to gather more detailed feedback.
- Review Display Options: Configurable options for displaying reviews on product pages, including sorting, filtering, and pagination.
- Integration with Product Listings: Integrates seamlessly with product listings and detail pages to show aggregated ratings and reviews.
Use Case: Encourage customers to leave reviews for products, helping other customers make informed decisions while buying a product.
By selecting the right Drupal eCommerce modules, you can create an eStore that offers a great shopping experience for your customers. However, you should consider hiring Drupal developers if you want more customization and scalability.
FAQs About Drupal eCommerce Modules
- Payment gateways (Stripe, PayPal, Authorize.Net)
- Shipping methods (UPS, FedEx, USPS)
- Search (Apache Solr, ElasticSearch)
- Marketing and promotions (Mailchimp, Acquia Lift, Commerce Marketing)
- Inventory management (Commerce Inventory, Commerce Stock)
Conclusion
Drupal Commerce, with its modular architecture, offers a flexible and scalable solution for building online stores. By leveraging the right combination of core and third-party modules, you can create a unique shopping experience for your customers.
To ensure a smooth payment process, you can use modules like Commerce PayPal or Stripe and Coupons to offer discounts. You can combine multiple modules to ensure compatibility between them and build a robust eStore.
If you are looking to build a well-designed and scalable eCommerce site, hire Drupal developers.
