CODEWITHSUNDEEP
ruby-on-rails
LK__
LK__

Reputation: 6713

Rails for ecommerce site

I was planning on using RoR for an upcoming e-commerce site but keep reading comments that give the impression that this framework is not yet fit for this type of a commercial application.

What is the state of it? May it be used for large scale online stores etc? Is compatibility and the frequently changing framework an issue to worry about?

Upvotes: 1

Views: 1143

Answers (5)

drhenner
drhenner

Reputation: 2230

Very late to answer but try out http://www.ror-e.com

https://github.com/drhenner/ror_ecommerce

Disclaimer: I wrote it, but it is more developer friendly and starts you off with a lot of best practices baked in. Good luck

Upvotes: 1

smcdrc
smcdrc

Reputation: 1691

Agree with other's posts about activemerchant. That combined with someone like Braintree as the gateway (who are programmer oriented) make it pretty simple to do.

Upvotes: 2

MikeJ
MikeJ

Reputation: 1162

Late answer... but I feel I should share some of the latest stuff available.

Is compatibility and the frequently changing framework an issue to worry about?

No. But it sounds like you are a beginner with Rails -- anyone starting a big e-commerce project should consider sticking with a framework they are already comfortable with.

If you definitely want a Rails app and your site is primarily an e-commerce shopping site, I recommend you look at Spree (http://spreecommerce.com/).

If your site is primarily a web application with a small purchasing component, consider using ActiveMerchant directly to hack together your own simple shopping page.

If you are making a primarily e-commerce shopping site, you would do well to at least consider non-Rails solutions. There are so many options for standalone web stores, shopping carts linked to CMS apps like WordPress and Drupal, third-party services for a fee (e.g., Shopify for shops, Chargify for subscription services) and many of them can be customized with minimal coding.

Rails is up to the task, but if you aren't already a "Rails guy" there's no particular reason to choose it for a new e-commerce app.

Upvotes: 3

Julian H
Julian H

Reputation: 1859

It depends on what features you want in your system.

Chris mentioned some tools for payment processing and order / cart management.

If you want something for a 'large scale online store' then I'm not sure there is anything yet. Specifically when I worked with ATG Dynamo Commerce Server, there was a massive amount of effort invested in their pricing, discount and promotion elements.

Upvotes: 1

Chris Drappier
Chris Drappier

Reputation: 5370

yes, rails can do it quite well. check out active merchant site, as well as shopify, which is a rails site specifically for ecommerce. as far as changes to the framework, i've found them pretty easy to keep up with on our applications.

Upvotes: 2

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