Explaining eCommerce Website Development with Drupal

Today, Drupal has evolved exceptionally with advanced tools for providing support to eCommerce businesses. Drupal being a powerful and extensively adaptable content management system, broadens its horizons to empower enterprises with a complete Drupal website development eCommerce solution. Renowned for its adaptability, scalability, and security, Drupal eCommerce empowers businesses to craft personalized online shopping experiences that resonate with their distinctive brand.

As an open-source content management system, Drupal offers a plethora of benefits to businesses of all sizes. One of its primary advantages is its cost-effectiveness, as it is available for free. Moreover, Drupal boasts a vast development community that is constantly pushing the boundaries of innovation, ensuring that the platform remains at the forefront of technology.

Despite its advanced features, Drupal is remarkably user-friendly, making content management a breeze even for those without technical expertise. Its intuitive interface allows users to create, edit, and publish content with ease, while its robust architecture ensures that your website remains stable and secure.

How to Build Ecommerce Website with Drupal ? 

The very first step in starting the Ecommerce website Development journey is to:

1. Downloading latest Drupal core. There are two ways for the same.

• Using the Composer package manager. You need to send the command to its console:

composer create-project drupal-composer/drupal-project:9.x-dev my_dir –no-interaction

• From Drupal official website

When implementing the Drupal Commerce module, it’s essential to consider the setup of external dependencies. For optimal performance and compatibility, we recommend initializing your project with Composer. This ensures that all required dependencies are properly managed and installed, streamlining the setup process.

Alternatively, you can integrate the necessary sets using the Ludwig module. However, we strongly advise utilizing Composer for its efficiency and reliability. By following this approach, you can ensure a smooth and hassle-free integration of the Drupal Commerce module into your project.

2. Specify access to database. Drupal offers a variety of website profiles, each preconfigured with settings and content. However, if you prefer a more minimalistic approach, you can opt for the minimal profile during installation. Once the installation is complete, you can customize your site by filling in the details on the Configure Site page to match your specific needs and preferences.
3. Installing the Drupal Commerce module requires the use of either Composer or the Ludwig module. For detailed instructions, refer to the documentation, which is primarily written for Drupal 8 but also applies to Drupal 9.
4. To install the Drupal Commerce module using Composer, you’ll need to execute the “composer require drupal/commerce” command in your console. This command will download and install the Commerce module along with its dependencies, ensuring that your installation is up-to-date and functional.
5. After installing the Drupal Commerce module, navigate to the Advanced tab in the top admin menu to access the module settings. Here, you can enable the required modules to enhance the functionality of your eCommerce website.

Optionally, you can enable the Commerce Tax module to add additional taxes.

The Commerce Promotion module is an essential tool for creating various promotions and discounts to attract customers and boost sales. With this module, you can easily set up discounts based on specific criteria such as product categories, purchase amounts, or customer segments.

For generating unique identification numbers for your products, the Commerce Number Pattern module comes in handy. This tool allows you to create custom patterns for your product numbers, making it easier to manage and track your inventory.

If you plan to manage multiple stores using a single system, the Commerce Store module is invaluable. This module enables you to create and manage multiple stores, each with its own unique settings and configurations, all within the same Drupal environment.

6. After configuring these modules, you’ll notice a new “Commerce” menu item in the administrator top menu. This menu provides access to all the commerce-related settings and features, allowing you to manage your online store efficiently.
7. To get started, it’s recommended to set up your general store configurations first. This includes defining your store’s currency, payment methods, shipping options, and other important settings. Once your store is configured, you can start adding and managing your products. Access these settings by navigating to “Commerce” > “Configuration” in the administrator menu.
8. To enable users to pay for their purchases using one or more currencies, navigate to the “Currencies” section and add the desired currencies.
9. Navigate to “Commerce” > “Configuration” > “Stores” and create a new store by completing the necessary fields.
10. Similarly, add a new product type by following the same process. When defining a product type, you can specify the minimum required fields that are common to all products and do not impact their pricing, such as a text description. Additional characteristics can be configured within the product’s variations.
11. To add multiple attributes, access “Commerce” > “Product attributes”. For instance, attributes for phones could include camera specifications, screen size, memory capacity, or colour options.
12. Navigate to “Commerce” > “Configuration” > “Product variation types” to modify your custom type. Ensure that you have selected the attributes created in the previous step.

You can also include extra fields specific to the entire variation, like a product image.

13. Now that the structure is set up, it’s time to add some products. Navigate to “Commerce” > “Products” > “Add product”.
14. Navigate to the “Variations” tab, where you can configure product variations with the additional options (attributes) created in step 12.
15. Save your changes and go to the product page.

The module will automatically show a widget for toggling attributes and will load the corresponding variation.

16. To create a page displaying all products, navigate to “Structure” > “Views” in the administrator menu. Create a new view, selecting the “Show product” type (your custom type), and ensure to check the “Create the page” checkbox.
17. If you’ve completed the steps correctly, visiting the page created in the previous step will display all products added to the website. This represents the fundamental use of Views. By navigating to “Structure” > “Views” and selecting the desired view, you can further customize this page. For instance, you can configure the product output or add search filters. Modules such as Search API and Facets can assist in creating faceted searches.
18. To view the orders you’ve created, visit the “Commerce” > “Orders” page.

This is all about creating Drupal eCommerce by hiring services from website development company.