Top 5 Python libraries for e-commerce
Python is an extremely versatile language that can be used to develop a wide array of products such as complex websites and mobile and web apps. It can be used for scripting, backend development, web development, mobile development, machine learning, fintech, big data, and IoT. We’ve already covered why we chose to use this language to build our products, as well as its popular web framework Django. Python has a large development community behind it and, therefore, plenty of tools and documentation. As e-commerce keeps getting bigger every day, in this article, we chose to focus particularly on Python libraries for e-commerce. So, let’s take a look at five of the most popular ones.
Saleor is an open-source e-commerce platform built with Python, GraphQL, Django and React. Its goal is to deliver dynamic, speedy and personalized shopping solutions and help you create beautiful online stores. Saleor’s most impressive features include offline shopping for PWAs, a focus on user experience, advanced payment and tax options that can integrate any payment method, and excellent SEO and analytics features.
When it comes to requirements, Saleor runs on Python 3.8 and Node.js 10.0+. Its current stable version is 2.11. The platform also has extensive documentation which you can find here. Just like with any popular Python tool, there is a large community behind Saleor that you can contribute to yourself.
Finally, this Python library for e-commerce is free for developers, but also offers three different packages for companies tailored to their needs. You can find all the details here.
This Django domain-driven e-commerce framework allows for full customization of your project, making it highly flexible so you can meet your business needs. It also includes comprehensive documentation and an extensive test suite. Other features include customizable products, vouchers, and extension libraries for various payment gateways (such as PayPal and DataCash).
Moreover, Oscar is constantly working on improvements, such as adding extra payment methods, allowing sales reps to place orders for customers, and handling increasingly larger product catalogs.
Oscar’s latest version is version 3.0. If you’re interested in contributing to this open-source Python library for e-commerce, visit this page for instructions.
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Django-SHOP
Django-SHOP describes itself as a fun, fast and easy e-commerce framework. Django-SHOP is modular, includes programmable cart modifiers and a delivery and fulfillment workflow, and lets you build your database model out of the product’s properties. Moreover, the framework is multilingual, supports multiple currencies, is based on REST and plugs in directly into the django-CMS management solution.
As all of the Python libraries for e-commerce we’ve discussed so far, it also provides extensive documentation in addition to tutorials that make it easy to get started. Django-SHOP is currently on version 1.2 and is compatible with Python 2.1 onwards. The framework is currently available under a BSD license.
Shuup is an open-source multi-vendor marketplace software based on Python and Django. It allows you to build marketplaces like Amazon or Etsy, niche multi-seller systems, a local delivery network or even your own service economy like Fiverr. The e-commerce options are simply endless. Furthermore, Shuup includes a wide variety of integrations with tools such as Mailchimp, Google Analytics and Stripe.
Shuup offers free open-source access to developers, but also includes various paid business and enterprise packages depending on your company’s needs. The platform gives you the option to build a single marketplace for all products with different vendor pages or headless e-commerce. In other words, you can build a custom network of operation platforms.
You can find everything you need to get started with this Python library for e-commerce here and all the relevant documentation here.
This BSD licensed shopping cart app was built using Django. The tool is definitely simpler than the ones we’ve seen so far in this article, but no less useful as it provides a simple and clean base for e-commerce websites. Cartridge includes the most common web e-commerce features like sale pricing, promotional codes, registered or anonymous checkout, and hierarchical categories. These make it easy to customize your product. That said, it should be noted that it was designed as a plugin for Mezzanine, a content management platform, so it depends on it to function.
You can support this Python library for e-commerce by contributing, donating and reporting any issues. Some of the sites that use Cartridge include You Name It, Adrenaline and Ripe Maternity.
Final thoughts on Python libraries for e-commerce
As you can see, there is a wide array of Python libraries for e-commerce available to fulfill your business needs. These five alone offer diverse options depending on the size and requirements of your project, but there are definitely plenty more to choose from. We hope to have helped you find the right Python e-commerce tool for you.
