VTEX is an e-commerce platform that helps companies create their own eCommerce and sell their products online. Through this tool, you can design your digital store, manage products, receive purchase orders, process payments, and consolidate all your user information.
This eCommerce platform is an excellent option for large and enterprise companies that have a large product catalog and want to launch their online store as quickly as possible.
The VTEX software architecture is designed for developing and launching online stores quickly and it also offers good performance, so your site will be fast and not take long to load content.
VTEX was founded in 1999 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This manufacturer has grown exponentially in recent years around Latin America and the United States. Currently, the company has a presence in over 26 countries and is used by more than 2,500 companies around the world.
Some of the companies that have used VTEX to create their eCommerce are: Walmart, Levi's, Vans, Danone, Loreal, Samsung, Sony, among others. In July 2021, it went public on the New York Stock Exchange.
Therefore, we can say that VTEX is one of the best-established e-commerce platforms in the Latin American and North American markets.
Features and Advantages of VTEX
Launch Your New Online Store in Record Time
In an increasingly digitalized world, companies must move quickly to position themselves in the market. So if your company wants to join the world of eCommerce, it is vital that they select an eCommerce platform that will help them launch their online store in no time.
One of the great advantages of VTEX is that you can create and launch eCommerce stores in record time thanks to its configurable framework. While in other platforms you could take up to six months to have an eCommerce functioning, in VTEX you could achieve it in half the time.
Interface Design
Design Your Online Store Easily with Predesigned Templates
VTEX offers a series of HTML and CSS predesigned templates that you can select to use within your eCommerce. This will help you save time in the interface design of your eCommerce.
However, to make substantial changes to the interface design of your site, you will have to directly edit the HTML and CSS code of the templates. So only a professional with programming knowledge can make important changes to the design of your eCommerce.
This could be good for those companies that are looking to deliver unique experiences to their customers and need greater flexibility to change the design of the site. And who don't want to adapt to a predesigned template by a manufacturer.
However, this could be a problem for companies that are looking for agility when making changes within their eCommerce and who want to be more independent of their systems area.
Development Speed
Optimize the performance of your store and get low loading times
The VTEX Store Framework is based on technologies such as React, GraphQL, and Node. This platform has ready-to-use software components, so that the systems team can launch an online store in a short amount of time.
In addition, the React components of its Store Framework are built to optimize the performance of the online store, resulting in low loading times on pages.
Search
Powerful search engine to show better results in less time
43% of online shoppers immediately use the search bar to find the product they need when they enter an eCommerce site. That's why evaluating an eCommerce platform's default search engine is crucial.
VTEX's default search engine stands out from other eCommerce platforms in the market. Its search engine uses artificial intelligence to understand what the user is searching for and return relevant results.
Additionally, it is capable of understanding when a user is making a spelling mistake, suggest search terms, and recognize synonyms that are not in the product catalog.
It is worth mentioning that its search engine allows you to better position certain products in specific searches through ranking rules. For example, if you want a specific brand to appear first when a user searches for "cellphone," you can adjust the ranking rules for this to happen. This way, you have control over what appears first to the customer.
The platform provides you with user search analytics. You can find out which terms are searched for the most, the number of searches, clicks, click-through rate, and conversion.
Marketing tools
Create discount codes ,
The marketing tools offered by an eCommerce platform are essential for your eCommerce team to execute strategies to increase sales within the online store.
VTEX makes it easy for the marketing team to create promotions and discount codes and send them to users who are most likely to use them.
Smart Checkout
Another tool offered by the platform is the smart checkout, which allows users to make purchases without having to create an account within your eCommerce. This can help you not lose customers who do not like to spend time creating an account in each eCommerce store they shop at.
A/B testing
Another advantage of VTEX is that it has A/B testing, which will allow your marketing team to make design changes to your eCommerce to optimize the conversion to sale.
Content Management System
This eCommerce platform has an included CMS that will allow you to design pages and edit templates without needing programming knowledge.
SEO
Optimize the SEO of your eCommerce to rank better in search engines
In the SEO part, VTEX allows you to create friendly URLs for search engine crawlers, and edit data such as the meta description and other meta tags.
Omnichannel
Become a truly omnichannel commerce
This e-commerce platform has the necessary features for your company to be an omnichannel company.
Through VTEX, you can manage all your sales channels. The tool allows you to integrate your eCommerce, marketplaces, physical stores, and mobile applications into one platform. By connecting your inventory, orders, and sales channels in one place, you can deliver better user experiences to your customers.
One of the omnichannel features offered by VTEX is "click and collect". This allows your customers to purchase online and pick up their order in a physical store. Additionally, by integrating all your customers from different channels into a single user base, you can send them promotions and personalized products based on their purchase habits. For example, those customers who usually buy running shoes in your physical store, you could send them an email about a new running shoe within your catalog.
B2B eCommerce
Create your B2B eCommerce and start selling online to other companies
The Brazilian e-commerce platform has several interesting features for B2B companies that are looking to open their own online store. Through VTEX, your customers can generate bulk orders, request product quotes, and receive special discounts. You can even show different prices to each customer. The tool also allows you to create special product kits for your customers ready to buy. With all these features, we could say that VTEX is an excellent option to open a B2B eCommerce.
Marketplace
Create your own Marketplace and increase your potential market
It is worth noting that VTEX can function as a marketplace. In which you can give access to external sellers to your online store so that they can upload their products and sell from your website. This means you can expand your potential market and attract more customers to your store.
Payment Gateaway
Offer multiple payment methods: credit cards, Mercado Pago and cash payment
Another essential aspect to consider when evaluating an eCommerce platform is the payment methods that customers can use to complete their purchase.
VTEX accepts the most widely used forms of payment in the market, such as credit cards, debit cards and Paypal. It's worth mentioning that your customers can make their payment through Mercado Pago and by paying in cash at an OXXO.
Alternatives to VTEX
If you are looking for an eCommerce platform for large or enterprise businesses that allows for long-term scalability and the best eCommerce features, there are multiple options that you could consider. Here are some of them.
BigCommerce
BigCommerce is an eCommerce platform that will allow you to open your own online store in a simple and quick way. Its Open-SaaS architecture offers the necessary facilities to integrate the latest technologies into your eCommerce and deliver the best experience to your customers.
commercetools
commercetools is an eCommerce software based on a MACH architecture (microservices, API-first, Cloud native, and Headless). Its software structure will allow you to build a Composable Commerce in which you can integrate the best technologies in the market. It's an excellent option for companies looking for the greatest possible flexibility to build their online store.
Magento
Magento (now Adobe Commerce) is one of the main eCommerce platforms, accompanying you during the creation and development of your eCommerce strategy, adapting to the needs of your project and offering your users an unimaginable number of attractive experiences.
Salesforce
Salesforce Commerce Cloud is a cloud-based eCommerce platform that will allow you to manage your businesses and online stores.
You don't need to worry about technical complexities, infrastructures, or much maintenance, you can count on Salesforce to offer you a high-performance, scalable, and secure eCommerce platform.
SAP
SAP Commerce is an omnichannel commerce platform designed to cover all B2B (business-to-business) and B2C (business-to-consumer) standard eCommerce processes.
What type of company is VTEX suitable for?
VTEX is a great option for large and enterprise companies that are looking for flexibility in the design of their eCommerce, fast development speed, and elevating the level of experience received by their customers. The software architecture of VTEX will allow your development team to make substantial changes to the design of your eCommerce, thereby overcoming one of the major challenges of eCommerce platforms, which is creating a unique shopping experience for your customers that does not resemble any other.
In addition, its framework based on technologies such as React, GraphQL and Node will allow the development team to reuse software components, modify them according to business needs and quickly launch an online store.
Another feature of this eCommerce platform to highlight is its search engine. Search is the primary way that a user finds products within your eCommerce. Therefore, a poor search experience can be frustrating for the user. Typically, default search engines in eCommerce platforms tend to fail in this regard. However, this is not the case with VTEX. Its default search engine is smart enough to recognize synonyms, detect spelling errors and recommend search terms, thereby delivering a better experience to your customers.
