To keep up with the changing demands of modern consumers, eCommerce businesses are increasingly relying on various software solutions to streamline their online operations. Software like yours can play a critical role in helping e-merchants to automate their activity and better meet their clients' needs.
E-retailers use shopping platforms like OpenCart to build their online stores and must have real-time information related to them to succeed. Software vendors can help such retailers with the functionality they provide. However, it is possible only if their software have integrated with all the needed eCommerce platforms.
In this article, we will show you how to use a unified API for OpenCart and other platforms to develop reliable integration with them.
Main Reasons Why You Should Connect to OpenCart
As an eCommerce software vendor, it makes sense to integrate your system with eCommerce platforms such as OpenCart. It helps your e-retailer clients streamline their operations and provides a lot of other benefits for your own business. Let’s explore some of them:
- OpenCart powers more than 8% of eCommerce stores, which represents more than 400,000 e-retail businesses. Hence, when you integrate your software with OpenCart via a unified API, you can increase your chances of acquiring leads or prospects.
- Integration with OpenCart can help you expand your eCommerce software business globally. You can reach international clients with OpenCart’s worldwide presence.
- By establishing a reliable integration with OpenCart and gaining more exposure, you can increase your revenue, which could lead to increased profits.
- API integration with OpenCart can help you provide better customer service to your clients than you already do. For example, it enables you to retrieve updated OpenCart data on orders, products, customers, shipping details, etc. and allows your software to perform its main tasks.
Main Aspects of OpenCart API
Before you explore the process of integration with OpenCart, it is necessary to know about the API of this eCommerce platform itself. It will help you understand how to develop the connection between your software and OpenCart.
In general, an application programming interface (API) is a set of definitions and protocols for building and integrating various software and applications. APIs allow your software or app to interact with others without needing to know how they work.
Opencart API allows users to access Opencart-specific information in JSON format. By sending an HTTP request, users can get and update data from an Opencart store.
OpenCart Integration Issues
If you don’t use unified API by API2Cart for integrating with OpenCart, you may encounter a few challenges. The cost of developing in-house integrations can be high, as you must commit resources from your core business just to establish eCommerce integrations with needed shopping platforms. Also, there are many other difficulties:
- Extending the capabilities of your company to integrate your system with multiple platforms requires a significant amount of time. Moreover, clients may not have the patience to wait for months while you integrate with multiple platforms. Clients may have their stores on more than one platform, which means that you will have to integrate with all of them.
- Integrations can be costly. A single integration may cost $4,000 or more, and since so many companies connect with more than one platform, the aggregate cost of integrations can mount into the tens of thousands of dollars.
- Furthermore, this integration is complex. Like many other eCommerce platforms, OpenCart API has a unique logical architecture. If you plan to integrate your software with multiple platforms it is an especially difficult task.
- Further, integrations must be maintained and upgraded, because eCommerce platforms regularly change their APIs to address security issues. OpenCart is no exception. Turns out upgrades and maintenance are as costly and time-consuming as establishing new integrations.
Usage of a Unified API for OpenCart Integration
To avoid the difficulties related to the in-house integration development, you can use a unified API for OpenCart integration that is provided by API2Cart. Using it, you can connect your eCommerce app or software with not only OpenCart but more than 40 other shopping platforms and marketplaces at once.
API2Cart has more than 100 API methods that allow working easily with all the needed online store data. Regarding OpenCart, using API2Cart API methods, you will be able to retrieve, add, update and delete its data connected with orders, products, shipping details, categories, prices, etc.
Usage of API2Cart unified API also reduces the need for separate integrations and enables the vendors to integrate their solutions with all the desired platforms with no difficulties.
You can try all API2Cart functionality for 30 days absolutely for free and see how it can help you with OpenCart integration. All you need to do is to register your free account right now. Or you can contact our managers for additional information.
