How To Find the Technology Behind an E-commerce Site?

December 23, 2011 / FAQs Web Hosting

The e-commerce sites can be online via a number of solutions. The site can be developed:

  • With a customized solution (Development processing);
  • From a software solution: Magento, Prestashop, osCommerce, Zen Cart, IBM Websphere Commerce Server, Microsoft Commerce Server, etc …
  • From a SAAS platform: PowerBoutique, Oxatis, Rentashop, 42Stores …;
  • From a tool for as a CMS (WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, etc …)

When you’re on an e-cart, how to know the technology that runs behind you?

Examples:

  • Magento sites, when it comes to the purchasing process the link ends with “checkout / OnePage /”
  • For sites IBM Websphere commerce server, there is usually the “wcs” in the URLs of pages basket or purchasing process.
  • For Microsoft sites, the shopping page often ends with “Cart.aspx” (with the extension aspx, a sign of the Microsoft technology).

I could multiply examples … but anyway with a little practice, you can guess the platform behind the e-commerce website very quickly.

If you do not know the platform (possibly because the site is developed with a specific programming language), by searching a bit, you get in general idea to identify the technology behind the site:

  • “. Php ‘for sites in PHP
  • “. Asp” for sites using the old technology of Microsoft;
  • “. Aspx” for sites using the new technology “. NET” of Microsoft;
  • “. Cfm” for sites using ColdFusion (technology for developing Web sites carried today by Adobe);
  • “Servlet” somewhere in the URL for sites based on Java;

Interesting?

Well, it is useful to really know which technology powers the various sites. This is a great way to get a good idea about what makes a particular platform more popular. However, this analysis is limited but can help you to choose your next e-commerce platform.

Note: Each shopping cart software demands different kinds of server resources so make sure you pick the right hosting platform for your e-cart. If you are at starting point then you can start with shared hosting, but for advanced features, you should consider Cloud Hosting Virtual Private Server, or Dedicated Server Hosting.