Over the last few years, dramatic changes to the landscape of online gun and ammo stores have changed the way normal business can be conducted, and even the platforms that can be used. In fact, these changes have also impacted the enthusiast and lifestyle sites, and have hindered the ability to market and sell gun-related products in the industry. Why is that?
Unfortunately, a large number of eCommerce platforms such as Shopify, and Salesforce have cracked down on the sales of certain firearms or related products online. Being forced off of these platforms left a large number of businesses scrambling to find a new home with little to no notice. Fortunately, there are options available to start selling firearms online, or if you need (or want) to replatform. In this post, we’ll highlight Adobe Commerce, and why it’s great for firearm eCommerce sites. Let’s dive in!
Adobe Commerce is 2A Friendly
Without a doubt, Adobe Commerce and Magento Open Source being 2A friendly is one of its biggest selling points. One of the biggest pain points in the firearms space is finding a good PaaS Partner that is able to onboard your business. As we mentioned before, many platforms are shutting down firearm websites, or not even onboarding them due to changes in the political and social climates. Since most eCommerce platforms are cloud-based only, your website can be at your platform provider’s mercy, meaning that if they deem that your website does not fit their guidelines, they can remove you from the platform with little to no notice. The biggest differentiator of Adobe Commerce from the competition, is that you are not limited to just cloud-based hosting. In fact, you can choose your own hosting provider and have complete control over your hosting environment. You can rest assured that your site will be online for the foreseeable future, and you will not have a surprise replatforming pop up, or worse, your site being offline.
Adobe Commerce Integrates with 2A Friendly Payment Processors
Similarly to the above, a large portion of payment processors have cracked down on the types of business they work with, including businesses dealing with firearms. While that may be discouraging to hear, we can say that there are still plenty of payment processors that are willing to work with these types of businesses, even though they are labeled as “high risk” merchants.
While having the right way to accept credit cards is great, not being able to integrate it into your website defeats the purpose, right? Fortunately, Adobe Commerce and Open Source integrate relatively quickly (and easily!) with the merchant services provider’s payment gateway you are using. We could write an entire article just on payment gateways, so to keep this concise, we will mention these helpful articles outline more on the most-common questions about payment gateways and integrating them to your site:
- The Basics of Magento 2 Payment Gateways
- Answering The 7 Most Common FAQs About Adobe Commerce (Magento) Payment Gateways
Plus, working with a 2A friendly payment processor, you can ensure that your online sales are PCI compliant and secure which is a must for doing business online.
The Platform is Extremely Flexible and Scalable:
Outside of being second amendment friendly, Adobe Commerce and Magento Open Source are unbelievably versatile, and some have called it, “rock solid” when it comes to the industry and the other available options. When we say, “unbelievably versatile,” we truly mean it. Magento Open Source is just that, open source, meaning that you can work with an in-house developer, or agency to have a fully-customized web experience specific to your business and branding. Having a beautifully-designed website with a great user experience is only the beginning. Both Adobe Commerce and Open Source can integrate with numerous plugins to help make running your business easier. For example, both can integrate directly with your current ERP system, helping you to make the best business decisions for growth.
On the topic of growth, the flexibility of Adobe’s products can help you double-down on your growth goals, and genuinely drive them forward. With features such as the ability to cross-sell, upsell, and tie related products together, you have the ability to create a truly customized shopping experience. For example, when a customer adds a handgun to their shopping cart, you can promote the ammo, grips, and even tactical gear to go with it. Not only are you giving your customers a great experience, and making them think about what other items they need, you’re also giving yourself the opportunity to earn more revenue. The way we see it, this is a fantastic opportunity for you to take on your competition directly, and set you up to outsell them. While the results may not be immediate, you can expect to see growth in the long-term.
You may be asking yourself – “what does a good gun-friendly eCommerce site look like, and does my website stack up?” To answer your questions, 121eCommerce has worked with several clients such as Tactical Shit, Hogue, Inc., and BushWear on their websites. All three of these websites are great examples of how you can utilize Adobe Commerce or Open Source to the highest of its capabilities. Not to mention, you can also integrate marketing plugins, ticket tracking plugins, like Gorgias, and anything else you can think of to enhance your customers’ experience.
It eliminates some of the added stress:
At the end of the day, it is your decision whether Adobe Commerce or Open Source is right for you and your firearm business. With the nature of the industry, we know there is a lot of stress to your day to day operations. Whether it’s maintaining your federal compliance, fulfilling orders, managing customer reviews, and managing your staff, it goes without saying that your time (and resources) can be limited. Shouldn’t your website be able to take some of the heavy-lifting off your shoulders? We hope this article helped clarify why Adobe is a great fit for firearm eCommerce websites. If you’re ready to move forward with a build, want to learn more, or need assistance with your marketing efforts, 121eCommerce is here for you! Contact us by visiting our website, or by giving us a call at 216.586.6656. We would be more than happy to discuss your options with you!
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