Why Use Python for E-Commerce?

Do you want to start an e-commerce business or take your existing business online? In this article, I will explain the benefits of Python for e-commerce and what it can do for an Internet-based business.

Python is mostly associated with data science and artificial intelligence. However, Python is a great choice for e-commerce and many other types of businesses; in fact, this is a general purpose programming language with a large and enthusiastic following.

What makes Python stand out among other programming languages? One factor is its simple syntax, which makes it quite easy to learn. Python was created so that its code is as understandable as plain English. Another factor is its suitability for a wide range of tasks, from organizing files to implementing complex machine learning systems. Its simplicity does not mean Python sacrifices power or performance – it is just as powerful as its major competitors.

If you already know you want to learn Python, our Learn Programming with Python track is a great way to start your coding journey. You do not need to have any prior IT experience; everything will be explained as you go along. There are 5 fully interactive Python courses, carefully organized and presented for beginners. Plus, having Python in your skillset brings you many opportunities. The focus in this article is on one particular field: Python for e-commerce.

E-commerce vs. In-store Shopping

As we get busy with work and family, the time we have for shopping becomes limited. So, we usually prefer online shopping channels. Of course, time is not the only constraint; in some cities, people like to avoid traffic, so they prefer online shopping instead of commuting to a shopping center.

Online shopping is also more common among younger people. According to a study, 67% of millennials prefer online shopping to in-store shopping. Especially after the global coronavirus pandemic, e-commerce acquired millions of customers – making it a huge industry.

Businesses responded to this new trend by creating new or improving existing e-commerce platforms. Retail store chains that only had in-store operation created shopping websites. Online businesses expanded their product portfolio and started selling new products. For instance: In my country, there is a website that used to sell only flowers. After the pandemic, they realized the gold mine of online shopping and started selling a wide range of products.

At the end of the day, businesses need people spending money. So they look for ways to provide products in the customers’ most preferred and convenient way.

E-commerce is different from traditional in-store shopping in many aspects: product presentation, inventory management, shipping and delivery, and so on. All these factors make online shopping more involved with technology than traditional shopping.

Businesses build websites and mobile applications to showcase their products. That’s the starting point for e-commerce. The entire operation is much more complicated, as it includes payment processing, inventory management, customer relationship management, dynamic pricing strategy, data analysis, and sometimes predictive analytics. Python is a highly compatible programming language that can be used for handling all these tasks.

Python for E-commerce

Online shopping starts with a website or mobile application. That’s how e-commerce businesses reach out to customers. It doesn’t end with just creating a website, however. Customers want a smooth and comfortable online shopping experience. just like what we expect from shopping in a store. The website should be quick, well-designed, and easy to navigate. There is huge competition, so a website that’s slow or poorly designed drives people away. From browsing products to the checkout process, the entire process needs to be flawless.

Python offers highly advanced and mature tools for web development. Take Django for example, which is a high-level framework for web development. Thanks to its reusable components, Django allows for rapid web development with relatively less code. There are many advantages to using it for e-commerce.

First of all, it’s scalable. You might need a small website for your startup, but your website will have to handle an increasing number of visitors as your business grows. Django’s independent, pluggable components make it easier to handle this increasing traffic

Another important point to consider is security. You need to provide your clients with a safe shopping experience. There are quite a lot of malicious people out there. Sooner or later, some of them will try to attack your online business and steal your customers' personal information.

Cybersecurity and safeguarding personal information is a high priority for any business. Plus, some cyberattacks cause outages, which means your online store will essentially be closed during that time. This loses money; if it goes on long enough, it also loses customers. Django is capable of preventing many common security mistakes. For instance, it generates web pages dynamically so that the source code of the website is hidden.

Python has a large and active community of developers. This is a big advantage when it comes to creating your website with Python. For instance, Django has ready-to-use features like content management and user authentication. Moreover, you can rely on community-developed plugins to improve your website’s functionality. Having a large number of users also makes Django a reliable tool. If it’s tested and used by many others, then you can use it without any worries.

Last but not least, Django is SEO-friendly. SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is of crucial importance for any online business. Your website should be highly ranked by search engines; this makes it easier for your potential customers to find you.

This is similar to how the physical location of a store is important for business. If your store is located on a busy street with lots of traffic, you’d expect more customers and potentially more sales. When people use search engines to find something online, they almost always pick something from the first few pages. Thus, you should always aim for your business to be listed among the first page or two of search results. Django adapts SEO best practices (e.g. generating semantic URLs) making it easier for your marketing or SEO teams to increase your website’s traffic.

Data Science for E-commerce

Whether you operate your business online, offline, or a mixture of both, data is an extremely valuable asset for you. Companies use data to increase profitability, revenue, and customer satisfaction. Python – being the most preferred programming language in data science and Artificial Intelligence – can help you leverage data to improve your business, which is another reason why you should choose Python for e-commerce.

Let’s say your online business sells millions of products per year. You would have hundreds or thousands of SKUs (Stock Keeping Unit - a number assigned to products to keep track of stock levels). That’s a huge inventory to manage. How many products do you need to keep in stock per SKU? Are there seasonal products? Do you have products that sell more on the weekends?

The best solution to provide an accurate answer to these questions lies within your data. You can use machine learning to do sales forecasting. It can help you have accurate predictions of your sales quantities. If you know how many of each product you’re likely to sell, you’ll be able to keep the right amount in your inventory accordingly – reducing shortages while also keeping you from storing too much and raising your costs unnecessarily.

A large business, whether it operates online or offline, has different types of customers – i.e. different groups of people with similar shopping behavior and preferences. You can group your customers into segments and offer customized deals or offers. Personalized recommendations or deals will enhance the shopping experience, which will increase the sales.

Python for e-commerce is a great choice because customer segmentation and recommendation engines use machine learning algorithms. While you try to keep your customers happy, you also want to know which customers are likely to leave so that you can take necessary actions to keep them. This is known as customer churn prediction and very simple to implement with Python.

You can also use Python’s third-party libraries for data analysis, data visualization, and reporting. These are essential for a successful business. You always need to keep a close eye on your business metrics and how you’re doing in terms of revenue and profitability. You can tell how the business is doing by experience and observation, but it’s not always immediately clear. You need to dig deep into data to figure out a potential issue. Data not only tells us about a problem, but it also gives us guidance on how to solve it.

Long-Term Benefits of Using Python for E-commerce

Creating an online business is an investment of money, time, and effort. You can’t just immediately start making money after you create an online store. It takes a while.

For such a long-term investment, you need to make sure the tools and technology you use will still be reliable in the future. If you build your online business using tools that are not tested and proven, you may face serious issues in the future. Python’s use in e-commerce has numerous developers using it. Moreover, newcomers usually choose Python because of its simplicity and versatility. Thanks to its continuous growth and evolution, Python can future-proof your e-commerce platform.

Let’s also mention some of the companies that use Python for their online business. Global e-commerce giant Amazon uses Python in their recommendation system, which analyzes customer shopping behavior and suggests relevant products. Booking.com, one of the largest online travel platforms, also uses Python to improve their recommendation engine. These companies would not choose Python only for its simplicity. Python’s performance and long-term stability is another determining factor.

Python is also helpful in growing your business. For instance, you can use Python for automating processes and tedious tasks. It lets your employees focus on other areas where they can be more productive. Let’s say you have an employee whose job is to forward customer emails to the related team. You can use Python to automate this task, which means having an extra person to work on more important things.

Learn How to Use Python for E-Commerce

We discussed in detail why Python for e-commerce is a great choice. It also has many other benefits for business professionals. Whether you are a software developer, a non-technical person who wants to learn programming, or a professional who wants to use programming to improve or automate processes, you should consider learning Python. It’s definitely worth the effort and promises a high return on investment.

Need a Python training program for you or your team? Contact us at b2b@learnpython.com. Our solutions for businesses include custom Python courses, assignments, user progress tracking, and much more.

Happy learning and coding!