Droopler is a Drupal distribution created by the Droptica team developers. In version 2.1, integration with Drupal Commerce has been added to it, which is becoming more and more popular and used by more and more people. In combination, both these distributions make a unique solution for everyone who wants to sell on-line. Below is the interview with Grzegorz Pietrzak, Rafał Sereda and Jarosław Bartman – the key team members who worked on Droopler Commerce.
Why the decision on commerce in Droopler?
Grzegorz Pietrzak: The users' interest in the possibilities of Droopler is growing more and more. Therefore, we have decided to meet the expectations of anyone who would like to combine the functionalities of Droopler with regard to commerce.
Rafał Sereda: At Droptica, we provide services, such as Drupal support or Drupal consulting, so we know how important it is to meet customer needs Satisfying the clients' needs is a key issue here. We wanted to create a ready-made solution for a website with a shop.
Jarosław Bartman: Yes, our goal was to develop a Droopler-based solution for online sales.
What challenges did you face when you started working on Droopler Commerce?
Rafał Sereda: The main challenge was adapting commerce to Droopler so that the client could launch the store as soon as possible.
Jarosław Bartman: We had to match the styles from commerce to the look of Droopler, as well as integrate the commerce modules with Droopler.
Grzegorz Pietrzak: Commerce is not a single module, but an entire ecosystem. This is the basis to which you add further elements, such as the integrations with payments. We had to be sure that all modules from drupal.org would work.
What is ready-made in Droopler Commerce 2.1 then?
Rafał Sereda: After the initial configuration of the store, the user receives a ready-made website with the listing of products with the search API. So, the type of product styled with fields is ready-made, and above all – the entire purchasing process.
Jarosław Bartman: We have prepared support for shop views (e.g. the cart). All commerce elements show up correctly in Droopler Commerce. The cart works fine in the Droopler skin. There is a filter in the added product list view that also shows what has been filtered out. In the view of the product itself, there are now images, a description, paragraphs to the product page, which is – a banner for example.
Grzegorz Pietrzak: There is also the user page with the purchase history, the checkout. On the home page, you can also create a section with the highlighted products.
What can be expanded in Droopler Commerce with additional modules?
Rafał Sereda: Anything you can find at drupal.org, where there are about 1,500 modules in the commerce section. By deciding to build a store using Droopler Commerce, the owner has access to great opportunities to further develop their store. This is an absolutely crucial benefit.
Jarosław Bartman: The built-in SEO module, Metatag, or Lazy-Load should also be mentioned, thanks to which one can enhance the transfer and performance of the website. This applies to loading photos when the user scrolls to the area where they are.
Grzegorz Pietrzak: Payments, shipments, currencies. The list is endless, but it should be emphasised that the store owner can make any further improvements himself, without additional programming work. This is another benefit for the client who will decide to use Droopler Commerce 2.1.
So, can you say that by getting commerce, you get more than commerce?
Rafał Sereda: Definitely. I would put it like this: Droopler functionalities + Droopler Commerce functionalities = ready-made store with landing pages. This is a very important thing that distinguishes our solution from other commerces. We provide the ability to build not only an online store but a website. You can say it is 2 in 1.
Grzegorz Pietrzak: Thanks to Droopler Commerce you can create unique pages for individual products. Due to the fact that Droopler has paragraphs and numerous visual components, such as banners, galleries, carousels, counters, the possibility of embedding video materials, each of these products can be the subject of a memorable online sales campaign.
Jarosław Bartman: I would call it a personalised sales website.
Are there any other benefits of a store based on Droopler Commerce beside the ones stated above?
Jarosław Bartman: I think it is extremely important that Droopler Commerce is not a one-off project as evidenced by its version 2.1.
Rafał Sereda: The client can be sure that we will provide technical support to the people who choose Droopler Commerce and will not leave them to fend for themselves.
Grzegorz Pietrzak: As a continuation of our Drupal Commerce services, Droopler will be developed further with new functionalities. The users will therefore have tools to expand their stores with new elements. They will be limited by their imaginations only.
