You’ve got a product, maybe even a logo, and that itch to finally launch your online store. But then the real question hits: Which platform should I pick? WooCommerce? PrestaShop? OpenCart? Magento? Everyone’s got an opinion, and most of them sound like sponsored ads.
To make sense of it all, I sat down with someone who’s knee-deep in this world every day—Pawel Nosko from Design Cart. He’s built more shops than most of us have browsed, and he doesn’t sugarcoat anything. We’re talking real talk, real experience, and a few hard truths. Hosting the conversation is tech journalist Carl Brown. Buckle up—it’s going to be eye-opening.
Carl Brown: Hey Pawel, thanks a ton for joining us today! Really excited to dig into this topic—choosing the right platform is where so many people get stuck when starting an online store.
Pawel Nosko: Hey Carl, thanks for having me. Yeah, I totally get it—there’s a jungle of options out there, and one wrong turn can waste you months (and a fair bit of cash). Glad we’re doing this.
Carl Brown: To start off, I’d like to introduce you to our readers more professionally, so they understand that this interview isn’t just with anyone. Could you tell us how long you’ve been in the e-commerce field and what exactly you do?
Pawel Nosko: Sure, Carl – and thanks for the warm welcome! I’ve been involved in e-commerce for over a decade now. It all started with building my first online store back in the early 2010s – it was messy, chaotic, and full of mistakes… but that’s how you learn.
Today, I run Design Cart, where we help businesses launch and grow their own e-commerce platforms – from simple stores to advanced configurators for windows, furniture, even custom pet food. We’re not an agency that just slaps on a template and calls it a day. We dig deep – UX, conversions, platform optimization, speed, security. I work directly with clients, lead development projects, and often help them choose the right platform for their needs – because trust me, that first choice can either boost or break your business.
Carl Brown: Which e-commerce platforms do you mostly work with?
Pawel Nosko: We work with several, but the main ones are OpenCart, WooCommerce, PrestaShop, and Magento. Each of them has its own strengths – and flaws too, let’s be honest.
OpenCart is our go-to for lightweight, fast, and flexible stores – especially for small to medium businesses. WooCommerce is great if someone already loves WordPress, but it requires more care and regular babysitting. PrestaShop? It’s solid but can get messy if overloaded with too many modules. And Magento – powerful, enterprise-grade, but it’s not for everyone. You need serious resources to run it smoothly.
We don’t push one solution for every client. Instead, we look at the budget, the goals, the technical team (if any), and then suggest the best match. That’s why our clients stick with us – we don’t just code, we advise like partners.
Carl Brown: I’d like to better understand how you choose the right platform for a client. Let’s say I’m opening a clothing boutique here in London and I want to start selling online. What would you recommend?
Pawel Nosko: Great question, Carl – and one I hear a lot.
If you’re launching a boutique in London and want to go online, my first move would be to ask: how much control do you want, what’s your budget, and do you plan to grow fast or stay local?
For a fashion boutique, I’d usually suggest OpenCart or PrestaShop if you want full control and customization without breaking the bank. They’re perfect for building something unique that doesn’t rely on hundreds of plugins.
If you already have a WordPress site or want something more familiar, WooCommerce is a strong contender. Just remember: you’ll need to maintain it, especially with themes and plugins.
If your plan is to eventually scale internationally and sell big, and you’ve got the budget for developers, then Magento might be worth it – but it’s like driving a Ferrari: fast, powerful, but not for beginners.
So for your boutique? I’d probably say OpenCart – fast, flexible, looks great, and you won’t need a team of developers to keep it running.
Carl Brown: Most people would probably recommend WooCommerce – it’s the most popular platform on the planet. But you didn’t. Why didn’t you suggest it to me?
Pawel Nosko: You’re right – WooCommerce is insanely popular. But popularity doesn’t always mean it’s the best fit.
Here’s the thing: WooCommerce works great if you already have a WordPress site or you’re blogging and just want to add a few products. But if your main goal is to run a real online store, with a growing catalog, advanced filters, configurable products, quick performance, and you don’t want to be stuck in a web of plugins – WooCommerce can turn into a trap.
It’s a bit like building a store inside your blog engine. Works? Yes. Clean and scalable? Not always.
I’ve seen too many stores go down because of one broken plugin or a theme update gone wrong. And unless you know WordPress inside out, you’ll be chasing fixes instead of orders.
So for beginners who want stability, I prefer to start from a platform built for e-commerce – like OpenCart or PrestaShop. WooCommerce is powerful – no doubt – but it’s not my first pick when someone says “I want to sell, not babysit plugins.”
Carl Brown: Alright, now I totally get it. You mentioned “putting out fires” with WooCommerce plugins – so naturally, I have to ask: which e-commerce platform is the most secure?
Pawel Nosko: If we’re talking pure security – like built-in protections, updates, handling of user data, admin panel safety, etc. – Magento is the armored tank. No joke.
Magento is built like a fortress. It has two-factor authentication, IP restrictions, CAPTCHA, session control, even secret admin URLs – all baked in. It’s what big brands use when they can’t afford a breach.
BUT – and it’s a big but – you need a team. It’s not for a one-man operation unless you’re a pro developer or you’ve got a budget.
Now, if you’re looking for a safe platform that doesn’t need a security engineer on speed dial, I’d say OpenCart 4 hits a sweet spot. It has smart defaults – like limiting login attempts, separating sensitive files, and auto-escaping code. Plus, it’s not overloaded with plugins that can break your store.
So: Magento – top-tier, but heavy. OpenCart 4 – light, smart, solid for small to mid-sized WooCommerce – powerful but plugin chaos. PrestaShop – good, but you’ve gotta watch out for dodgy third-party modules.
Carl Brown: How do you actually evaluate how secure a platform is? What’s your method or process?
Pawel Nosko: Great question. We don’t just “guess” or go by opinions — we break it down, point by point. At Design Cart, we’ve created a full security ranking system. In 2025, we actually published an in-depth report comparing WooCommerce, OpenCart, PrestaShop, and Magento across multiple security categories.
We look at things like:
✅ Is there brute-force protection?
✅ Can you change the admin URL easily?
✅ Does it separate public files from backups and logs?
✅ What’s the password hashing method?
✅ How are SQL injections and XSS handled?
✅ And very importantly – how fast do developers patch vulnerabilities?
Each category gets a score from 0 to 5. No emotions, no hype – just clear technical checks. We also follow known CVEs (security vulnerabilities) and watch how the platform reacts in real-world scenarios.
That’s how we ranked Magento at the top – it simply ticks more boxes. But OpenCart 4 really surprised us too. It got second place and beat WooCommerce by a solid margin.
Carl Brown: Do you know any real-life cases where a client came to you with a store that had been hacked? What exactly failed in those situations?
Pawel Nosko: Oh yes, more than once. One case that stuck with me was a seasonal online store selling ski gear. The owner used WooCommerce and only opened the store during winter. Sounds smart, right? Except… they disabled auto-updates.
When autumn came and they wanted to update the prices – boom. The store was already offline for months. It had been infected through an outdated plugin, and the hacker redirected all checkout traffic to a fake payment page. Brutal.
What failed?
➡️ No automatic updates
➡️ No monitoring
Another case? A PrestaShop store that used an old Facebook integration module. That module had a critical vulnerability. Hackers gained access to the database and injected malicious scripts. Luckily, we caught it early – but it could’ve easily turned into a full data breach.
So yes – most of the time, people don’t think they’ll be targeted. But bots don’t care about your size. They scan everything.
Carl Brown: Before our conversation, I thought you should always choose the platform with the best features. But now, I think it’s better to go with a more secure one — because a missing feature might be forgiven by a customer, but a data breach? Not so much.
Exactly. Security isn’t a checkbox — it’s the foundation. I’ve seen too many cases where people went for flashy functionality and ended up firefighting constant issues. A missing feature can be added. But when you lose your customers’ trust because their data leaked? That’s a wound that’s hard to heal. At Design Cart, we always start with stability, speed, and security — the rest comes after.
Carl Brown: To wrap things up, I always like to ask my guests for 10 tips. So I’ll ask you too — what are your 10 tips for building a great online store?
Pawel Nosko: Absolutely, Carl. Here are my 10 practical tips for anyone serious about building an exceptional online store:
- Prioritize performance first.
Your store must load fast — ideally under 2 seconds. Speed affects SEO, conversions, and user satisfaction. Don’t underestimate it. - Design for users, not yourself.
What’s obvious to you isn’t obvious to a first-time visitor. Test your layout with people who have never seen your site. - Don’t overwhelm with navigation.
Keep menus clean and simple. Aim for a user to find any product in 2–3 clicks, not through a labyrinth of categories. - Use high-quality visuals.
Invest in product photography. Clear, detailed images (and videos!) are often more persuasive than the best-written product description. - Add real interactivity.
Filters, configurators, calculators, comparisons — these tools empower users and boost conversions. Give people control. - Mobile-first, not mobile-second.
Most traffic comes from smartphones now. Make sure your mobile experience is seamless — from browsing to checkout. - Integrate the right payment & delivery options.
Know what your audience prefers. Offering too many confusing choices is as bad as offering too few. - Track everything. Seriously, everything.
Analytics, heatmaps, funnels — data should guide your next decisions, not gut feeling. - Make trust visible.
Display customer reviews, partner logos, real photos of your team. The more “human” your brand feels, the better. - Never treat your store as ‘done’.
Your store is a living project. Keep optimizing, testing, improving — that’s how great stores stay great.
Carl Brown: Pawel, thank you so much for this insightful conversation. It’s been a real eye-opener – not just for me, but I’m sure for many of our readers too.
Pawel Nosko: Thanks, Carl. It was a pleasure! I’m glad we could talk about these things openly – there’s still a lot of myths around e-commerce platforms and security. If even one person double-checks their updates or rethinks their platform choice after reading this – mission accomplished.
