Are you planning to start your dream e-commerce project?
In this article, you will learn about best eCommerce platforms for startups to build an eCommerce website based on their features, performance, ease of use and value. Compare and choose the best e-commerce platform that suits your business plans.
What is E-commerce?
E-commerce or electronic commerce, refers to the electronic buying and selling of goods or services over the internet, and the supply chain management, electronic data interchange, internet marketing and electronic funds transfer to execute these transactions. The benefits of e-commerce include availability around-the-clock, speed of access, easy accessibility, wide availability of goods and services, and international reach.
Features of eCommerce
Features of eCommerceThe main features of an e-commerce platform are to make a business more engaging and user-friendly.
- Content management capabilities
- Promotion and discount code tools
- User-friendly navigation
- An easy-to-use checkout
- SEO code and layout
- Reporting tools
- A blog or articles section
- Multiple payment options
- Email marketing integration
How to choose the best e-commerce platform?
An eCommerce platform is a software application that helps online businesses to operate and manage their website, sales, and other day to day operations.
Best eCommerce Platforms for Startups
1. WooCommerce
2. BigCommerce
3. Shopify
4. Volusion
5. Magento
6. Weebly
7. SquareSpace
8. BigCartel
Pro’s & Con’s of Best eCommerce Platforms To Build An eCommerce Website
1. WooCommerce
WooCommerce is the most popular e-commerce platform that needs no introduction. It’s a free WordPress plugin designed and developed to turn any website into a e-commerce store. There are unlimited good free themes. However, few plugins are charged. You can also convert your WordPress based Woocommerce single store into a multivendor marketplace by adding a free plugin like Dokan. Install WooCommerce, fix your settings and add your own product. Those who are unfamiliar with WordPress may struggle with buying , hosting, WordPress installation, setup of theme and plugins.
Pros
Woocommerce has lots of features such as
- WordPress is the best platform for SEO content management.
- WordPress experts available
- Flexible platform for all sort of businesses
- Large variety of plugins and themes
- Fully customizable
- 1-click selling and shipping
- Shopping cart that serve really well.
- A secure and reliable payment gateway
- Plugins available for integrating payment gateways, social media, marketing and many other integrations
Cons
- Good hosting can be expensive
- Multiple plugins can cause conflicts
- Few WordPress themes are expensive
- Troubleshooting
- Integrating some features to make it more user-friendly can require additional investment
- Lack of scalability
2. BigCommerce
BigCommerce is a best eCommerce platform for startup of an eCommerce or who want to expand their business operations to include online orders. Its search engine makes it ideal for larger retail brands. Its available tools and exclusive software are suitable for crafting best eCommerce website design.
Pros
- Customizable templates to design, sell and market your product
- SEO friendly Performance
- Excels with multi-channel selling
- Fantastic Theme Designs
- Can be used as a pure SaaS solution
- Drag and drop files to fit right into the pages and templates
- multiple payment methods, custom shipping
- a broad community of designers and developers
Cons
- Inconsistent speeds in consecutive studies
- Gets expensive for high volume stores
- Cart abandonment isn’t on entry plan
- Very few templates are free
- No 1-click Selling
3. Shopify
Shopify has become one of the best eCommerce platform. Online stores can be easily setup even by the website development beginners with Shopify’s drag and drop interface. It is the best platform for selling if you are using Facebook or Instagram marketing. It is easily customizable for website development without any programming. It has numerous apps, plugins store management and shopping cart functions.
Pros
- Easy Setup
- Lighting fast load time
- 1-Click selling
- more than one hundred templates
- Allows multiple channel and social selling
- Themes with variety of designs
Cons
- Weak ranking in SEO
- Unable to customize the checkout process
- Apps can become expensive
- Web developer is needed for advanced features
- Not helpful for a large store with many products.
- Paid themes are expensive
- Pricing is based around stages of business
4. Volusion
Volusion is the best ecommerce platform to set up a store within minutes and edit it whenever required. It has an easy website builder with drag and drop option and in-page editing. It provides step by step learning materials to build your store and grow your online business. It has free themes and many premium themes.
Pros
- Nicely structured dashboard
- Great flexibility with Sitemaps
- Built-in subscription/recurring payments
- SMB friendly
- Good help center
- Clear inventory and marketing system
Cons
- poor URL structure
- slow SaaS platforms
- No built-in blogging functionality
- WordPress and a plugin or other means are required to connect the blog to your store.
5. Magento
Magento is the best ecommerce platform for expanding small e-commerce companies into larger ones. Magento is a self-hosted ecommerce system, downloading it and simply taking it. All the hosting costs and set-up efforts are your sole responsibility. It has flexible features and cloud commerce so it grows along with your business needs. Mostly, all the large brands use Magento. Extensions and themes can also be used to increase the functionality of your platform.
Pros
- Scalable and highly customizable
- Strong SEO
- 1-Click selling
- It has a product and payment platform
- Having many features
- Many users and community with network of experts
- Flexibility to choose where you want to host the software
Cons
- Themes are expensive.
- Development Skills are required
- Virtually no support.
- Needs enough memory and to perform well
6. Weebly
Weebly is one of the largest platform to build eCommerce website. It is easy to start your eCommerce website, customize with design templates with drag-and-drop features making it perfect for those with little knowledge of eCommerce and websites.. It also offers a code editor for the experienced.
Pros
- Easy-to-use
- Mobile-friendly
- Free and affordable plans
- A variety of pricing plans
Cons
- Weak SEO
- Lacks integrations
- Some features are basic
7. Squarespace
Squarespace have become the go-to sponsor for every popular podcast on the web. It is like the new WordPress with easy to build features, easily accessible to anyone and customizable. It is focused from the beginning towards brand building and selling. It has all the basic features expected from an e-commerce platform arranged on the side menu and drag-and-drop feature and have templates and design capabilities.
Pros
- Easy To Set Up
- Great For Simple Stores
- Great Designs
- Great SEO tools
- Access to marketing and other analytic features
- calculation of shipping rates
- Integrates with Ship-station and ShipBob
Cons
- No marketing automation integration
- No app store for more features and functionalities
- No extensions to install
- Complicated back-door coding to slog through.
- Lack of features
- Limited payment processors
- Integrates only with very few third-party tools
8. BigCartel
Big Cartel is simpler ecommerce platform designed for e commerce services and smaller e-commerce businesses made with artists and creatives in mind to sell their work. It is easy to set up and launch an online store without any previous web experience, allowing the artists to focus on their creative side. Other platforms can be customized but will often have too many features that just aren’t relevant for a person who is selling their work on their own. It has a free version with five products limit and goes up from there, so you can monitor how many things are being sold and maintain your budget.
Pros
- Easy to set up and use
- Affordable
- Mobile-friendly
- Customizable themes
- Google Analytics
- Inventory and shipment tracking.
Cons
- Limited number of products
- Limited features and scalability
You can also read Why Retail Store Owners Should Build An eCommerce Website in 2024?
Contact Web Gen World To Build An eCommerce Website For Your Business
Contact WebGenWorld for Best eCommerce Web Designing and eCommerce SEO Services in Hyderabad India. “Web Gen World” is one such web service provider which understands your specific needs, tailor the services accordingly and presents you with a unique approach towards creating websites.
