In this digital era, The online industry is highly competitive and e-commerce platforms add more power to them. According to research over 370 e-commerce platforms available for business.
Want to find out the answer? Which is the best e-commerce platform available nowadays?
Want to start selling online and promote your business online? You need an eCommerce platform.
In simple terms e-commerce platform is software that allows you to create and manage an online store. Using this software you can manage product, user, sales, inventory everything related to online business.
The market is flooded with various e-commerce platforms. In this article, we find a top pick for you.
- Shopify
- BigCommerce
- Magento
- Woocommerce
- Squarespace
- Wix
- Salesforce Commerce Cloud
When you look at e-commerce software, it’s a bit difficult to choose which is perfect for your business.
Shopify
Shopify is one of the best selling platforms for beginner to small to medium-size businesses. Everything you required to create an online business Shopify has: from storefront design to content marketing to performance analytics.
Ideal for:
- Beauty & Cosmetics
- Consumer Electronics
- Fashion & Apparel
- Food & Beverage
- Home Furnishing
Pros
- Lighting fast load time
- Super easy to set up
- Lots of certified partners to help you
- 1-Click selling
- Allows multiple channel and social selling
- Great themes with varied designs
Cons
- Rated poorly in SEO in consecutive studies.
- Unable to customize the checkout process
- Apps can add up and become costly
- Need a developer for advanced features
Price:
- Basic Shopify ($29/mo)
- Shopify ($79)
- Advanced Shopify ($299).
BigCommerce
Bigcommerce is one of the best E-commerce platforms. It’s also a good choice for people who want to start an eCommerce store. BigCommerce is best for SMBs & MM who require a lot from their eCommerce platform with large or complex catalogs.
Ideal For:
- Fashion & Apparel
- Health & Beauty
- Sporting Goods
- Food & Beverage
- Home Furnishing
- Automotive
- B2B (wholesale & distribution)
- CBD
Pros
- Flexible and scalable
- Excels with multi-channel selling
- Strong SEO Performance
- Fantastic Theme Designs
- Comprehensive abandoned cart feature
Cons
- Inconsistent speeds in consecutive studies
- Gets expensive for high volume stores
- Cart abandonment isn’t on the entry plan
- No 1-click Selling/Upsells
Price
- Pricing for BigCommerce divided into four tiers:
- BigCommerce Standard ($29.95/mo)
- BigCommerce Plus ($79.95/mo)
- BigCommerce Pro ($299.95/mo)
- BigCommerce Enterprise (available upon request)
Magento
Magento is the most popular e-commerce platform globally. It is ideal for small to medium-sized businesses.
Ideal for:
- Beauty & Cosmetics
- Consumer Electronics
- Fashion & Apparel
- Food & Beverage
- Home Furnishing
- Sporting goods
Pros
- Robust and feature-rich
- Strong SEO
- 1-Click selling
- Lots of users and community
- Scalable and highly customizable
- Flexible to choose where you want to host the software
Cons
- Pricey themes.
- Easily Slowed Down
- Requires Development Skills
- Virtually no support.
- Requires ample space and memory to perform well
Price:
- Magento Open Source is free to download and use.
- Magento Commerce is an enterprise-level solution. Prices are quoted by a sales rep and are reported to run anywhere from $15,000 to $50,000 annually.
Woocommerce
Woocommerce is a free, open-source eCommerce platform developed by WordPress. It is one of the most popular e-commerce platforms. WooCommerce is the best eCommerce platform for small businesses that already have a site on WordPress, or who operate on a tight budget but still want a robust online store. It has thousands of third-party themes and plugins, giving it a great deal of flexibility to accommodate most needs.
Ideal for:
- Beauty & Cosmetics
- Consumer Electronics
- Fashion & Apparel
- Food & Beverage
- Home Furnishing
Pros
- WordPress is the best platform for SEO
- 1 Click selling app available
- Lots of WordPress experts available
- Highly customizable
- Many marketing options and plenty of other integrations
Cons
- Good hosting can be pricey
- Have to deal with blame game for troubleshooting.
- Virtually zero support
- You need extensions for simple stuff
Price:
Free to download, with extensions and add-ons.
Squarespace – An E-commerce platform
Squarespace is a Software-as-a-service company that provides website and eCommerce store building and hosting to customers. Customers use drag-and-drop functionality and pre-built website templates to create their web pages. It is suitable for entrepreneurs and small business owners with basic eCommerce needs.
Ideal for:
- Arts & Design
- Food & Beverage
- Beauty & Cosmetics
- Fashion & Apparel
- Toys & Games
Pros
- Easy To Set Up
- Great For Simple Stores
- Stunning Designs
- Solid SEO tools
- Integrates with ShipStation and ShipBob
Cons
- No dropshipping
- No marketing automation integration
- No Amazon integration
- Could be faster for the price
- No app store for more features and functionalities
Price:
- Personal ($16/mo)
- Business ($26/mo)
- Basic Commerce ($30/mo)
- Advanced Commerce ($46/mo)
Wix
Wix is a cloud-based website builder that allows you to use create online stores through drag and drop tools. Wix.com is the best eCommerce platform for small businesses that don’t have access to a dedicated web designer.
Ideal for:
- Arts & Design
- Food & Beverage
- Beauty & Cosmetics
- Fashion & Apparel
- Sporting Goods
- Toys & Games
Pros
- Tons of free amazing themes.
- Really simple to use and set up
- On-page support for numerous needs
- 72 free themes
Cons
- Trying hard to fight a bad SEO reputation. Made improvements, but tested very poorly.
- Many sites were not secured
- Lacks upselling features and advanced automation
- Difficult to fully customize the template
Price
- eCommerce ($17/mo)
- VIP ($25/mo)
- Business Basic ($23/mo)
- Business Unlimited ($27/mo)
- Business VIP ($35/mo)
- Enterprise ($500/mo)
Salesforce Commerce Cloud
Salesforce Commerce Cloud is an ideal choice for enterprise companies with complex needs. It is a compatible but highly capable platform has provided enough customization option as well as perfect for B2B and B2C website.
Ideal for:
- Beauty & Cosmetics
- Fashion & Apparel
- Sporting Goods
- Toys & Games
- Food & Beverage
- Cars & Automotive
- Parts & Manufacturing
- Chemicals
- Other B2B applications
Pros
- Product and catalog management
- Marketing and advertising tools
- Customer segmentation
- Site search
- Guided navigation
- AI personalization
Price:
- Salesforce B2C Commerce (contact vendor)
- Salesforce B2B Commerce (contact vendor)
Conclusion
At the end of the day, there is no single overall “best” eCommerce platform. Every business has its own combination of needs, budget, and manpower that dictates which online retail application works best for them.
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