Whether you’re starting an online store or migrating an existing one, choosing an ecommerce platform that can support your business growth is important.
But with so many options available on the market and contradicting information, it can seem impossible.
In this guide, I share my 12-step process for choosing an ecommerce platform. I also share the top five mistakes you should avoid when comparing platforms, explain the types of ecommerce platforms available, and highlight my top five picks.
So, without any further ado, let’s get into it.
How to choose an ecommerce platform
Here’s a closer look at my step-wise process for choosing an ecommerce platform.
1. Outline your business needs
When choosing an ecommerce platform, outlining your business needs can help you make an informed decision that aligns with your goals and resources.
So how do you identify your business needs? Here are some tips:
- Analyze the products you’ll sell: Think about the products you plan to sell. That will help you identify features you might need, such as custom fields, product customization support, or custom variation swatches.
- Consider shipping and fulfillment: If you plan on using a special courier service, you’ll need an integration that helps you generate labels easily. And if you plan on dropshipping, you might want a platform that lets you send orders to suppliers automatically.
- Think long term: Consider your future business growth and scalability. If you plan on expanding your business to new regions or want to add new functionality, the platform should be able to support it.
- Evaluate customization options: Determine how much control you want over the design and branding of your online store. Look for a platform that offers design customization options, such as customizable themes, templates, and layouts, to match your brand identity.
- Check for integrations with existing systems: Account for any existing software or systems you use for inventory management, accounting, or customer relationship management. Your ecommerce platform will need to integrate smoothly with those systems to streamline your operations and avoid any data discrepancies.
These are the basics you must cover when outlining your business needs. Now, let’s discuss a budget for your ecommerce platform.
2. Set a budget
Outlining your business needs tells you what features you need from the ecommerce platform. But that’s only half the battle.
You also need to make sure you can afford the short-term and long-term costs associated with the platform.
Ideally, I would recommend budgeting for at least six months, if not a year. That will give you enough time to generate sales.
As for how to budget, here are some expenses you should consider when you’re budgeting for an ecommerce platform:
- Subscription fees/hosting fees.
- On-going transaction fees.
- Theme and extension costs.
- Security and support fees.
- Customization costs.
- Maintenance and upgrades costs.
Nearly every platform will have all of these costs associated with it. However, some costs, like theme and customization, will be one-off expenses, while hosting, maintenance, and transaction fees will be recurring costs.
So make sure you account for that as you budget.
3. Consider platform hosting and maintenance
Hosting is the foundation of every successful online store. No matter how good your store design and functionality are, it’s all for nothing without fast hosting.
Most people oversimplify hosting as a place to store your website’s data and content. While that’s true for a basic website, it’s an understatement for ecommerce websites.
Online stores are extremely dynamic. They not only serve content but also process and compute data. That’s why a fast and well-optimized hosting environment is extremely important.
Some platforms like Shopify and BigCommerce handle hosting for you. They include hosting costs inside your subscription fees to simplify things for you.
While other platforms like WooCommerce and Magento need hosting.
You can host them on a VPS with DigitalOcean or AWS or use a managed hosting provider like Cloudways or Nexcess to offload hosting tasks.
If you’re interested in building an online store with Cloudways, consider reading my Cloudways review to understand if Cloudways is right for you and Cloudways tutorial to setup your WooCommerce store correctly.
A managed hosting service will give you a near SaaS-like website ownership experience while allowing you to own and control your data.
Once you sort out hosting, you’ll need to think about maintenance.
Just like a physical store needs regular upkeep, your online store also needs maintenance. That includes updating software, applying security patches, and handling backups.
You won’t need to worry about maintenance as much with a SaaS ecommerce platform like Shopify. They’ll handle most of the updates, patches, and backups. But with self-hosted platforms, you’ll need to do a lot of it yourself.
Managed hosting will simplify those tasks to an extent, but it won’t eliminate it entirely. You’ll get a lot of help from your hosting provider, but you’ll still have to do some of it yourself.
If that sounds like too much work, it might be worth sticking with a SaaS platform. But if you’re willing to put in the time and effort every once in a while, self-hosted platforms are worth the effort.
Learn more in my beginner-friendly guide to ecommerce hosting. I explain how it all works and share my three favorite ecommerce hosting providers.
4. Evaluate the ease of use
At this point, you’ll have a clear idea of the type of platform you’re leaning towards, SaaS or open-source. But that still doesn’t give you a clear picture of what platform you should choose.
There are hundreds of different options on both sides. So the next thing you should look at is ease of use.
Most people associate ease of use with SaaS platforms. But that’s far from the case.
As someone who has built several ecommerce websites using all major platforms, I can tell you that Shopify isn’t really that much more user-friendly than Magento.
Surprising, right? Let me explain.
User-friendliness is a lot more than a great-looking dashboard or code-free content editing. It’s about being able to manage products, orders, customers, discounts, and everything else you need to do daily as efficiently as possible.
Adding and updating product information shouldn’t take hours. Updating inventory shouldn’t be tedious. And most importantly, processing orders and refunds should only require a few clicks.
The point is that managing your online store should be straightforward and shouldn’t require any technical skills.
User-friendliness is subjective, and what works well for one person may not for another.
So, in that case, how do you test a platform for user-friendliness? Here are some tips:
- Sign up for a free trial or demo.
- Look for online reviews on forums like Reddit and Stack Exchange.
- Check the platform’s online documentation for how detailed tutorials are.
The goal is to understand which platforms are user-friendly to narrow down your ideal ecommerce platform more easily.
5. Assess core functionality
Next up, you need to look into the core functionalities of your platform. If the platform doesn’t offer what you need out of the box, you’ll have to spend time looking for workarounds and dealing with half-baked solutions.
For example, if you need a platform to support configurable products with a few hundred variations, Magento would be far better than Shopify or WooCommerce.
Naturally, the features you need to run your online store will be unique to your business and industry. But here are some essential features you should check for in your ideal ecommerce platform:
- Product and inventory management: You want a platform that makes adding, editing, and organizing your products easy. It should let you sell different product types (like physical goods or digital downloads) and handle as many product variations (think sizes and colors) as you need.
- Payment gateway integrations: Look for a platform that supports your preferred payment gateways. Whether that’s PayPal or Stripe, choose the platform that offers pre-integrated payment gateways for a secure checkout experience.
- Customer and order management: Managing customers and orders can get overwhelming during peak shopping times. Choose a platform that lets you handle orders and customers with bulk actions. Support for automatic email notifications and order tracking is a huge plus.
- Shipping and tax configuration options: Shipping and taxes can be a hassle if your platform doesn’t support your preferred carriers or local tax rates. Make sure the platform supports handling taxes based on your local regulations to avoid any legal issues.
- Code-free content editing: You shouldn’t have to worry about hiring a designer or developer to make simple edits to your website design. So choose a platform that lets you edit pages and layouts without code.
- SEO and marketing tools: Once your store is live, you’ll need to drive traffic to it. SEO and marketing tools are essential to help your store show up in search results and convert visitors to buyers when people reach your website.
- Analytics and reporting: Sales and customer reports are essential for analyzing sales and marketing performance. Make sure you choose a platform that gives you a birds-eye view of your business and lets you export reports.
- Security features: While there are many ways to secure an ecommerce website using third-party tools, make sure the platform you choose offers some basic security tools like Two-factor authentication, SSL support, secure content security policies, and user role management.
These features are the bare minimum you should expect of any reputable ecommerce platform. However, depending on your business, you might also want to look for global selling features like multi-store, multilingual, and multi-currency support.
As you’re evaluating features, remember that your store’s size, the products you sell, and your target audience all play a role in finding the perfect platform. You want one that gives you all the tools you need to grow and succeed.
6. Review theme selection and frontend design tools
Your website’s design creates the first impression of your brand. It’s one of the key factors that can make or break your online store’s success.
There are two parts to designing a website. The first is adding a theme to create a consistent look across the website. The second is customizing the theme to your brand and business needs. Let’s look at each of those, one at a time.
First up is theme selection. Most major platforms have a few hundred, if not several thousand, free and paid theme options. You can find those on their official marketplaces and third-party websites like ThemeForest.
Make sure you compare the options available and look specifically for themes designed for your industry. Some platforms like Shopify and BigCommerce have fairly rigid designs, which can give most themes a similar vibe.
That won’t be a problem if having a unique website design isn’t at the top of your priority list.
But if you need more control over your store design or don’t want it to look like a run-of-the-mill dropshipping site, you should consider a platform like WooCommerce or Magento.
Once you’ve compared theme options, it’s time to shift your focus to the design editing tools in the platform.
Most, if not all, platforms offer a drag-and-drop editor these days, so that’s something you should expect by default.
Beyond that, you should look for a platform lets you edit the theme and layout with code. Even if you don’t need advanced design customization when you’re starting out, it’ll prove handy once your business takes off.
7. Examine speed and scalability
Website speed directly affects the user experience, conversion rates, and overall customer satisfaction.
Think about the last time you waited more than a few seconds for a website to load. Can’t remember when? You’re not alone.
According to a study by Portent, ecommerce websites that load in 1 second or less have a 2.5x conversion rate compared to websites that load in 5 seconds.
The best way to evaluate an ecommerce platform’s speed is to look at critical metrics such as page load times and server response times. You can get those values from Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool or a third-party service like GTMetrix.
Once you’ve found the fastest ecommerce platforms, you should shift your focus to scalability.
Scalability is the ability of the platform to grow with your business. That means handling more visitors, customers, and transactions without compromising performance.
Viral moments almost always happen out of the blue. That’s why choosing a scalable platform is important.
You don’t want your store crashing when your products go viral on TikTok, or your business is trending on Instagram.
Checking for scalability isn’t as easy as checking for speed. However, there are some ways you can test if your ecommerce platform can scale with demand.
If you’re hosting the website yourself, you can use a free load testing tool like Apache JMeter or a paid online tool like LoadNinja.
8. Check out supported payment methods and costs
Payment gateways are like virtual cash registers. They help you accept payments securely when you sell through your website.
But unlike traditional cash registers, online payment gateways allow you to accept payments using multiple payment methods, such as:
- Credit and debit cards like Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover.
- Digital wallets such as PayPal, Apple Pay, and Google Pay.
- Bank transfers, also known as ACH (Automated Clearing House) payments.
- Alternative payment methods like cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin, Ethereum) or buy-now-pay-later services (Afterpay, Klarna).
Platforms like Magento and WooCommerce give you integrated payment gateways to securely accept payments using digital wallets and cards. They also let you add your own payment gateways, such as Stripe, to accept more payment methods.
Each payment gateway comes with its own set of fees. And in some cases, like with Shopify, you may also need to pay additional fees when accepting payments with specific gateways. Let’s talk about that.
There are usually four types of fees you need to keep in mind when comparing ecommerce platforms:
- Platform transaction fees: A small fee, generally around 2-3%, charged by the ecommerce platform.
- Payment gateway fees: A small percentage plus a fixed fee charged by the payment processor.
- Chargeback fees: Fees charged by the payment processor to handle payment disputes.
- International fees: Additional fees charged for accepting international payments.
If you aren’t careful, these fees can quickly add up to a nice chunk of change. So make sure you not only compare the payment gateways supported but also look at all the transaction fees you’ll pay when choosing an ecommerce platform.
9. Review marketing and SEO features
You’ll rely heavily on search engines like Google and Bing to drive traffic to your store, whether organic or paid traffic. That’s why it helps to choose an ecommerce platform that gives you essential SEO tools to optimize your store for search engines, such as:
- URL customization: Descriptive and user-friendly URLs help search engines understand your page content better and rank them for relevant search queries. The ability to make your URLs more human-friendly at the same time is an added bonus.
- Custom meta-titles and descriptions: Title tags and meta descriptions concisely summarize your page’s content and help potential customers decide whether to click through. Customizable metadata is a must-have in your ecommerce platform.
- Structured data markup: Structured data markup, also known as schema markup, allows search engines to display information such as reviews, ratings, and pricing on the search results page to drive more clicks to your site.
- Blogging capabilities: Publishing informative blog posts can drive organic traffic to your site. So make sure you choose a platform that offers blogging capabilities either natively or by using a third-party extension.
- Robots.txt and sitemap generators: Robots.txt and sitemap files help you communicate with search engine crawlers. You can use them to direct them towards pages you want them to crawl and away from pages you don’t.
These are the basics for optimizing ecommerce SEO. So make sure you choose a platform that offers most, if not all, of those features.
10. Check for social media and online marketplace integrations
Even though search engines are the primary traffic drivers for most websites, they aren’t the only ones.
Over the past few years, social media platforms and online marketplaces have quickly become popular channels to drive traffic and sell products.
Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest help you get your products in front of in-market audiences. You can use them to showcase your products, run targeted ads, and engage with your customers as you build your online brand.
On the other hand, online marketplaces like Amazon and eBay give you access to their massive customer bases so you can start generating revenue quickly.
That’s why choosing an ecommerce platform that can integrate with social media platforms and online marketplaces used by your ideal customers is important.
Native integrations allow you to sell your products across different platforms without worrying about issues like overselling.
But if your platform doesn’t integrate with other software or services, check for third-party integrations to bridge the gap between your store and other platforms.
11. Look for personalization and global selling capabilities
As your online business grows, you’ll want to expand to new regions and possibly offer more personalized shopping experiences to reach a wider audience.
As the name suggests, personalization is all about customizing different parts of your store to tailor the overall shopping experience to your customers.
You can do that at two different levels: at the audience/demographic level and the customer level.
Audience-level personalizations are the easiest to implement and something you can do with features available with major platforms like Shopify, Magento, and BigCommerce.
But what are they exactly?
In simple terms, audience-level personalization includes creating personalized shopping experiences for a specific customer type or demographic.
For example, you can provide audience-level personalizations for customers in a specific country or region by offering localized currency support, multilingual translations, and region-wise shipping options.
Customer-level personalization goes deeper to create a personalized shopping experience for each customer using customizable themes, creating customer segments for marketing, and offering personalized product recommendations.
The truth is that few beginner-friendly ecommerce platforms offer all of these features out of the box. So pick one or two that matter the most to you and choose a platform based on that.
If your platform is customizable and has a decent ecosystem, you’ll find apps and extensions to add any personalization capabilities you want.
12. Compare support availability and options
Finally, make sure you choose an ecommerce platform that offers support options that suit your business needs.
No matter how good a platform, things can and do go wrong every now and then. And when they do, having access to support can be a lifesaver.
Not all platforms offer the same amount of support.
For example, Magento and WooCommerce don’t provide technical support for their users. Your only options are to use community resources and learn to troubleshoot and fix things yourself.
Working with a managed hosting provider does help a bit with getting technical support for platform-related issues. But you’ll occasionally run into problems beyond the scope of your hosting provider’s customer support, and you’ll need to deal with those yourself.
SaaS platforms like Wix, Shopify, and BigCommerce offer 24/7 dedicated support across multiple channels like phone, email, and chat. While that’s extremely helpful, the support you receive can be a hit or a miss depending on your issue and the rep you’re assigned.
For example, I’ve found BigCommerce’s support is a little better than Shopify’s on occasion. That doesn’t mean Shopify’s support is bad. It’s just that BigCommerce’s team was a bit better at helping us out.
One way to check for customer support quality is to look at online reviews on Trustpilot and Reddit. The best way is to do it yourself.
Sign up for a trial of your preferred platform and contact their customer support team with a query or two at different times. Compare things like how easy it was to get in touch with an agent, how long it took to get a proper solution, and how the overall experience was.
By the end, you’ll have a clear idea of which platform is best for your business needs.
Mistakes to avoid when choosing an ecommerce platform: 5 mistakes you should avoid
While learning how to choose an ecommerce platform is important, it’s equally important to know about the most common mistakes to avoid when choosing a platform.
Here are five common mistakes beginners make when choosing an ecommerce platform.
1. Choosing a platform that doesn’t fit your budget
One of the biggest mistakes you can make when choosing a platform for your online business is picking one outside your budget.
Most people assume they will be successful or underestimate how long it might take them to reach a point where the business breaks even. But the reality is often far different.
So how do you avoid overspending? It’s simple. Think about what you need right now and decide based on that.
You don’t need to pay for features you’ll use a year or two down the line. If you choose a scalable platform, you should be able to upgrade your subscription plan or buy a new extension to add features when needed.
Speaking of which, let’s talk about the second most common mistake.
2. Choosing a platform that’s hard to scale
Growing pains are real.
Far too often, merchants choose ecommerce platforms without considering scalability. The truth is that picking a platform that’s hard to scale can be expensive in the long term.
Sure, a scalable platform might cost more than something easy to use upfront. But when you factor in the costs of migrating from one platform to another, it’ll be well worth it.
That’s why choosing a platform that can grow with you is important.
Things like server capacity, performance under heavy traffic, and upgradability can save you a ton of headache and money in the future.
So how do you check if a platform is scalable?
Besides looking for things like upgradability, dig into case studies on the platform’s website to learn how the platform helped other businesses scale up with demand.
That will give you the best insight into the problems it can solve and whether it’s the right choice for you.
3. Choosing a platform without knowing what you want
Another common mistake people make is choosing ecommerce platforms without knowing what they want.
Imagine getting stuck with a platform that doesn’t do what you need it to do. That’s a recipe for frustration and wasted time.
You end up investing money and time into a platform that doesn’t align with your long-term plans or growth strategy.
So, before you even start looking at platforms, take some time to figure out your goals, the features you need, and how much you’re willing to spend. That way, you don’t have to worry about switching platforms down the road.
So how do you identify what you need from your platform?
Here’s how:
- Consider the products you’ll sell.
- Think about shipping and fulfillment.
- Look for customization options.
- Check for integration capabilities.
- Consider your future plans.
Figuring out what you want before choosing an ecommerce platform will save you a world of trouble down the line.
4. Choosing a platform purely based on online reviews
Online reviews are some of the best ways to get first-hand information about an ecommerce platform. But not all reviews are created equal.
The most obvious problem with online reviews is bias.
Reviews can be influenced by all sorts of things. People often get paid to write glowing reviews or trash-talk platforms and tools. Some companies even post fake reviews to fix and improve brand reputation.
Another problem is that online reviews only give you one side of the story. People rarely share the complete picture in a review, so you should take them with a pinch of salt.
So what can you do if you can’t fully rely on online reviews?
The most important thing is to use online reviews, including those on forums and social media platforms, as a part of your overall research. Don’t base your decisions purely on online reviews.
Instead, talk to users, customer support, and take a free trial if you can. The more context you have, the better equipped you will be to choose the best ecommerce platform.
5. Choosing a platform based on features
It’s easy to get caught up in all the fancy features that different platforms offer. But choosing an ecommerce platform purely based on features is a mistake.
You might think that a platform with many features is automatically better. But it’s more important to consider if the features offered make sense for your business.
Focus on what your business truly needs, make sure the platform is user-friendly, and consider its growth potential.
Do you need a smooth way to handle payments? Maybe you want to customize your product pages or keep a tight grip on your inventory.
Knowing your must-haves will help you narrow your focus on platforms that actually offer the features you need. More importantly, always choose quality over quantity when it comes to ecommerce platform features.
Types of ecommerce platforms: 2 options you can choose from
Ecommerce platforms are categorized based on many different factors such as hosting, functionality, pricing, and deployment. But those approaches lead to a lot of overlap.
An open-source ecommerce platform can also be a self-hosted platform. But a self-hosted platform might not always be open-source. Sounds confusing, right?
A better way to classify ecommerce platforms is based on their license, such as:
- Open-source ecommerce platforms.
- Closed-source ecommerce platforms.
Let’s take a closer look at them.
Open-source ecommerce platforms
Open-source ecommerce platforms are free software anyone can use, modify, and share. They’re maintained by a community of developers and are typically distributed under licenses, such as the GNU General Public License (GPL) and Open Software License (OSL) version 3.0.
The cool thing about open-source platforms is that you can tweak their code to add new features or customize them to your liking.
And the best part? They won’t cost you a penny, making them perfect for small startups and small businesses on a tight budget.
But open-source platforms have some downsides too. Support can be limited since it mainly relies on volunteers. They can also be a bit tricky to maintain and upgrade.
There are ways to work around those limitations. But even with those workarounds, you’ll need some technical skills to work with open-source software.
Closed-source ecommerce platforms
Closed-source ecommerce platforms are proprietary software, meaning their source code is not open to the public. They’re usually more user-friendly and convenient than open-source platforms but offer less customization.
With closed-source platforms, you pay a monthly subscription fee to use the platform. For instance, Shopify offers different plans starting at $39 per month and enterprise-level options starting from over $2,000 per month.
The great thing about closed-source platforms is that they’re easy to use, and you don’t have to worry about hosting, security, or maintenance. The platform takes care of upgrades, and you get support when you need it.
The downside is that you have less flexibility and control than open-source software. You can’t access the code, and customization options are limited. Moving to a different platform can also be a hassle.
But despite the trade-offs, closed-source platforms are still an excellent choice for most small businesses due to their convenience and ease of use.
Best ecommerce platforms on the market: Top 5 choices for online businesses
1. Shopify
Shopify is a leading ecommerce platform that lets you create an online store and sell products without coding skills. It’s incredibly popular with small businesses and dropshippers because it’s easy to use.
The coolest thing about Shopify is that you don’t have to mess with code. You can build a professional-looking online store in just a few hours, even if you’ve never done it before.
That said, Shopify can be a bit pricey.
To get all the fancy features similar to platforms like Magento, you’ll need to sign up for their $399 per month plan. And if you use payment gateways like PayPal or Stripe, they’ll add some extra fees.
But if you’re looking for a platform that’s easy to use, I highly recommend trying Shopify. It’s perfect for most online businesses and is a quick and effective solution.
Key Shopify features:
- Dropshipping integration.
- Multilingual storefronts.
- Mobile app for managing your store on the go.
- Point of sale (POS) system for brick-and-mortar stores.
- Automatic tax calculations.
- Customizable checkout process.
Best ecommerce platform for: Anyone who wants to build an online store without the hassles of installing and maintaining an ecommerce platform.
Shopify price: Ecommerce store hosting plans start from $39 per month.
Suggested reading
2. WooCommerce
WooCommerce isn’t like the other ecommerce software on this list. It’s a plugin for WordPress that adds ecommerce functionality to your WordPress website. But don’t let that fool you — it’s pretty awesome.
WooCommerce is super user-friendly, and you don’t need any coding skills to use it.
Plus, it’s an open-source platform, unlike Shopify. That means you have full control over your website and can choose your payment gateways without worrying about extra fees.
The only downside is that WooCommerce is pretty basic out of the box.
But that’s not really a flaw — it’s just how WooCommerce and WordPress work. They provide the essentials and let you add more features using plugins.
I recommend WooCommerce for building small stores and those with a WordPress website. If you’re starting from scratch or need a full-fledged ecommerce platform, you might be better off with Shopify, Magento, or BigCommerce.
Key WooCommerce features:
- Shipping and logistics management.
- Analytics and reporting capabilities.
- Extensive documentation and community support.
- Tons of free themes on the official theme store.
- Access to the largest ecosystem of free plugins.
Best ecommerce platform for: Small and medium businesses with existing WordPress websites.
WooCommerce price: WooCommerce is free, but you need to host WordPress to use it. The official WordPress hosting service from Automattic starts at $ per month for ecommerce.
3. Magento
Magento is hands down the best open-source ecommerce platform — no other platform, open-source or SaaS, can match its functionality and control.
Magento is super customizable with its modular codebase. It’s packed with all the features you need to start selling online quickly, from catalog and inventory management to customer, order, and shipping management.
And guess what? It’s all free.
Magento can scale endlessly. It can handle an unlimited number of products with its horizontally scaling architecture.
But the catch is that Magento requires technical expertise to set up and maintain. Even basic tasks like installing and updating extensions can only be done from the command line.
So even though Magento has incredible strengths, it may not be the best fit for most businesses. It’s worth considering only if you have the technical know-how and resources to manage it or need a highly customizable, scalable platform for large catalogs.
Key Magento features:
- Powerful catalog management tools.
- Advanced search options.
- Multi-store support.
- Multiple security features.
- Built-in upsell and cross-sell options.
- Flexible catalog and price rules.
Best ecommerce platform for: Businesses that need comprehensive ecommerce functionality.
Magento price: Magento Open Source is free to use. Fully managed hosting for Magento usually starts from $50 per month on average.
4. BigCommerce
BigCommerce is a SaaS platform, just like Shopify, with a few unique strengths. Think of BigCommerce as a combination of Magento and Shopify. It offers the scalability of Magento along with the simplicity of Shopify.
BigCommerce supports over 55 payment providers right out of the box. Plus, you don’t have to worry about any extra fees for using a payment gateway like you do with Shopify.
However, BigCommerce limits important features like product filtering and Google customer reviews integration to their $399 per month plan. Plus, their plans are based on sales turnover.
For instance, if you’re on their basic $39 per month plan but make $500,000 a year, they’ll push you to upgrade to the $399 monthly plan.
So why is BigCommerce on my top 5 ecommerce platforms list? Even though BigCommerce isn’t the best platform for small online stores or those needing a basic platform, it’s incredibly user-friendly and offers excellent value for money.
If you’re selling on marketplaces like Amazon and eBay or social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook, you’ll love how effortlessly it integrates with them and simplifies your tasks.
Key BigCommerce features:
- Unlimited products and staff accounts.
- Multi-store support for all plans.
- Built-in support for marketplaces like Amazon, eBay, and Walmart.
- Built-in Facebook and Instagram sales channels.
- Useful marketing tools.
- Multiple security measures with PCI compliance.
Best ecommerce platform for: Businesses selling across multiple channels.
BigCommerce price: Standard plan starts from $39 per month for businesses with an annual turnover of up to $50,000.
5. Squarespace
Squarespace is hands down the best ecommerce website builder when you want a stunning online store without breaking the bank. It supports unlimited products, provides a code-free design tool, and even has an iOS Point of Sale app.
You’ve got merchandising tools, inventory management, and flexible shipping options at your fingertips. And if you’re all about marketing, they’ve got you covered there, too.
Just opt for their Commerce basic or higher plans and you’ll have access to gift cards, social media integrations, and subscriptions features for your store.
Squarespace isn’t perfect. It’s not nearly as customizable as Shopify, Magento, WooCommerce, or BigCommerce.
But Squarespace is an excellent platform when you’re running a small shop and aren’t bothered by the lack of customizability. It lets you build an online store without messing with code.
Key Squarespace features:
- Useful merchandising features.
- User-friendly inventory dashboard with support for low-stock notifications.
- Built-in support for USPS shipping labels.
- Flexible delivery options, including local pickup.
- Clean checkout with support for Stripe, PayPal, and Afterpay.
Best ecommerce platform for: Artists and Etsy sellers looking to upgrade to their own store and ecommerce businesses selling digital products.
Squarespace price: Ecommerce plans start from $33 per month plus a 3% transaction fee. Higher plans offer more features with a 0% transaction fee.
Why use an ecommerce platform
Using an ecommerce platform is cheaper than building an online store from scratch.
Instead of investing hundreds of thousands of dollars over several months building features and integrations from scratch, you can use an ecommerce platform to start selling in minutes.
Platforms like Shopify and BigCommerce let you build online stores by paying a small, affordable fee. That fee covers all the essential features you need to sell products, like product listings, shopping carts, secure payment processing, and inventory management.
It’s like having a team of developers and designers at your disposal without the hefty price tag.
Besides the basics, ecommerce platforms give you access to marketing tools and preconfigured integrations with third-party tools and platforms. You have everything you need to build and grow your online store within your platform.
Ready to choose an ecommerce platform?
Finding the right ecommerce platform is like finding a good pair of shoes that fit just right — it’s all about comfort and support for your business!
I’ve already explained the entire process of choosing a platform and shared some tips to help you choose the right platform. So take your time, do your research, and choose an ecommerce platform that aligns with your goals and meets your needs.
If you still can’t choose one, feel free to reach out to me with any doubts or questions. And make sure you sign up to our newsletter so you don’t miss out on the latest developments in the ecommerce industry.
