When it comes to eCommerce platforms, the future is now.
With the rise of more powerful and affordable technology, eCommerce has become a major part of society—and it’s only going to get bigger. With this technology, people can start their own businesses, sell products, and make money from anywhere in the world.
In fact, for many people who are looking for a way to make money on the side or even full-time, eCommerce is one of the best options available. It’s an easy way to earn extra cash without having to work at a traditional job. Plus, you don’t need any special skills or training—all you need is an idea and some basic knowledge of how eCommerce works!
We have compiled a list of the 15 best eCommerce platforms for 2022 so that you can cut out the guesswork and get right down to business (and online shopping).
So, let’s dive right into it!
What is an eCommerce Platform?
An eCommerce platform is software that enables the creation, deployment and management of eCommerce websites. It includes many of the components found in web frameworks such as Ruby on Rails, Django and Laravel.
These platforms help you create online stores that let you sell your products or services to anyone in the world while giving them a good experience. Ecommerce platforms are designed to streamline the process of setting up and running an online store. These platforms take care of things like hosting, payment processing, security, and other technologies that let you focus on your eCommerce business rather than the technical aspects.
Two major types of eCommerce platforms:
Hosted eCommerce platforms (also known as SaaS):
This is a solution where the platform provider hosts it for you. You pay a subscription fee to use the platform, but you don’t have to worry about software updates or hardware requirements. Shopify is an example of a hosted eCommerce platform.
Self-hosted eCommerce platform:
This gives you full control over your website, so it requires more technical knowledge than hosted solutions. WooCommerce/WordPress is an example of this type of platform.
Top 15+ E-Commerce Platform Reviews
For many people who are looking for a way to make money on the side or even full-time, eCommerce is one of the best options available. It’s an easy way to earn extra cash without having to work at a traditional job. Plus, you don’t need any special skills or training—all you need is an idea and some basic knowledge of how eCommerce and marketing (email marketing and SEO techniques) work!
So what are some of the best eCommerce platforms? We have got some ideas:
Clickfunnels – eCommerce platforms
Best for Create an Online Store($97 per month).
Stuarts Take
Clickfunnels is a website builder and marketing platform designed to help businesses create sales and marketing funnels. It offers a variety of tools and features for creating landing pages, opt-in forms, email marketing campaigns, and more.
Clickfunnels is aimed at small and medium-sized businesses and is designed to be user-friendly and easy to use, even for those with little technical expertise. With Clickfunnels, users can create professional-looking websites and marketing campaigns without the need for coding or design skills.
| Best For | Small to Medium Size Business |
| Price | Standard |
| Annual Discount | Yes |
| Promotion | Yes |
Using Clickfunnels, businesses can create an online storefront from which they can advertise their wares and accept payments from customers. Landing pages, sales funnels, and more can all be made with Clickfunnels and tailored to your specific eCommerce business.
It is a great option for a small eCommerce business. Moreover, it is simple to use and the interface is very user-friendly, making it easy to set up and manage your funnel.
ClickFunnels is also a great option for businesses that want to sell products online. It has several templates you can use to create an eCommerce site quickly with minimal effort. Additionally, it also includes features like order forms, payment processing options and more which makes it one of the most complete platforms available today.
ClickFunnels’ main feature is their funnels – but they don’t stop there! They have many other tools such as landing pages, webinars, marketing campaigns and membership programs that can help your eCommerce business grow exponentially if you know how best to utilize them all together.
Key Features:
- Drag-and-drop editor
- Pre-designed templates
- A/B testing
- Integration with email marketing and CRM tools
- ead generation and opt-in forms
- E-commerce integration
User Experience:
Clickfunnels pricing may be high for some small businesses, but it’s a great option for those just getting started with e-commerce. ClickFunnels is priced on a tiered system, and plans start at $97 per month. This price can go up depending on the number of pages and features you need, but even their lowest tier plan is more expensive than other platforms out there.
If you don’t want to hire a developer and if you don’t want to spend any time learning how to create an online store, then we recommend that you use Shopify or Wix as the best alternative to ClickFunnels.
Pricing:
Clickfunnels offers three pricing plans:
- Startup Plan ($97/Month) – (It allows you to create 20 funnels, 100 pages, and 20,000 visitors per month.).
- Platinum Plan ($297/Month) – (such as Action tics (an email automation tool) and Backpack (an affiliate management tool). It allows you to create unlimited funnels, pages, and visitors.).
- Club X Plan ($2497/Month) – (Platinum Plan, as well as additional features such as FunnelFlix (a video training library) and Funnel Hacks (a 6-month training program). It also includes a personal coaching call with a ClickFunnels expert.).
What I Like/Dislike | About Clickfunnels:
Likes:
- Ease of use: ClickFunnels has a drag-and-drop editor that makes it easy for users to create professional-looking pages without any coding experience.
- A/B testing: ClickFunnels allows users to easily create and test different versions of their pages to see which performs better.
- Integration with other tools: ClickFunnels integrates with a wide range of marketing and sales tools, such as email marketing platforms and payment gateways.
Dislikes:
- ClickFunnels is a paid service, and the cost can be a significant investment for some businesses.
- Limited customization: While ClickFunnels offers a wide range of templates and design options, the level of customization is somewhat limited compared to other platforms.
- Lack of SEO support: ClickFunnels does not offer many SEO-specific features, which can make it more difficult to optimize your pages for search engines.
Shopify – eCommerce platforms
Best E-Commerce Platform ($1 per month).
Stuarts Take
Shopify is a cloud-based e-commerce platform that enables merchants to sell products and services online. It provides a wide range of features and tools to help businesses create and manage their online stores, including customizable storefronts, secure payment gateways, inventory management, shipping and fulfillment options, marketing and sales tools, and customer service and support capabilities.
Shopify also offers a range of integrations and app extensions that allow merchants to connect their stores with other business systems and services, such as accounting software, email marketing platforms, and social media networks.
| Best For | Integrations & Apps |
| Price | Good |
| Annual Discount | Yes |
| Promotion | Yes |
Shopify is one of the most popular eCommerce platforms for a reason. It is easy to use, has great support and has an excellent selection of themes and apps. This is a good choice for beginners because it is very simple with no coding required at all.
Shopify makes it easy to open an e-commerce business in a short amount of time. Users have the option of customizing an existing website’s template or selecting from a variety of pre-made themes. With the help of the live chat feature and the integrated support for 3D models and videos, you can communicate with your customers in real-time. In addition, you can set up shop on social media sites like Facebook and Instagram.
Key Features:
- Easy setup
- Customizable templates
- Multiple payment options
- Mobile optimization
- Marketing and SEO tools
- App store
User Experience:
Store owners can take advantage of Shopify’s unlimited hosting, comprehensive analytics about their customers’ behaviour, and robust marketing tools like search engine optimization, price reductions, coupons, reward points, and email marketing.
However, if you are looking for more advanced functionality or customization options then Shopify might not be right for your business. If this is the case, then check out our other recommendations in this article instead!
Pricing:
Shopify offers three pricing plans:
- Basic ($1/Month) – (Basic reports, Up to 4 inventory locations, 2 staff accounts).
- Shopify ($49/Month) – (Professional reports, Up to 5 inventory locations, 5 staff accounts).
- Advanced ($299/Month) – (Custom report builder, Up to 8 inventory locations, 15 staff accounts).
What I Like/Dislike | About Shopify:
Likes:
- Wide range of features: Shopify offers a variety of features that can help merchants manage their online stores, including payment processing, inventory management, shipping and tax calculation, and more.
- Ease of use: Shopify has a user-friendly interface that makes it easy for merchants to set up and manage their stores, even if they have little technical experience.
- Scalability: Shopify is designed to be scalable, so merchants can easily expand their stores as their businesses grow.
- Customer support: Shopify provides excellent customer support through its online help center, as well as through live chat and email.
Dislikes:
- Fees: Shopify charges fees for its services, including a transaction fee for each sale made through the platform.
- Limited design customization: While Shopify offers a variety of templates to choose from, some users may find the customization options to be limited.
- Third-party app dependencies: Some features that merchants may want to add to their stores require the use of third-party apps, which can increase the overall cost of using the platform.
Zyro
Best E-Commerce Online Store Builder ($3 per month).
Stuarts Take
Zyro is a website building platform that allows users to easily create professional-looking websites without requiring any coding knowledge. It offers a range of templates and design tools to help users customize the appearance of their site, as well as a variety of features such as e-commerce integration, SEO optimization, and social media integration. Zyro also provides hosting and domain registration services, making it a one-stop solution for anyone looking to create and launch a website.
| Best For | All round e-commerce |
| Price | Good |
| Annual Discount | Yes |
| Promotion | Yes |
Zyro‘s powerful eCommerce online store builder has all the features you need to succeed. Start building your online stores today and be set up in minutes using their easy-to-use drag and drop interface. They allow you to sell trending products or products that are most likely to sell in any industry, including fashion, home décor and electronics.
You can make sure that millions of potential customers see your products by having the ability to sell them both on your eCommerce websites and on social networking sites like Amazon, Facebook, and Instagram.
You can better serve your customers and ensure their satisfaction by offering a variety of convenient payment methods for their online purchases.
Zyro possesses the capabilities and features essential to the success of any size of business, be it a sole proprietorship or a multinational corporation.
Key Features:
- Website builder: Zyro’s website builder offers a range of templates and design tools that make it easy for users to create professional-looking websites without any coding knowledge.
- E-commerce integration: Zyro allows users to easily add an online store to their website and manage their products, orders, and payments.
- SEO optimization: Zyro’s website builder includes features that help users optimize their websites for search engines, such as customizable page titles and descriptions, and the ability to add alt tags to images.
- Social media integration: Zyro allows users to easily add social media feeds and buttons to their websites, making it easy for visitors to follow their social media accounts.
- Hosting and domain registration: Zyro provides hosting and domain registration services, making it a one-stop solution for anyone looking to create and launch a website.
- Mobile optimization: Zyro’s website builder includes responsive design tools that ensure that websites look great on any device.
- Blogging platform: Zyro’s website builder includes a blogging platform, allowing users to easily create and publish blog posts on their website.
- Customer support: Zyro offers customer support through email and live chat, helping users get help with any issues or questions they may have.
User Experience:
Zyro’s eCommerce online store builder enhances your store’s visibility in search results, increasing your chances of being discovered by customers looking for your products.
Zyro makes it simple to manage your online store. Their e-commerce platform has a user-friendly interface that makes keeping track of stock and orders simple.
Zyro’s e-commerce platform can expand along with your company. There is no need to worry about a decline in customer numbers thanks to features like product upselling and the recovery of abandoned online shopping carts.
Pricing:
Zyro offers three pricing plans:
- Website ($3/Month) – (Free domain for 1 year, Free email for 3 months, 24/7 Customer support, Marketing integrations).
- Business ($4/Month) – (Free domain for 1 year, Free email for 3 months, 24/7 Customer support, Marketing integrations, Sell up to 500 products).
What I Like/Dislike | About Zyro:
Likes:
- Easy to use: Zyro has a user-friendly interface and provides a drag-and-drop editor, making it easy for users to build and customize their websites.
- Professional templates: Zyro offers a range of templates that are designed to be professional and visually appealing.
- Responsive design: Websites created with Zyro are designed to be responsive, meaning they will automatically adjust to fit the screen size of the device they are being viewed on.
Dislikes:
- Limited customization options: While Zyro offers a range of templates and design options, users may find that they are limited in terms of customizing their website beyond the options provided.
- Limited storage and bandwidth: Depending on the plan you choose, you may be limited in terms of the amount of storage and bandwidth you have available for your website.
- No blogging platform: Zyro does not include a blogging platform, so users will need to use a separate service or integrate a third-party tool if they want to include a blog on their website.
Wix
Best Powerful App Store($14 per month).
Stuarts Take
Wix is a cloud-based web development platform that allows users to create professional-looking websites without the need for coding skills. It provides a range of templates and drag-and-drop tools to make it easy for users to design and customize their websites. In addition to website creation, Wix also offers hosting, domain registration, and other features to help users manage their online presence. Wix is suitable for individuals, small businesses, and organizations looking to create an online presence or improve their current website.
| Best For | Small e-commerce website |
| Price | Competitive |
| Annual Discount | Yes |
| Promotion | Yes |
Wix is a simple drag-and-drop website builder that’s known for its free plan, powerful app store, and vast template library. You can use Wix to build any type of website you want, such as an online store, blog, or portfolio.
Wix is a web development platform, content management system (CMS), website builder and eCommerce platform. It’s also one of the most popular and easiest-to-use platforms on the market today.
The Wix website builder boasts over 150 million users worldwide, with over 3 million websites created using their service.
Once you have set up your free Wix website, it is easy to navigate and figure out. The interface is clean and uncluttered, which makes it simple to find what you need and get started on something new.
Another factor that contributes to how easy-to-use Wix is its simplicity is it uses a drag-and-drop interface for building pages which makes creating sites as simple as moving around blocks on screen! You can move these blocks around however you like without needing any experience or special knowledge about coding languages, so long as you know how basic computer functions work.
Key Features:
- Drag-and-drop editor: Wix provides a user-friendly drag-and-drop editor that makes it easy for users to design and customize their websites without any coding skills.
- Templates: Wix offers a wide range of templates for various types of websites, such as business, personal, e-commerce, and more. These templates are fully customizable and can be used as a starting point for building a website.
- App market: Wix has an app market that allows users to add additional functionality to their websites, such as contact forms, social media integration, and online booking.
- SEO tools: Wix includes built-in SEO tools to help users optimize their websites for search engines.
- Hosting and domain registration: Wix provides hosting and domain registration services, so users can easily manage their entire online presence in one place.
- E-commerce capabilities: Wix allows users to create an online store and sell products or services on their website. It provides features such as customizable product pages, payment gateway integration, and inventory management.
User Experience:
The Wix App Store and integrations are where the platform really shines. The app store has a wide range of apps and extensions, including eCommerce, social media marketing tools, customer support apps, website monitoring tools and more. The most notable integration is with MailChimp; this allows you to import your subscriber list into your site automatically when you launch it.
Other useful integrations include Google Analytics (for measuring traffic), Typeform (for surveys), and Zapier and Intercom. This makes it incredibly easy to set up a fully functioning website without having to spend hours on research or development.
Wix offers a variety of support options. You can access 24/7 customer care by email, phone, or live chat. Additionally, Wix has an extensive knowledge base and a community forum where you can find answers to common questions about their website builder.
Pricing:
Wix offers three pricing plans:
- Free Plan – (This plan allows you to create a basic website for free, with some limitations on features and functionality. The site will also display Wix ads.).
- Combo Plan ($14/Month) – (This is a paid plan that starts at $14 per month and includes a domain name, removal of Wix ads, and additional storage and bandwidth).
- Unlimited Plan ($18/Month) – (This plan starts at $18 per month and includes everything in the Combo plan, as well as unlimited bandwidth and storage, and access to premium features such as the Site Booster app and the Form Builder app.).
- Pro Plan ($23/Month) – (This plan starts at $23 per month and includes everything in the Unlimited plan, as well as professional branding tools and the ability to accept online payments.).
What I Like/Dislike | About Wix:
Likes:
- Easy to use: Wix is user-friendly and easy to use, even for those with no coding skills.
- Wide range of templates: Wix offers a wide range of templates for various types of websites, making it easy for users to find a design that suits their needs.
- Customization options: Wix provides a range of customization options, allowing users to create a unique and professional-looking website.
- App market: The Wix app market allows users to easily add additional functionality to their websites.
Dislikes:
- Limited control over design: While Wix provides a range of customization options, users may not have as much control over the design as they would with other website building platforms.
- Limited scalability: Wix may not be suitable for large, complex websites or those that require advanced features.
- Upgrading can be expensive: While Wix offers a free plan, upgrading to a paid plan can be costly, especially for advanced features.
Square Online
Best for Online Payment Processing ($29 per month).
Stuarts Take
Square Online is a platform that allows businesses to create an online presence and sell their products and services online. It offers a range of features and tools to help businesses create a professional website, manage their online store, and process online payments securely.
Square Online also integrates with Square Point of Sale, allowing businesses to manage both their online and in-person sales from a single platform. Some of the features offered by Square Online include customizable templates, mobile-optimized design, the ability to accept a variety of payment methods, and integrations with popular shipping carriers and marketing tools.
| Best For | Templates |
| Price | Average |
| Annual Discount | Yes |
| Promotion | Yes |
Square is a well-known name in payments processing, so it makes sense that they’d also have an online store platform.
Square Online lets you build a store and sell products easily, and customers can check out with their credit cards or via Apple Pay or Google Pay right on your site.
With Square, it is very easy to sign up and get started. All you have to do is go online and create an account, then choose the type of account that works best for your business. This gives a lot more flexibility than many other services.
You can start slow with just a single product or service, or go big and add everything from eCommerce software to inventory management tools.
Square Online is an online payment processing service that allows you to accept credit card payments for your business. It’s easy to use, affordable and has been around for a long time (since 2008).
Square accepts all major credit cards and also processes ACH payments from customers who have signed up with Square.
Key Features:
- Customizable templates: Square Online offers a range of customizable templates that businesses can use to create a professional website and online store.
- Mobile-optimized design: Square Online websites and online stores are designed to be responsive and mobile-friendly, ensuring that they look great and work seamlessly on all devices.
- Payment processing: Square Online allows businesses to accept a variety of payment methods, including credit and debit cards, gift cards, and e-commerce payment solutions like Apple Pay and Google Pay.
- Inventory management: Square Online provides tools for businesses to manage their online inventory, including the ability to track stock levels and set up automatic restocking alerts.
User Experience:
The company charges no monthly fees or setup costs but does take a small transaction fee for each sale made through their platform- typically between 2% and 3%.
What’s more, Square Online also offers unlimited products and bandwidth for a single monthly fee. This is a huge advantage over other eCommerce platforms when you’re starting out.
Because of how much easier it is to attract customers to Square, most businesses that use it grow quickly. Some even go on to become profitable overnight!
Pricing:
Square Online offers three pricing plans:
- Free – (Website builder with SEO tools, Sync with Square POS and more, Pickup, local delivery & shipping, Sell on social).
- Plus ($29/Month) – (All Free plan features, Expanded site customization, Self serve (QR code) ordering, Customer accounts, Personalized ordering, Advanced item settings, Accept PayPal).
- Premium ($79/Month) – All Plus plan features, Lower processing rate, Real-time shipping rates).
What I Like/Dislike | About Square Online:
Likes:
- Easy to use: Square Online is designed to be user-friendly, with a simple drag-and-drop interface that makes it easy to create and customize your website.
- Affordable: Square Online offers a range of pricing plans, starting at just $12 per month, which makes it a cost-effective option for small businesses.
- Integrations: Square Online integrates with a range of tools, including Square Point of Sale, Square Invoices, and Square Appointments, allowing you to manage all aspects of your business in one place.
Dislikes:
- Limited customization: While Square Online provides a range of templates and design options, it may not offer as much customization as some other website builders.
- Limited e-commerce options: Square Online is primarily designed for small businesses and may not have as many advanced e-commerce features as other platforms.
- Limited support: While Square Online does offer support resources, it may not have as comprehensive a support system as some other platforms.
Wayfair
Best E-Commerce Platform
Stuarts Take
Wayfair is an online home furnishings retailer that offers a wide selection of products for the home, including furniture, décor, home improvement items, and more. With a focus on providing customers with high-quality products at affordable prices, Wayfair has become a popular destination for those looking to furnish and decorate their homes.
In addition to its online store, Wayfair also operates physical stores in select locations across the United States. Customers can shop for products on the Wayfair website or app and enjoy free shipping on orders over a certain amount. Wayfair also offers a hassle-free returns policy, making it easy for customers to return items if they are unsatisfied. Overall, Wayfair is a trusted and convenient resource for home furnishings and décor.
| Best For | Popularity |
| Price | Varied |
| Annual Discount | Yes |
| Promotion | Yes |
Wayfair is an eCommerce platform focused on home goods. It offers products in a variety of categories at competitive prices and offers an impressive number of options for most needs.
The site has a clean look and will feel immediately familiar to anyone who’s used Amazon or other major eCommerce sites before.
Wayfair has also developed a reputation for high-quality photos on its products, which helps you compare different options side-by-side as well as inspire you with inspiration from real people’s living rooms (and kitchens and bedrooms).
If you are looking for an eCommerce platform that offers a lot of flexibility, then Wayfair may be the right choice for your business.
With this platform, you can easily create a wide range of websites and market them effectively through multiple channels.
Wayfair offers a no-hassle return policy. If you’re not satisfied with your purchase, you can return any item for a refund or exchange within 30 days of delivery. You can also receive store credit, gift cards or vouchers if you opt to do so.
In addition to Wayfair’s standard return policy, customers have the option of requesting an Easy Return label from their account page on the site.
This allows them to make returns without needing to speak with a representative over the phone or chat with someone online (which sometimes involves waiting in long wait times).
Some other pros include the following:
· Free shipping on all orders over $49
· Easy checkout process
· Large selection of products
· Free returns
· Easy to use website
· Good customer service
Key Features:
- Wide selection: Wayfair offers a wide selection of products in various categories, including furniture, home decor, outdoor products, and more.
- Easy search and filtering: The website allows customers to easily search and filter products based on various criteria, such as price, style, color, and more.
- Customer reviews: Wayfair features customer reviews for many of its products, allowing customers to read about the experiences of other shoppers before making a purchase.
- Free shipping: Wayfair offers free shipping on many of its products, making it convenient for customers to have their purchases delivered to their doorstep.
- Easy returns: The company has a hassle-free returns policy, allowing customers to return items for any reason within a certain timeframe.
- Mobile app: Wayfair has a mobile app that allows customers to shop, browse, and make purchases from their phone or tablet.
User Experience:
There are a few things that you will miss out on if you choose to use Wayfair as your eCommerce platform. These include:
· A wide range of products and inventory. If you want to sell a variety of items, Wayfair won’t be able to provide the same level of customization offered by other platforms. For example, if you’re selling clothing or accessories, there are no options for custom tags or packaging and you may not be able to customize your products at all (beyond changing the price).
· There are not many customer support features available through Wayfair’s platform outside of sending out emails (email marketing technique) about order statuses and asking questions about returns/refunds. You’ll need to find another source for help with customer issues like refunds, cancellations etc.
Pricing:
Wayfair offers three pricing plans:
One factor that can affect pricing on Wayfair is the availability of features such as free shipping, easy returns, and financing options. For example, Wayfair offers free shipping on orders over $35, which can be a significant savings for customers who would otherwise have to pay for shipping. The company also has a hassle-free returns policy, allowing customers to return most items within 30 days of purchase for a full refund. In addition, Wayfair offers financing options through its Wayfair Credit Card program, which allows customers to pay for their purchases over time with low monthly payments. These features may be factored into the overall price of a product on Wayfair.
What I Like/Dislike | About Wayfair:
Likes:
- Wide selection of products: Wayfair has a huge selection of products in categories such as home furnishings, decor, appliances, and more. This means that you have a good chance of finding what you need on the website.
- Convenient shopping experience: Wayfair has a user-friendly website and mobile app that make it easy to browse and purchase products. You can also filter search results by various criteria, such as price, color, and style, to find the perfect product for your needs.
Dislikes:
- Some products may not be of high quality: Because Wayfair has such a large selection of products from various brands and manufacturers, the quality of products can vary. Some customers have reported receiving products that were not as well-made as they had expected.
- Long shipping times: Depending on the location of the warehouse and the location of the customer, shipping times can be longer than expected. This can be frustrating for customers who are in a hurry to receive their purchases.
Ecwid
Best Cloud Based E-Commerce Platform($14 per month).
Stuarts Take
Ecwid is an e-commerce platform that allows businesses to create an online store and sell products or services online. It is a cloud-based solution that can be easily integrated into a website or social media page, allowing businesses to reach a wider audience and sell products online with minimal setup and maintenance.
Ecwid offers a range of features and tools, including customizable store designs, payment gateways, inventory management, shipping options, and customer management. It is designed to be user-friendly and accessible to businesses of all sizes and industries.
| Best For | Cloud-Based Solutions |
| Price | Good |
| Annual Discount | Yes |
| Promotion | Yes |
Ecwid is a cloud-based eCommerce platform. It’s easy to set up and flexible, allowing you to start selling online in minutes.
The platform is fully customizable so you can create your own store without writing any code. You can also choose from over 200 templates or design your own with Drag & Drop Builder toolkit. It’s a good choice for small businesses, especially those that want to sell physical products.
If you’re just starting with your own online store and have a small number of products, customers, and orders, Ecwid may be the right choice for you.
· Your business has fewer than 100 products.
· Your business has less than 1,000 customers.
· Your monthly order volume is below $1 million USD (or whatever currency is relevant in your location).
Being a multi-channel eCommerce platform, it allows you to sell your products on social media channels like Facebook or Pinterest, marketplaces like Amazon and eBay, and other places where people are already spending time online (like blogs).
Key Features:
- Customizable store designs: Ecwid allows businesses to customize the look and feel of their online store with a range of templates and design options.
- Payment gateways: Ecwid supports a range of payment gateways, including PayPal, Stripe, and Authorize.net, to allow businesses to accept payments from customers securely.
- Inventory management: Ecwid includes tools to help businesses manage their inventory, including tracking stock levels, setting up automatic restocking alerts, and setting up product options and variants.
- Shipping options: Ecwid allows businesses to set up shipping rates and options for their products, including real-time shipping rates from carriers like USPS and UPS.
User Experience:
This way you don’t lose potential customers because they visit different channels for different purposes of their shopping journey.
Finally, Ecwid supports all popular languages for international users such as Spanish, German and French!
If you’re in the market for an eCommerce platform, then Ecwid is a great choice. It offers an affordable entry-level package that includes most of the features that you would expect from a quality eCommerce solution.
The platform is easy to use and will allow you to get your business up and running quickly.
If you need more advanced features or want more flexibility than what Ecwid offers by default, we recommend looking at Shopify.
Pricing:
Ecwid offers three pricing plans:
- Free – (Easy online store to launch your business for free).
- Venture ($14/Month) – (100 products, Sell on Instagram & Facebook, Sell e goods, Mobile store management app, Live Chat Support, Access to App Market, Automated tax calculations).
- Business ($29/Month) – (2500 products, Sell on Amazon & eBay via Codisto, Sell subscriptions, Staff accounts (2), Phone Support, 2 customization hours, Abandoned cart saver).
- Unlimited ($82/Month) – (Unlimited products, Sell via branded mobile app, Sell in-person (POS integration), Unlimited Staff accounts, Priority Support, 12 customization hours).
What I Like/Dislike | About Ecwid:
Likes:
- Easy to set up: Ecwid has a user-friendly interface that makes it easy to set up and customize an online store, even if you don’t have any technical experience.
- Wide range of integrations: Ecwid integrates with a variety of tools and platforms, including social media, email marketing, and payment processors.
- Mobile-responsive design: Ecwid’s online stores are designed to be mobile-responsive, which means they look and function well on mobile devices.
Dislikes:
- limited customization options: Some users have reported that Ecwid’s customization options are somewhat limited compared to other e-commerce platforms.
- Limited features: While Ecwid offers a good range of basic e-commerce features, it may not have all the advanced features that more established online stores require.
- Limited customer support: Some users have reported that the customer support provided by Ecwid can be slow to respond or not very helpful.
Shift4Shop
Best Cloud Based E-Commerce Platform($52 per month).
Stuarts Take
Shift4Shop is a e-commerce platform that allows users to create and manage an online store to sell products and services. It offers a range of features and tools to help businesses create and customize their online store, including customizable templates, payment gateway integration, inventory management, and marketing tools.
Shift4Shop also offers integrations with popular shipping carriers and social media platforms to help businesses reach a wider audience and streamline their operations. The platform is designed to be user-friendly and easy to use, making it a popular choice for small and medium-sized businesses looking to establish an online presence.
| Best For | Integrations |
| Price | Good |
| Annual Discount | Yes |
| Promotion | Yes |
Shift4Shop is a cloud-based eCommerce platform that offers secure and scalable solutions for online store owners. With Shift4Shop, you can build your own online store and sell products online with ease.
It has been designed to help small business owners get started in the eCommerce world. Being a powerful e-commerce platform, it allows you to build your own online store and sell products online from anywhere in the world on any device!
With Shift4Shop, you can also easily customize the look and feel of your store with their drag-and-drop editor, which makes it easy for anyone to create a professional-looking eCommerce site without any coding knowledge required!
Key Features:
- Customizable templates: Shift4Shop offers a selection of customizable templates to help businesses create a professional-looking online store.
- Payment gateway integration: Shift4Shop supports integration with a variety of payment gateways, including PayPal, Stripe, and more, to enable businesses to securely process transactions.
- Inventory management: Shift4Shop offers tools to help businesses manage their inventory, including the ability to track stock levels, set up automatic restock alerts, and manage product variants.
- Marketing tools: Shift4Shop provides a range of marketing tools to help businesses promote their products and reach a wider audience, including email marketing, social media integration, and SEO optimization.
- Shipping integrations: Shift4Shop offers integrations with popular shipping carriers such as USPS, UPS, and FedEx, to help businesses streamline their shipping process.
User Experience:
Shift4Shop may not be the right choice for your business, especially if it has a large number of products and needs a lot of customization.
If you are looking for an eCommerce platform that offers extensive support and is ready to customize the solution according to your needs, we recommend checking out Shopify or Wix.
Pricing:
Shift4Shop offers three pricing plans:
- Basic ($29/Month) – (enjoy unlimited products, inventory control, digital downloads and product reviews. The maximum sales you can have for this plan is $100,000 per year.).
- Plus ($79/Month) – ( add product Q&A, segment customer groups and let customers compare products. The sales cap for this plan is $250,000 per year).
- Pro ($229/Month) – (every feature in the End-to-End plan, including auto-ship, shipment delivery notification and a quote system. You can have up to $1 million in sales with Pro).
What I Like/Dislike | About Shift4Shop:
Likes:
- Offers its most extensive plan for free
- Upsell and cross-sell
- Built-in CRM
Dislikes:
- Limited customization
- Sales limits on paid plans
- Auto-ship capability only available on End-to-End and Pro plan
WooCommerce/WordPress
Best for Effective E-commerce Store
Stuarts Take
WooCommerce is a popular plugin for WordPress that allows users to easily create and manage an online store on their WordPress website. With WooCommerce, users can add products, process payments, track inventory, and handle shipping and tax options.
WordPress is a content management system (CMS) that allows users to create and publish websites easily. It is known for its ease of use and flexibility, as it can be customized with various themes and plugins like WooCommerce to add functionality. WooCommerce and WordPress provide a powerful platform for creating and running an online store.
| Best For | Popular Pop In |
| Price | Good |
| Annual Discount | Yes |
| Promotion | Yes |
WooCommerce is a free plugin that can be used to transform your WordPress website into an effective e-commerce store, is not a standalone e-commerce platform.
When using WordPress, installing the core WooCommerce plugin is a breeze, and the best part is that it is free to use.
WooCommerce is a powerful e-commerce platform, but it requires several additional plugins to fully realize its potential.
These plugins will allow you to accept payments, inventory management, and monitor stock levels, among other things.
The main advantage of WooCommerce is that it integrates with WordPress and requires no technical knowledge to set up.
This means that you can install it on your site, get an eCommerce website up and running in minutes, and then start adding products. It is also extremely flexible, allowing you to customize your store as much or as little as you want.
Key Features:
- Product management: Allows users to add and manage products, including physical, digital, and variable products.
- Payment gateway support: Integrates with a variety of payment gateways to process online transactions securely.
- Shipping options: Offers a range of shipping options, including flat rate, free shipping, and integration with shipping carriers.
- Easy content creation: Provides an intuitive interface for creating and publishing content, including pages, posts, and media.
- Customization options: Allows users to choose from a wide range of themes and plugins to customize the appearance and functionality of their website.
- User management: Provides tools for managing multiple users and assigning roles and permissions.
User Experience:
In addition, it is worth noting that WordPress itself is not an eCommerce platform; rather, it is a blogging platform with some extra functionality added on top (like WooCommerce).
The beauty of this combination is that if you grow out of selling things online (or decide you are ready to start selling things), there are plenty of other ways to use WordPress: blogs, websites for local businesses/organizations/political campaigns/etc., magazines – and the list goes on!
WooCommerce is best used by beginners because its features make getting started easy—but even experienced users can benefit from using this system. Since everything from the design process through payment processing, it is streamlined into one system instead of multiple platforms.
WooCommerce, like many open-source solutions, is not the best choice for people with little experience running an online business.
Pricing:
WooCommerce/WordPress offers pricing plans:
- Product variations: Allows you to offer different options for a single product, such as size or color.
- Coupons and discounts: Lets you create coupons and discounts to encourage sales.
- Payment gateways: Supports various payment gateways, including PayPal and Stripe, to allow customers to make purchases on your site.
- Shipping options: Lets you set up shipping rates and options, such as flat rate or free shipping.
- Tax options: Allows you to configure tax settings for your store, including how taxes are calculated and displayed
What I Like/Dislike | About WooCommerce/WordPress:
Likes:
- Widely used and well-supported: WooCommerce is the most popular e-commerce plugin for WordPress, with a large user base and a strong community of developers.
- Widely used and well-supported: WordPress is the most popular content management system (CMS) in the world, with a large user base and a strong community of developers.
- Customization options: With a wide range of themes and plugins available, it is easy to customize the appearance and functionality of a WordPress website.
Dislikes:
- Limited scalability: While WooCommerce is suitable for small to medium-sized stores, it may not have the capabilities to support larger, more complex stores.
- Security risks: As a widely used platform, WordPress is a target for hackers and may require regular security updates and maintenance.
- Limited design options: Some users may find the design options available with WooCommerce to be limited compared to other platforms.
Sellfy
Best for E-Commerce Platform($19 per month).
Stuarts Take
Sellfy is an e-commerce platform that allows users to create and sell digital products such as ebooks, software, courses, and other types of digital content. Sellfy provides a range of tools and features to help users manage their online store, including customizable landing pages, payment processing, marketing tools, and analytics.
Sellfy also integrates with popular social media and email marketing platforms, making it easy to promote and sell products to a wider audience. The platform is designed to be user-friendly and accessible to anyone, regardless of their technical expertise or experience with e-commerce.
| Best For | Digital Products |
| Price | Good |
| Annual Discount | Yes |
| Promotion | Yes |
Sellfy is a great eCommerce platform to sell your goods and services. It includes apps for Shopify, BigCommerce, WordPress and Ecwid. You can upload products by just a drag-and-drop interface.
With Sellfy you can share your product link on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Tumblr and many more
This eCommerce software has a drag-and-drop interface where you can upload products by just dragging them into the store.
You can also use its advanced options to customize your theme or add more advanced features like live chat or built-in eCommerce functions that will help you increase sales without having to hire an agency or developer.
Sellfy also integrates with Amazon so that sellers can sell products on Amazon using their existing business accounts. This makes it easy for sellers who already have an Amazon account to expand their reach by selling via Sellfy’s marketplace as well.
Key Features:
- Customizable landing pages: Sellfy allows users to create and customize their own landing pages to showcase and sell their products.
- Payment processing: Sellfy integrates with popular payment gateways such as PayPal and Stripe, allowing users to easily process payments and receive funds.
- Marketing tools: Sellfy provides a range of marketing tools to help users promote their products, including integrations with social media platforms and email marketing tools.
- Analytics: Sellfy offers detailed analytics and reporting tools to help users track their sales and performance.
- Product management: Sellfy allows users to easily manage their products, including the ability to add, update, or delete products as needed.
User Experience:
The software takes care of everything from payment processing to inventory management and works smoothly with any existing websites.
In fact, anyone who is already selling online should be able to set up a professional-looking online store within minutes – all they need is an internet connection!
It provides you with a wide range of options like setting a password for individual products, customising your product page, embed your products with embeddable HTML code.
In short, this platform is easy to use, has plenty of options for customization and offers great customer support.
Pricing:
Sellfy offers three pricing plans:
- Starter ($19/Month) – (Up to $10k in sales per year, Unlimited products, Digital products, Subscription products, Connect your own domain, Email marketing).
- Business ($49/Month) – (Up to $50k in sales per year, Remove “Sellfy” branding, Store design migration, Cart abandonment, Product upselling).
- Premium ($99/Month) – (Up to $200k in sales per year, Product migration, Priority support).
What I Like/Dislike | About Sellfy:
Like:
- Easy to use: Sellfy is designed to be user-friendly and accessible to anyone, regardless of their technical expertise or experience with e-commerce.
- Customizable: Sellfy allows users to customize their landing pages and product pages to match their brand and style.
- Payment processing: Sellfy integrates with popular payment gateways, making it easy for users to process payments and receive funds.
Dislikes:
- Limited product options: Sellfy is primarily geared towards selling digital products such as ebooks, software, and courses. It may not be the best option for users who want to sell physical goods or services.
- Fees: Sellfy charges a transaction fee on each sale, which can add up for users who make a high volume of sales.
- Limited design options: While Sellfy allows users to customize their landing pages and product pages, the design options are somewhat limited compared to other e-commerce platforms.
Pinnacle Cart
Best for E-Commerce platform($79 per month).
Stuarts Take
Pinnacle Cart is an e-commerce platform designed to help businesses create and manage online stores. It offers a range of features and tools to help businesses build and customize their online stores, including customizable templates, product catalogs, payment gateways, shipping options, and more. Pinnacle Cart is known for its flexibility and scalability, allowing businesses to adjust their online stores as their needs change easily.
It is also designed to be user-friendly, with a simple interface and easy-to-use tools that make it accessible to businesses of all sizes. Pinnacle Cart is suitable for businesses in various industries, including retail, wholesale, and service-based businesses.
| Best For | Online Stores |
| Price | Expensive |
| Annual Discount | Yes |
| Promotion | Yes |
Pinnacle Cart is an eCommerce platform that allows you to create and manage your online business.
It’s a user-friendly tool with a wide range of design options, allowing you to customize the look of your store. Pinnacle Cart has many marketing tools such as search engine optimization (SEO), Google AdWords integration, dynamic content insertion, and more.
Having a clean, easy-to-use interface is important for any eCommerce platform. The user experience should be intuitive, and customers should be able to navigate the site without getting lost or having to search for something that they can’t find. Pinnacle Cart has all of these things in spades.
Key Features:
- ustomizable templates: Pinnacle Cart offers a range of customizable templates that allow businesses to create a unique and professional-looking online store.
- Product catalog: The platform allows businesses to easily add and manage products, including descriptions, images, and pricing.
- Payment gateways: Pinnacle Cart integrates with a variety of payment gateways, including PayPal, Stripe, and Authorize.net, to allow businesses to accept payments online.
- Shipping options: The platform offers a range of shipping options, including real-time shipping quotes, flat-rate shipping, and free shipping.
- Order management: Pinnacle Cart includes tools for managing orders, including order tracking, invoicing, and returns.
User Experience:
The homepage is simple and uncluttered, with just enough information to give you an idea of what Pinnacle Cart does without overwhelming you with terms and concepts.
When it comes to design, Pinnacle Cart has a lot to offer. It’s got an extensive theme collection with over 50 eCommerce themes. In addition, you can also choose from hundreds of pre-made templates and layouts.
Lastly, the platform offers an intuitive drag & drop Page Builder that allows you to build any kind of page on your site including product pages (single/multiple variants), product categories or category pages and even contact us forms which are important for SEO purposes.
Pricing:
Pinnacle Cart offers three pricing plans:
- FREE – (Includes everything in our standard plan but with no monthly fees.).
- STANDARD ($79/Month) – (Designed for new eCommerce business, Choose from over 30+ payment providers).
- ADVANCED ($199/Month) – (Designed for growing eCommerce business, Choose from over 30+ payment providers).
- ENTERPRISE (Contact Us) – (Designed for serious eCommerce businesses, Choose from over 30+ payment providers).
What I Like/Dislike | About Pinnacle Cart:
Likes:
- Customizable templates: Pinnacle Cart offers a range of customizable templates that allow businesses to create a unique and professional-looking online store.
- Flexibility: The platform is highly flexible, allowing businesses to easily adjust their online stores as their needs change.
- Scalability: Pinnacle Cart is designed to be scalable, making it suitable for businesses of all sizes.
- User-friendly: The platform is known for its user-friendly interface and easy-to-use tools.
Dislikes:
- Cost: Pinnacle Cart is a paid platform, so there may be upfront costs associated with using it.
- Limited customization: While the templates are customizable, there may be limitations to the level of customization that can be achieved.
- Limited integrations: Pinnacle Cart can be integrated with a variety of third-party tools and services, but the range of integrations may be limited compared to some other e-commerce platforms.
Weebly
Best for Create a Beautiful Online Store ($10 per month).
Stuarts Take
Weebly is a website builder and hosting service that allows users to create and design professional-looking websites without the need for coding or design skills.
It offers a range of templates and drag-and-drop tools to help users easily create and customize the look and feel of their website. Weebly also offers e-commerce features, allowing users to sell products and accept online payments. In addition, it provides hosting and domain registration services, making it a one-stop solution for creating and managing a website.
| Best For | Great Value |
| Price | Very Good |
| Annual Discount | Yes |
| Promotion | Yes |
Weebly is an eCommerce website builder that allows you to create a beautiful online store with ease.
Weebly eCommerce is a great choice for small businesses that want to sell their products online. With Weebly, it is easy for anyone to create an online store, and we think you will find Weebly eCommerce is the best eCommerce solution on the market today.
Weebly’s eCommerce platform has been around since 2013 and was acquired by GoDaddy in 2015. It’s currently used by over 1 million businesses worldwide, who have collectively earned over $1 billion in revenue using our platform!
When you sign up with Weebly, you instantly get access to all of the tools and resources needed to start selling your products online right away:
If you’re looking for an easy, affordable way to get started selling online, Weebly eCommerce may be the perfect fit.
Weebly eCommerce is best suited for any small business owner with a limited budget and simple needs.
If your company is starting out, Weebly eCommerce can help you set up an eCommerce store quickly and easily at no cost.
Key Features:
- Drag-and-drop website builder: Weebly’s website builder makes it easy to create a professional-looking website without the need for coding skills.
- Templates: Weebly offers a range of templates for various types of websites, including business, online store, and personal blogs.
- E-commerce capabilities: Weebly allows users to sell products and accept online payments through their website.
- Hosting and domain registration: Weebly provides hosting and domain registration services, making it a one-stop solution for creating and managing a website.
- Customization options: Users can customize the look and feel of their website with Weebly’s range of design and layout options.
User Experience:
Weebly’s built-in tools are also great for businesses that don’t need a lot of customization out of the box (or want more flexibility than other platforms offer). For example, if you’re not sure what kind of payment gateway will work best for your business or if there’s anything else, in particular, that might affect how your site performs on mobile devices—these features aren’t included in many other solutions at this price point.
Weebly eCommerce also offers a variety of themes and templates to choose from. You can also use their template builder to create your own design. The process of creating and using a theme is pretty easy and straightforward. You can use the same design for multiple websites, which will save you time in designing new sites over time.
Pricing:
Weebly offers three pricing plans
- Free – (basic website building tools and hosting, but does not include a custom domain name or e-commerce features).
- Connect ($10/Month) – (custom domain name, basic e-commerce features, and access to Weebly’s customer support team).
- Pro ($12/Month) – (additional e-commerce features, such as abandoned cart recovery and the ability to offer discounts and promotions. It also includes access to advanced design and customization options, such as CSS and JavaScript editing).
- Business ($25/Month) – (all the Pro plan features, as well as advanced e-commerce features, such as abandoned cart recovery, the ability to offer discounts and promotions, and the ability to offer subscriptions and memberships. It also includes access to Weebly’s email marketing tools.
What I Like/Dislike | About Weebly:
Likes:
- Easy to use: Weebly’s drag-and-drop website builder is user-friendly and requires no coding skills.
- Wide range of templates: Weebly offers a variety of templates for different types of websites, making it easy for users to find one that suits their needs.
- E-commerce capabilities: Weebly allows users to sell products and accept online payments, making it a good choice for businesses.
- Hosting and domain registration: Weebly provides hosting and domain registration
Dislikes:
- Limited customization options: While Weebly offers a range of customization options, it may not be as flexible as other website builders.
- Limited design options: Some users may find the design options offered by Weebly to be limited.
- E-commerce fees: Weebly charges fees for its e-commerce features, which may not be suitable for businesses with low-margin products.
Volusion
Best for E-Commerce Platforms ($35 per month).
Stuarts Take
Volusion is a comprehensive e-commerce platform that allows businesses to create and manage their own online stores. With Volusion, users can design and customize their store’s appearance, manage and process orders, track inventory, and analyze sales data.
The platform also includes a range of marketing and SEO tools to help businesses promote their products and increase traffic to their store. Volusion offers a variety of plans to suit the needs of different businesses, including options for small, medium, and large enterprises.
| Best For | Design |
| Price | Can be expensive |
| Annual Discount | Yes |
| Promotion | Yes |
With over 15 years in the business, Volusion has a reputation for being one of the first eCommerce platforms.
It has been a go-to choice for small businesses looking to get started with their own online selling store. Volusion offers all the basics needed to build out your store and get it up and running quickly but lacks some of the features that more advanced users will want in their eCommerce platform.
The Volusion dashboard is intuitive, so there’s no learning curve involved in getting started with your eCommerce store.
It’s also easy to set up your Volusion store: all you have to do is create an account and fill out a few fields with your contact information, then choose the plan that best fits your needs and budget.
Key Features:
- Customizable store design: Volusion offers a range of customizable templates and design elements to help businesses create a professional-looking online store.
- Product management: Volusion allows businesses to easily add, edit, and manage their products and product categories within their store.
- Inventory management: Volusion includes tools for tracking inventory levels and setting low stock alerts to ensure that businesses always have sufficient product on hand to meet customer demand.
- Order processing: Volusion provides tools for tracking and processing orders, including the ability to create invoices and packing slips, track shipping, and process returns.
- Marketing and SEO: Volusion offers a range of marketing and SEO tools to help businesses promote their products and increase their visibility online, including email marketing, social media integration, and the ability to create and edit meta tags and descriptions for products and pages.
User Experience:
After that, you’re ready to start building your online business!
Adding products is just as simple: just search for what you want on their website or upload images from your computer (or from another source), then enter the details about each product manually or through CSV imports if you have massive amounts of data.
Volusion is a great option for those on a tight budget who are looking to start an online store. They have several pricing plans that range from $19/month (100 products) all the way up to $99/month (5000 products). If you want more, then you’re going to pay more.
Volusion also offers an easy-to-use shopping cart system that will help your customers complete their purchases quickly and efficiently.
Pricing:
Volusion offers three pricing plans:
- Personal ($35/Month) – (It includes a customizable store, unlimited products, and basic features such as inventory management and order processing).
- Professional ($79/Month) – (1dvanced features such as abandoned cart recovery and email marketing. It also includes access to more design options and the ability to sell on Amazon and eBay).
- Business ($299/Month) – (additional marketing and analysis tools and the ability to sell on multiple channels).
- Prime(Contact Us) – (ustomizable plan that includes all the features of the Pro plan and additional support and services. The price of the Premium plan varies depending on the specific needs of the business).
What I Like/Dislike | About Volusion:
Likes:
- Easy to use: Volusion has a user-friendly interface and offers a variety of customizable templates and design options, making it easy for users to build and manage their online stores.
- Comprehensive features: Volusion offers a wide range of features, including inventory management, order processing, and marketing tools, to help businesses run their online stores efficiently.
- Customizable: Volusion allows users to customize their store’s design and layout, as well as add custom features and integrations.
Dislikes:
- Limited design options: While Volusion offers a variety of templates and design options, some users may find the options limited compared to other e-commerce platforms.
- Extra fees for certain features: Some advanced features and integrations may require additional fees.
- Limited customer support: Some users have reported dissatisfaction with the level of customer support offered by Volusion.
Squarespace
Best for Blog or Online Store ($23 per month).
Stuarts Take
Squarespace is a famous website building and hosting platform that allows users to create professional-looking websites without any coding knowledge. It offers a variety of customizable templates and design options, as well as a range of features, including e-commerce capabilities, marketing tools, and integrations with external services such as social media and email marketing.
Squarespace is suitable for individuals, small businesses, and larger enterprises looking to create and manage a website for their brand or products. It offers a range of pricing plans to suit different needs and budgets, and a 14-day free trial is available for users to try out the platform before committing to a plan.
| Best For | Ease of Use |
| Price | Good |
| Annual Discount | Yes |
| Promotion | Yes |
Squarespace is a cloud-based, all-in-one solution to building a website, blog or online store. It is designed to be simple and intuitive for anyone from beginners to experts. With it, you can create an amazing website in minutes with no coding required.
The platform itself offers blogging functionality, third-party apps and eCommerce functionality.
You will find there everything needed for a modern online store. They offer 24/7 live phone support and live chat during the workweek.
The pricing plan is reasonable as well as their customer service which is also available via email if needed.
With Squarespace, you’ll have access to an enormous selection of pre-built templates that are ready to go. They’ve certainly got all the basics covered: there’s a template for every kind of shop imaginable, from health products and pet supply shops to clothing boutiques and children’s stores.
Key Features:
- Customizable templates: Squarespace offers a variety of templates and design options that users can customize to create a unique and professional website.
- E-commerce capabilities: Squarespace allows users to create an online store and sell products directly from their website. It offers features such as inventory management, order processing, and customer management tools.
- Marketing tools: Squarespace provides tools such as email campaigns and integrations with external services like Google Ads to help users promote their website and products.
- Blogging: Squarespace allows users to create and manage a blog on their website, with features such as customizable post layouts and the ability to schedule posts in advance.
- Domain registration: Squarespace offers the option to purchase a custom domain directly from the platform.
User Experience:
There are also tons of different types of templates available on the platform so you can be sure you’ll find one that fits your brand perfectly. They offer both fixed-width and full-width designs as well as responsive options that change based on your device’s screen size.
If you want more customization options than what comes with their built-in themes, then Squarespace also has a drag & drop editor where you can customize everything from fonts and colour palettes down to individual products or collections in your store.
No coding skills are required here either—the interface is simple enough for even beginners but offers enough flexibility so it will satisfy even advanced users too!
Pricing:
Squarespace offers three pricing plans:
- Personal ($23/Month) – (Mobile optimized websites, Templates to fit every need, Free custom domain).
- Business ($33/Month) – (Mobile optimized websites, Templates to fit every need, Free custom domain, Advanced website analytics, Fully integrated e-commerce).
- Commerce ($36/Month) – (Mobile optimized websites, Templates to fit every need, Free custom domain, Advanced website analytics, Fully integrated e-commerce).
- Advance ($65/Month) – (Mobile optimized websites, Templates to fit every need, Free custom domain, Advanced website analytics, Fully integrated e-commerce).
What I Like/Dislike | About Squarespace:
Likes:
- Easy to use: Squarespace has a user-friendly interface and offers a variety of customizable templates and design options, making it easy for users to create and manage a website without any coding knowledge.
- Comprehensive features: Squarespace offers a wide range of features, including e-commerce capabilities, marketing tools, and integrations with external services, to help users build and manage their websites effectively.
Dislikes:
- Limited design options: While Squarespace offers a variety of templates and design options, some users may find the options limited compared to other website building platforms.
- Extra fees for certain features: Some advanced features and integrations may require additional fees.
- Limited customer support: Some users have reported dissatisfaction with the level of customer support offered by Squarespace.
Prestashop
Best E-commerce Platform ($99 per month).
Stuarts Take
PrestaShop is an open-source e-commerce platform that allows users to set up and manage their own online stores. It is written in PHP and uses MySQL as a database management system. It is designed to be user-friendly and easy to customize, with a wide range of features and tools that can be used to create a professional-looking online store.
Some of the key features of PrestaShop include a customizable storefront, support for multiple payment gateways, the ability to manage inventory and orders, and integration with social media and marketing tools. It is popular among small and medium-sized businesses and has a large community of users and developers who contribute to its development and support.
| Best For | Open source |
| Price | Favourable |
| Annual Discount | Yes |
| Promotion | Yes |
PrestaShop is an e-commerce platform that is both free and open source. Licensed as open source, the software is available to the public (OSL). It uses the MySQL database management system and is written in PHP.
PrestaShop’s features include an administration panel, an online catalogue of products, product import and export tools and a blog module to create user-generated content.
With over 400 extensions available from the PrestaShop community or by paying for premium services such as advanced search engine optimization or payment gateway integration; this platform provides you with every feature required to run a successful e-commerce business website.
Some other pros include;
· Available in many languages.
· Good choice for small and medium businesses.
Key Features:
- Customizable storefront: PrestaShop allows users to design and customize the appearance of their online store, including the layout, colors, fonts, and more.
- Multiple payment gateways: PrestaShop supports a variety of payment gateways, including PayPal, Stripe, and Authorize.net, making it easy for customers to make purchases on your store.
- Inventory and order management: PrestaShop allows users to manage their inventory and orders, including tracking stock levels and processing returns and exchanges.
- Marketing and promotion tools: PrestaShop includes a range of marketing and promotion tools, such as email marketing, coupons, and gift certificates, to help users promote their store and drive sales.
- Mobile-friendly design: PrestaShop is designed to be mobile-friendly, ensuring that your store looks great and is easy to use on any device.
User Experience:
Easy to set up and maintain with simple tools that let you manage the whole site yourself. This will save you money on hosting fees by allowing you to host your site yourself instead of paying for third-party hosting services.
· The platform also has a lot of resources available online from experts around the globe which makes it easier for one to learn as they go along the journey of creating their own eCommerce store with PrestaShop.
There are thousands of extensions available for PrestaShop that allow you to customize your store and create whatever kind of experience you want, so it’s a good choice.
Pricing:
Prestashop offers three pricing plans:
- Free Package – (Installation of PrestaShop on server, Unlimited products and categories, Thousands of free and paid modules, Integrations with popular payment systems, Integration wit popular courier companies).
- Business ($99/Month) – (Installation of PrestaShop on server, Unlimited products and categories, Thousands of free and paid modules, Integrations with popular payment systems, Integration wit popular courier companies, Integration with popular price comparison engines, Google Analytics integration).
- Premium ($199/Month) – (Installation of PrestaShop on server, Unlimited products and categories, Thousands of free and paid modules, Integrations with popular payment systems, Integration wit popular courier companies, Integration with popular price comparison engines, Google Analytics integration, Search engines optimization, Free e-marketing consultation).
What I Like/Dislike | About Prestashop:
Likes:
- Free to download
- Highly customizable
- Numerous integrations
- Excellent support materials
- Strong user community
Dislikes:
- Expensive customer support
- Developer skills required
What is the Best E-Commerce Platform for Small Businesses?
For small businesses looking to start an online store, there are a number of different eCommerce platforms available. Shopify, Clickfunnels and Zyro eCommerce are just some of the major players in this space.
However, if you’re looking for something that has more flexibility than these options offer and can be used with almost any site or blog platform (WordPress/WooCommerce), then WooCommerce might be your best bet.
This is because it integrates seamlessly with WordPress so that even non-technical users can build their own stores quickly and efficiently without needing any coding knowledge or experience.
What is the Best Platform for Drop Shipping?
Drop shipping is a fantastic business model that anyone can start with very little capital, so if this sounds like something you want to try, get started today!
You need to think specifically about what kind of products you will sell.
There are a few things you need to think about before deciding on the best eCommerce platform for your drop shipping business.
First, you need to think specifically about what kind of products you will sell. This part is crucial because if your product selection isn’t diverse enough, it could hurt your sales in the long run.
It’s also important to look at other channels like Amazon and eBay when researching which products might be good choices for your store.
Next, you need to find suppliers who will help ensure that the quality of each item on offer is high enough to meet customer expectations and keep them coming back again and again! There are several ways in which this can be done:
· Google searches using keywords such as “best eCommerce platform for drop shipping” or “top e-commerce platforms for drop shipping” should give some useful results about different types of platforms available out there.
You’ll want one where there’s no upfront cost but instead charges based on commission earned from each sale made through their platform(s).
Once you’ve decided on your product niche, it’s time to think about the best ecommerce platform for drop shipping.
As the name suggests, drop shipping is a business model in which you don’t keep any inventory of your own but instead sell products that are shipped directly from the supplier to the customer.
This means that in order to be successful with this type of business, you need to find suppliers who can provide high-quality products at affordable prices and then find good sellers who will ship them for you.
The best eCommerce platform for drop shipping depends on your product niche and business model.
If yours is an enterprise-level operation where you want all your orders processed through one centralized system (and potentially even fulfilled by robots), Shopify may be right for you.
If instead you only plan on selling a few items here and there and want something more simple, go with Clickfunnels or WooCommerce—they both integrate very well with popular marketplaces like eBay or Amazon so they’re easy-to-use platforms even if they don’t offer as many features as other options do!
The Benefits of Using an E-Commerce Platform
Here are some of the benefits:
Integration with Payment Gateways
It is important to be able to take payments from your customers in any way they want, whether that’s through credit cards or PayPal or a gift card.
These platforms integrate with payment gateways so you can accept payments instantly and easily without having to set up your own payment gateway service. This makes it easier for you as well as your customers because they will not have to go through extra steps when making a purchase like adding an account number etc., instead, they can just use whatever method they prefer at the time of purchase (e-wallet accounts etc.).
Customer Support
Excellent customer support is another must-have feature in an eCommerce platform as this is something that any online store owner would need at some point or another during their business life.
Even though there are many ways today where someone could get help from other businesses if needed such as on social media sites like Facebook & Twitter then still it doesn’t compare with having someone actually talk directly with someone who knows exactly what solutions work best for each problem without having too much information being lost between parties involved – which means less confusion than usual duties performed by humans working together could achieve!
Drop Shipping Solutions
E-commerce platforms allow you to integrate with the plethora of dropshipping solutions, which makes shipping products a lot easier for online selling.
Conclusion
In this article, we’ve explored the best eCommerce platforms for small businesses. Their key features and benefits have been outlined to help you decide which one will suit your needs best, whether it be advanced SEO capabilities or an easy-to-use interface. Moreover, with these eCommerce platforms, you can manage multiple stores.