Online shopping has drastically increased during the pandemic. Consumers are becoming more aware of the convenience of shopping online. They don’t have to step out of their homes, pay for car parks, etc. Plus, with online shopping, they can shop anytime, anywhere.
Hence why businesses should start selling on e-commerce platforms if they haven’t already. The benefits of selling on e-commerce platforms extend to both buyers and merchants. You can manage shipping, payment processing, and product listing all from the convenience of your home office with the help of a good eCommerce website builder.
E-commerce Platform: What Is It?
The consumer experience is just as significant as the backend. The top e-commerce systems make it simple for customers to browse online, research the item they're interested in, and complete a transaction in as few steps as possible.
As for merchants, e-commerce platforms offer in-depth analytics, reporting, and inventory management for tracking, analyzing, and improving sales.
However, choosing the ideal e-commerce platform can be challenging with so many options available. This decision could be crucial to the overall performance of your e-commerce site. Don’t worry. That’s what we are here for! We’ve done our research so you don’t have to. Here are our top four selections for 2023, listed in no particular order.
Shopify
Shopify, which was founded in 2004 by three entrepreneurs looking to launch an online snowboarding equipment store, currently employs over 11,500 people globally and serves millions of businesses in 175 countries. Its versatility and ease of use make it a top pick for novices and expanding enterprises.
A drag-and-drop store builder, around 100 premium and free store templates, and the flexibility to change anything without having design knowledge make it simple to establish a Shopify e-commerce store. To further out its already robust e-commerce features, Shopify interfaces with hundreds of marketing, sales, inventory, accounting, and other apps.
Major credit cards, debit cards, Apple Pay, and Google Pay are all supported via the built-in payment processor of Shopify. Users can pay an extra cost to use third-party payment processors like PayPal.
What it's perfect for: Small to large e-commerce firms, freelancers, and companies who sell products directly on Instagram or TikTok
Cost: Free 14-day trial or $29/month for the Basic plan. $79/month for the Shopify plan. $299/month for the Advanced plan.
Advantages: Nearly all e-commerce-related duties may be handled by Shopify. They provide assistance with everything, including delivery, secure checkout, and marketing tools and payments. On Shopify, selling is simple. The majority of other platforms, websites, and online markets are compatible with Shopify. It is among the top platforms for multi-channel online shopping. Designing a Shopify e-commerce store is easy with a drag-and-drop store builder.
Disadvantages: The price of add-ons could increase. Shopify levies 0.5% to 2% per transaction for utilizing third-party payment processors. The lack of app add-ons limits the features of blog posts. There is no customizable checkout. Only offers extensive reporting and analytics on its more costly packages.
WooCommerce
WooThemes created WooCommerce in 2011 as an e-commerce addition to the well-known WordPress content management platform. It’s the top option for WordPress websites because it is the most well-liked, adaptable, and reasonably priced extension for users of WordPress who wish to build a fully functional e-commerce website.
WooCommerce provides rudimentary inventory management, which is helpful for managing basic stock but isn't ideal for high-volume operations. However, order management is more comprehensive, enabling merchants to drill down to examine sold goods, billing and shipping addresses, and customer details.
Last but not least, WooCommerce extensions enable merchants to sell goods on social networks and online stores like Facebook, eBay, Pinterest, and Amazon. In summary, WooCommerce's extensive library of paid and free plugins may help users get around many of the platform's drawbacks.
What it’s perfect for: Creating and running flexible, configurable online stores.
Cost: Free as a baseline pricing! Despite the fact that WooCommerce is totally free to use, some of the most helpful plugins that raise the system's caliber to that of Shopify or BigCommerce may run upwards of $300.
Advantages: You get access to all of WordPress' robust plugins and integrations. flexibility and usability for free.
Disadvantages: Almost nonexistent customer service. Additional fees for plugins and domain hosting. Isn't ideal for high-volume operations.
Squarespace
As a fundamental framework for creating and hosting blogs, Squarespace was developed in a dorm room at the University of Maryland in 2003. A straightforward drag-and-drop user interface and e-commerce functionalities were then implemented on the platform in 2013.
What do we love about it? In just a few minutes, you can use Squarespace to build a fully functional online store. Beginners will find their assortment of e-commerce templates to be useful. Its ease of use in building slick, aesthetically pleasing portfolio-style websites for showing and selling creative works is why we feel it’s the best for creatives.
Squarespace not only makes it easy to sell things but also services and gift cards, set up memberships and subscriptions, and let consumers schedule appointments online. By providing specials and discounts, integrated email marketing tools enable users to boost customer loyalty. Moreover, the platform supports a variety of third-party connectors, such as Printful and ShipStation, making it simple to develop and deliver customized items.
Users can easily check and manage inventory, complete and dispatch orders, and gain insightful information on site traffic, sales trends, and customer data thanks to Squarespace's user-friendly dashboard. To put it briefly, Squarespace is the perfect e-commerce platform for creatives that don't want to deal with difficult data sales tools.
What it's perfect for: Stunning drag-and-drop design and e-commerce shop templates.
Cost: New sites receive a free 14-day trial of Squarespace's Business plan, after which it costs $23 per month. The $16/month Personal subscription from Squarespace does not come with e-commerce functionality.
Advantages: Easy access to metrics, analytics, inventory, social selling, and SEO tools. modern templates. A website builder that uses drag and drop. 24/7 customer support.
Disadvantages: Fewer features in comparison to rivals. transaction rates of 3% (at starting Business package).
BigCommerce
BigCommerce, which began as a two-developer project in 2009 as an online shopping cart, currently employs over 1,000 people and offers services in more than 150 nations.
BigCommerce and Shopify differ from one another in terms of how payments are processed. BigCommerce allows consumers to select from over 65 processors, including PayPal, Square, and Stripe, without incurring additional costs, in contrast to Shopify, which levies 0.5% to 2% per transaction for utilizing third-party payment processors. Businesses that wish to maintain their current merchant accounts would benefit greatly from this.
Moreover, BigCommerce has an equally excellent marketplace of applications for shipping, marketing, accounting, customer relationship management (CRM), and more.
In contrast to Shopify, which only offers extensive reporting and analytics on its more costly packages, BigCommerce includes these features with every plan. Users may go deeper and build custom reports on revenue, consumer habits, order details, and more in addition to receiving real-time data on orders, customers, and conversions.
What it’s perfect for: Online shops with big stocks.
Cost: Complimentary 15-day trial, followed by $29.95/month as the starting price. $79.95/month for the Plus Plan. $299.95/month for the Pro Plan.
Advantages: Infinite selection of goods. No transaction costs apply. Offers extensive reporting and analytics on every plan.
Disadvantages: Sometimes slow response time. You will have to pay more if your store generates a bigger volume of sales.
Fees For e-Commerce Software
Since we're on the subject of price, eCommerce systems can be a bit tricky because they bill a little differently than other services. You can be required to pay one of three different types of fees for an eCommerce website builder:
Monthly charge: This can range from being free to costing several hundred dollars, and the money goes directly to the platform.
Fees for payment gateways: These are the costs associated with processing credit card payments. Normally, the price is 2.9% plus an extra $0.30, however, it decreases with volume and larger upfront purchases. Some systems, like Shopify, have their own payment gateways that you may utilize, whilst other platforms rely on services like Stripe, PayPal, and others.
Fees for transactions: On top of any gateway costs, there is also a percentage-based charge for these services. Several eCommerce websites advertise that they have no transaction fees, however, this just implies that there are no additional costs. If you don't utilize their gateway, other providers will charge you a transaction fee of 1% or 2%.
To sum everything up, each e-commerce platform offers unique characteristics that may or may not be advantageous to your online business. Some could provide a wide range of alternatives that you don't need. Or perhaps you want something a little more sophisticated in order to meet the individual requirements of your clients. Making the appropriate choice from the beginning can save you from switching platforms and dealing with the hassle that goes along with it.
SO, WHERE DO YOU FIND THIS PARTNER?
Well, aren’t we glad you asked! We at DigiCom are obsessive data-driven marketers pulling from multi-disciplinary strategies to unlock scale. We buy media across all platforms and placements and provide creative solutions alongside content creation, and conversion rate optimizations. We pride ourselves on your successes and will stop at nothing to help you grow.
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