Today, having an eCommerce
website is a bonus for every business. Most of the people are moving
to online business, as it helps the business owners to reach more
customers, and customers also find ordering things online way easier
than visiting a store by themselves. In fact, a warehouse, and an
online storefront is enough to run an online business, without the
need for an actual physical shop at any particular place.
Since online business and eCommerce has become so popular, there has been the rise of multiple eCommerce website development tools as well. These tools make the process of the eCommerce website development way easier and faster. Some of the best eCommerce platforms that people are using to build their online stores are listed below:
- Shopify: Shopify is one easy-to-develop eCommerce CMS that has been the favourite of most of the online business owners and the developer, too. The platform provides the developers with the ease of customization, and the highest level of security for the users’ data. The CMS includes a huge library of more than a hundred awesome templates that can be modified based on your requirements. The customization may include adding the company logo, changing the colour, and the font of the template, etc. You can also easily change the appearance of their storefront from the back end by adding or removing HTML and CSS codes. This software service is best suited for small to medium businesses. The Shopify subscription fee can vary between $29 to $299 per month, whereas, with a $29 per month subscription you will still get to build a full-functional eCommerce store.
- Magento: On contrary to Shopify, Magento is an eCommerce CMS that is best suited for the businesses of enterprise level. The platform is open-source and has got an unlimited number of features added to it. The platform comes both in free and paid versions. And, since the paid version of this very platform can cost quite a high amount, it is recommended only for the enterprise level businesses. You can download and install the CMS on your server or access it directly through the cloud. You are also offered with free hosting and domain along with the subscription. It is a highly-scalable platform and includes quite useful features, like the ability to offer discounts, support recurring payments, unlimited product listings, and many more.
- WooCommerce: WooCommerce is not a CMS software, but a WordPress plugin that is capable of turning a simple WordPress website into an awesome and functional online store. The plugin has got its own shopping cart that costs an extra fee for its usage and secure check out functionalities. The plugin is free to use and best for the WordPress beginners. The other features that WooCommerce include are social media support, email marketing, single click selling and shipping. Although being a plugin, Woocommerce lacks many features and is not scalable. So it is only suitable for small businesses.
- Bigcommerce: BigCommerce is an SEO friendly platform, similar to Shopify, but include more features than the latter. The platform is a complete package and offers features like unlimited variants for the products, options to handle returns, promotions, coupons and discounts, etc. It also provides you with reporting tools like Real-time reports, Customer reports, Abandoned cart reports, and Merchandising reports. Bigcommerce is enabled with multichannel integration, like Amazon, eBay and social networks, etc. such that you can sell the products on other channels too. It is an easy-to-use eCommerce CMS, with the cleanest dashboard. The businesses that want to grow faster can go for Bigcommrece. The pricing for this platform starts from 29.95 a month.
- Volusion: This is another scalable eCommerce platform, that includes different pricing tiers, becoming a single choice for businesses of every scale. The platform is again similar to Shopify and Bigcommerce. Though it has not been as popular as the two, it has a lot to offer and still is being used by many businesses out there. With a clean and organised dashboard, even the beginners are able to use this platform efficiently. The platform offers unlimited storage with a 1GB to 35GB of monthly bandwidth, support for multichannel, analytics, integration with social media to sell products, newsletters and 24/7 customer support. The platform offers free as well as paid SEO-friendly themes. The pricing model for this platform starts from $29 per month. The platform is best suited for ones who want a cheaper online method to sell products.
- Weebly: The most inexpensive eCommerce platform to sell physical, digital, and service-based goods online. The pricing model for this platform starts at $8 per month and include four different pricing plans. The platform is suitable for smaller businesses. Though the lowest price plan is not that feature-rich, it can be used to build a decent website for a smaller business. But with high price plans, you will get features like custom shopping cart, coupons, and inventory management. With Weebly, you can also create your business mobile app.
- Squarespace: Though this eCommerce platform looks a bit tricky in the beginning, after working with it for some good time, this can be the best eCommerce platform for anyone who uses it. The platform is able to create a stylish and interactive storefront, with options like the ability to create discounts and promotional pop-ups. This e-commerce website builder also includes features like complete control over the inventory system, selling unlimited products, revenue reports, and email alerts, etc. The business website plan for Squarespace starts at $18 per month. The platform is great for simple stores, is easy-to-setup and comes with great SEO tools.
So this was the list of top seven eCommerce website development platforms. If you are also planning to start a new online business or want to establish an eCommerce website for your current business, you can go for any of the mentioned platforms. You can also contact us to know more about eCommerce website development or to build one for your business.