There are over 12 million online stores in the world, attracting over 2 billion online shoppers. The COVID-19 pandemic has further propelled the Ecommerce sector, as retail Ecommerce sales have almost doubled from $2,982 billion in 2018 to $4,891 billion in 2021. Besides, global Ecommerce sales could reach $6,388 billion by 2024.
This exponential growth has encouraged many businesses to launch their Ecommerce stores and start selling online. If you’re one of them, stay tuned, as you’ll learn about selecting the best Ecommerce platform for your online business.
What Is an Ecommerce Platform?
An Ecommerce platform, also known as Ecommerce software, Ecommerce store builder, or online store builder, is a software platform that allows you to build and manage your online storefront. It provides the tools and features needed to develop your online store from scratch, list products, facilitate buying, and process transactions.
In a nutshell, an Ecommerce platform enables you to launch your Ecommerce business.
Benefits of Using an Ecommerce Platform
It’s entirely possible to develop an Ecommerce website without these platforms. However, it requires extensive coding, making the process time-consuming and prone to errors. The right Ecommerce platform automates many Ecommerce development tasks and adds various innovative functionalities to your store. Hence, you can build your store quickly and add amazing features to it.
Here are some benefits of using an Ecommerce platform for your business.
Ease of Use:
Ecommerce platforms are easy to use, and you can use them to develop an Ecommerce site even if you have zero coding knowledge. These platforms also have in-depth tutorials to help you get started.
Enhanced Security:
Popular Ecommerce platforms have best-in-class built-in security. Hence, you can stay assured that your Ecommerce business is in safe hands.
Unique Stores:
Ecommerce development platforms like Shopify and Magento allow you to give a distinct look, feel, and functionality to your store. Hence, you can set your store apart from the competitors and get your customers’ attention.
Less Downtime:
Most Ecommerce platforms offer dedicated web hosting services that ensure amazing performance and minimal downtime.
Seamless Administration:
These platforms come with admin dashboards from where you can manage all your store operations.
Top-Notch Customer Support:
Ecommerce development providers have dedicated customer service teams to help you in case of any issues.
How to Choose the Best Online Store Platform?
Building a successful Ecommerce business goes beyond listing products on the web and promoting it to customers. It requires the same level of planning, strategic thinking, and administration needed to run a physical retail store.
Your store’s running costs, customer engagement, design, and UX collectively determine its success. The Ecommerce platform you choose will dictate a lot of these features. Hence, it’s crucial to choose the right Ecommerce platform for your Ecommerce store.
Here are a few factors to consider when selecting an Ecommerce development and management solution.
Top 5 Best Ecommerce Platforms Compared
WooCommerce is the most popular Ecommerce platform in the world, with a 25% market share. Then comes Shopify with 20%, Magento with 10%, OpenCart with 4%, and BigCommerce with 3%. Let’s compare these five Ecommerce platforms based on their features, cost, customer support, and other factors.
WooCommerce is not a standalone platform but a free WordPress plugin that adds Ecommerce functionality to your existing website. The initial plan is free, though you can upgrade to a premium plan for more features. It comes with a bunch of free themes, and paid themes start at $39.
WooCommerce doesn’t provide in-house hosting, but it partners with hosting providers to offer WooCommerce-specific hosting services. Some of its partners are BlueHost, Siteground, WPEngine, GoDaddy, and more.
Key Features:
- Effortless WordPress integration
- Open-source Ecommerce platform
- Various themes to choose from
- Products sorting and rating
- Add unlimited products and product photos
- Integration with other Ecommerce and marketing tools
Low costs, various features, and seamless customization are reasons to select WooCommerce over other Ecommerce platforms.
However, WooCommerce has some drawbacks. Since it’s a plugin and not a platform, you need to set up all aspects of the store yourself. If you’re not familiar with WordPress, be ready for a steep learning curve. The good news, however, is that WooCommerce has amazing customer support to help you with almost everything.
Shopify is another popular Ecommerce platform that allows you to launch online stores with minimal technical knowledge. It comes with all the Ecommerce features and functionalities needed to start an Ecommerce small business website.
Shopify doesn’t have a free plan, and the initial plan (Shopify Lite) starts at $9 per month. Shopify also has a Plus version for large-scale Ecommerce stores.
Key Features:
- Unlimited bandwidth, products, and storage
- Sales and finance reports
- Manual order development
- Online sales channels
- Shopify point of sale and discount codes
- Drag and drop functionality
Shopify has emerged as the go-to choice for startups and small businesses to launch their online business and sell online. It comes with effective search engine optimization (SEO) and marketing features.
The only drawback to using Shopify is difficult customization. You need to know the Liquid language to change Shopify’s theme templates.
Magento is one of the most robust open-source Ecommerce website builders. It offers powerful growth and scalability features, making it ideal for large and growing businesses. Many dropshipping companies also use Magento.
The basic commerce version of Magento is free, though you can add paid plugins to enhance your store’s functionality. Magento also has a premium version called Magento Commerce. Its price depends on your sales volume.
Key Features:
- Page builder with product recommendations
- Customer segmentation and personalization
- B2B, B2C, and mobile commerce
- Order management and customer service
- Cloud delivery with Adobe Experience Cloud
- Performance and scale
Magento supports direct integrations with various tools to enable inventory management, multi-channel selling and lets you accept online payments. You can also integrate it with WordPress sites or any other popular website builder.
Though Magento offers amazing features and functionalities, it requires substantial technical know-how. If you’re not familiar with Magento development, this platform may not be the right pick for you.
OpenCart is an open-source Ecommerce space that allows you to build and launch a fully functional Ecommerce website. You can install OpenCart for free from the official website. Paid products, including hosting, extension packages, and support, are also available.
OpenCart provides access to over 10,000 themes and modules. It comes with extensive documentation to help you get started.
Key Features:
- Feature-rich administrator dashboard
- User management and different roles
- Multiple store management
- Various options and attributes to choose from
- Discounts and coupons
- Track sales and orders
OpenCart is an ideal pick for small stores. It is free to use and comes with various free themes, extensions, and other features. However, it lacks various important features you get with other Ecommerce solutions, like Magento. Also, OpenCart doesn’t provide free customer support.
Let’s conclude this list with BigCommerce, another popular Ecommerce solution that comes with SEO tools, payment processors, customer accounts, and other important features. Most BigCommerce users are large brands with over $100 million in online sales. If you’re looking for a robust Ecommerce platform to launch and manage a big storefront, BigCommerce will be an ideal pick for you.
BigCommerce doesn’t have a free version. The pricing starts at $29.95 per month, with the highest plan being $299.95 per month. However, there is a free trial.
Key Features:
- Customizable templates and branding
- Abandoned cart recovery
- Content management and collaboration tools
- Order and inventory management
- Reporting, analytics, and statistics
- Third-party integrations, payment gateways, and website management
Though BigCommerce has slightly expensive plans, it doesn’t charge any transaction fees if you use your merchant account. The company offers top-notch customer support and also helps you migrate from other Ecommerce platforms.
On the downside, BigCommerce has limited free features. For instance, the platform offers a handful of free templates, and the premium templates are costlier than other platforms on this list.
Which Ecommerce Software Is the Best for You?
By now, you may have already decided which Ecommerce platform you’ll use to add Ecommerce capabilities to your website. If not, let’s classify these solutions based on the business type they’re best suited for.
Wrap Up
Selecting an Ecommerce platform is the first step in building and launching an Ecommerce store. The platform you choose must enable you to accept payments online, leverage mobile commerce, and scale your business as per your requirements. Dozens of Ecommerce solutions and there, and you can choose one based on your goals and needs. Keep your objectives, requirements, and budget in mind to pick the right platform.
