With the global e-commerce market growing at a rapid pace, we are seeing a lot of new trends. When starting out a new e-commerce venture, there are a lot of elements that need to be figured out. And, e-commerce platforms stand right at the forefront.
The number of such e-commerce platforms available has grown over the years. In such a scenario, figuring out which platform to use when you’re looking to build your online store can be a fairly confusing task. Especially, if you aren’t from a technical or e-commerce background.
Stock Size: Always consider the size of your stock. And whenever you’re browsing for a store platform to use, make sure you’re paying the smallest amount of money for the services that you require. Many businesses will provide alternative payment methods for just a couple of products.
Digital or Physical: This is always the question to ask. What is it that you’re selling? Digital or physical goods? It makes all the difference when thinking about shipping costs, etc. Look for platforms that suit your product needs.
Payment Method: If you’ve got issues with using PayPal (the easiest and popular payment processor), you’ll need to look into making arrangements, as not all e-commerce platforms favor 3rd party payment processors.
Self-Hosted or Hosted: Exactly what I was mentioning in the opening paragraph. If you feel you’re confident in modifying the look of your online store, look for platforms that will enable you to have a self-hosted version of the store.
Either way, most e-commerce platforms provide the ability to modify your store within a live environment.
Payment Plan: Select the platform that best suits your budget. Look for opportunities to pay monthly amounts instead of relying on giving a small percentage of a sale to the company that is hosting your platform.
Building an e-commerce website from scratch seems like a daunting task. It also requires technical know-how and quick problem-solving abilities.
And, if you aren’t good at that, chances are that you’ll face difficulties ahead. These are few of the reasons why people go for established e-commerce platforms that building one.
The e-commerce platform market isn’t a tiny one. There are literally hundreds of options available.
Some might have a simple feel to them, but that isn’t always enough. While some might feel extremely cluttered, but provide cheaper rates and prices.
To make things easier for you, mentioned below are some of the best e-commerce platforms for your online store:
Shopify hosts over 325,000 active online shops. With its focus on social commerce and mobile shopping, the platform continues to evolve to meet the growing requirements of online stores.
For beginners with conventional requirements, Shopify remains the ideal e-commerce solution. Based on your budget requirements, you can choose different packages which range from $29 to $299/month.
But if you have unique features and functionalities in mind for your store, it might be better to look elsewhere.
Launched in 2009, BigCommerce currently hosts over 55,000 online stores and is among the leading e-commerce software providers. From big names like Martha Stewart & Toyota to SMEs, the platform ideally caters to stores of all sizes.
And considering the comprehensive list of built-in features it offers, BigCommerce has often considered being the best option for those who have little to no technical knowledge, or simply don’t have time for coding.
If you want a full-fledged store, but don’t want the hassles of integrating plug-ins, editing HTML/CSS or other code, then BigCommerce is definitely the go-to e-commerce platform for you.
If you are willing to compromise a bit on themes, then BigCommerce is a strong alternative to Shopify at roughly the same pricing (BigCommerce’s plans are between $29 and $199/month) without the incremental transaction fees.
With almost one-fourth of the market share, Magento is often considered the market leader in e-commerce platforms. For its reliability and scalability, many popular brands use Magento as the underlying technology for their online stores, including Burger King, Huawei, Pepe Jeans & Liverpool F.C.
This platform is considered the best e-commerce platform for enterprise-level online stores.
Magento is considered the right e-commerce platform for enterprise-level merchants with a large volume of products. Therefore, given the complexity of store setup and management, you need to think hard before choosing it.
With its feature richness and smart pricing models, YoKart is built with a specific focus on helping startups build e-commerce ecosystem easily. Think of it as the one-stop solution for launching multi-vendor stores like eBay and Etsy.
Although many other e-commerce platforms also provide their multi-vendor version, YoKart does this seamlessly.
For multi-vendor stores such as eBay and Etsy, YoKart is a great choice. Its startup package is a hosted solution with a one-year license, which costs $250 and allows startups to verify their business model.
The advanced version is self-hosted, customizable, costs $999 (one time), and is intended for companies who have a sound business model.
Switching from a startup to an advanced package is also quite easy.
With the slogan ‘We believe in the artist’, Big Cartel targets artists & other small-scale home-based businesses run by individuals. The platform claims to have helped over a million artists in selling their creations online since it launched in 2005.
This extremely simple to use hosted system is often regarded as the best ticket for artists and other creative people to enter the e-commerce arena.
As stated previously, this platform is ideal for individual artists and creative people. With its simplistic stores and economical pricing ($0 to $29.99/month), Big Cartel allows artists to sell things online easily with a good-looking website.
Thereby allowing the artist to focus on creating things instead of managing their online store.
The growing dominance of mobile and social media shows no sign of slowing down. Using social and mobile platforms as vehicles to reach new customers and drive more sales is a critical aspect of any e-commerce platform in the coming years.
While searching for an e-commerce solution, be sure to check whether the platform will allow you to capitalize on these trends and that the selected e-commerce platform aligns with the projected needs and goals of your business.
We should have plenty of knowledge and questions at our disposal to make the best possible choice for choosing the right platform for our very own online store.
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