An ecommerce platform is required if you wish to sell anything online. In order to make a payment, users must have access to shipping providers and payment processors, which are not available on a conventional website.

An e-commerce platform with basic capabilities such as web hosting, shopping cart tools, and payment processing is the solution. It’s possible that you’ll need additional features such as bulk upload or real-time stock inventory tools based on your budget, sales volume, or industry.

It is important to choose an online store that matches your tech abilities, gives customer experience enhancements, as well as personalization choices. As a result, you and your consumers will profit from each aspect. More than a half-dozen of the best options were examined to help you narrow down your options. Learn more about the top ecommerce platforms based on available plans, templates, and simplicity of use by continuing reading.

What Exactly Is an Ecommerce Platform?

If you want to offer items or services online, then you need an eCommerce platform. The following are common services:

• Web hosting: The data on your website is stored in the cloud rather than on your personal storage devices.
• Website builder: A set of tools for designing and building a web page from scratch.
• Shopping cart software: This allows you to personalize your shopping cart and checkout pages.
• Payment integrations: This allows you to take payments by integrating with a variety of payment processors.
• Tools for shipping: Works with shipping providers, in-store pickup, and curbside delivery.

Working of Ecommerce Platforms

You may upload digital or physical items, sell event tickets, and schedule appointments using ecommerce systems. Depending on your company’s demands, your services may include the following:

• Comes with a point-of-sale system or may be integrated with current point-of-sale software.
• Connect to your inventory software or include inventory management.
• Encourage the use of email and social media marketing.
• Allow for social media or online marketplace multi-channel sales.
• Assist you in reducing cart abandonment.
• Gift cards and discounts should be available.

Our team has reviewed the top 3 ecommerce platforms so that you can make an informed decision based on your personal needs:

1. BigCommerce

Eddie Machaalani and Mitchell Harper, two Australians, created BigCommerce in 2009. Austin, Texas, is currently the company’s headquarters, and it employs more than 750 people in locations throughout the world. For retailers looking for advanced enterprise-grade features and customization while maintaining simplicity and ease of use with BigCommerce’s open SaaS solution. Massive online stores are created by tens of thousands of enterprises in 150 countries and a variety of sectors using BigCommerce.

This ecommerce platform is ideal for SMBs and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) with big or complicated catalogs. Like other platforms, BigCommerce comes with a number of built-in functionality and can be enhanced with third-party apps. On the same platform, BigCommerce enables both B2C and B2B enterprises. Compared to competing platforms, BigCommerce’s retail plans have sales limitations per tier, but their enterprise plans are customized depending on order volume and gross merchandise value (GMV).

Sectors of Industries

• Fashion and clothing.
• Aesthetics and Health
• Sports Equipment.
• Snacks and Beverages.
• Furnishings.
• Automative.
• B2B (wholesale & distribution).
• CBD.

Cost

There are four pricing options for BigCommerce:

• $29.95/month for BigCommerce Standard
• $79.95 per month for BigCommerce Plus.
• $299/month for BigCommerce Pro.
• BigCommerce Enterprise (available upon request).

If you pay annually, you can get a 10% discount on the Plus and Pro choices. There is a free trial period available for this product.

Features of a Website

The BigCommerce Standard plan comes with the following site-building features:

• Domains that are specific to you.
• There are no limits to the number of products you may list.
• You get access to unlimited bandwidth and file storage.
• Multi-currency transactions.
• Reports.
• Reviews and ratings.
• Gift vouchers are a good idea.
• There are 12 free themes and over 160 premium themes.
• Shipping and point-of-sale software integrations.
• Builder of web pages.

Support Level

Rating for support: A+

• Fortunately, BigCommerce offers a wealth of helpful tools.
• Live chat is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (for all plan kinds, including trials!).
• Phone assistance is available for all plans, including trials.
• Email assistance is available for all plans, including trials.
• Forums for the community.
• Help desk available online.

In terms of ease of use, BigCommerce is a fantastic ecommerce platform for beginners. If you compare BigCommerce to its rival Shopify, you’ll see that it has more functionality out of the box, thus it has a little steeper ramp up. With BigCommerce, SEO-related elements such as custom URLs or page names may be easily updated. What sets it apart from other platforms is its ability to sell in many currencies, something that Shopify and other platforms do not have the capacity to do. Retailers have the option of setting pricing in different currencies and settling in more than one currency with BigCommerce. There are a number of Headless Commerce features, CMSs, and DXPs that BigCommerce offers, allowing retailers to create unique shopping experiences.

2. Squarespace

Founded in New York in 2006, Squarespace is a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) firm that provides website and ecommerce store construction and hosting services to its clients worldwide Clients build their own web pages by dragging and dropping elements from a pre-built website template.

Startups and small company owners that have very minimal ecommerce needs would benefit most from Squarespace. Although the ecommerce platform is useful, it should only be used in conjunction with the website builder itself. It would be better for businesses that have more complex online retail requirements or that manage a big volume of inventory to use a more dedicated platform.

Sectors of Industries

These sectors are served by Squarespace:

• Design & art.
• Beverage & food
• Aesthetics and beauty.
• Clothing and fashion.
• Toys and games.

Cost:

There are four monthly price options offered by Squarespace:

• ($16/month) Personal.
• ($26/month) for a business.
• $30 monthly for Basic Commerce.
• $46 per month for Advanced Commerce.

Ecommerce capability is only available at the Business tier and higher. Any purchase made in Squarespace’s store is subject to a 3% transaction fee.

There are no credit card requirements for the free trials.

Features of a Website

When it comes to Squarespace’s ecommerce extension, the following choices are available:

• Auto-recovery of carts should be avoided.
• Products that are digital.
• Products that can be customized.
• Import and export of goods.
• Rates and monitoring are updated in real-time.
• SEO software.
• Cross-selling and upselling
• Gift vouchers are a good idea.
• Discounts are applied automatically.
• Only a few integration options are available.

Support Level

Rating for support: B+

Squarespace offers a variety of official and unofficial support options. For all price levels, all support options are available.

• Twitter assistance is available 24 /7
• Email assistance is available around the clock.
• Support through live chat (Monday to Friday).
• Help desk available online.
• Forums for the community.

There is no doubt that SquareSpace has one of the most user-friendly design interfaces available on the market right now. Your eCommerce platform is easy to set up and change, regardless of your level of expertise. Although there are few add-ons accessible in the default builder, there is no app store for third-party extensions, which would limit the capability of your eCommerce site.

3. Wix

Using drag-and-drop tools, customers may construct online stores using Wix.com, a cloud website builder. A wide variety of themes and styles make it easy for beginners and resource-strapped company owners to create an attractive and effective website.

Ecommerce platforms like Wix.com are ideal for small enterprises without a specialized site designer. Simple to use site builder with strong ecommerce capabilities. A specialized ecommerce platform may be a better option for firms with a large or complicated product range than plug-in extensions.

Sectors of Industries

• Design & Art.
• Food and drink.
• Cosmetics and beauty.
• Clothing and fashion.
• Buying and selling sporting goods
• Toys and games.

Cost

• $17/month for eCommerce
• $25/month for VIP.
• $23/month for Business Basic
• $27/month for Business Unlimited
• $35/month for Business VIP.
• $500 per month for Enterprise.

Ecommerce pricing may be perplexing. With the eCommerce and VIP options, you may build an online store on your website. If you’re looking to process payments and collect them, you’ll need to upgrade to a business plan or above.

The Enterprise package provides additional assistance and advice, but it lacks the features of the Business VIP plan.

Payment options include monthly, yearly, and bi-annual. No transaction fees are charged by Wix.

Features of a Website

Wix.com’s lowest ecommerce-capable tier includes the following eCommerce features:

• Products that are digital.
• Galleries of products.
• Shipping options are available.
• Discount codes are available.
• Inventory control.
• Recover abandoned carts.
• Mobile-friendly.
• Options for making a payment.
• Extensions are available for additional features.

Support Level

Rating for support: A+

• Toll-free number for customer service
• Support for social media.
• Support via email.
• Forums for the community.
• Help desk available online.

When you sign up for the Business VIP package, you get priority phone and ticket service.

Wix.com is known for its ease of use. And it works flawlessly in that regard. Its ecommerce component is also very user-friendly. Many of the available templates are likely to be suitable for your business. Ecommerce on Wix.com provides much of what a business needs, but it doesn’t scale as effectively as platforms like Shopify and Magento.

Conclusion

Ultimately, there is no one “ideal” ecommerce platform that can be used by all businesses. Which online retail application is appropriate for your business depends on your needs, budget, and personnel.

Don’t be scared to try out a few different solutions to discover which one you like the most. Your firm will reach new heights if you perform your due homework and do not skimp on quality.

Top 3 Platforms for An E-Commerce Store

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