Best eCommerce Platform For Small Businesses
Before the start of the digital era, all stores needed physical addresses, and starting a business was always difficult. All things have changed with the start of the Internet, and now any person can start a business without even having a physical address for the company. In this digital era, your business will have a virtual storefront rather than a physical store. In this internet-driven world, people complete online shopping while the goods are delivered to the doorstep. For companies, selling online has become a cost-effective and popular way of promoting their business and products. For doing your business online, an eCommerce website and eCommerce platforms need to make selling easier. Many eCommerce platforms are available and read to know the best eCommerce platform for small businesses.
How To Choose The Best eCommerce Platform For Small Businesses?
Many eCommerce platforms are available for creating an online store, and no two platforms are the same. Some are specially made for startups, while some focus on enterprise-level companies. Although all the platforms can be used for increasing sales, the budget that is to be allotted also needs to be taken into account. Here are some of the best eCommerce platforms available for small businesses.
1. Shopify
Shopify is one of the largest and most popular eCommerce platforms and is suitable for all types of business. Unlike most eCommerce platforms, Shopify is built for business persons, not developers. The setup of Shopify is easy, and there is no need for coding or backend knowledge. Shopify is fully hosted, so your online store is ready to launch once you have a built-in domain and hosting platform. There are over 3000 functional stores available that are operational, so you do not risk implementing your business idea. The main advantage of Shopify is that it has built-in analytics, sales tracking, and inventory management, which can be used to track your online store’s overall performance.
2. WooCommerce
WooCommerce is now gaining the attention of big companies as the best eCommerce platform as it is easily accessible for small businesses and is built on WordPress CMS. As WooCommerce is built on WordPress, which is the backbone for most of the websites on the Internet, it is easy to get guidance and help regarding any inconvenience caused during usage. The range of plugins and extensions available in WooCommerce makes running an online store easier. The main advantage of WooCommerce is that there is no limit to adding products with a huge selection of themes and plugins. While using WooCommerce, some technical knowledge is needed, and you also require third-party payment gateways.
3. Magento
Magento is being used by big companies and has now become the most popular and best eCommerce platform for retailers and small business owners. The advantage of Magento is that it supports external channels like Amazon and gives users a beautiful shopping experience. Even though Magento is free to download, there is a need for some developer knowledge or the need to take the help of a professional Magento developer if you want to create something new for your business. The good news for small business owners is that many professional developers are willing to work to create a perfect online store for all types of businesses.
4. BigCommerce
BigCommerce is another eCommerce platform that is best for small and big companies to develop their online stores. BigCommerce offers a wide range of eCommerce tools that can be used to develop an exclusive store for your business and, at the same time, integrate social media into your website. Integrating social media makes promoting products on all social media platforms easy. BigCommerce also offers 24/7 customer support, and its flexible nature helps to monitor your online store from anywhere.
5. WIX
Wix is a user-friendly eCommerce website builder with some additional features. The features of a Wix website include order tracking, online payments, multi-channel selling, and campaigns for abandoned carts. Wix is pre-loaded with more than 500 themes, and the unique drag-and-drop interface looks like your online store. Coming to the payments option, Wix supports subscription-based billing and third-party shipping.
6. Squarespace
As a business owner, if you are looking for a sophisticated and simple eCommerce website builder, then Squarespace is the best eCommerce platform for your small business. Squarespace allows you to control various aspects of your website. While using Squarespace, you have the option to access inventory management and, at the same time, integrate it into your site for tracking the inventory. You can set coupon offers and shipping configurations and manage your email lists. This makes it easy for you to have complete control over your website.
7. Weebly
Compared to the above eCommerce platforms, Weebly is an upcoming service for small business owners. If you are a beginner in developing an online store, then Weebly is the best eCommerce platform for small businesses and, at the same time, available within your budget. Regarding the eCommerce industry, Weebly is perfect for small businesses as there is scope for filtered product search, order management, mobile checkout, flexible shipping options, and easy order processing. If you have a small business and looking for an online store, then Weebly would be the best choice.
Start Building Your Online Store
As you can see, there are several eCommerce platforms available for designing an online store for your small business. The choice of the platform must be made by researching all types of platforms and choosing the one perfect for launching your online store. Remember that there would be difficulties in changing the platforms once the store goes online, which also translates into money and time loss. If you are a small business owner looking to develop an online store, you need to talk to an expert eCommerce development company. At Ayatas Technologies, we have a team of top-notch developers with over 15 years of experience developing online stores. Contact us today for a demo.