Everone is aware of ecommerce platforms, right?
Before the introduction of the digital era, sellers needed a brick-and-mortar location to run their stores. And no doubt, it was a complicated process to manage efficiently as no one would have that much money required to buy their own store.
But after the evolution of the Internet, everything around us has a new look. We are experiencing a moderately different world. And in context to this, ecommerce platforms came as a relief to all business owners to build a new digital landscape for themselves. Selling products and services online has become much easier with tools like Shopify, Wix, etc.
Let’s explore more about ecommerce platforms as a bonus for sellers.
Know More!
The Internet has given a chance to small businesses to start their own company without worrying about the traffic reach. But this also needs a location for your business. This is where ecommerce platforms come to the rescue because you can build a virtual storefront there.
ALSO READ: How To Boost SEO Of Your Ecommerce Website?
Read the points below:
- As you know, businesses are of all shapes and sizes. With the introduction of ecommerce platforms, sellers do not need to bound themselves under the restrictive sales of Amazon or eBay.
- Selling on ecommerce platforms give you full control over the site.
- The issue is you have to beat the competition there, as many sellers claim to be the best small business owners.
- Ecommerce platforms give you a cost-efficient and easy-peasy popular way to earn through your small businesses.
But Why Do You Need To Choose An Ecommerce Platform For Your Business?
It is crucial to choose the best ecommerce platform because of the following reasons:
- You will be stress-free from setting a physical address of your brick-and-mortar store.
- Ecommerce sites come up with great support that you will need to convert your slow runner business into a powerful one. They also build a business reputation.
- Some of the ecommerce platforms allow you to build your own creative ecommerce store. For this, you might need to hire a website developer who can work on the back-end also. Then you can work on your inventory management, cart recovery, and various kinds of web hosting on your website.
- If you are new to the ecommerce market, you will need to look for an open-source ecommerce platform. They provide a hosted solution with various in-build tools like free themes, full customization, and adding many products to the cart.
Read out the points you should check in an ecommerce platform.
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Considerable Things In Your Eommerce Platform
- Scalable
It is one of the essential features of an ecommerce platform. If you are running a small business, that doesn’t mean it will stay small forever. You will require support for unlimited products with integrated payment options to grow your company. Therefore, ensure that your platform should be able to scale well within no time.
- Speed/Performance
As you know, speed is the top important factor when it comes to a website’s page loading. You can not quickly sell your products if your pages don’t load quickly as per customers’ expectations. Therefore, no matter how many products you are selling on your website, you need to make sure that your site’s performance should be good at some level. This is why you need to always check for hosting, plugins, and other features when looking for an ecommerce platform.
- Easy To Use:
Always check for a drag and drop builder in your ecommerce platform for an editing ecommerce solution and back-end documentation. These factors can help you increase its easy functioning. Always remember that open ecommerce platforms are more complex to use than their hosted counterparts.
- User Experience:
The platform should give a wonderful experience to your customers. This includes building a good storefront, managing multiple types of payment gateways and shopping carts, ease of navigation, etc. Building a successful ecommerce store needs taking care of the customer at every step.
- Customizable:
Your ecommerce platform should be more customizable so that you can change the appearance of your online store using various plugins and themes. Always make sure to check their customization options.
The Best 3 Ecommerce Platforms, So Far, In 2022
If you are one of the budding small business owners needing the right place to grow their business, check out the list below.
With so many choices, we have listed the best three ecommerce platforms in 2022.
Shopify
Everyone must have heard of Shopify, right? It is the master of ecommerce and online sales nowadays. Do you know that Shopify offers a list of the best sales features you might need to outgrow in the market? It comes up with a series of high-priority industrial tools and a pack of plugins.
If you wish to grow in selling online, choosing Shopify as your ecommerce platform is the best option to go for. Shopify is software built using the SaaS model. It is specially designed to help people in creating their own online stores. It has different advanced sales tools with a free SSL certification for security purposes.
Pricing Strategy: It gives a 14-day free trial, then $29 pm for using the basic Shopify. Advanced Shopify costs $299 pm.
Pros Of Shopify:
- Free trial to get you started
- Various themes available
- Huge amount of plugins
- Adding unlimited products on every plan
- Easy payment options
- Supports all business plan
Cons Of Shopify:
- Fees keep on increasing
- Blogging is limited to an extent
Wix
Wix is one of the great options to choose from when it comes to looking at value for money and performance for ecommerce stores. It is designed to give an incredible performance to help you build your online store. Using this, you can create a creative look for your website.
Wix has a lot of features in its ecommerce plans, such as a drag-and-drop store builder, multiple templates, mobile optimization, etc. They provide integrated payment solutions with the guarantee of a secure checkout system. You can easily create eye-catching product galleries with the help of store manager tools. We can say that Wix is the best option for starting your ecommerce career as a beginner.
Pricing Strategy: It gives free ad-supported versions (if you allow them to display their Wix ads on your website). And if you wish to sell products, you need to select their basic plan that might cost you $23 pm.
Pros Of Wix:
- A series of high-quality themes for customization of your website
- Different secure payment options
- A list of apps and plugins to choose from
- Free to start
- Coupon and discount options
Cons Of Wix:
- Limited to ecommerce features
- You cannot export your data
- Can’t add extra functions being an open source
Magento
Magento is one of the most famous ecommerce platforms, specially built for known and successful sellers. Many companies use this platform to connect with their customers online all over the world. Magento is the perfect choice as it can support your external sales channels like Amazon and works to deliver a high-level sales experience to its customers.
It is a free-to-download software but requires some developer knowledge to create something different and eye-grabbing with Magento. Also, you can find a team of Magento community who are professionals to work with new brands and can develop a perfect website for them.
Pricing Strategy: You can download free software for Magento by paying for your own hosting solutions as well as premium tools. If you wish to choose their plan, it will cost you up to $15,000 for the fundamental one.
Pros Of Magento:
- Open source with full customization access.
- Flexible in customizing your platform.
- A big community of developers.
- Reach global websites.
- Experienced marketplace.
Cons Of Magento:
- Very difficult to use.
- It can be expensive to set up.
- Need to manage your hosting and payment gateways.
Why Is Ecommerce Guru, The right Choice?
Starting an online business and taking it to the next level, i.e., into the digital landscape, is a wish for many. We, at ECOMMERCE GURU, help you to guide in choosing the right platform for your business. We aim to bring an online presence to your ecommerce store so that you can see considerable growth within no time.
No matter at what stage you are, we will help your business get the needed results by suggesting the best ecommerce platforms.