The growing pains associated with your expanding company can present significant challenges for all the benefits that come with expansion–including disturbed order management, fulfillment processing, delivery times, etc.
The last thing you want to do as a business owner is lose loyal customers in your efforts to gain new ones! This is where investing in a reliable ecommerce tool comes into play–which can simplify the growing process into manageable pieces.
Let’s take a look at the top 10 ecommerce platforms for growing companies so you can make the best decision for your business goals!
Ecommerce Business vs. Dropshipping Company
Before we jump into our top 10 list, let’s just cover the basic distinctions between these two terms, which are often conflated: “ecommerce” and “dropshipping.” The primary difference between the two business models is that “ecommerce” is an umbrella statement under which “droppshipping” exists, as it is a specific type of ecommerce.
However, dropshipping represents an even more niche business model wherein business owners do not need to inventory, warehouse, or ship their products themselves–but rather, this process is exported to a third-party provider. In contrast, ecommerce often involves a higher upfront cost, as it requires purchasing large quantities of product and storing it before shipping.
While both business models have their own merits, dropshipping might be best for those getting started, especially those without a significant amount of liquid capital to throw at a regular ecommerce setup.
Top 10 Ecommerce Platforms To Skyrocket Your Business
Part of the beauty of working in the online retail space is that your business is not limited to those who live locally in your area, as with a brick-and-mortar shop. With such a profound, baked-in capacity to expand your reach, you’ll need to select a competitive ecommerce platform that can keep up. Here are the top 10 ecommerce platforms.
1. Shopify
Shopify is our number one pick for those looking to incorporate dropshipping capabilities, as it easily integrates with a number of popular dropshipping platforms. This tool also offers POS capabilities, omnichannel selling functions, and an array of several ways for customers to pay, including Klarna and Shopify’s own payment system. It integrates with multiple merchant service providers and payment gateways, which provides you with a convenient way to accept and manage payments.
However, it does not come with a free plan or included domain–so business owners must import their own–and it also offers a limited number of themes. However, scaling your business with Shopify is easier than working through other ecommerce platforms on the market.
2. Wix
Perhaps this ecommerce platform’s biggest asset is its user-friendly drag-and-drop interface. This makes customization a breeze, particularly coupled with its free template system wherein business owners can design a website on which they can sell unlimited products, with hosting and SSL Certificate included.
Notably, Wix also offers online payment processing and abandoned cart recovery with affordable pricing–though it is not ideal for larger-scale businesses, as it has limited dropshipping integrations as well as a limited storage capacity for data.
3. Squarespace
Like Wix, Squarespace is designed to be very beginner-friendly with a simple drag-and-drop system. Its templates are award-winning and easy to navigate, and happily, it boasts unlimited data storage and an included POS.
However, abandoned cart recovery services come at an additional cost, the platform doesn’t offer omnichannel selling, and inventory management is not included. This means business owners will have to either manage their own inventory or lean on other platforms to keep track of this crucial aspect of their business.
4. WooCommerce
Especially if you’ve already got an existing WordPress website, integrating with WooCommerce can make selling your products online a breeze. With a drag-and-drop interface, subscription selling plans, and online booking, business owners and their customers alike will both enjoy the experience of relying on WooCommerce for secure transactions.
Best of all, this WordPress plugin is free to use, offers many extensions, and accepts deposits for everything from pre-orders to regular merchandise. However, it may require WordPress experience in order to fully leverage–so if you are not proficient with WordPress, think twice!
5. CoreCommerce
While CoreCommerce does not offer the drag-and-drop interface, it really excels when it comes to payment processing, branded invoicing, and recurring payment plans.
It also has several payment plans with increasingly enticing features, including a basic free version as well, which comes with 20 free themes. All levels of CoreCommerce integrations (including the free version) come with phone, chat, and email support.
6. Square Online
With free and paid options, Square Online represents perhaps one of the most well-rounded lists of offerings–particularly shining in omnichannel selling. With the ability to accept payments both on social channels and on your website and the choice of shipping or pickup options, Square Online is particularly beneficial for brick-and-mortar vendors looking to increase their reach.
However, adding the abandoned cart recovery feature does cost additional money, and it is not the easiest platform for business owners to add more products.
7. Weebly
Weebly also offers the eternally appealing drag-and-drop capabilities with a free (included) SSL Certificate, domain name, and unlimited storage capabilities. It also offers business owners the ability to sell both digital and physical products in unlimited quantities–with a built-in automatic shipping and tax calculator and recurring payment features. However, it is not the most visually appealing interface–and it does require a paid plan if you hope to use a custom domain.
8. Shift4Shop
This simple ecommerce platform is ideal for beginning business owners on a tight budget–as it is entirely free of charge for U.S.-based companies. It should be noted that this free platform does not come with some of the bells and whistles of its competitors, such as AI integrations or the ability to import products efficiently–instead, Shift4Shop requires manual product input.
This platform offers unlimited data storage, product lists, and users, with over 100 free themes, fraud protection efforts, and multichannel selling capabilities. It is not available outside of the U.S. and doesn’t offer business owners much by way of customization, with a sales limit of $100,000 per year for paid plans.
9. BigCommerce
While most of its competitors add payment processing fees, BigCommerce offers business owners a bit of relief by eliminating this pesky expense. It also offers omnichannel selling, abandoned cart recovery, and the gloriously simple drag-and-drop feature.
For businesses that are perhaps a little bit more experienced and have more money to invest in their company, BigCommerce is an excellent option, as it comes with a wide array of tempting capabilities–from included sales and marketing tools to unlimited bandwidth. However, it does come at a higher rate than some of its competitors, and its premium themes can cost up to $200 to incorporate.
10. PrestaShop
Take control of your online store with PrestaShop! This powerful platform goes beyond just setting up your shop. They offer a giant toolbox of add-ons to fine-tune your business. Need to speed up checkout lines? There’s an add-on for that. Want to launch targeted marketing campaigns or automate repetitive tasks? PrestaShop has you covered. Plus, you’ll gain valuable insights into your customers’ buying habits.
PrestaShop makes managing your store a breeze. They offer flexible shipping options, free tools to print shipping labels, and helpful support whenever you need it. Of course, no software is perfect, and PrestaShop can have occasional bugs. These are usually fixed quickly, but they might temporarily slow you down or require some troubleshooting.
Getting Started In Ecommerce Doesn’t Have to Be a Logistical Nightmare!
Whether you already have a physical store and are looking to branch out into the online space or you’re looking to sell exclusively online, there’s no doubt that incorporating an online ecommerce platform is a great way to boost your reach.
However, this transition doesn’t have to keep you up at night, stressing over all of the logistics of the job that need to be tracked and managed! With the right ecommerce platform on your side, you’ll be able to provide joy to your customers while inviting ease into your life at the same time!
