Best eCommerce Platforms for Beginners to Start an eCommerce Store

Table of Content

1. What is an eCommerce Development Platform?
2. How to Evaluate the Best eCommerce Platforms?
3. Best eCommerce Platforms
4. Comparison of the Best eCommerce Platforms
5. Summary
6. FAQs on the Best eCommerce Platforms

According to Forbes, in 2023, the global eCommerce market is expected to reach around $6.3 Trillion. Seeing this growing popularity, it’s quite clear that building an eStore website with the help of the best eCommerce development companies would be quite beneficial.

When creating an eCommerce website, one of the first considerations is to choose a suitable development platform. When picking a platform, ease of use is key. It should be simple to use and offer customizable themes. Plus, it needs to scale as your business grows. Traffic, transactions, and inventory must all be handled smoothly.

There are several eCommerce platform options available, and I’ll help you choose the best one through this guide. But first, let’s see what an eCommerce development platform is.

What is an eCommerce Development Platform?

An eCommerce development platform is a software solution that enables businesses to create, customize, and manage an online store. It provides all the tools and features needed to sell products or services online, including:

• Product management: Create and manage product listings, including images, descriptions, pricing, inventory, and shipping options.
• Shopping cart and checkout: Allow customers to add products to their shopping cart and complete the purchases securely.
• Payment processing: Accept payments from a variety of sources, such as credit and debit cards, and PayPal.
• Shipping integration: Calculate shipping costs and print shipping labels for orders.
• Security: Keep customer data safe and secure with PCI compliance and other security features.
• Website builder: Create a custom website for your online store without any coding knowledge.
• Marketing tools: Promote your online store and products through email marketing, social media, and other channels.
• Analytics: Track your website traffic and sales to see what’s working and what’s not.

eCommerce development platforms can be used by businesses of all sizes, from small businesses just starting out to large enterprises with complex needs. Some popular eCommerce development platforms include Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, and Magento.

How to Evaluate the Best eCommerce Platforms?

The right eCommerce development platform will help create the best website to showcase and sell the products and services effectively. However, the best eCommerce platforms have to be evaluated on a variety of factors to ensure the best development process and results.

• User-friendliness: The platform should be easy to use, both for you and your customers. It should have a clear and intuitive interface and be easy to add and manage products, process orders, and track inventory.
• Customization options: The eCommerce platform should let you customize the look and feel of your online store to match your brand. It should also offer a variety of features and functionality that you can add to your store, such as product reviews, abandoned cart recovery, and social media integration.
• Security features: The platform should have robust security features to protect your customer data and your website from cyberattacks. It should also be PCI-compliant to ensure that you can accept credit card payments securely.
• Payment gateways: The platform should integrate with several payment gateways so that you can offer your customers a variety of payment options. It should also be easy to set up and manage your payment gateway accounts.
• Customer support: The platform should offer responsive and helpful customer support in case you need help with anything.
• Mobile responsiveness: The platform should make it easy for your customers to purchase on their mobile devices. Your online store should look good and function well on all screen sizes.
• SEO capabilities: The platform should have built-in SEO features to help you improve your website’s ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs). It will help you attract more organic search traffic to your store.
• Inventory management tools: The platform should have inventory management tools to help you track your product inventory levels and ensure that you never oversell a product.
• Integration with other software systems: The platform should integrate with other software systems that you use to run your business, such as your accounting software, CRM software, and shipping software. That will help you automate the tasks and streamline your operations.

By weighing these criteria, you can make informed decisions when selecting an eCommerce platform that meets your needs. Or you can consult with the experts at the best eCommerce development agencies to analyze and find the best platform.

Best eCommerce Platforms

When it comes to creating an eCommerce website, there are several platforms to choose from. But not all of them will be suitable for your technical and non-technical requirements. So, let’s check out the best eCommerce platforms along with their prominent pros and cons.

Shopify

Shopify is a hosted eCommerce platform that allows users to create and manage their online stores without any coding experience. It is one of the most popular eCommerce platforms in the world, and one of the best examples is the Gymshark store.

Pros:

• Easy to use
• No coding experience is required
• Wide range of features and functionality
• App store with over 6,000 apps and integrations
• 24/7 customer support

Cons:

• Transaction fees on lower-tier plans
• Limited customization options for lower-tier plans
• Expensive for high-volume merchants

Shopify has a user-friendly drag-and-drop store builder along with several professionally designed and developed templates. So, Shopify development companies can help you create a captivating and highly functional store quite quickly.

Price: Shopify paid plans start at $5 per month.

WooCommerce

WooCommerce is a free, open-source eCommerce plugin for WordPress. It is the most popular eCommerce platform for WordPress users, with over 5 million active installations. And being a part of the WordPress ecosystem, you can integrate other plugins and themes to ensure the best design and functionality.

Pros:

• Free and open-source
• Highly customizable
• A wide range of extensions and integrations are available
• Large community of users and developers

Cons:

• Requires some technical expertise to install and configure
• Not as easy to use as Shopify
• Security can be a concern if not properly configured

Additionally, WooCommerce development companies can help you create some outstanding WordPress-based eCommerce websites, and that too at relatively low costs.

Price: Free

Magento

Magento is a free, open-source eCommerce platform that is known for its flexibility and scalability. This platform gives you the freedom to customize your online store to a high degree. So, if you have unique and complex requirements, Magento would be an excellent choice. One of the best examples of stores made with Magento is the Coca Cola Store.

Pros:

• Highly customizable
• Scalable to handle high-volume traffic and transactions
• Wide range of features and functionality
• Large community of users and developers

Cons:

• Requires advanced technical expertise to install and configure
• Not as easy to use as Shopify or WooCommerce
• Can be expensive to host and maintain

To those seeking scalability and customizability above all else, consulting with the best Magento development companies would be the right choice.

Price: To get an estimate on the prices for Magento services, log in to the Magento website.

BigCommerce

BigCommerce is one of the best Cloud-based eCommerce platforms with an arsenal of tools and features to create and expand the eStores effectively. Along with the responsive and customizable themes, this platform offers a built-in suite of marketing and SEO features to ensure the best visibility of your website. One of the best examples of a BigCommerce store is the BMW Shop (UK).

Pros:

• Powerful features and functionality
• Scalable to handle high-volume traffic and transactions
• App store with over 1,000 apps and integrations
• 24/7 customer support

Cons:

• Expensive, especially for small businesses
• Limited customization options for lower-tier plans
• Transaction fees on all plans

BigCommerce also offers fraud protection and secure payment gateways to ensure transactional safety.

Price: BigCommerce paid plans start at $29 per month (if billed annually).

The best eCommerce platform for you will depend on your specific needs and requirements. If you are a beginner, Shopify is a good option because it is easy to use and does not require any coding experience. If you are on a tight budget, WooCommerce is a good option because it is free and open-source.

However, if you need a highly customizable platform that can scale to handle high-volume traffic and transactions, Magento or BigCommerce are good options. We’ll see the differences between these 4 platforms in the next section.

Comparison of the Best eCommerce Platforms

When it comes to selecting an eCommerce platform, there are numerous possibilities, each with its own unique advantages. To guide you through the process, we’ve created a comparison table that outlines the main features of some popular eCommerce platforms.

Summary

In today’s ecommerce world, selecting the right platform can be a game-changer. With countless choices, the decision can be daunting. We have researched and identified key factors to help you make an informed choice.

User-friendliness and features are top priorities. Shopify and WooCommerce offer user-friendly dashboards and lots of customization for a unique shopping experience. Scalability is essential, too. As your business grows, your platform must be able to handle higher traffic and sales volume. BigCommerce and Magento are known for their scalability.

Security is also key. Cyber threats are on the rise, so it’s important to choose a platform that prioritizes data protection. Shopify and BigCommerce deliver SSL certificates and robust security.

So, analyze the best eCommerce platforms and narrow down the most suitable one for your business enterprise. If you need more help with that, our expertly curated lists might help you out.

FAQs on the Best eCommerce Platforms

1. Which platform is best for small businesses?

For small businesses, Shopify and WooCommerce are popular choices. They offer user-friendly interfaces, affordable pricing, and a wide range of features.

2. What is the most customizable eCommerce platform?

Magento is highly regarded for its customization options. It offers advanced features, flexible design options, and an extensive library of extensions and plugins.

3. Which platform offers the best SEO capabilities?

WooCommerce is known for its strong SEO capabilities. It integrates seamlessly with WordPress, allowing users to optimize their online stores for search engines.