Key Takeaways
You want to launch an e-commerce store but don’t have the coding skills or the budget to build a custom site. What do you do?
Find a reliable e-commerce platform!
E-commerce platforms make it easy for small businesses to build online stores, market their offerings, process orders, manage shipping, and more. The key advantages include:
But which platform is right for your business? There are countless options, and not all of them are created equal.
Here’s our pick of the top e-commerce platforms for small businesses — and some tips on choosing the right solution for your needs. We’ve emphasized easy setup, comprehensive tools, and scalability.
Note that we’ve given monthly pricing for each platform, because we know a lot of startups don’t want to make long term commitments. But in most cases, there’s a discount if you choose an annual plan.
The best e-commerce platforms for small businesses
Summary table
Shopify
Shopify is a leader in the e-commerce website space, serving 4.8 million online stores. The platform empowers shop owners to succeed by providing a suite of tools, such as:
Shopify is a feature-rich platform and a great option for conventional online retailers that need a simple solution for handling orders. Store owners can also tap into the platform’s extensive library of third-party apps to further expand their site’s functionality.
With the Shopify app, you can manage your entire business, from emailing customers to fulfilling orders, and tracking sales in real-time.
Price: Basic: $19/mo; Shopify: $49/mo; Advanced: $299/mo; Plus $2,300/mo.
Mobile app features: Email; Track, Manage and Fulfill Orders
Analytics: Yes
Inventory management: Yes; Built-in
Marketing: Email, Segmentation, Discount Codes, Abandon Cart Tools
Woo Express
Woo Express is a new e-commerce platform from the makers of WooCommerce, a WordPress plugin for e-commerce. It provides users with all the tools they need to build and launch their online stores — without needing to touch a line of code.
With Woo Express, you can do more than just build a storefront. The platform also offers:
While their monthly fee is pricey for what you get (no analytics or inventory management), Woo Express does offer fast speeds and great support.
Price: Essential: $39/mo; Performance: $70/mo
Mobile app features: Manage Products, Real-Time Alerts, Manage Orders, Accept Payments
Analytics: No
Inventory management: No
Marketing: Email Marketing, Back-in-Stock Notifications, Product Recommendations, Product Bundles, Abandoned Cart Recovery
Wix
Wix is a robust e-commerce platform loaded with features for online store owners. But where this platform really shines is in its ability to help you build a professional storefront that make online shopping a breeze for your customers. Wix has more than 500 templates to suit virtually any type of e-commerce store.
All shops created with Wix are mobile-optimized, and you get access to an extensive media library.
Building your storefront is just the start of what you can do with Wix. The platform also offers:
Wix also offers a number of pricing tiers, so they’re an excellent option for new e-commerce store owners.
Price: Light: $17/mo; Core: $29/mo; Business: $36/mo; Business Elite: $159/mo
Mobile app features: Site Management, Live Chat, Blogging Tools, Analytics, Branding
Analytics: Yes
Inventory management: Yes
Marketing: Email, Social Media Ads, Promo Codes, Product Reviews, Abandoned Cart Recovery
Squarespace
Squarespace’s user-friendly interface and suite of marketing and product tools make it a popular choice with e-commerce site owners. Setting up a site is quick and easy, thanks to the drag-and-drop tools.
Squarespace has a huge selection of sleek templates that are speedy and responsive. But shop owners will really love the rich product listings, which allow you to embed high-quality videos, add related products, and more.
Inventory management, shipping, and fulfillment can all be handled right from the Squarespace platform. If you offer pickup options, you can add this option to checkout, too.
What else does Squarespace offer?
All of these tools and features are backed by Squarespace’s award-winning support. Square’s support team is available 24/7, and the platform resources to help e-commerce site owners succeed, including expert help, webinars, and more.
Price: Personal: $25/mo; Business: $36/mo; Commerce Basic $40/mo; Commerce Advanced: $72/mo.
Mobile app features: Site Builder, Order Fulfillment, Inventory Management, Branding, Analytics, Support
Analytics: Yes
Inventory management: Yes
Marketing: Sell on Social Media, Email Marketing, SEO Tools, Coupons, Pop-Up Banners
BigCommerce
BigCommerce is trusted by big brands like Samsung, Dell, and CVSHealth. They set themselves apart by promising to offer a “differentiated commerce experience” and focus heavily on security and scalability.
The platform’s visual editor makes creating modern, responsive sites easy — no coding knowledge is required. You can customize themes, optimize your site’s checkout, integrate with WordPress, and more.
Sites built with BigCommerce are blazing fast, thanks to Google Cloud Platform and Cloudflare support.
The platform also offers:
BigCommerce offers solutions for e-commerce stores of all sizes, and they have features aimed at optimizing sites for growth.
Price: Standard: $39/mo; Plus: $105/mo; Pro: $399/mo
Mobile app features: Track Performance Metrics, Manage Orders and Products, Manage Customers
Analytics: Yes
Inventory management: Yes
Marketing: Coupons, SEO Tools, Social Media Integrations, App Integrations
Weebly
Weebly offers extensive ecommerce tools and website management features that empower business owners to sell physical and digital products online. You can quickly create new product pages on your desktop or the app, add unlimited items, create item badges, calculate tax and shipping, and create coupons and shipping labels.
If someone abandons their cart, you can draft an enticing email to close the sale.
Some of the advanced ecommerce features offered through Weebly include pop-up notifications, advanced insights, SEO, and lead capture options.
Performance-tier users receive priority support, and Professional-tier users have access to phone support. All other tiers can access a community forum, chat, and email support.
Price: Basic: Free, Personal: $10/mo, Professional: $12/mo, Performance: $26/mo
Mobile app features: Site Creation, Stats, Management
Analytics: Yes
Inventory management: Yes
Marketing: Search Engine Optimization, Lead Capture, Pop-up Notifications, Instagram Feed
Sellfy
Sellfy has a basic plan that allows users to sell digital and physical products online. If you want to try dropshipping, you can also sell print-on-demand products through the site. Subscriptions can be added to your store to promote recurring revenue.
Multi-channel selling allows owners to sell products to a wide range of consumers, and unlike some ecommerce solutions, there are 0% transaction fees. You will have to pay fees to the processor, such as PayPal.
A store editor, the ability to upsell, and cart abandonment features will help you improve sales. If someone leaves an item in their shopping cart, you can remind them to recapture the sale. With a staggering 70% of consumers abandoning their carts, this is one of the advanced features that can add to your revenue.
Unfortunately, you’re not offered unlimited bandwidth. The Starter plan has a cap of $10,000 in annual sales. Business and Premium pricing tiers have annual sales limits of $50,000 and $200,000, respectively. You can contact the company to request higher limits for your site. Customer support is very responsive and will provide an in-depth estimate for your high-volume store.
Price: Starter: $19/mo, Business: $49/mo, Premium: $99/mo
Mobile app features: Sales Dashboard, Track Orders, Analyze Performance
Analytics: Yes
Inventory management: Yes
Marketing: Email Marketing, Product Upselling, Cart Abandonment, and Coupon Codes
Barn2Door
Barn2Door is the best e-commerce platform for small business owners in the farming industry. Farmers can use this multi-channel ecommerce software to help manage inventory, accept payments, offer subscriptions. It even includes the ability to accept payments in a brick-and-mortar store, or at a farmer’s market, via a card reader that connects to the associated app.
One-on-one onboarding, workshops, and the Barn2Door Academy help reduce the platform's learning curve and allow you to sell more goods faster.
Delivery management and fulfillment are crucial when running a farm-to-door business. Integration with delivery management tools, like Routific, can help reduce delivery time and ensure products, especially subscription boxes, arrive to consumers on time.
The Marketing Toolkit is an additional $29 per month, adding to the cost of marketing your delivery business.
Price: Entrepreneur: $99/mo, Business: $159/mo, Scale: $249/mo
Mobile app features: Store Management, Point of Sale Reader
Analytics: Yes
Inventory management: Yes
Marketing: MailChimp Integration, Marketing Toolkit, Social Media Posts
Big Cartel
Big Cartel powers 3+ million shops worldwide and allows beginners and advanced users the option to sell online or in person. You can accept PayPal, cards, Stripe, Afterpay, and more at checkout.
Mobile apps allow you to take your business on the go and manage inventory, sales, fulfillment, and more.
Your online storefront allows for customizable templates, between 1 and 5 images per product, and you can add multiple product variants. One drawback of Big Cartel is that you’re limited to 5 listings on the Gold plan, 50 listings on the Platinum plan, and 500 listings on the Diamond plan. An option to add unlimited products is not supported at this time.
Price: Gold: Free, Platinum: $15/mo, Diamond: $30/mo
Mobile app features: Product Management, Product Tracking, New Order Notifications, Order Management
Analytics: Yes
Inventory management: Yes
Marketing: Promos, Discounts
Square
Square started as a point of sale (POS) provider, but they have expanded to offer small business owners the option of running their store with Square Online. The platform has a free tier, which lacks the features consumers expect when shopping online. Paid tiers are the better option and can bring your fees down to 2.6% + $0.30 per transaction on the highest tier.
Lower payment processor fees and real-time shipping rates are two of the main reasons to choose the Premium option for Square.
In-person and online sale options are available, along with:
Ease of use is a key selling point of the platform. The platform offers built-in website building and basic layouts. You’ll enjoy a free custom domain, professional branding, and even social media integration. If you have a large social following, you’ll appreciate the ability to sell products on Facebook and Instagram.
Multiple site owners can manage each e-commerce site from one central dashboard, offer customer accounts, and accept multiple payment options: Apple Pay, Google Pay, Square Pay, PayPal, debit, and credit card.
Price: Basic: Free, Plus: $29/mo, Premium:$79/mo
Mobile app features: Data Analytics, Payment Processing, Inventory Management, Discount Offers, Refunds
Analytics: Yes
Inventory management: Yes
Marketing: SEO tools, Lead capture, Coupons, Facebook Ads
PrestaShop
PrestaShop is an open-source solution that offers customizable options through plugins and add-ons. You can use a free plan or a paid version, both of which will help you run your e-commerce store. But you know that the free version is not hosted – in other words, you can download it and build a site, but you’ll need to find your own host and manage all the admin yourself.
Customization options, through paid add-ons or modules, allow you to run your online business with the features that matter most to your site’s audience.
Over 2,200+ templates are available, but prices can range from $90 - $300+. Themes are user-friendly and mobile-friendly. Users on the paid plan will have two free themes to choose from, along with:
You’ll have 4,000+ add-ons to choose from in the marketplace, 150+ integrations, and easy options when selling internationally.
The downside?
Add-ons help add features to the frontend and backend, but costs will soar as you add more add-ons to your store.
Price: Basic: Free; Hosted: €24/mo
Mobile app features: N/A
Analytics: Yes
Inventory management: Yes; Add-on options
Marketing: Google, Multi-country Targeting, Customer Insights, Social Media
How to choose the perfect e-commerce platform for your brand
Now that you know a little bit more about the top e-commerce platform solutions, it’s time to choose a solution for your business. Where do you start?
Here are a few important things to consider when weighing your options.
1. Find a solution that fits your business
Look for platforms that are tailored to your type of business. Barn2Door is the perfect example of an e-commerce platform that specializes in a particular industry or market — farming. If you run a farm and want to offer online ordering options for pick-up and delivery service, then this platform may be ideal for you.
On the other hand, if you offer digital products or subscription services, platforms like Squarespace have native features that support this kind of commerce activity.
Make sure that the platform you’re considering has features and tools that support your particular business.
2. Consider the available payment methods
One big advantage of using an e-commerce platform is that payment processing is a breeze (in most cases). But don’t overlook the importance of ensuring your customers have options when making payments.
According to the report Satisfaction In The Age Of eCommerce, the top desire among online shoppers is the ability to use their preferred payment method.
Make sure that the platform you choose offers a variety of payment options, so you can meet customer expectations.
3. Check compatibility with your tech stack
Many e-commerce platforms integrate with the tools you use every day to run your business. If your goal is to streamline your operations and tackle most tasks from a single platform, check to ensure the e-commerce solution is compatible with your tech stack.
With the right integrations, you can handle most tasks right from your e-commerce platform, including:
4. Consider growth and scalability
Choose your e-commerce platform with the future in mind. Consider whether the solution has the tools and features to support your store’s growth.
If you choose the right platform right from the start, you can grow and scale easily — and without having to switch to a whole new system.
5. Look for these essential features
Your business is unique. Every customer base has slightly different pain points and needs, but there are essential features in an ecommerce platform that you’ll need to make your setup and sales experience easier.
A few of the key features to consider when comparing solutions are:
Your business should also consider fees for sales, hosting environment, and marketing solutions. Some high-end platforms offer their own hosting on the cloud, ensuring that your hosting will scale as sales grow.
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