Right now, ecommerce is the fastest growing retail channel online. Getting into the world of ecommerce may seem like a hard task for any small business, especially if you’re not a technology inclined.
There are several simple ecommerce platforms designed to help small businesses open their storesonline. Before choosing your preferred platform, you need to consider a few factors. First, define your needs and determine what you want to achieve by opening your store.
In this post, we’ve compiled and share a list of the best 5 hosted ecommerce platforms for small businesses.
1. Shopify
With over 500,000 active online stores, Shopify is one of the biggest ecommerce platforms out there. Its extremely user-friendly interface allows business owners with practically no IT skills to build beautiful, customized online stores. Shopify caters to small businesses just starting out, as well as large ecommerce operations generating millions of dollars.
Shopify offers over a hundred shop themes to choose from, all of them easily displayed on cell phones as well. You can select from more than 1,200 apps to add to your store. Plus, Shopify has a database of experts who can help you design your webstore, and it offers 24/7 customer support.
In addition, Shopify charges no transaction fees, and provides fraud analysis as well as comprehensive SEO packages.
2. BigCommerce
BigCommerce caters to the needs of both very small and larger businesses. The platform provides an extensive set of ecommerce tools to help you build your webshop, as well as opportunities to sell your products via social media. BigCommerce offers 24/7 customer support and a pool of approved experts you can hire to help you with your online store.
3. Wix Ecommerce
Small businesses with less than 50 product-types for sale often opt for Wix Ecommerce. This platform is simple and very easy to use; the only thing you need to do is drag-and-drop content on your online storefront. Its beautiful themes and precise imaging technology allows you to build eye-catching webshops easily and without any major tech skills.
4. Squarespace
Squarespace offers sophisticated webshops for small businesses with simple ecommerce needs. In addition to beautiful store themes, Squarespace offers inventory management, unlimited product uploads, coupons, shipping configurations, email list management, and much more. If your business needs a classic ecommerce platform without the integration of payroll, accounting, and other business management softwares, Squarespace is a viable option for you at a lower cost than Shopify or BigCommerce.
5. Volusion
Volusion currently serves over 180,000 business owners. It allows you to sell your products on Amazon and eBay, and offers comprehensive SEO packages along with social media management. In addition, the platform provides valuable feedback to business owners, including abandoned shopping-cart reports alongside a suite of reporting tools.
