The advent of online shopping has become an irreversible aspect of our everyday lives.
So much so that it has helped create e-commerce giants — along with millionaire entrepreneurs — around the globe.
Amazon is flying drones to airdrop Doritos at your doorstep in the wee hours of the morning. Meanwhile, Wish is advertising only the freshest and most bizarre products Chinese factories can offer.
The future is truly amazing.
But why stop at midnight food deliveries and whatever it is Wish is selling? As a business owner with a budding online business, your products are definitely better than used Xbox 360s on eBay, and the internet has a right to buy them from the comfort of their living room.
Before looking into website builder software options, it’s important to first determine which kind of e-commerce site you want to build. This distinction will affect the available software options.
E-commerce platforms are intended for a single vendor to post their wares while multivendor e-commerce platforms, sometimes called multivendor marketplaces, enable multiple vendors to sell their products on one website.
To clarify: A website for a specific brand or department store uses an e-commerce platform. A marketplace like Amazon or eBay will instead use a multivendor e-commerce platform since multiple vendors will compete in the same shared space.
While many website builders and e-commerce platforms are capable of handling either type of online store, the vast majority are intended for use by a singular vendor. There are also platforms for building multivendor marketplaces, but there aren’t nearly as many.
This blog will cover popular options for single-vendor e-commerce platforms and website builders, along with their features, prices and recommendations from those who’ve used them before.
For those looking to open an online store for their own products, there are two options: e-commerce platforms and traditional website builders.
E-commerce platforms are software solutions intended for the creation and management of e-commerce websites. However, there are also website builders that offer separate plans specifically for e-commerce websites.
For all intents and purposes, their functions are essentially the same. The only difference is that traditional website builders have different pricing plans for regular websites and online stores.
For products with G2 Crowd verified user reviews, we have included:
Product reviews and G2 Crowd star ratings were updated as of January 24, 2019
Product Name: Shopify
G2 Crowd Star Rating: 4.3 out of 5.0 stars (2,265 reviews)
Shopify is indisputably the most successful and popular e-commerce platform on the market today. It offers reasonable, adjustable monthly costs, unlimited product posting, and no setup or bandwidth fees. Additionally, users don’t have to worry about finding a web host, since Shopify offers hosting services. (While it isn’t listed below, Shopify also offers Shopify Plus for enterprise-scale businesses.)
“This platform is really made for you and your business. If you do not have knowledge of HTML or CSS, if you do not want to bother with setting up your site, just try Shopify. Thousands of people have chosen this online platform and they trust it. Make your site simple and tasteful.”
— Shopify review by Tia E.
Product Name: WooCommerce
G2 Crowd Star Rating: 4.3 out of 5.0 stars (497 reviews)
If you’re looking to run an online store on a WordPress site, look no further: WooCommerce is a popular e-commerce WordPress plugin. And like WordPress itself, it is completely free. It easily works alongside other WordPress plugins, and its open-source nature means the platform is incredibly flexible and customizable.
“For me, it is the best option if you want to build an e-commerce [site] with total freedom of creation, design and platforms that you want to integrate. Other platforms like Shopify or BigCommerce are cool too, but you have to follow their rules. With WooCommerce you are free to do whatever you want, but you'll have to have a little knowledge or experience with Wordpress sites.”
— WooCommerce review by Isaura S.
Product Name: BigCommerce
G2 Crowd Star Rating: 4.2 out of 5.0 stars (248 reviews)
BigCommerce is another heavy hitter in the e-commerce platform space, touting some of the best design options for site builders. Users have the option to use BigCommerce on its own or as a backend for a WordPress site. BigCommerce also streamlines store migration for those already using another platform.
“After extensive search and marketing research, I chose BigCommerce and am very satisfied with my decision. This seems to be a very good platform for starting out and growing. There are several levels available, and the platform can grow with your company.”
— BigCommerce review by Rosalee H.
Product Name: Wix
G2 Crowd Star Rating: 4.2 out of 5.0 stars (915 reviews)
Wix made a name for itself as an intuitive and sleek website builder, but has since broadened into e-commerce websites as well. Users can expect the same approachable website design features from their main website builder. To sweeten the deal, the platform is 100 percent commission free.
“If you are just starting out or creating any sort of website [for the first time], I would highly recommend using Wix! They made it so easy for beginners to use. I think any small business has great potential to grow their e-business through Wix as well!”
— Wix review by Gigi J.
Product Name: Weebly
G2 Crowd Star Rating: 4.2 out of 5.0 stars (369 reviews)
Weebly is notable for being amongst the most e-commerce-friendly website builders available. While some website builders have ad-hoc tacked on e-commerce sites to their offerings after the fact, Weebly has taken time to build out their e-commerce functionality with care. Weebly offers the extensive e-commerce-necessary function business owners crave with the fluid website design Weebly is known for.
“If you're looking for a simple and easy website creator, look no further. It has a decent selection of templates and it's very easy to create a site quickly. I don't use the hosting feature and I wish it had more security options for multiple user accounts and content creators. But I think it's a solid product worth taking a look at.”
— Weebly review by Stephen G.
With the number of options available, narrowing down your search can be daunting. Take these considerations into account:
Customizability — The options listed here and elsewhere can vary wildly when it comes to creative freedom and design options. While some grant complete creative liberty, others only provide premade templates even with their premium or paid options. However, if you don’t want to think too hard about your website design, this might not be a dealbreaker for you.
Product listing limitations — E-commerce platforms have different ways of handling how many product listings an online store can have. Some offer unlimited product posting with their basic offering, but for many others, unlimited product posting is only offered in more expensive plans. However, if you don’t plan to post more than a handful of products at a time, this may not be a priority for you.
Shipping discounts — While this may not first be a priority, shipping costs can really add up fast. One benefit of hosted plans is the shipping discount, a valuable asset that vendors using self-hosted websites miss out on.
* User reviews may have been edited for grammar and spelling
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