What’s The Best Platform To Build an eCommerce Store?

An eCommerce platform is software that gives you the power to make and maintain an online storefront. eCommerce platforms help businesses manage their products, site, inventory, operations, and everything associated with selling online.

Finding the right eCommerce platform to host your online store could be troublesome due to the options; however, if you have the details you need to make an informed decision, you can make the right choice for your business. In 2018, the U.S. Census estimates there was $519,635,000 in total eCommerce revenue. There is a wide range of options, but starting an eCommerce shop has never been easier.

The Top 3 eCommerce Platforms

Experts have rated the following as the best eCommerce platforms because of their features, price point, usability, performance, and value:

• Shopify
• Wix
• BigCommerce

1. Shopify

Shopify is one of the most popular eCommerce platforms, and for a good reason. Shopify is straightforward to use and makes building online storefronts a breeze for those without prior coding experience. Shopify’s 24/7 support also makes it very useful for small business owners without many technical staff members. In addition, Shopify’s click-and-drag website builder makes it very convenient for business owners to create stellar websites from free and premium templates.

If Shopify’s basic settings aren’t enough to properly support your eCommerce business, they have over 3,200 apps in their app store. For example, suppose you’re interested in starting a t-shirt business? Shopify can also fully integrate with print-on-demand services like Printful and supports dropshipping through apps like Oberlo.

Shopify offers a 14-day free trial with access to their customer service and the following pricing options:

• Basic Shopify: $29 per month
• Shopify: $79 per month
• Advanced Shopify: $299 per month

2. Wix

Wix has grown in popularity as a drag and drop website builder, and because of its simplicity, it is gaining traction as an eCommerce platform builder. Wix allows eCommerce plan holders to manage inventory, keep up with orders, and speak with customers without leaving their site. Wix has more than 500 fully customizable eCommerce templates. Wix doesn’t support drop shipping at this moment, and because it’s new to eCommerce, it’s constantly improving and making necessary upgrades to its eCommerce experience.

Wix doesn’t charge any eCommerce transaction fees and each of the following plans comes with unlimited bandwidth and storage options for any budget:

• Business Basic: $23 per month
• Business Unlimited: $27 per month
• Business VIP: $49 per month
• Enterprise: $500 per month

3. BigCommerce

BigCommerce is another all-in-one platform that has been around for over a decade. BigCommerce has more features built into its site than Shopify and plenty of customer support options. One of the main selling points for BigCommerce is that they support running an entire website and not just an eCommerce platform. BigCommerce allows businesses to accept payments from 40+ gateways, and new features with Amazon and Instagram are meeting consumers where they are.

BigCommerce offers a 15-day free trial and provides the following plans:

• Standard: $29.95 per month
• Plus: $79.95 per month
• Pro: 299.95 per month

What is the best eCommerce platform?

The best eCommerce platform for you will depend on the size of your business, your coding and website development knowledge, and your experience running an eCommerce store. Our experts recommend Shopify because of its customer support, application, and integration capabilities.