Entrepreneurs seeking to venture out and expand into new markets in search of more customers have continued to adopt various online shopping mechanisms. When you need to get direct sales generated from your website, ecommerce platforms is a great way to create an online store.  

The e-commerce market is already saturated due to technological advancements. Thus, as a businessperson, you may face some difficulties when trying to a perfect platform that suits your business. However, before we move into the difficult-to-choose-from e-commerce sites, let first understand ‘what is an e-commerce platform.'

An e-commerce software is simply a platform that allows a businessperson to build an online retail store, which possesses the flexibility of continuous addition of advanced features that are helpful for a business growth. In short, if you want to develop an online business store, it is advisable to use an e-commerce platform.

With U.S. Census Bureau suggesting that ecommerce sales figures amounted to 80.3 Billion over the last quarter of last year, e-commerce is the way to go as it is getting stronger. Since there are many good online builders out there, it could be a little bit confusing, so I have suggested some of the best e-commerce sites

Best E-Commerce Sites

1. Shopify

Shopify is a wonderful software that you can utilize to launch an online store, which aids in online selling. Many small businesses with different unique business models have attained success through this platform.

Features: It has a beautiful professional storefront that accommodates a wide range of businesses. It fits any business model whether a brick-and-mortar or an online store. It has a POS (Point of Sale) software and hardware that supports your retail store and also enables 70 different gateway payment options. Shopify also enables you to expand your online store as it has the largest App store that contains all kinds of both free and paid solutions 

2. WooCommerce

It is a widely used e-commerce platform in that more than 500,000 websites utilize it for their businesses across the world. Most of its users are businesses involved in the food industry like selling snacks, cupcakes, and tea.

Features: For WordPress users, it can be considered the best free e-commerce plugin. Its platform is customizable, supports secure payment methods, and it is user-friendly. Using its add-on installations, users can develop mobile-friendly apps that allow shoppers to transact through their smartphones and tablets. Though its installation is free, you will need to purchase additional extension according to your website needs. 

3. Magento

Big brands like Samsung and Nike and several large-scale retailers are the common users of Magento’s Enterprise Edition. Magento, an eBay group’s open-source platform, offers cutting-edge solutions for eCommerce stores that entrepreneurs appreciate.

Features: It has powerful latest features that are readily customizable for large scalable businesses and proper payment security. It has multiple stores and many gateway payment options. 

4. BigCommerce

It is another wonderful e-commerce platform that well-established companies like Schwinn and Toyota utilize it. Due to its malleable nature, small business users can be supported effectively.

Features: It allows users to review and zoom images of similar products as it can be integrated with Google shopping and eBay. It contains some payment options, gifting and coupons options, built-in blogs and a social media integration feature. Customers that visit your business can enjoy an easy-to-use interface where they can filter products, create wish-lists and live chat for guidance.

5. Volusion

Many medium and small businesses that are selling various products use Volusion.

Features: It does not require the purchase of additional extensions as there much features embedded to its dashboard. It encourages customers to make sales through its countdown timer option. MyRewards Program is one of its popular feature that allows buyers to redeem point whenever they make a purchase. 

6. Squarespace

This full loaded platform is suitable for small businesses that want to realize significant sales. Some businesses like restaurants, boutiques and architecture firms use it to run their online store. Initially, blogging, professional portfolio website used this frequently before it included e-commerce features that various e-commerce merchants could use.

Features: The platform has a toolset that enables users to develop an effective online store. It has some effective e-commerce feature though not extensive as other bigger e-commerce platforms. Its supports various traditional brick-and-mortar stores through advanced features such as point-of-sale technology and coupon options but only offer one gateway option (Stripe). 

7. ZenCart

It is a useful e-commerce site that entails easy to use shopping cart application which customers can utilize. It is very flexible that is why some businesses use it to run online shopping activities. It is suitable for small businesses.

Features: This online store management application is open source making it affordable for every business. Its customer friendliness nature allows for customers to login so that they do shopping comfortably. It allows for multi-language functionality and incorporates many payment gateways like Authorize.net, FirstData, Link point and many others. 

8. Weebly

 Weebly fits small-scale businesses users especially those engaged in hand-made crafts, retail, and food businesses. It has various helpful features that enable businesses venture in the online market.

Features: Though it has no impressive features like other e-commerce platforms, there is a performance tracking feature that enables users to customize their brands. Only it has paid Business plan option allows serious companies to sell unlimited products. It enables users to sell digital products such as music files and eBooks to various customers automatically. Its inventory management is basic allowing to access online business store using a mobile app. 

Take Away 

With so many e-commerce sites available today, finding an e-commerce platform that caters for your business needs can be a daunting task. Choose online store builder that is supportive of your company’s current needs, consumers’ demands, and cater for the company’s potential growth overall vision.

If you want to establish a simple e-commerce presence that has no customizable features then select platforms like WooCommerce. Squarespace, Volusion, and Weebly. 

Whereas if you need to possess a scalable online presence that entails more complex customizable features ideal high-performance platforms would be Shopify, Magento, and BigCommerce.