Who wouldn’t be happy to have an extra $1,500 a day? With a bit of work and making use of the right eCommerce platform, you can successfully create an online store that generates that kind of revenue and even more.
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An excellent example is Shilpi Yadav. She had quit her job to start an online clothing store based around her Indian heritage. Despite all the risks, the brand is now making more than half a million dollars a year (averaging around $1,500 per day).
She had built her online store using Shopify, which is one of the best eCommerce platforms on the market.
There are a ton of different options that you can choose from depending on what you need.
Here are the major aspects to consider when choosing the right platform for your current situation. These are the top options available today.
1. Wix Review — The Best for Flexibility and Customization
Wix is the best option for an affordable and flexible eCommerce platform. Its drag-and-drop interface is very famous and is one that provides some excellent freedom of design.
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Wix also gives access to more than 500 website templates featuring plenty of customization options. The Wix template selection is helpful for launching a new online store because you can plug your products into a framework that’s going to look great every time. You can also create your store’s pages from scratch with complete control.
They also have a robust mobile app that allows you to make changes and manage your store from anywhere in the world.
Wix also provides a wide variety of marketing features, like email accounts and posting Facebook ads and social media posts right from your account dashboard. It also enables you to sell directly via social media.
Their eCommerce plans include pro features, like:
- Support of 90+ languages and local currencies
- 250+ apps to add extra functionality to your site
- No additional transaction fees
- Custom product pages
- Worldwide shipping and taxes
- Coupons and discounts
- Advanced sorting and filtering
- Product collections
- Customizable checkout
- Recurring payments
If you are already using Wix, you can upgrade to an eCommerce plan in just a few clicks within your account dashboard.
Wix offers four eCommerce plans for online shops of different sizes, including:
- Business Basic — $23/month
- Business Unlimited — $27/month
- Business VIP — $49/month
- Enterprise — custom pricing
Wix is an excellent option if yours is a small store or you have special design requirements. However, if you are expecting a high order volume and a large range of products, BigCommerce or Shopify will be apt.
2. Squarespace Review — The Best Ecommerce Platform for Creatives
Squarespace is better known as a free website builder and also has a trio of attractive eCommerce packages.
They provide high-quality templates that Squarespace is famous for and has plenty of customization potential that helps to create a unique shopping experience for your customers.
Squarespace gives you a lot more artistic freedom and allows you to install and customize multiple templates at a time and you can see which one you like best. Switching between templates takes just a few clicks.
Squarespace’s web store plans also include:
- Subscriptions, digital products, and in-person compatibility
- Built-in tax tools for automatic tax calculations
- Discount codes and gift cards
- Abandoned cart recovery
- Mobile-optimized checkout
- Mobile store management
- Rich product listings
- Quick view capability
- Inventory management
- Real-time shipping estimates
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Squarespace integrates with most of the popular email marketing and social media platforms. And thus you can sell and market your products like a pro.
They provide 24/7/365 customer support and are ready to answer your questions and help you get things set up the way you want them to.
Squarespace offers three eCommerce plans:
- Business — $18 per month + 3% transaction fees
- Basic Commerce — $26 per month + 0% transaction fees
- Advanced Commerce — $40 per month + 0% transaction fees
They also have a Personal plan for $12 per month. They also have an enterprise plan that has a dedicated account manager, SEO consultations, and prioritized technical support.
3. Bluehost Review — The Best for Hands-Off WooCommerce Store Setup
Bluehost provides an easy, turnkey solution that helps to get a WooCommerce store up and running in no time, for anyone.
With Bluehost’s package for eCommerce powered by WooCommerce, you get a handy guided store creator, plus:
- Built-in SSL and Jetpack for security
- Unlimited product listings
- Payment processing
- Customer reviews
- Coupon codes
- Manual order creation
- One year free of CodeGuard Backup Basic, for daily site backups
This is all in the Standard Plan. The built-in SSL certificate is helpful because it encrypts the information that the customers enter on your website (like credit card numbers or login credentials), and protects everyone from hackers.
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Bluehost has preselected the top 20 store plugins that your WooCommerce store will need and this saves you from researching and installing plugins on your own. These are included at no extra charge.
With the Premium plan and you’ll also get:
- Online appointment scheduling
- Subscription-based eCommerce
- Advanced product customization
- Local tax management
- Free domain privacy
- CodeGuard Backup Basic included for free
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Pricing is based on the initial term commitment. You can choose from month-to-month billing, a one-year contract, or a three-year contract.
The Standard plan starts at $12.95/month for a three-year commitment, and Premium starts at $24.95/month for the same.
Both plans need to be renewed at the standard month-to-month rate after the term is completed—$29.95/month for Standard and $49.95/month for Premium.
4. BigCommerce Review — The Best for Medium to Large Stores
This is an all-in-one eCommerce website builder and is especially useful for large online stores. It includes advanced eCommerce features that are suitable for managing high volumes and a large number of products.
It has a customer base of 100,000+ stores, including some big names like Ben & Jerry’s and SkullCandy.
BigCommerce includes access to powerful, industry-leading features, including:
- Customer accounts for faster checkouts
- Mobile-optimized checkout
- Abandoned cart recovery
- Google AMP and Akamai
- Advanced product filters
- Coupons and discount codes
- Advanced inventory management
- Customer groups for personalized shopping
- 65+ payment gateways with no extra transaction fees
- Built-in shipping management
All their plans include unlimited products, file storage, bandwidth, and staff accounts.
You can choose between 12 free mobile-responsive design templates or opt for a paid template. Make your online store stand out from the crowd without touching a single line of code using this platform.
BigCommerce offers four paid plans (with a 15-day free trial), including:
- Standard — $29.95/month with a $50,000 annual sales limit
- Plus — $79.95/month with a $180,000 annual sales limit
- Pro — $299.95/month with a $400,000 annual sales limit
- Enterprise — custom pricing
If you’re an established business or plan to sell high volumes, BigCommerce is an excellent choice.
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5. Shopify Review — The Best All-In-One Ecommerce Platform
Shopify is an all-in-one eCommerce website builder. It powers more than one million online stores and is one of the most popular choices on this list.
But, it is not as customizable as Wix. Shopify offers more advanced eCommerce features as it’s built specifically to host online stores. It is also easy to use with just the right level of flexibility, is incredibly versatile and powers micro to large stores, and everything in between.
Shopify plans include access to an incredible suite of eCommerce features, including:
- Point of Sale for brick and mortar shops
- Real-time carrier shipping rates
- Abandoned checkout recovery
- 100 different payment gateways
- Automatic tax calculations
- Customer accounts and profiles
- Fulfillment centers
- Advanced inventory management
- Unlimited products
- In-depth analytics
Additionally, with 70+ professional themes and 4,100+ apps, you can create your beautiful and highly functional eCommerce store without having to start from scratch.
They also provide 24/7/365 customer support and you have an excellent eCommerce platform.
Shopify offers five plans for businesses of all sizes, including:
- Shopify Lite — $9 per month
- Basic Shopify — $29 per month
- Shopify — $79 per month
- Advanced Shopify — $299 per month
- Shopify Plus — custom pricing
If you want to embed products and “buy” buttons onto an existing website, Shopify Lite is a great option. But, it doesn’t come with the all-inclusive website builder.
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Shopify has its own payment processor and they charge 2.4% – 2.9% + $0.30 depending on the plan you choose. There are also additional fees (0.5% – 2%) if you use a separate payment processor like PayPal or Square.
6. WooCommerce Review — The Best for WordPress Websites
If you are into some serious online selling and you’re using or planning to use a WordPress site to do it, you should definitely opt for WooCommerce, which is one of the most powerful tools out there.
WordPress plugin enables eCommerce capabilities like accepting online payments, configurable shipping options, and product listings to your site.WooCommerce is also widely extensible and able to be integrated with other business tools.
You can customize it through extensions in categories ranging from inventory, shipping, and fulfillment to marketing, customer loyalty programs, live chat support, and more.
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The platform is developer-friendly. You can use the REST API to tweak and tailor WooCommerce to your needs with custom coding and modules.
Some of the other built-in features you get are:
- 140 region-specific payment gateways
- Support of subscriptions and deposits
- Automated tax calculations
- Real-time shipping rates
- iOS and Android mobile apps
- Physical and digital product capability
- Endless product variations
- Extensive tutorials and documentation
- Public support forum
And the best part is that it’s free to download, install, and use.
With the power of WordPress behind it, your customization options are limited to what you can imagine.
7. OpenCart Review — The Best for Selling Digital Products
OpenCart is another open-source eCommerce platform, much similar to WooCommerce. But, it is not limited to WordPress websites. To use OpenCart, you need to have an existing website.
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Over 300,000 online stores are using OpenCart to sell products of all shapes and sizes online and it is incredibly easy to set up because most web hosting companies offer one-click installation or will install it for free.
Though you can sell products of any kind, the no-fluff interface makes it an excellent option for selling digital products and hence you can make more money with your online business.
This platform is 100% free and offers a powerful set of eCommerce features, including:
- Simple and centralized admin dashboard
- Advanced user roles and access controls
- Manage multiple stores from a single dashboard
- Limitless product variables and variations
- Built-in affiliate management and rewards system
- Discounts and coupons
- Unlimited products
- One-click digital downloads
- Product reviews and ratings
- 36 built-in payment methods
- Recurring payments
And with 13,000 modules and themes, you can add any functionality including service integrations, conversion modules, email marketing, and more.
You will have to pay for dedicated help if you can’t find what you’re looking for on their community forum. Dedicated support starts at $99 per site per month or $99 for a one-time fix.
8. Ecwid Review — The Best for Integrating With Your Current Platform
Similar to OpenCart and WooCommerce, Ecwid is also an eCommerce platform where you can integrate with your current platform, regardless of what you’re already using.
It easily integrates with platforms like Weebly, Wix, WordPress, Squarespace, and more. In case you already have a website set up and want to add eCommerce functionality, Ecwid is an excellent choice.
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So, Ecwid can be used only to integrate eCommerce into your existing website.
This eCommerce platform includes a wide range of features, like:
- Multi-channel selling (social media, marketplaces, in-person, etc.)
- Integrated email marketing and advertising features
- Centralized inventory and order management
- No transaction fees
- Fully responsive designs
- Built-in POS integrations
- Customer accounts for easy checkout
- Real-time shipping rate calculator
- Product variations
- Digital product capabilities
- 40 payment options
The biggest downside is that you have to log in to Ecwid to manage your store from inside your website account dashboard. This means you need to manage two separate accounts.
But the good part is that you can start on the limited free forever plan to try it out before making any investments.
The free plan allows up to ten products and you have to upgrade if you need more. Ecwid also offers three paid plans, including:
- Venture — $15/month (up to 100 products)
- Business — $35/month (up to 2,500 products)
- Unlimited — $99/month (unlimited products)
This is the monthly price and if you are willing to sign a contract for a year, the price is a little lower.
If you already have a website and want to add an eCommerce store, Ecwid is a great alternative to WooCommerce and OpenCart.
Summary
Finding an eCommerce platform can be a bit tricky. But, getting in touch with our website development company will solve all your problems.
As we have covered through all the top ECommerce platforms in this article, Wix is undoubtedly great for users of all experience levels. It is easy to use, highly customizable, and affordable. But if Wix is too customizable, Squarespace is also a fantastic alternative.
For large stores, BigCommerce or Shopify is recommended. However, if you already have a website, WooCommerce, OpenCart, and Ecwid are excellent choices.
If you already have a WordPress site and want an easier way to set up your WooCommerce store, Bluehost’s WooCommerce Online Stores is an ideal option.