Online shopping is booming. Consumers have less and less time between work and chores at home. If you live in a small town, how do you find a particular type of artificial flowers to decorate your home, or a sleeping bag to take on a camping trip? The answer is online, and it is time you capitalized on that demand.
But there is a caveat. It is not that the moment you build an e-commerce website, customers will flock in by thousands and make you a millionaire overnight.
Just like in a physical store, you need to give them the perfect shopping experience. What does it mean? Not only do you need to have inventory that moves but also a perfectly designed storefront, landing pages, check out, integrated logistics, and of course, follow up CRM software.
That is why you need to use the best e-commerce websites builders. We have put together a list of the finest after a thorough review and testing of every aspect.
Best E-commerce “Site Builders” For 2020
#1. Shopify – Best All-Around and Best Themes
Universally acclaimed as the best website builder with e-commerce, Shopify claims that it has over a million customers across 175 countries.
The main USP of Shopify is that it allows business owners with no coding experience to design stores that can compete with the world’s best.
How do they do it:
- The templates are exceptional. They are optimized for Google and allow you to add product descriptions and create meta tags easily.
- It is a hosted solution, and the plans include tech assistance as well as maintenance and backup.
- Priced very reasonably between $9 and $299 per month, it allows third party payment gateway for smooth shopping.
#2. BigCommerce – Best For eCommerce Websites
BigCommerce plugs itself as the future of online commerce. That is not entirely an idle boast since it is alongside Shopify and Magento, one of the top e-commerce site builders.
What does BigCommerce offer:
- Superb options for catalogue population and an infinite number of product pages.
- Priced reasonably between $25 and 300 per month. Annual payment carries a 10% rebate.
- Very well optimized for search engines through the use of alt-text and meta tags.
- Akamai Image Manager for ease of uploading product images.
- Well managed service and meticulous attention to details make it a safe and secure shopping environment.
#3. Magento – Easy to Use Website Builder for Small Business
It is open-source, so it does not cost you a dime. The catch is you need to have your own hosting. Hence backup and maintenance also fall on you.
It is also not a click and install platform but needs coding and technical skills. If you use Magento, you would have a beautiful store, but very probably, you have to outsource its maintenance to a web developer.
What are the significant advantages:
- Everything can be changed and configured down to the minutest detail. Your site will be one of a kind.
- Excellent Content Management System rivalling WordPress in its efficiency.
- Well designed shopping carts that have abandoned cart recovery features.
- Ability to use local addresses from around the world with advanced geolocation technology.
#4. Squarespace – Best Website Builder for Photographers
A relatively new company, Squarespace, offers online selling sites with a difference. Sites built using Squarespace do not have an Amazon-clone look that most templates provide. They are chic and stylish, and since they are eye-catching, boost revenue.
What are its advantages:
- Highly customized templates that ooze visual appeal. Over a hundred superb themes that make the customer pause.
- A completely functional online store module that lets you configure your shopping site precisely the way you prefer.
- Better than usual inventory management system. Among generic site builders that also offer e-commerce plugins, Squarespace has paid the most attention to making sales easier.
- Priced at $40 with unlimited pages and bandwidth, it is not expensive at all.
#5. Wix – Easy to Use Website Builder
The reputation of Wix as a web builder has begun to match WordPress. What many do not know is that the Wix ecommerce platform is robust and perfect for those venturing into selling online.
How do you gain by using Wix:
- You can start with a free plan. Absolutely free. The domain name will not be a personal one, but you get access to nearly every feature.
- At $49 monthly, you can sign up for a premium shopping site. In return, Wix gives you unparalleled 24×7 customer service by phone and chat.
- App store has excellent plugins that allow you to add tax and ship anywhere in the world.
#6. WooCommerce – Good for users already familiar with WordPress.
The battle of the biggies is not over until we mention WooCommerce. Meant for creating an online store using WordPress, it powers 25% of the online shopping sites. It is incredibly flexible and can use over a thousand different plugins meant for WordPress.
What does WooCommerce offer you:
- Free yet friendly. It is so difficult to get a platform that takes the strain out of e-commerce site maintenance that WooCommerce is welcome.
- Completely mobile friendly just as everything to do with WordPress is.
- A vast community of developers and users to help you out with every tech glitch. Being free, there is no tech support.
#7. Big Cartel – Simple Builder for basic e-commerce
Big Cartel is meant for small stores – the mom and pop version of Amazon. It does not have millions of customers but only about 50,000. It is aimed at niche players like creatives and boutiques. Hence it does not offer you endless product pages and a huge logistics plugin.
Instead, it gives simple settings and ease of set up.
What does Big Cartel provide:
- Go for it if you are not looking at volume but instead product pages that are exceptionally well thought out.
- Zero transaction fee.
- No ceiling on visitors and no limit on revenue or transaction value.
- A fantastic WYSIWYG editor that lets you create perfect landing pages.
#8. Weebly – Best for small businesses and portfolios
If you want to start an ecommerce business, you will do well to explore Weebly. It is filled with features that every shopping site must-have. To top it off, it is really affordable, with prices starting as low as $9 per month.
What do you get with Weebly:
- Easy to configure templates that can be quickly customized and published.
- A complete solution for online stores through advanced CRM that allows you to mail and stay in touch with clients.
- Plugins that generate discount coupons and offers as well as a flawless abandoned cart recovery system.
- Top-notch tech assistance is available around the globe.
#9. 3DCart – Clunky interface, lack of features.
3DCart is probably the oldest platform for shopping websites around. It has been operational for at least 20 years. That means the platform has maturity and is secure, but unfortunately, it is not really easy to work with if you have not used it before.
3DCart offers you:
- The largest number of payment gateways. Over 150 in all makes it possible to pay from anywhere in the world.
- Nearly a hundred free templates compared to a dozen or so that most others offer for free.
- A dashboard that is clean and intuitive.
- Two-layer navigation and ability to add as many landing pages as you need.
#10. Volusion – Horrible billing practices.
Volusion has been around a long time, and unlike 3DCart has used the interval to build great usability. Its new version, Volusion 2.0, is used by 3M and Intel. It is known for built-in SEO and is really easy to use when compared with Shopify and Magento.
What do you get with Volusion:
- Excellent metrics that report which items are moving faster, the geographical breakdown of sales, and several more professional features.
- It can be managed through an app from iOS and Android.
- Complete integration with Facebook, eBay, and Amazon Marketplace provide lots of new customers.
Why Website Is Important For A Business
Your business website is one of the most important parts of the company, and this is something you need to keep on top of. There are a lot of things you are going to have to make sure you get right when it comes to figuring this out, and you have to come up with ideas that will help you to ensure you get the best outcome for the website from a business perspective.
Now, there are a lot of factors that you need to consider when you are looking at your website. Your website can inform so much about your company, and it is really important to make sure you focus on this as much as possible. Consider what it takes to come up with the ideas business website, and here are some of the biggest considerations that can help you with this right now.
#1. Decide on the Content
One of the first things you need to do is think about the content you will be displaying on the website. The more you can do to get this right, the better it will be all round, and your company is going to benefit from this moving forward. Make sure you do as much as possible to provide and create wonderful content, and you might do this by hiring the right freelancers, or even by sorting this out yourself. If you can get this right, you are going to be well-placed to improve the company long-term, and get the most out of your website right now.
#2. Choose a Web Designer
There are plenty of excellent web builders online who you can use to help you develop and create the best possible website. This is something that plays a massive role in the process, and will allow you to come up with a great quality site. There are a lot of things you need to consider here, and this is something that can play a big role in letting you achieve this. Make sure you select someone who is going to help you get the best possible result for your website moving forward.
#3. Select the Right Web Hosting Company
Another essential thing you need to consider is selecting the right web hosting company, and this can help you considerably. You have to make sure you have a company that is going to give your website the best possible platform, and that means focusing on doing your research and making the right choices. Checking out the right reviews of web hosting sites is something you should look to get right as soon as you can, and this is really important.
Making sure you develop and create the most amazing business website is so important, and there are such a lot of things that are going to help you with this. Make sure you do as much as possible to find the perfect balance here. You need to know what it takes to create the ideal website for your company, and these are some of the ideas that are going to help you to achieve this as much as possible.
Conclusion
There are plenty of e-commerce site builders. But few of them are continually evolving and keeping up with technological changes. Also, going forth, all sites need to be GDPR compliant but at a low cost. If one looks at every parameter, then as always, Shopify remains the obvious choice, closely followed by Magento.
Which one you will use ultimately depends on your resources and type of store. All of the builders mentioned above are capable and delivers an excellent value proposition.
