eCommerce platforms allow you to set up an online shop quickly and easily from scratch, sell all your products or services, and handle marketing tasks such as sending email updates about special offers. There are many eCommerce platforms available for use today. The problem most budding eCommerce entrepreneurs have is picking out the right platform for their business. There’s plenty to choose from, and many claims to offer the same features. So which one should you go for? Here we will present the best eCommerce site builders to assist you quickly and easily run a profitable online store.
Why Are eCommerce Platforms Important for Branding?
If you are weighing on launching an online store, business branding for your business is an important factor that you will need to consider. Business branding is the marketing that you will be using to promote your business and your website. Branding helps you separate yourself from the competition when it comes to Internet marketing since no two web pages are the same. It makes it much more manageable for your customers to recognize who you are, what service you do and why they should buy product/service from you.
First and foremost, an eCommerce website acts as a store, a virtual storefront that serves as your store, where you can sell your products/services/retail items. It will reduce your operation costs since you don’t have to pay rent for a real-world storefront and allow you to build brand recognition and create trust with customers.
eCommerce platforms are responsible for building the value of your online business. Your top objective should be to get your visitors to become repeat customers (or buyers if you’re a reseller) and to help build the credibility of your name, products, services, and brand. Without branding, you won’t have any success on the Internet, and it could very well kill your business before it even gets started.
Best eCommerce platforms
1. Magento Commerce
Magento Commerce is one of the most famous eCommerce platforms used today. It is easy to use, flexible and provides extensive customer and admin support. The major problem that most online retailers face is how to integrate this platform into their business. Most people are surprised by the high level of customization that is available in Magento. Magento allows online retailers to develop engaging and merchandising experiences for customers. However, many online merchants question the use, functionality, cost, and overall expense of running such a small business on Magento Commerce.
It provides a robust platform to run an online store. It is easy to customize it for maximum user experience. However, some limitations include lack of interactivity with native code, inability to store and manage payment gateways, and integration with multiple language and database platforms. By following best practices and adopting best practices documented in the “best practices” section below, you can build an eCommerce site that meets all of your requirements and provides you with excellent customer service.
2. Shopify
As someone intending to build an eCommerce store or move your existing store into a different platform in the future, you may be pondering your alternatives. Shopify is a highly regarded and extensively used eCommerce platform, store creation and management system today. Shopify the most well-known eCommerce platform and has made a strong move into offering in recent days. It is a web-based application that allows you to create a creative online store with various eCommerce website design templates. You can customize templates to your best fit to online needs.
3. BigCommerce
In the world of eCommerce platforms, BigCommerce is among a young bunch, but it is also very popular. BigCommerce was founded by Jason Steele and David Freund at eCommerce development company Gravity Forms, where they have spent many years honing and building the software. Over the past several years, it has been an essential part of every eCommerce platform. In 2021, BigCommerce was sold to a web hosting company by Jason Steele. The primary goal was to provide a robust and versatile eCommerce platform for both small and large businesses.
The features found on the BigCommerce platform are many, but perhaps the most impressive is the multi-currency and multi-shipping capabilities. Online merchants and shop owners can easily manage their online business from all over the globe, no matter if they are in Europe, Japan, or even Australia. The company offers advanced transaction options, including credit card merchant services, PayPal integration, shopping cart functionality, and web optimization. The eCommerce features of BigCommerce have been widely praised and recommended by online sellers around the world.
4. WooCommerce
Since both platforms, Shopify and WooCommerce, offer almost the same features, their overall power in terms of helping online stores globally is mainly dependent on which platform is best for you. In this regard, both have their unique advantages and disadvantages to recommend to online marketers. The two platforms are quite similar in their power, yet each one has its own unique aspects that can make them less or more attractive to online marketers. As far as the authority is concerned, both WooCommerce and Shopify are more or less at par with each other. When it comes to SEO aspects, both WooCommerce is way ahead of the rest of the players as it has powered roughly half of the ranking pages of Google and Yahoo, which is quite an impressive feat.
The Endnote
It allows you to easily build a fully functional online store, manage your customers and products, and perform many marketing tasks, such as sending out newsletter messages and email campaigns. At the same time, it does cost less money to set up. The performance and quality of the themes and plug-ins make up for the initial purchase within just a few days. Most eCommerce sites built using the great platform are highly customized. It gives you total customization ability and the ability to fully personalize your store, making it unique and different from any other eCommerce site on the Internet.
Check out: Learn How to Set Up a Shopify Store in USA: 15 Minutes Tutorial