Blog

With the right e-Commerce platform, you can easily create an online store with the features and functionalities you need to drive visitors to your website, generate leads, and close transactions. Of course, with so many excellent options, selecting the best one can be difficult.

You will need an eCommerce platform whether you are starting a brand-new eCommerce business or looking for innovative ways to help expand your current business in the digital world.

Before jumping into deciding which platform is right for you, you must ask yourself the important questions – which ones are best tailored towards your business and objectives, which has the better functionality and customisability? It is critical to carefully consider the pros and cons of each option – conducting a pros and cons analysis for each option is always a good place to start.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at some of our team’s favourite eCommerce picks.

Shopify

Shopify, which has now become a household name, is currently dominating the eCommerce space. For good reason too, it generally ranks first in search results for eCommerce Platform queries. Let’s take a look at some of the platform’s quality features:

• Over a hundred awesome-looking themes are also optimised for mobile.
• Ultra-fast loading time.
• Easy user navigation and set-up with drag and drop interface.
• Over 1000 apps for functionality enhancement.
• Post-purchase 1-click upsells.
• Allows multiple channels and social selling.
• Round-the-clock help via 24/7 customer support.

Shopify could be a good fit if you plan on drop-shipping and advertising on Instagram or Facebook. It is also regarded as the most powerful eCommerce platform in the fashion industry.

Shopify, like everything else, is not without flaws. First and foremost, Shopify lacks SEO capabilities. The platform isn’t exactly designed to entice Google to rank your page at the top. Here are a few more things to consider:

• The checkout process isn’t customisable.
• Themes and apps can be costly.
• Advanced features require a web developer.

What Shopify lacks in SEO, it more than makes up for in dynamic functionality. Overall, it offers scalable solutions to assist you in building your online store and increasing sales!

BigCommerce

BigCommerce is another well-known industry player and is used by businesses in over 120 countries worldwide. In terms of scaling and growth, it’s a definite frontrunner. BigCommerce is the eCommerce platform of choice for small businesses, start-ups, and brick-and-mortar retailers. Its robust features and tools will provide your company with the boost it requires to sell like crazy. Here is how it is done:

• Easy to create and customisable interface.
• Comprehensive abandoned cart feature.
• Great for multi-channel selling.
• Strong SEO performance.
• Outstanding design themes.

Disclaimer: while it offers impressive themes, not many of them are free. BigCommerce’s most basic plan costs $29.95 per month and includes unlimited bandwidth, checkout codes, professional reporting, and gift cards.

Here, are a few other things you should note about BigCommerce:

• High-volume stores can be costly
• The abandonment cart feature is not included in the entry-level plan
• Does not feature 1-click selling and upsells.
• Inconsistent loading speed

Despite these disadvantages, BigCommerce is an effective platform for those wanting to take their business to the next level. If you’re anticipating fast business growth, BigCommerce is worth the investment.

Shift4Shop

Shift4Shop (used to be 3DCart) has been in the eCommerce business for 19 years and has over 22,000 online stores in its portfolio.

Although Shopify and BigCommerce overshadow Shift4Shop, its advanced shipping features are unparalleled – no API required.

Aside from the shipping features, the platform has a plethora of out-of-the-box features for blogging, email marketing, and more.

Here are a few things that make Shift4Shop special:

• Supports endless integrations
• Offers great business management tools
• Excellent analytics and reporting tools.

However, unlike Shopify and BigCommerce, Shift4Shop is not the best platform for inexperienced users. Beware technophobes: its onboarding video doesn’t make it any less complex.

How do its templates compare? Unfortunately, they don’t appear to have changed much in the past 19 years. Compared to the sleek and commercial-looking offerings of its competitors, Shift4Shop’s templates have a more industrial feel to them. Visually speaking, the platform is simply outdated.

Other drawbacks include:

• Absence of drag-and-drop functionality
• Customising pages is time-consuming
• Average customer support.

When it comes to pricing, the lowest plan costs just $19 which permits you to sell $50k worth of goods. And just like Shopify and BigCommerce, you can upgrade to higher plans as needed.

Despite its user-unfriendliness and retro themes, Shift4Shop is still a good option – particularly if you have advanced web development skills.

Square Online

Looking to sell an unlimited number of products on Instagram or your website with no monthly fees? We recommend that you look into Square Online.

It has a community forum and knowledge base, plus you can reach out to customer service via email chat, or phone.

So, why use Square Online? With all pricing plans (inclusion of the free version), you can:

• You can sell both digital and physical goods
• Accept donations
• Book appointments or sell event tickets
• Offer curb-side pickup
• Use inventory management tools for real-time syncing
• Send customers order status text alerts
• Can be integrated with more than 125 platforms
• Can be synced with Square POS

It has a similar structure to Weebly and is simple to set up and use (whether you are familiar with Weebly or not). Despite the lack of templates, the software will guide you through each design step and has an easy-to-use interface.

The main disadvantage of Square Online is that it has limited payment options, is not designed for high-volume businesses, and has no global sales.

Here are the other reasons why you should choose Square Online:

• No coding skills needed, easy to use
• You can sell unlimited products with no monthly fee
• It has multi-channel selling capabilities

Square Online is 100% free for 500MB of storage. Paid packages start at $12 per month when billed annually, making it the best affordable option for an eCommerce platform.

Weebly

Need a simple online store with built-in marketing automation? Weebly’s got you covered. It is a simple eCommerce platform with a drag-and-drop editing tool and HTML and CSS customisation tools.

Weebly offers three different pricing options, all of which include eCommerce support. However, due to significant eCommerce capabilities such as custom shopping carts, coupons, and inventory management, the Business Plan, and the Performance Plan are the ideal plans for managing an eCommerce web business.

Here’s why you should consider using Weebly:

• Great value for marketing automation
• Great value for money
• Allows you to upload products in bulk
• Simple dashboard and easy-to-use interface
•  Availability of a mobile app to help manage your business and print shipping labels
• Powerful email support tools.

Despite its numerous advantages, it does fall short in some respects. Also, if you intend to keep expanding your product range, keep in mind that Weebly charges a 3% transaction fee for each product sold.

Weebly has some drawbacks:

• You can only list up to 25 products.
• Some themes are not mobile-responsive.
• Rudimental inventory management tools.

Weebly remains an excellent option for start-up entrepreneurs who want to build their online store quickly without the assistance of a web developer – even without the flashy and sophisticated designs that other platforms offer.

To round it up, here are TeaElephant’s eCommerce platform recommendations according to your business type:

For small businesses: Shopify, BigCommerce, and Square Online

For beginners: Shopify and Weebly

For SEO and Marketing: BigCommerce

For drop-shipping: Shopify and BigCommerce

For local stores: Shopify and Weebly

For bigger businesses: BigCommerce

Additionally, here’s a useful graphic to refer to when evaluating eCommerce platforms:

There is no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to eCommerce platforms. The best option is ultimately determined by your organisation’s needs and goals.

Looking for an eCommerce platform that can help convert? Team Elephant has got your back. We take time to understand your business and its target audience and take care of all your web development needs.

Get in touch today.

www.elephantintheboardroom.com.au