Top 10 Ecommerce Platforms Trending In 2024

Why Use An Ecommerce Platform?

No matter what business you do or what services you provide, an online platform to extend your reach to your customer base is a must. Fortunately, the eCommerce platforms help you build your website and give you a chance to build an online client base to increase your business horizon. Here are a few reasons why Ecommerce websites are beneficial:

Easy to Set-up: 

It is just easier to set up an online store using an eCommerce platform. You need not worry about the codes or hire professionals and spend a fortune for the same. eCommerce platforms are meant to provide an access and convenience to all the people even if they are beginners.

Customer Support: 

If something goes wrong with your site, or has any issues or bugs, a promising eCommerce platform’s help desk will help you find a solution quick and easy. It is always a good feeling to have someone’s back at the time of distress.

Assurance: 

If you’re online store/website is developed by a well-known eCommerce platform, customers can trust the legitimacy of your product/service easily as compared to an unknown source.

Know your receiver: 

For your online store to run successfully, it is very important to know your customers and these eCommerce platforms have analytics to help your business reach to the person in need of your product/service.

Top 10 Best Ecommerce Platforms

The web space is huge and has a lot of unnecessary clutter as well. To help you find better, here is a list of the top 10 eCommerce platforms to help you make a better decision.

WooCommerce 

Providing a scalable and flexible platform that is apt for small to medium businesses WooCommerce is one of the well-known free eCommerce platforms that allow millions of users worldwide to promote their product/service easily.

WooCommerce is a WordPress theme, so before you get into the specifics of WooCommerce, you need to set up a WordPress website using WordPress website themes. Buying these is an easy process as it has multiple secured payment option that you can use to buy your favourite theme. From bank transfer, credit card, check payment, PayPal, Stripe, and even Cash on Delivery, you can further extend the payment processors with add-ons.

Pros

• Begin with ease: You can begin using WordPress and WooCommerce free of cost to understand the basics to begin with.
• Multiple Features: With WooCommerce extensions and plugins available to add features you can get multiple features on your site as per your choice.
• Numerous Themes: there are numerous of Free and Paid WooCommerce themes available for you to keep your site distinguished and unique.
• Easy payment: You get multiple payment options that are convenient, making the entire process easy and hassle free.

Cons

• Central Support: It is a disadvantage when you do not get a central support or help for your queries.
• Extensions: You require multiple extensions to access many features.
• Added Costs: In WooCommerce for a premium plugin, theme, or hosting you do need to pay additionally.

While giving you multiple themes WooCommerce is an open-source eCommerce site that gives you themes for free to use for your product/service. You can later pay for your additional features or plugins as per your requirement. The price range may vary as per the choices you make. The more features you add, the more it will add into your costs. The features cannot be compared, as some may cost a few pennies whereas some might cost a lot more.

Magento

Also flexible and scalable Magento is a software built by eBay. Not so different from WordPress, Magento is a huge community where you can get themes, extensions, and add-on plugins that you want on your website. However, you do need to set up the domains and hosting by yourself.

Magento on its website claims on their site as the modern-day cloud eCommerce platform, which is a distinguished platform for analytics, advertisement, content creation, and commerce. There are an estimated 300,000 developers worldwide all dedicated to bringing the best of Magento services to you.

Pros

• In built SEO: SEO helps you increase ranking and usually you need to pay for such a feature, but you get it in built with Magento.
• In built Promotion tool: Just as SEO, with magento you also get free promotional tool feature that saves you extra cost.
• Flexible: It is very flexible. Hence you can change or add features as per requirements and choice.

Cons

• Expensive: The themes are expensive, if you are a new entrepreneur and want to start slow.
• Slow loading: The site has buffering issues, so if you want your site to be quick. This isn’t ideal for you.
• Coding Knowledge:  One who uses this site, requires to have an advanced development and coding knowledge.
• Inept for Newbie: If you are new to the world of ecommerce, this platform isn’t for you.
• Price Range:

Magento provides its users with three different installation options. The first one is the open source free version where you will need to take care of additional coding, hosting, and configuration all by yourself. The second and third are the Magento Commerce and Magento Cloud. These are the premium and advanced plans respectively, which are designed for larger scaled businesses. The cost of these two plans depends on the revenue of the online store, so it may vary from type to type.

Shopify

Shopify is quite popular and is known for its flexibility and easy to use features that are recommended especially for beginners. It is designed to fulfil the requirements of people who are willing to set up a new online business or want to start an online store.

Shopify is different from a lot of other platforms as it has the features like POS (point of sale) options and Hardware. It not only enables you to sell your product/service online but even at physical locations as long as you have an iOS or Android device. Currently powering over 1,000,000 active users, Shopify is no doubt another great eCommerce platform to opt for.

Pros

• Built-in Services: Speed and Hosting services are built-in, hence it makes it better.
• Multiple Add-ons: There are multiple extensions and add-ons available to add features.
• User-Friendly: Easy-to-follow options helps you get started much easily.
• Advanced Tools: You get advanced marketing tools to increase your SEO rankings.

Cons

• Initial setup: The initial process can be a hassle if you are a newbie.
• Blogs: Exporting blog posts is not easy
• Limited Templates: A user only gets 10 free templates to choose from.

At Shopify you get a 14-day free trial package for people who want to get a hand on the service before getting into it completely. However, they have 3 different plans ranging from $29 to $299 per month. The basic Shopify plan is ideally designed for people who are new to the online market and are exploring their ways into the world of web. The second plan by Shopify is aimed at any growing businesses and the third plan is the Advanced Shopify which is targeted at the larger scaled businesses. Each plan consists of unlimited product listing capacity, 24/7 support, and all of the features integrated for a smooth and optimal online experience.

Wix

With all the features you could need to get an online store started, Wix is a website builder that helps you do the same. The Wix server stores your eCommerce site but you can control the performance of the site as per your needs and requirements.

Wix gives you access to a range of awesome eCommerce based features making it a worthy eCommerce competitor on our list. It gives you options for hundreds of professional themes, secure hosting, stunning galleries,and more. It is also one of the best eCommerce platforms for SEO with its useful tools and one of the top website building software.

Pros

• Variety:  It has a wide range of online store templates, sales and marketing features to build your website.
• Mobile Friendly: Wix has easy to use mobile editor, which makes it handy.
• User Friendly: Easy to modify and user-friendly interface helps you keep up with the programming if you are a beginner.
• Video Uploads: It allows you to add product-based videos, keeping your viewers engaged to the product/service.
• Speed: Wix’s servers are known for its Fast loading speed and hosting.

Cons

• Lack of Tools: Wix has a poor inventory system with a lack of analytic tools.
• Limited storage: You get a limited bandwidth storage on files
• Advertisements: Cheaper plans have advertisements that could be a drawback on the receivers end.

Like most website builder, Wix also has a free planoption you can opt for if you want to try out their features first. The premium plans vary at price range as per the features, plugins and extentions you opt for. Connect Domain Plan is one of the plans that offer you highly limited storage and bandwidth. Then there is the betterCombo Plan that offers an advertisement-free experience as well as a free domain for a year. The Unlimited Plan offers unlimited bandwidth, better storage, and useful apps. Lastly, the VIP Planhas all of these features along with priority response and VIP support.

BigCommerce

A trustworthy eCommerce system, BigCommerce is an easy to access platform catered towards smaller businesses and enterprises. It is a paid service eCommerce solution that allows business owners to easily start an online store.

BigCommerce has a very high scalability and works amazingly for big enterprises as well as new or small scale businesses. It has the best possible conversion and marketing tools that aremnot only limited to email marketing, BigCommerce boasts an average growth rate of 28% for its merchants. For fast-growing businesses, BigCommerce is a worthy investment and one of the best platforms to get started with.

Pros

• No extra fees:  You do not need to pay any transaction fees even if you use a third-party payment gateway.
• Efficient tools: You get a good set of reporting tools integrated with all the plans.
• Built-in Features: You get built-in SEO and Product review features that you don’t need to add later.
• Easy Customisation:  It is easy to add custom fields and customize the design.

Cons

• Not Mobile-friendly: There are no mobile apps available, hence it isn’t handy.
• Expensive: Premium themes are expensive than usual.
• RSS Unavailable: The built-in blog does not include RSS feeds.

BigCommerce has mainly 4 premium plans that you can choose from. The first is the Standard Plan that offers all of the basic features including built-in features, various payment gateways, 24X7 live support, the point of scale, and much more. The second plan is the Plus Planthat includes additional features and is ideal for middle-range or growing businesses. The third plan is the Pro and Enterprise Plans that are aimed at higher scaled businesses. While these plans have a fixed payment price, the Enterprise plan can be fixed according to the services you require.

Squarespace

Squarespace creates beautiful looking websites without much hassle and is known for the ability to do the same. With real-time customization, Squarespace offers you with100+ templates to choose from and with a little learning at the beginning, you’ll be able to create a fancy, trendy and eye-catchy online store for your product/service.

It’s not just pretty looking but also has a powerful set of features to help your products and services. Even for users who are completely new to building websites will have no issues using this to create their website. With built-in tools and various integrations your payments, checkouts, and tax procedure also becomes easy.

Pros

• Attractive: You get gorgeous design options with beautiful eye-catchy templates.
• Reliable: Squarespace is quite reliable when it comes to uptime.
• Customer Support: in times of distress or issues they provide a High-quality support.
• Free Domain: You also get a Free Domain Name and SSL.

Cons

• Limited payment options: If you are not use to or have limited knowledge of multiple payment options then it might be a hassle.
• Lack of tools: Unlike other web builders they lack in powerful marketing tools.
• Limited Sources: Third-party integrations are limited
• Restrictions: Templates can be restrictive and may not reach a wide range of users.

Squarespace mainly offers you with three pricing plans with eCommerce features. The Business Plan which adds website analytics as well as eCommerce integration. The Basic Commerce Plan removes transaction fees and allows for advanced eCommerce features like store analytics, customer accounts, and merchandising tools. The Advanced Commerce Plan offers more features compared to the other two plans like abandoned shopping cart recovery as well as commerce APIs giving you a good user’s experience.

Volusion

If you are looking for a powerful set of features then Volusionis the right destination. It has everything you could need to start, manage, and grow your business with. While still fairly flexible, Volusion has been designed to be one of the best eCommerce platforms for small businesses.

Although, Volusion has some amazing features, it has limited design options. However, its real strength lies in the different useful tools it has at its disposal. These tools will help out significantly when it comes to analytics, inventory, and payment management. Volusion masters mainly on its eCommerce tools.

Pros

• Useful Tools: Volusion has an exemplary collection of eCommerce related tools
• User Friendly: It has a good user experience as it’s easy to use.
• Flexible payment: Multiple payment processing options makes it easy and flexible to use.
• Easy management: Collection and Management of data is easy, which especially helps beginners.

Cons

• Limited Designs: though it has amazing features but it definitely lacks in design options.
• Lack of features: There are lack of blogging features and limited third-party integrations.
• Not scalable: It isn’t scalable hence it is not flexible for businesses that are large.

Volusion is divided into four different eCommerce plans for you to choose from. Among the four plans the Personal Plan is the cheapest with limits like 100 products and 1 staff account. The Professional Plan has higher limits along with additional features. The third option is the Business Plan with features like unlimited products, priority customer support, and even integration with eBay and Amazon. The last being the Prime Plan has VIP features and its price is based on the total amount of the business that you can manage to sell online throughout a year.

3DCart

Not so popular but 3DCart is a surprise package and a powerful website builder that has a lot of satisfied business holders. With 100+ payment options this platform is quite powerful and has maintained its position even though it is not as popular as the above mentioned website builders.

Not only multiple payment getaways but 3DCart comes with a useful collection of marketing and automation tools to help businesses of all sizes. Moreover, you’ll also have 24X7 customer support, unlimited bandwidth, and absolutely no transaction fees of any kind.

Pros

• No Extra Fees: You need not pay any transaction fees for all the plans that you go for.
• Loyalty plans: If you like gift cards, daily deals, store credit, etc. then this is the one for you.
• 100+ Payment Options: Various payment options are definitely an advantage that needs multiple mentions.

Cons

• Customization Options: Lack of in-depth customisation options may create inconvenience.
• Limited Staff: Number of staff users matter and if there is a scarcity, you might want to give it a second thought.
• Time Consuming: It initially takes some time to get used to the interface.

3DCart has five types of plans and pricing options to help you set up your online store. The first being the Startup Store Plan that is suited for small businesses with its basic features. The second being  the Basic Store Plan is much more than basic and offers you with better customer engagement with daily deals and affiliate programs. The Third plan is The Plus Store plan which offers advanced marketing tools alongside special features for FedEx. Fourth is The Power Store Plan that has even more useful features like waiting lists, subscription packages, and much more. Finally, the fifth one is The Pro Store option which allows for automated sales and marketing with its powerful features.

OpenCart

One of the best rated eCommerce platforms available OpenCartis yet another free website builder. Just like WooCommerce it is open-sourced hence; you can modify it as per your convenience. On the other hand, OpenCart will require you to purchase the hosting, domain theme, and necessary extensions yourself.

OpenCart has in-depth customization and is highly extendible with multiple extensions. It is a platform that manages to remain very user-friendly and requires absolutely no coding experience. Combined with the low cost, this option is great for all kinds of small businesses and start-ups.

Pros

• Open-Source: OpenCart is completely free and open-sourced keeping it very useful for its users.
• Highly Customizable: It is highly customisable so you can extend and remove features as per your needs and requirements.
• Numerous themes: Options are never bad hence you get a lot of themes and extension choices to choose from.
• Flexible: It is very flexible in terms of its features, so it becomes easy to use especially for beginners.

Cons

• Requires extensions: It requires add-ons and extensions for many of the important features.
• Hosting: Hosting needs to be bought and managed separately.
• Un-scalable: Lacks scalability for large enterprises and businesses. 

As OpenCart is absolutely free of cost and open-sourced, you do not need to pay anything for the software itself. However, just like WooCommerce you may have to spend on configuration, hosting, and domain and can buy extensions and themes as per your requirement.

Lightspeed

Lightspeed is quite different from the other mentioned options as it was developed as an extension for the company’s point of sale (POS) system. However, Lightspeed has some great features for you in store which enables you to build a great hassle free online store. At Lightspeed you get everything from marketing to SEO, making it the one convenient stop for all your online store needs. The app store has many great options in terms of functionality.

Pros

• Easy Tracking: Easy Inventory and Tracking Management makes it convenient.
• Shipping: Lightspeed has partnership with shipping that helps in hassle-free shipping
• Useful tools: Tools for SEO and online marketing make the website easy to use
• Extendible: With plugins, extensions and apps it makes the website highly extendible.

Cons

• Expensive: It might be expensive for small businesses and startups.
• Lack of control: lack of control on the designs can be problematic.
• Requires apps: To use most of the features you do require apps.

Lightspeed is the most expensive options out of the most eCommerce frameworks mentioned above and has 4 types of different plans that help you build your online website/store. The first being The Starter Plan helps users to start selling online immediately. With the second plan i.e. The Standard Plan, you have the option to automate your accounting. And the third plan, The Advanced Plan, you engage better with your customers through rewards and other features. Finally is The Pro Plan which has a powerful analytics system.

Conclusion

All in all you may have multiple options but the final decision to choose the right plan and the website builder entire depends on your own choice and requirements. The above mentioned information is to help you choose the perfect WordPress website builder to set up your business. If you are a startup and are beginning into the world of the web then you have many options and facts mentioned above to help you make the right decision. We have mentioned the best eCommerce websites, their pros & cons and the different plans that are available to choose from in different price range. So you can keep in mind the price range and the features that they provide in order to make your final decision.

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