The best eCommerce platform for your small business could give you the boost you need to reach your sales goals. Consider it the first step in your small business eCommerce strategy.
The following is a list of the best eCommerce platforms for small businesses. Be sure to pick the one that suits your business best!
Shopify - plug-and-play all-in-one package
The best eCommerce solution for small businesses is generally recognized as Shopify. Our complete site builder includes free tools and features that enable you to sell both online and offline, as well as through social commerce, third-party marketplaces, and dropshippers. You can use one of the more than 100 paid or free themes available for Shopify to build your store without knowing any code.
Unique Features of Shopify eCommerce Platform:
- Offers stunning themes that are responsive and simple to customize.
- Over 1,000,000 businesses trust the Shopify e-commerce platform.
- Provides flexibility and ease of usage
- There is no limit to the number of products you can sell on a Shopify site.
- You can handle orders and collect payments in person by using a POS (Point of Sale).
- Provides a range of platforms for product sales, including an online store, a Facebook shop, and Pinterest.
WooCommerce - eCommerce Solution
WooCommerce has transformed WordPress into a powerful online sales platform. What started as a simple blogging tool has now evolved into a full-fledged website builder, with the option of adding WooCommerce for eCommerce functionality.
WooCommerce is an open-source eCommerce platform that can be customized to fit your needs, whether you're a web design pro or just getting started. With over 6,000 third-party integrations to choose from, being a flexible eCommerce platform that offers a wide range of new features and functionality for your store.
Features of WooCommerce eCommerce Platform:
- Complete Customization
- Integrated blogs
- Product Categories that are easy to manage
- Attributes and Tags
- Product evaluation and ratings
- Classification and Filtering of Products
- Currency, Language, and Units of Measurement Customization
BigCommerce eCommerce Platform
BigCommerce is a fully functional and extremely strong eCommerce platform. Small businesses may find it to be daunting as a result. However, if you have plans for expansion or access to technical resources, BigCommerce may be the best platform for you.
Additionally, BigCommerce is best suited for large businesses, corporations, or enterprises that need specific, customizable solutions. Typically, these sized companies have more access to technical resources or the budget to bring on additional resources, which are both necessary when building and customizing an online store through the BigCommerce eCommerce platform.
It includes tools for multichannel selling on social media and outside marketplaces, as well as for foreign trade and SEO. It is also compatible with a variety of payment methods and provides extremely low (sometimes free) payment processing rates.
Squarespace
Because of its simple interface, Squarespace is another excellent eCommerce website builder for small enterprises. You don't need to be a tech expert to create an online store using Squarespace. Its easy-to-use templates, drag-and-drop tools, and reliable functionality make it one of the best eCommerce website builders for small businesses.
Squarespace eCommerce Platform gives you complete control over your website. You can manage your email lists, establish coupon offers, and configure shipping. It is now simple for you to exert total control over your website.
Features of Squarespace eCommerce Platform:
- Allows people to build stunning websites without any coding experience.
- Provides a large selection of templates and designs that may be altered to meet your unique needs.
- Provides recurring billing tools for subscription-based enterprises
Wix
Wix is an easy-to-use website builder with extra e-commerce-specific capabilities. E-commerce features such as order monitoring, online payments, multi-channel selling, and abandoned cart campaigns are available in paid plans. To track your eCommerce key performance indicators (KPIs), you need access to a premium package for analytics tracking.
Features of the Wix eCommerce Platform
- Create your professional logo in minutes.
- Add creative, handwritten graphics to liven up your website.
- Wix Bookings will help you find novel ways to market your services.
- Make use of the most cutting-edge SEO resources and techniques.
- Track and evaluate the performance of your website like never before.
Weebly
Weebly is powered and run by Square, and as a result, it is tightly integrated with the other Square-owned small company platforms. These include an inventory management system that is fully connected and secure online.
The eCommerce platform for small businesses offered by Weebly includes refined product search, optimized mobile checkout, order management and processing, and customizable shipping choices. Also, Weebly is undoubtedly one of the most straightforward eCommerce platforms in terms of capabilities, but it's easy to use and accessible so any new company can get going with it.
Features of Weebly eCommerce Platform:
- Extremely user-friendly and beginner-friendly0
- A large selection of responsive themes
- A large selection of integrated apps is available.
- Team collaboration and membership sections
- Very inexpensive
Square
Square started with a point-of-sale system for stores, but it has now added other business management capabilities to its product line. Square Online is one of those instruments. Square Online integrates well with other Square products and also supports Afterpay, mobile wallets, and other services.
You may choose from a variety of templates designed for retail, restaurants, non-profits, and more when creating an online storefront with Square. Square Online offers integrated payment processing for 0.9% plus 30 per transaction.
Features of Square eCommerce Platform
- Sell an infinite number of products on your website, Facebook, and Instagram.
- Integrated inventory management
- Free domain with purchased plans
- High-tier schemes with abandoned cart recovery
- Advanced reporting on top-tier plans
- Reduced processing speed for Premium plans
Key Benefits of eCommerce for Small Businesses & Entrepreneurs
The next-gen of eCommerce is driven by more and more small business entrepreneur taking their businesses online. eCommerce hosts are helping startup retailers to get a web presence and build their brands. Let's check out some key benefits of eCommerce in the retail industry.
1. Expansion of Online Business
Increased business reach is one of the most important benefits of using an e-commerce platform. When you have an internet presence, you can reach millions of people all over the world, but a physical-and-mortar store can only service a small market. With the availability of multiple shipping methods, it is now quite simple to serve consumers from any location.
2. Enhanced Commercial Revenue
Your customer base will grow as your company's reach expands, which will have a direct impact on the number of sales. As a result, it will increase your revenue. Increased revenue enables you to diversify your product offering or increase marketing expenditures to appeal to a wider audience.
3. Product Tracking Made Simple
Tracking items and inventories are time-consuming in a traditional corporate strategy. E-commerce, however, makes it simple to always be aware of the state of goods. This is a huge benefit for small shops that have historically struggled with stock management.
4. Automation of Product Delivery Services
Customer service concerning product shipment and delivery is the first thing that comes to mind whenever we consider transferring the business online or starting a new one digitally. Every function is managed with e-commerce. Today, several logistics and shipping facilities exist to send products throughout the globe as needed.
5. Utilization of commercial platforms
E-commerce makes it easier for small enterprises to promote their products to the world. A retailer of any size can use several commercial platforms to attract a wider audience and improve its visibility.
eCommerce Design Trends 2023
ECommerce businesses must stay up with changing consumer expectations and new strategies and technologies.
To help you get and stay ahead, we've compiled a list of the best eCommerce trends to watch in 2023. Take a look at this sector to determine what tactics you might want to use in your own company.
- Environment-friendly options for consumers to purchase goods
- Voice-activated shopping experiences
- Use of direct-to-consumer (DTC) business strategy
- Promotion of brands through social media sites like Instagram
- Interactive shopping and live selling
- Calls-to-action appears in shoppable
- Solving the issue of data privacy
- Shopping and marketing across multiple channels
- Online shopping with artificial intelligence
- Using AR/VR to provide more customized buying experiences
Difference Between B2B and B2C eCommerce Websites
Marketing encompasses a wide range of activities with the ultimate goal of increasing sales. Even though sales are the end goal of both B2B and B2C marketing strategies but these two business models are not the same. Let’s see what is the difference between B2B and B2C eCommerce Design Website.
- Business is transacted between companies in a B2B business model. Another business strategy is called business-to-consumer (B2C), where a company sells products directly to the customer.
- Business entities are the customers in business-to-business transactions, whereas consumers are the customers in business-to-consumer transactions.
- B2C is primarily concerned with the customer, and B2B is more concerned with the relationship with the business organizations.
- In B2B, business relationships are maintained for a long time, whereas in B2C, the relationship between buyer and supplier is temporary.
- B2B decision-making is completely thought out and analytical, but B2C decision-making is impulsive.
- B2B sales of goods are significant in quantity. In contrast, B2C only offers small amounts of goods.
- In B2B, Trust and a personal connection between business entities are the foundations for brand value creation. In contrast to B2C, where advertising and marketing increase brand value.
The Future of eCommerce
The eCommerce industry is on the rise and will change dramatically soon. It significantly alters client behavior, demands, and purchasing trends. Within the last 25 years, this industry has generated approximately $2 trillion in sales worldwide.
The e-commerce industry has had a spectacular rise in recent years. It significantly affected regular retailing. Additionally, the epidemic increased online spending by $183 billion in the previous year. And the ensuing years will see this trends continue.
Business-to-business (B2B) eCommerce is also expected to develop steadily in upcoming years. It's interesting to note that modern consumers choose online shopping over traditional brick-and-mortar stores simply because they can skip the long lines and annoying traffic. They can also read reviews and compare products before purchasing online. For this reason, business owners also design their marketing campaigns to attract more online traffic than foot traffic.
Conclusion
In summary, online shopping is the primary definition of eCommerce, even though it can also refer to other kinds of electronic commerce transactions, as well as the tools and activities that go along with them. Global eCommerce as a sector is expected to remain profitable as a source of obtaining online money. Amazon, Walmart, Alibaba, Wayfair, and eBay are examples of successful online retailers.
Online shops can also sell services, as well as physical and intangible goods. Customers who shop online can use a one-time purchase or subscription method to pay for the goods and services.
Whatever business model you select and whatever goods or services you want to sell, don't forget to pick the best eCommerce platform for your requirements. We sincerely hope that you will find this information helpful as you begin your online business.
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