E-commerce is simply defined as commercial transactions performed electrically on Internet. When you buy or sell your products or services through Internet without using paper documents then it will be considered as E-commerce.
Types of E-commerce:
Business to Business (B2B)
Business to Consumer (B2C)
Consumer to Consumer (C2C)
Due to the advancement of technology many online stores has raised and the expectations are increasing day by day just not limited to easy set up. They were looking for a platform which gives a complete support such as Mobile friendliness, SEO set guidelines, Content marketing, Email support, chat support and many more.
Based on the factors and the usability of our business models we need to choose the right platform. If you are looking to build an Online store and don’t know which platform best suits your needs. Then here, I came up with the top most 5 platforms that helps most of the businesses.
Magento:
Magento is the best fit for high end e-commerce websites with high level of security. It offers many features such as Multi storefront, multi-currency support, multi-language support. It also scores good points on other features such as mobile friendliness, user friendly admin area, search engine optimization, easy navigation.
The price is bit high when compared to other platforms where community plan is available for free but enterprise plan price is based on client’s business model. If you choose enterprise plan you will get enhanced support and performance.
If you are looking for high-end business, then Magento is the best choice. But if your business is small then avoid it because it will kill more money.
The store setup is easy and it is the most popular ecommerce platform widely used. With ever changing needs and demands of the business owners, shopify is updating from time to time.
It also provides lot of templates where you can customize design as per the needs. It provides a friendly payment gateway support, quick page loading speed.
Considering SEO, shopify enables custom Meta Tags, Canonicalization issue fixation, preventing duplicate issues, Auto Sitemap generation making the website SEO friendly. Even if you don’t have technical knowledge you can easily make it Google friendly store.
Price structure varies depending on the needs, so if you are a small business enterprise you can choose Shopify to build your store online.
Squarespace is a fully loaded Ecommerce platform which is affordable and you can choose various templates with beautiful Layouts. Unlimited number of products can be uploaded to your online store and have full control over the inventory management showing different variants of same product.
Even though it doesn’t offer Search engine optimization and CRM but it is the best for small business owners.
WooCommerce (Plugin):
WordPress is an easy platform on which, one can easily add content, add products without any technical knowledge. Various plugins are available within wordpress where you need to install them but some of them are paid and some are free plugins. WooCommerce is a free plugin supported by WordPress. WooCommerce has an easy admin panel that a layman can understand and manage. You can install and manage blog for the website.
If you are not looking for a big online store, then you can choose WooCommerce.
It is same like Shopify but the built in features differs. Through BigCommerce you get a fully functional website, unlimited bandwidth and storage and can upload as many products as you wish.
Easy Setup and even people with no designing skills can work on it. But if you have the knowledge of HTML and CSS then you can crack beautiful designs with this platform.
Pricing starts from $30 per month to $80 per month. It has many features than its competitors. With more customization your store looks beautiful with BigCommerce.
If you have specific store needs, then one of the above platforms will best suit to your business. Choose the right platform and build a beautiful user friendly store.