10 Best Ecommerce Platforms Compared & Rated For 2024

Written by

Darren DeMatas

Updated

[show_reviewed_by_link]

Written by

Darren DeMatas

Updated

Reviewed By Our team of writers and content creators are experts in ecommerce and we fact-check every claim in our work to ensure it’s accurate and up-to-date. (Learn about our editorial guidelines.).

In addition to receiving commissions generated through affiliate marketing, we are able to fund our independent research and reviews at no extra cost to our readers. Learn more.

Our top ecommerce platforms are based on objective performance data, feature set and, value. Compare the best ecommerce website builders to find one that fits your needs. If you want to sell products online, you’ll find the right platform on this page.

Top Ecommerce Platforms

  • Shopify: Best for Startups, Multi-channel sales and Print On Demand
  • BigCommerce: Best Platform for Larger Stores, Enterprise
  • WooCommerce: Best For Content Driven Brands, SEO
  • Wix: Best Value For Smaller Stores

When you look at ecommerce software, it can be really hard to tell how seemingly minor differences in features and performance can have a major impact on your bottom line, but they can.

All vendors say they’re faster, more reliable, better geared for search engine optimization, PCI ready for credit cards, etc., than the competition. But what’s the reality?

Here is a brief explanation of how we got our results:

Objectively Choosing Sites From Each Platform

  • We used BuiltWith to find the 10 most popular ecommerce platforms
  • We created a filter to find active ecommerce sites running on each platform that spent at least $500 per month. This is a critical key difference between the original study. In the original study, we didn’t do this, and it created an unfair comparison. You can set up WooCommerce for super cheap compared to Shopify. If you are paying monthly for Shopify, you are more likely to be trying to market the site. So the previous study included under marketed (dead sites).
  • We pulled a giant spreadsheet for all the websites on each platform (ex. our Adobe Commerce list had 5K+ sites)
  • Used RAND function in Google Sheets to assign a random number to each row
  • Collected data on the first 100 websites on each platform (100 sites x 10 platforms = 1000 sites)

Collecting Data On the 1,000 Sites We Studied:
Used a team of 4 researchers (myself included) to collect data for each website

  • Load time from Pingdom
  • Mobile PageSpeed, Mobile UX and Mobile Friendliness From Google using URL Profiler
  • Ranking Data From Ahrefs

See our review methodology for more details.

The last thing I want is for you to customize your ecommerce site and load up your products only to have it running super slow. Or find out you need to spend an additional $399 a month to sync your inventory to Amazon and dropship products.

Best Ecommerce Platforms

We decided to compare the features, performance, ease of use, design & themes, and integrations of the top ecommerce platforms using real site data. You’ll learn which platform meets your needs, performs the best, and gives you value to dominate your niche.

From cool marketing features to drool-worthy SEO, multichannel functionality, and more. Compare these best ecommerce platforms.

Overall
User Ratings
Best For
Pricing
Pricing Based On
Value
Features
Customer Support
Integrations
Ease of Use
Shopify
Overall : 4.2
User Ratings :
2.0 (29 votes)
Best For : Drop shipping, print on demand, small stores, boutiques, brick and mortar.
Pricing : $29 - $299
Pricing Based On : Features, User Accounts, Transaction Fees
Value : 4.0
Features : 3.8
Customer Support :
Integrations : 4.6
Ease of Use : 4.9
BigCommerce
Overall : 4.3
User Ratings :
4.0 (35 votes)
Best For : Private label B2C businesses, larger inventories.
Pricing : $29 - $299
Pricing Based On : Features & Sales
Value : 4.0
Features : 3.9
Customer Support :
Integrations : 4.2
Ease of Use : 4.8
WooCommerce
Overall : 4.0
User Ratings :
4.0 (3 votes)
Best For : Content driven brands, small to medium stores.
Pricing : Free (Hosting Not Included)
Pricing Based On : Hosting, Features, Extensions
Value : 4.5
Features : 3.9
Customer Support :
Integrations : 4.1
Ease of Use : 3.3
Wix
Overall : 4.1
User Ratings :
3.0 (5 votes)
Best For : Print on demand, small stores, boutiques, brick and mortar.
Pricing : $23 - $49
Pricing Based On : Support, Storage & Features
Value : 5
Features : 3.7
Customer Support :
Integrations : 3.5
Ease of Use : 4.2

Additional Comparisons

1. Shopify

Product
Pros and Cons
Ratings
Fast Loading & Easy To Use
Excels With Multichannel Sales
1-Click Selling Apps Available
Weak at SEO/Content Marketing
Checkout Not Customizable
Apps Are Expensive
Value 4.0
Features 3.8
Integrations 4.6
Ease of Use 4.9
4.2
Overall Score
User Rating
2.7

Shopify is the best platform at selling. If you plan to dropship, rely on Facebook Ads or Instagram marketing – this is the best choice. I wouldn’t use Shopify if I was going to rely on SEO. I also wouldn’t use Shopify if I were creating a large store with many products. I’d use BigCommerce instead.

Shopify is slightly better in several areas over BigCommerce, such as post-purchase 1-click upsells – but far behind in terms of performance. I’ve used Shopify on my site before and have worked with many Shopify sites in the past, but I like WordPress sites better because I have an affiliate revenue model in addition to products.

Shopify offers three pricing plans, ranging from $39 to $399/month. Customers who commit to one year upfront are eligible for a 10% discount. If you want to save even more, commit to 24 months for a 20% discount. All plans come with a free trial.

All plans feature unlimited products, unlimited bandwidth, and SSL encryption. You also get access to discount codes and abandoned cart recovery. This is a nice change since abandoned cart recovery was only available on the higher two tiers in the past. If you’re looking for one-click upsells, you’ll need a paid app for that.

If you want carrier-calculated shipping (integrated with your third-party shipping service) for live and up-to-date shipping rates at the time of order, you’ll need to upgrade to the Advanced Shopify Plan for $399/month.

Shopify Features and Plans

1-Click Upsells
Landing Page Builder
Abandoned Cart Email
Digital Products
Personalized Products
Product Export/Import
Product Search
Ratings & Reviews
Real Time Shipping Rates/Tracking
Reward Points
SEO Tools
Subscription/Recurring
Zoomable Product Images
Upselling & Cross Selling
Basic Shopify $39/month
1-Click Upsells :
Landing Page Builder :
Abandoned Cart Email :
Digital Products :
Personalized Products :
Product Export/Import :
Product Search :
Ratings & Reviews :
Real Time Shipping Rates/Tracking :
Reward Points :
SEO Tools :
Subscription/Recurring :
Zoomable Product Images :
Upselling & Cross Selling :
Basic Shopify $105/month
1-Click Upsells :
Landing Page Builder :
Abandoned Cart Email :
Digital Products :
Personalized Products :
Product Export/Import :
Product Search :
Ratings & Reviews :
Real Time Shipping Rates/Tracking :
Reward Points :
SEO Tools :
Subscription/Recurring :
Zoomable Product Images :
Upselling & Cross Selling :
Advanced Shopify $399/month
1-Click Upsells :
Landing Page Builder :
Abandoned Cart Email :
Digital Products :
Personalized Products :
Product Export/Import :
Product Search :
Ratings & Reviews :
Real Time Shipping Rates/Tracking :
Reward Points :
SEO Tools :
Subscription/Recurring :
Zoomable Product Images :
Upselling & Cross Selling :

It’s easy to set up the online store with Shopify’s drag-and-drop interface. Most beginners to ecommerce website development can get the hang of it in a few minutes.

They also have the Shopify POS for simple brick-and-mortar stores looking to take payments via the mobile app. Complex stores can use it as well. The point of sale system makes it to manage your payment process and handle PCI compliance.

Like everything else, they have downsides. The not-too-bad one is that they have just 10 free themes right now. The paid themes hover around $100 to $180.

Shopify offers a wide variety of apps and integrations. Using these, you can connect your store with print-on-demand providers, dropshipping suppliers, fulfillment centers, and more. You can use apps to manage products and inventory, streamline your operations, generate more traffic, optimize your conversion rates, etc.

While there are free apps, many come at an additional monthly cost on top of your Shopify plan. These costs can add up quickly, so choose apps with care.

You’ll need a paid app if you want to add review snippet structured data or user-generated content automation. But dropshipping integration and print-on-demand integrations are available for free. Shopify also integrates well with Amazon.

Shopify Integrations and Plans

Amazon 2 Way Sync
Amazon Checkout
Amazon FBA Integration
Fulfillment Center Integration
Drop Shipping Integration
Ebay 2-Way Sync
Facebook Sync
Google Ecommerce Analytics
Google Product Data Feed
Review Snippet Structured Data
Email Marketing Automation
Paypal Checkout
Printing On Demand Integration
USPS Integration
WordPress Integration
User Generated Content Automation
Basic Shopify $39/month
Amazon 2 Way Sync :
Amazon Checkout :
Amazon FBA Integration :
Fulfillment Center Integration :
Drop Shipping Integration :
Ebay 2-Way Sync :
Facebook Sync :
Google Ecommerce Analytics :
Google Product Data Feed :
Review Snippet Structured Data :
Email Marketing Automation :
Paypal Checkout :
Printing On Demand Integration :
USPS Integration :
WordPress Integration :
User Generated Content Automation :
Basic Shopify $105/month
Amazon 2 Way Sync :
Amazon Checkout :
Amazon FBA Integration :
Fulfillment Center Integration :
Drop Shipping Integration :
Ebay 2-Way Sync :
Facebook Sync :
Google Ecommerce Analytics :
Google Product Data Feed :
Review Snippet Structured Data :
Email Marketing Automation :
Paypal Checkout :
Printing On Demand Integration :
USPS Integration :
WordPress Integration :
User Generated Content Automation :
Advanced Shopify $399/month
Amazon 2 Way Sync :
Amazon Checkout :
Amazon FBA Integration :
Fulfillment Center Integration :
Drop Shipping Integration :
Ebay 2-Way Sync :
Facebook Sync :
Google Ecommerce Analytics :
Google Product Data Feed :
Review Snippet Structured Data :
Email Marketing Automation :
Paypal Checkout :
Printing On Demand Integration :
USPS Integration :
WordPress Integration :
User Generated Content Automation :

The big disadvantage they have is SEO. Weak ranking performance highlights one of my concerns with their SEO. If SEO is super important, you may want to find an alternative.

Also, they have a rigid URL structure; you cannot change sections of it. I’ve seen many strange unstructured URLs in Shopify sites well beyond the /products/, /pages/, and /collections/ slug restrictions. I also noticed during our research that websites using Shopify have weak ranking. In terms of SEO, Shopify is very middle of the pack at best.

Finally, they charge transaction fees if you are not using Shopify Payments. And no one likes those. Then again, Shopify Payments is a solid option.

Shopify Pros

  • Lighting fast load time
  • Super easy to set up
  • Lots of certified partners to help you
  • 1-Click selling
  • Allows multiple channel and social selling
  • Great themes with varied designs

Shopify Cons

  • Rated poorly in SEO in consecutive studies.
  • Unable to customize the checkout process
  • Apps can add up and become costly
  • Need a developer for advanced features

2. BigCommerce

Product
Pros and Cons
Ratings
BigCommerce
BigCommerce
Try For Free Review
Flexible and scalable.
Excels with multi-channel selling.
Strong SEO Performance.
Inconsistent loading speed.
High volume stores pay more.
No 1-Click Selling
Value 4.0
Features 3.9
Integrations 4.2
Ease of Use 4.8
Payments & Security 5.0
4.3
Overall Score
User Rating
4.8

BigCommerce is the best overall ecommerce platform. Its robust product search engine makes it ideal for larger retail brands. It’s also a good choice for people who want to start an ecommerce store, or who have a brick-and-mortar store and want to expand their operations to include online orders. Its available tools make it possible for any niche or industry to be successful.

The interface allows you to customize your online shop without knowing how to code by using any customizable templates to design your store, sell and market your products. It’s aimed at those without so many web dev skills, but it also allows tech-savvy people to tweak the HTML and CSS for more control over the web design. Its headless ecommerce structure allows for maximum customization for larger companies, as well.

As for pricing, the lowest BigCommerce Essentials plan costs $29.95/month. Other Bigcommerce plans are on par with Shopify pricing, costing $79.95 and $299.95/month, respectively. Some goodies like discount codes, gift cards, unlimited bandwidth, and professional reporting come along. However, you don’t get a custom SSL or abandoned cart saver, but it’s still really good for simple stores not getting sales worth more than $50k per year. As the plan goes higher, so does the sales limit. All plans come with a free trial, and you’ll get a 10% discount on annual plans.

BigCommerce Features and Plans

1-Click Upsells
Landing Page Builder
Abandoned Cart Email
Digital Products
Personalized Products
Product Export/Import
Product Search
Ratings & Reviews
Real Time Shipping Rates/Tracking
Reward Points
SEO Tools
Subscription/Recurring
Zoomable Product Images
Upselling & Cross Selling
Standard $29/month.
1-Click Upsells :
Landing Page Builder :
Abandoned Cart Email :
Digital Products :
Personalized Products :
Product Export/Import :
Product Search :
Ratings & Reviews :
Real Time Shipping Rates/Tracking :
Reward Points :
SEO Tools :
Subscription/Recurring :
Zoomable Product Images :
Upselling & Cross Selling :
Plus $79/month.
1-Click Upsells :
Landing Page Builder :
Abandoned Cart Email :
Digital Products :
Personalized Products :
Product Export/Import :
Product Search :
Ratings & Reviews :
Real Time Shipping Rates/Tracking :
Reward Points :
SEO Tools :
Subscription/Recurring :
Zoomable Product Images :
Upselling & Cross Selling :
Pro $299/month.
1-Click Upsells :
Landing Page Builder :
Abandoned Cart Email :
Digital Products :
Personalized Products :
Product Export/Import :
Product Search :
Ratings & Reviews :
Real Time Shipping Rates/Tracking :
Reward Points :
SEO Tools :
Subscription/Recurring :
Zoomable Product Images :
Upselling & Cross Selling :

Like Shopify, BigCommerce has a large app marketplace with a wide selection of free apps.  You can use apps to handle email marketing, manage an affiliate program, and more. But, those free apps can be misleading since they’re free to install but require paid subscriptions to the services you’re using.

For example, if you want to add a customer loyalty program to your store, you can add the “free” integration, but it won’t function unless you’re subscribed to the app’s service and paying a monthly fee. You could spend anywhere from $59 to $599/month depending on which plan you choose – and that’s in addition to your BigCommerce plan fees.

You’ll need to invest in paid apps to offer personalized products, subscriptions, recurring billing, and upselling/cross-selling.

If you add multiple free apps requiring paid subscriptions, you could easily pay thousands a month to keep your store running.

BigCommerce Integrations and Plans

Amazon 2 Way Sync
Amazon Checkout
Amazon FBA Integration
Fulfillment Center Integration
Drop Shipping Integration
Ebay 2-Way Sync
Facebook Sync
Google Ecommerce Analytics
Google Product Data Feed
Review Snippet Structured Data
Email Marketing Automation
Paypal Checkout
Printing On Demand Integration
USPS Integration
WordPress Integration
User Generated Content Automation
Standard $29/month.
Amazon 2 Way Sync :
Amazon Checkout :
Amazon FBA Integration :
Fulfillment Center Integration :
Drop Shipping Integration :
Ebay 2-Way Sync :
Facebook Sync :
Google Ecommerce Analytics :
Google Product Data Feed :
Review Snippet Structured Data :
Email Marketing Automation :
Paypal Checkout :
Printing On Demand Integration :
USPS Integration :
WordPress Integration :
User Generated Content Automation :
Plus $79/month.
Amazon 2 Way Sync :
Amazon Checkout :
Amazon FBA Integration :
Fulfillment Center Integration :
Drop Shipping Integration :
Ebay 2-Way Sync :
Facebook Sync :
Google Ecommerce Analytics :
Google Product Data Feed :
Review Snippet Structured Data :
Email Marketing Automation :
Paypal Checkout :
Printing On Demand Integration :
USPS Integration :
WordPress Integration :
User Generated Content Automation :
Pro $299/month.
Amazon 2 Way Sync :
Amazon Checkout :
Amazon FBA Integration :
Fulfillment Center Integration :
Drop Shipping Integration :
Ebay 2-Way Sync :
Facebook Sync :
Google Ecommerce Analytics :
Google Product Data Feed :
Review Snippet Structured Data :
Email Marketing Automation :
Paypal Checkout :
Printing On Demand Integration :
USPS Integration :
WordPress Integration :
User Generated Content Automation :

There’s a broad community of designers and developers. The partner directory helps you find experts for an extra hand.


I love BigCommerce themes; you will see advanced, and buyer-centric templates in the store. However, only 12 themes are free. You’ll pay anywhere from $150 to $300 for a premium one.

Pros

  • Flexible and scalable
  • Excels with multi-channel selling and order management
  • Strong SEO Performance
  • Fantastic Theme Designs
  • Comprehensive abandoned cart feature

Cons

  • Inconsistent speeds in consecutive studies
  • Gets expensive for high volume stores
  • Cart abandonment isn’t on entry plan
  • No 1-click Selling/Upsells

3. Wix

Product
Pros and Cons
Ratings
Tons of Free, Amazing Themes
Simple to Use and Set Up
Includes Marketing Automation
Poor SEO Performance
Weak Upselling Capabilities
Weak Integration with Amazon
Value 5
Features 3.7
Integrations 3.5
Ease of Use 4.2
4.1
Overall Score
User Rating
3.4

Wix ecommerce has come a long way in a few years. When I first started writing ecommerce platform reviews, Wix wasn’t even on my list. Once they got added to my list, I gave them a really poor rating and would not recommend them.

Now, Wix is a major force in the ecommerce space and delivers amazing value for solopreneurs and small ecommerce businesses. Wix’s ecommerce features have evolved drastically in a few years. They now offer multi-channel integration, abandoned cart recovery, dropship, and print-on-demand capabilities.

Wix offers three plans for Business and ecommerce. Opting for a standard website plan will not get you the features you need for an online store. Business Basic is $27/month, Business Unlimited is $32/month, and Business VIP is $59/month.

The plans differ in the amount of storage space and video hours. With the two basic plans, you get 50 GB and 100 GB of storage space, with 5 and 10 hours of video. The top-tier plan includes unlimited storage, unlimited video hours, and customized reports.

All plans include a custom domain (free for one year), customer accounts, unlimited products, abandoned cart recovery, the ability to sell on social channels, and ad vouchers.

If you want to sell on marketplaces, sell in multiple currencies, have product reviews, use dropshipping with Modalyst, automate sales tax, or use advanced shipping, you’ll need to upgrade to either Business Unlimited or Business VIP. Business VIP also includes a loyalty program by Smile.io.

In previous years, they’ve had significant issues with SEO. Few were resolved; some, like the short extra string to the URLs of blog posts and product pages, still remain. That’s not ideal for Ecommerce SEO, especially for large ecommerce businesses.

Wix Features and Plans

1-Click Upsells
Landing Page Builder
Abandoned Cart Email
Digital Products
Personalized Products
Product Export/Import
Product Search
Ratings & Reviews
Real Time Shipping Rates/Tracking
Reward Points
SEO Tools
Subscription/Recurring
Zoomable Product Images
Upselling & Cross Selling
Business Basic $27/month
1-Click Upsells :
Landing Page Builder :
Abandoned Cart Email :
Digital Products :
Personalized Products :
Product Export/Import :
Product Search :
Ratings & Reviews :
Real Time Shipping Rates/Tracking :
Reward Points :
SEO Tools :
Subscription/Recurring :
Zoomable Product Images :
Upselling & Cross Selling :
Business Unlimited $32/month
1-Click Upsells :
Landing Page Builder :
Abandoned Cart Email :
Digital Products :
Personalized Products :
Product Export/Import :
Product Search :
Ratings & Reviews :
Real Time Shipping Rates/Tracking :
Reward Points :
SEO Tools :
Subscription/Recurring :
Zoomable Product Images :
Upselling & Cross Selling :
Business VIP $59/month
1-Click Upsells :
Landing Page Builder :
Abandoned Cart Email :
Digital Products :
Personalized Products :
Product Export/Import :
Product Search :
Ratings & Reviews :
Real Time Shipping Rates/Tracking :
Reward Points :
SEO Tools :
Subscription/Recurring :
Zoomable Product Images :
Upselling & Cross Selling :

As you grow, you might need to switch because aside from the limited features, the storage space is 20GB, and if you are dealing with lots of heavy digital products or other materials, that space might not do.

Wix has its own app market that allows you to extend your store’s functionality. Some apps are free, while others are free to install and require a monthly subscription to the app’s service. Apps are categorized as Marketing, Sell Online, Services & Events, Media & Content, Design Elements, and Communication. 

There’s a selection of apps made by Wix to help you with things like booking appointments, selling event tickets, live chat, blogging, and more. You’ll need paid apps to handle dropshipping and fulfillment center integrations, but you can add print-on-demand integrations for free. Wix doesn’t integrate with Amazon Checkout or Amazon FBA.

Wix Integrations and Plans

Amazon 2 Way Sync
Amazon Checkout
Amazon FBA Integration
Fulfillment Center Integration
Drop Shipping Integration
Ebay 2-Way Sync
Facebook Sync
Google Ecommerce Analytics
Google Product Data Feed
Review Snippet Structured Data
Email Marketing Automation
Paypal Checkout
Printing On Demand Integration
USPS Integration
WordPress Integration
User Generated Content Automation
Business Basic $27/month
Amazon 2 Way Sync :
Amazon Checkout :
Amazon FBA Integration :
Fulfillment Center Integration :
Drop Shipping Integration :
Ebay 2-Way Sync :
Facebook Sync :
Google Ecommerce Analytics :
Google Product Data Feed :
Review Snippet Structured Data :
Email Marketing Automation :
Paypal Checkout :
Printing On Demand Integration :
USPS Integration :
WordPress Integration :
User Generated Content Automation :
Business Unlimited $32/month
Amazon 2 Way Sync :
Amazon Checkout :
Amazon FBA Integration :
Fulfillment Center Integration :
Drop Shipping Integration :
Ebay 2-Way Sync :
Facebook Sync :
Google Ecommerce Analytics :
Google Product Data Feed :
Review Snippet Structured Data :
Email Marketing Automation :
Paypal Checkout :
Printing On Demand Integration :
USPS Integration :
WordPress Integration :
User Generated Content Automation :
Business VIP $59/month
Amazon 2 Way Sync :
Amazon Checkout :
Amazon FBA Integration :
Fulfillment Center Integration :
Drop Shipping Integration :
Ebay 2-Way Sync :
Facebook Sync :
Google Ecommerce Analytics :
Google Product Data Feed :
Review Snippet Structured Data :
Email Marketing Automation :
Paypal Checkout :
Printing On Demand Integration :
USPS Integration :
WordPress Integration :
User Generated Content Automation :

It’s beginner friendly. Of all the top website builders that I’ve dealt with, Wix topped most for on-page customer support while creating the store.

You can drag and drop elements to add cool videos, and functionality, and create the website you want. They have over 500 themes of which 72 are free. Unfortunately, you’re stuck with whatever theme you chose at the time of publishing your site except if you used their ADI.

Pros

  • Tons of free amazing themes
  • Really simple to use and set up
  • On-page support for numerous needs
  • 72 free themes

Cons

  • Trying hard to fight a bad SEO reputation. Made improvements, but tested very poorly.
  • Many sites were not secured
  • Lacks upselling features and advanced automation
  • Difficult to fully customize template

4. ShopWired

Product
Pros and Cons
Ratings
ShopWired
ShopWired
Try For Free Review
Affordably priced
Easy to use
Nice B2B features
Product and sales limits
Limited customization
Extensions may need coding
Overall 4.3
Value 5
Features 4.6
Integrations 3.6
Performance 4.3
Design Themes 4.3
4.3
Overall Score
User Rating
4.3

ShopWired is becoming one of the most popular ecommerce platforms. It serves customers across the globe, and ranks high on our list in terms of features, performance, ease of use, and more.

Shopwired offers five plans, ranging from $29.95/month to $499.95/month. All plans come with a 14-day free trial. Committing to annual billing will save you 20% on your chosen plan.

All plans include 1-click upsells, digital products, personalized products, product export and import, and more. Many of the features that require a paid add-on with Shopify and BigCommerce, like abandoned cart recovery and ratings and reviews, are available via free add-ons with ShopWired.

ShopWired Features and Plans

1-Click Upsells
Landing Page Builder
Abandoned Cart Email
Digital Products
Personalized Products
Product Export/Import
Product Search
Ratings & Reviews
Real Time Shipping Rates/Tracking
Reward Points
SEO Tools
Subscription/Recurring
Zoomable Product Images
Upselling & Cross Selling
Pro
1-Click Upsells :
Landing Page Builder :
Abandoned Cart Email :
Digital Products :
Personalized Products :
Product Export/Import :
Product Search :
Ratings & Reviews :
Real Time Shipping Rates/Tracking :
Reward Points :
SEO Tools :
Subscription/Recurring :
Zoomable Product Images :
Upselling & Cross Selling :
Advanced
1-Click Upsells :
Landing Page Builder :
Abandoned Cart Email :
Digital Products :
Personalized Products :
Product Export/Import :
Product Search :
Ratings & Reviews :
Real Time Shipping Rates/Tracking :
Reward Points :
SEO Tools :
Subscription/Recurring :
Zoomable Product Images :
Upselling & Cross Selling :
Premium
1-Click Upsells :
Landing Page Builder :
Abandoned Cart Email :
Digital Products :
Personalized Products :
Product Export/Import :
Product Search :
Ratings & Reviews :
Real Time Shipping Rates/Tracking :
Reward Points :
SEO Tools :
Subscription/Recurring :
Zoomable Product Images :
Upselling & Cross Selling :
Enterprise
1-Click Upsells :
Landing Page Builder :
Abandoned Cart Email :
Digital Products :
Personalized Products :
Product Export/Import :
Product Search :
Ratings & Reviews :
Real Time Shipping Rates/Tracking :
Reward Points :
SEO Tools :
Subscription/Recurring :
Zoomable Product Images :
Upselling & Cross Selling :

Shopwired has many apps and integrations to choose from. Many free extensions include fulfillment center integrations, email marketing automation, and user-generated content automation. The only thing it’s missing is integration with Amazon, WordPress, and USPS.

That said, you may need coding experience (or to hire someone to help you) to install some of the extensions.

ShopWired Integrations and Plans

Amazon 2 Way Sync
Amazon Checkout
Amazon FBA Integration
Fulfillment Center Integration
Drop Shipping Integration
Ebay 2-Way Sync
Facebook Sync
Google Ecommerce Analytics
Google Product Data Feed
Review Snippet Structured Data
Email Marketing Automation
Paypal Checkout
Printing On Demand Integration
USPS Integration
WordPress Integration
User Generated Content Automation
Pro
Amazon 2 Way Sync :
Amazon Checkout :
Amazon FBA Integration :
Fulfillment Center Integration :
Drop Shipping Integration :
Ebay 2-Way Sync :
Facebook Sync :
Google Ecommerce Analytics :
Google Product Data Feed :
Review Snippet Structured Data :
Email Marketing Automation :
Paypal Checkout :
Printing On Demand Integration :
USPS Integration :
WordPress Integration :
User Generated Content Automation :
Advanced
Amazon 2 Way Sync :
Amazon Checkout :
Amazon FBA Integration :
Fulfillment Center Integration :
Drop Shipping Integration :
Ebay 2-Way Sync :
Facebook Sync :
Google Ecommerce Analytics :
Google Product Data Feed :
Review Snippet Structured Data :
Email Marketing Automation :
Paypal Checkout :
Printing On Demand Integration :
USPS Integration :
WordPress Integration :
User Generated Content Automation :
Premium
Amazon 2 Way Sync :
Amazon Checkout :
Amazon FBA Integration :
Fulfillment Center Integration :
Drop Shipping Integration :
Ebay 2-Way Sync :
Facebook Sync :
Google Ecommerce Analytics :
Google Product Data Feed :
Review Snippet Structured Data :
Email Marketing Automation :
Paypal Checkout :
Printing On Demand Integration :
USPS Integration :
WordPress Integration :
User Generated Content Automation :
Enterprise
Amazon 2 Way Sync :
Amazon Checkout :
Amazon FBA Integration :
Fulfillment Center Integration :
Drop Shipping Integration :
Ebay 2-Way Sync :
Facebook Sync :
Google Ecommerce Analytics :
Google Product Data Feed :
Review Snippet Structured Data :
Email Marketing Automation :
Paypal Checkout :
Printing On Demand Integration :
USPS Integration :
WordPress Integration :
User Generated Content Automation :

One area where ShopWired really excels is the B2B features it offers. It makes it easy for store owners to create trade accounts, credit accounts, bulk discounts, and a quote request system.

Performance wise, ShopWired is at the top of the industry with BigCommerce. Our data found that the average page load speed is 1.38 seconds, making it among the fastest of all the platforms we tested. Desktop speeds are blazing fast, but mobile devices have room for improvement. That’s the only area where ShopWired starts to fall short.

Pros

  • Incredibly fast load time
  • Really simple to use and set up
  • Custom theme design service available
  • Great for B2B

Cons

  • Average SEO performance
  • Some apps and extensions require coding for installation
  • Doesn’t work with Amazon

5. Shift4Shop

Product
Pros and Cons
Ratings
Shift4Shop
Shift4Shop
Try For Free Review
Better Blog Feature Than Shopify
Tons Of Integrations
Great Business Management Tools
Templates Feel Dated
Negative Reviews On Support
Potential Issues Upgrading
Overall 3.9
Value 4
Features 3.8
Integrations 4.1
Performance 3.0
Design Themes 4.3
3.9
Overall Score
User Rating
2.2

Since its release to the public in 2001, 3dcart (now Shift4Shop) has served over 22,000 online businesses with clientele including PCMag. They have some practical features like unlimited storage and no transaction fees. You can also use their POS, and they support multi-channel selling.

Shift4Shop doesn’t do as well as BigCommerce and Shopify despite being older than they are and the reason is clear. It’s not for beginners. Although there is a nice onboarding video when you log into your dashboard, the whole operation is hard to figure out; the builder is not very visually appealing.

Shift4Shop recently revamped their pricing model. Now, customers can get access to the platform completely free if they process at least $500 in sales transactions per month. For merchants who aren’t quite there yet, it’s just $29/month with PayPal. The plan includes various features, such as:

  • Single-page checkout
  • Customer relationship management (CRM)
  • Product comparison
  • Product reviews
  • Purchase order module for B2B
  • Digital downloads
  • Real-time shipping rates and shipping labels
  • Tax rate calculator
  • Inventory control

Since they’ve switched to one core plan, it still appears they still lack abandoned cart recovery and one-click upsells.

Shift4Shop Features and Plans

1-Click Upsells
Landing Page Builder
Abandoned Cart Email
Digital Products
Personalized Products
Product Export/Import
Product Search
Ratings & Reviews
Real Time Shipping Rates/Tracking
Reward Points
SEO Tools
Subscription/Recurring
Zoomable Product Images
Upselling & Cross Selling
Startup $19/month
1-Click Upsells :
Landing Page Builder :
Abandoned Cart Email :
Digital Products :
Personalized Products :
Product Export/Import :
Product Search :
Ratings & Reviews :
Real Time Shipping Rates/Tracking :
Reward Points :
SEO Tools :
Subscription/Recurring :
Zoomable Product Images :
Upselling & Cross Selling :
Basic $29/month
1-Click Upsells :
Landing Page Builder :
Abandoned Cart Email :
Digital Products :
Personalized Products :
Product Export/Import :
Product Search :
Ratings & Reviews :
Real Time Shipping Rates/Tracking :
Reward Points :
SEO Tools :
Subscription/Recurring :
Zoomable Product Images :
Upselling & Cross Selling :
Plus $79/month
1-Click Upsells :
Landing Page Builder :
Abandoned Cart Email :
Digital Products :
Personalized Products :
Product Export/Import :
Product Search :
Ratings & Reviews :
Real Time Shipping Rates/Tracking :
Reward Points :
SEO Tools :
Subscription/Recurring :
Zoomable Product Images :
Upselling & Cross Selling :
Pro $229/month
1-Click Upsells :
Landing Page Builder :
Abandoned Cart Email :
Digital Products :
Personalized Products :
Product Export/Import :
Product Search :
Ratings & Reviews :
Real Time Shipping Rates/Tracking :
Reward Points :
SEO Tools :
Subscription/Recurring :
Zoomable Product Images :
Upselling & Cross Selling :

There are more than 100 free themes to choose from, and if you have an existing website, you can use Shift4Shop with it. 

Shift4Shop has its own App Store to handle integrations, though it includes many built-in integrations, too. Online retailers are automatically set up for credit card payments through PayPal or Shift4. Marketing integrations include Google, Facebook, MailChimp, Aweber, and Houzz.

You’ll need to invest in a paid app if you want Amazon 2-way sync, Amazon FBA integration, or fulfillment center integration. POD integration also comes at an additional cost.

Shift4Shop Integrations and Plans

Amazon 2 Way Sync
Amazon Checkout
Amazon FBA Integration
Fulfillment Center Integration
Drop Shipping Integration
Ebay 2-Way Sync
Facebook Sync
Google Ecommerce Analytics
Google Product Data Feed
Review Snippet Structured Data
Email Marketing Automation
Paypal Checkout
Printing On Demand Integration
USPS Integration
WordPress Integration
User Generated Content Automation
Startup $19/month
Amazon 2 Way Sync :
Amazon Checkout :
Amazon FBA Integration :
Fulfillment Center Integration :
Drop Shipping Integration :
Ebay 2-Way Sync :
Facebook Sync :
Google Ecommerce Analytics :
Google Product Data Feed :
Review Snippet Structured Data :
Email Marketing Automation :
Paypal Checkout :
Printing On Demand Integration :
USPS Integration :
WordPress Integration :
User Generated Content Automation :
Basic $29/month
Amazon 2 Way Sync :
Amazon Checkout :
Amazon FBA Integration :
Fulfillment Center Integration :
Drop Shipping Integration :
Ebay 2-Way Sync :
Facebook Sync :
Google Ecommerce Analytics :
Google Product Data Feed :
Review Snippet Structured Data :
Email Marketing Automation :
Paypal Checkout :
Printing On Demand Integration :
USPS Integration :
WordPress Integration :
User Generated Content Automation :
Plus $79/month
Amazon 2 Way Sync :
Amazon Checkout :
Amazon FBA Integration :
Fulfillment Center Integration :
Drop Shipping Integration :
Ebay 2-Way Sync :
Facebook Sync :
Google Ecommerce Analytics :
Google Product Data Feed :
Review Snippet Structured Data :
Email Marketing Automation :
Paypal Checkout :
Printing On Demand Integration :
USPS Integration :
WordPress Integration :
User Generated Content Automation :
Pro $229/month
Amazon 2 Way Sync :
Amazon Checkout :
Amazon FBA Integration :
Fulfillment Center Integration :
Drop Shipping Integration :
Ebay 2-Way Sync :
Facebook Sync :
Google Ecommerce Analytics :
Google Product Data Feed :
Review Snippet Structured Data :
Email Marketing Automation :
Paypal Checkout :
Printing On Demand Integration :
USPS Integration :
WordPress Integration :
User Generated Content Automation :

The value overall is great. I still think it’s missing out by not offering abandoned cart saver as a core feature. Shopify made a move to make it included – really undercutting the competition. Nevertheless, it still has more features out of the box than Shopify.

The templates they have are more industrial, but they feel outdated. Also, customizing the store takes a lot of time to understand and get used to except for experienced users because there’s no drag-and-drop functionality. Fortunately, there’s a community of developers willing to assist with theme development and other modifications.

I think one of their strongest points is in shipping; they provide advanced shipping solutions with no API required.

Similar to BigCommerce, Shift4Shop restricts the volume of sales you bring in on each plan. The lowest which costs $19 per month allows up to 50k.

Pros

  • Better blog feature than other SaaS ecommerce platforms
  • Supports all the integrations you would need
  • Great business user management tools (email, QuickBooks, inventory, etc.)

Cons

  • Templates are inline with trends, but never at the cutting edge
  • Negative feedback on customer support
  • Potential issues upgrading
  • Not for beginners

6. WooCommerce (WordPress Plugin)

Product
Pros and Cons
Ratings
WooCommerce
WooCommerce
Try For Free Review
Best Platform For SEO
1-Click Selling Apps Available
Lots of Service Providers
Hosting Can Be Expensive
Difficult To Troubleshoot
Needs Lots of Extentions
Value 4.5
Features 3.9
Integrations 4.1
Ease of Use 3.3
4.0
Overall Score
User Rating
4.8

When WooCommerce is compared with platforms like BigCommerce, it is the best single platform to run ecommerce and affiliate site under one roof. But the true ecommerce platforms like BigCommerce and Shopify sell better, but not by much.

It works with WordPress to turn any website into a functional ecommerce store. Also, there are extensions available for integrating payment gateways, social media, email marketing, 1-click selling, and shipping.

For cost, it is free. Few extensions have prices attached to them, and some WordPress themes are expensive. However, you might not need those extensions, and there are good free themes. You’ll still need to invest in WooCommerce hosting, so factor this into your budget.

WooCommerce Features and Plans

1-Click Upsells
Landing Page Builder
Abandoned Cart Email
Digital Products
Personalized Products
Product Export/Import
Product Search
Ratings & Reviews
Real Time Shipping Rates/Tracking
Reward Points
SEO Tools
Subscription/Recurring
Zoomable Product Images
Upselling & Cross Selling
Free Download (Hosting Not Included)
1-Click Upsells :
Landing Page Builder :
Abandoned Cart Email :
Digital Products :
Personalized Products :
Product Export/Import :
Product Search :
Ratings & Reviews :
Real Time Shipping Rates/Tracking :
Reward Points :
SEO Tools :
Subscription/Recurring :
Zoomable Product Images :
Upselling & Cross Selling :

With WooCommerce Extensions, you can find just about anything you need to add the features you’re looking for. Many of these things, like Amazon 2-way sync, eBay 2-way sync, and Amazon checkout, are free. You won’t have to pay extra for email marketing automation, print-on-demand integration, or user-generated content automation.

You must use a paid app to take advantage of Amazon FBA integration and dropshipping. Many fulfillment centers offer free WooCommerce integration, though some may require custom development for an additional fee.

WooCommerce Integrations and Plans

Amazon 2 Way Sync
Amazon Checkout
Amazon FBA Integration
Fulfillment Center Integration
Drop Shipping Integration
Ebay 2-Way Sync
Facebook Sync
Google Ecommerce Analytics
Google Product Data Feed
Review Snippet Structured Data
Email Marketing Automation
Paypal Checkout
Printing On Demand Integration
USPS Integration
WordPress Integration
User Generated Content Automation
Free Download (Hosting Not Included)
Amazon 2 Way Sync :
Amazon Checkout :
Amazon FBA Integration :
Fulfillment Center Integration :
Drop Shipping Integration :
Ebay 2-Way Sync :
Facebook Sync :
Google Ecommerce Analytics :
Google Product Data Feed :
Review Snippet Structured Data :
Email Marketing Automation :
Paypal Checkout :
Printing On Demand Integration :
USPS Integration :
WordPress Integration :
User Generated Content Automation :

If you are familiar with the WordPress platform, then WooCommerce is a breeze for you. If not, there is a bit of a learning curve. You only have to install it, add your own products and fix your settings.

People who aren’t familiar with WordPress will struggle with the technical details. That includes buying a domain name and hosting, installing WordPress, and setting up your theme and plugins.

The biggest problem though is not the setup; that can be solved with YouTube tutorials. The problem is scalability. Most users have reported it slowing down as they get more products and customers.

If you want to use WooCommerce, but need a bit of help on the hosting side, Nexcess StoreBuilder is an option. We cover it in more detail in our section on other builders to consider.

Pros

  • WordPress is the best platform for SEO
  • 1 Click selling app available
  • Lots of WordPress experts available
  • Highly customizable
  • Many ecommerce marketing options and plenty of other integrations

Cons

  • Good hosting can be pricey
  • Have to deal with blame game for troubleshooting
  • Virtually zero support
  • You need extensions for simple stuff

7. Volusion

Product
Pros and Cons
Ratings
Great On-boarding / Help Center
Subscription/Recurring Payments Included
SMB Friendly
Lacks Up/Cross Selling
Slower Load Times
Many Sites Look Dated
Overall 3.4
Value 3
Features 3.5
Integrations 3.5
Performance 2.9
Design Themes 3.7
3.4
Overall Score
User Rating
1.3

Volusion was founded in 1999 but launched in 2002 as an ecommerce solution provider. It’s a great option for those selling physical products because for now automatic digital downloads after payment is not allowed.

All in all, it’s a solid platform for subscription ecommerce business. Dropshipping is also good but not print on demand. I would rate it higher if the Amazon integration were better, but that might not matter to you at all.

Their prices have a limitation to the number of products you can sell. The first two plans that cost $35 and $79 per month have restrictions of 100 and 5,000 products respectively. That may change at some point because they used to have a limitation on bandwidth, but that is no more. The constant improvements give us hope, but for now, if you require unlimited products, you must pay $299/month for the premium plan.

It also doesn’t come with blogging capabilities which is a huge downer mostly in this day where building SEO with blogs is king. To get that, you’ll need to use a third party like WordPress and a plugin or other means to connect the blog to your store.

The dashboard is nicely structured with all of the main action areas in the top navigation menu. It also has inventory management and multichannel selling features built in. The marketing options include SEO, sell on Google, eBay, Amazon, social selling, rewards, and coupons.

Volusion Features and Plans

1-Click Upsells
Landing Page Builder
Abandoned Cart Email
Digital Products
Personalized Products
Product Export/Import
Product Search
Ratings & Reviews
Real Time Shipping Rates/Tracking
Reward Points
SEO Tools
Subscription/Recurring
Zoomable Product Images
Upselling & Cross Selling
Personal $35/month
1-Click Upsells :
Landing Page Builder :
Abandoned Cart Email :
Digital Products :
Personalized Products :
Product Export/Import :
Product Search :
Ratings & Reviews :
Real Time Shipping Rates/Tracking :
Reward Points :
SEO Tools :
Subscription/Recurring :
Zoomable Product Images :
Upselling & Cross Selling :
Pro $79/month.
1-Click Upsells :
Landing Page Builder :
Abandoned Cart Email :
Digital Products :
Personalized Products :
Product Export/Import :
Product Search :
Ratings & Reviews :
Real Time Shipping Rates/Tracking :
Reward Points :
SEO Tools :
Subscription/Recurring :
Zoomable Product Images :
Upselling & Cross Selling :
Business $299/month
1-Click Upsells :
Landing Page Builder :
Abandoned Cart Email :
Digital Products :
Personalized Products :
Product Export/Import :
Product Search :
Ratings & Reviews :
Real Time Shipping Rates/Tracking :
Reward Points :
SEO Tools :
Subscription/Recurring :
Zoomable Product Images :
Upselling & Cross Selling :

Features like one-click upsells and a landing page builder are missing from all the plans. If you want to upsell or cross-sell, you can’t do that either.  You can get abandoned cart emails on the Professional Plan and higher. We’re also disappointed to see that product search isn’t an option, even with a paid app.

Volusion doesn’t have an app marketplace like its main competitors do. Instead, it has a partner marketplace, where you connect with other companies to help you grow and develop your site – such as Accessibe to help make sure your website is accessible to everyone, including those with disabilities. Integrations like ShipStation are also included there, but you’ll have to pay for the services before you can integrate them with your Volusion store.

Volusion Integrations and Plans

Amazon 2 Way Sync
Amazon Checkout
Amazon FBA Integration
Fulfillment Center Integration
Drop Shipping Integration
Ebay 2-Way Sync
Facebook Sync
Google Ecommerce Analytics
Google Product Data Feed
Review Snippet Structured Data
Email Marketing Automation
Paypal Checkout
Printing On Demand Integration
USPS Integration
WordPress Integration
User Generated Content Automation
Personal $35/month
Amazon 2 Way Sync :
Amazon Checkout :
Amazon FBA Integration :
Fulfillment Center Integration :
Drop Shipping Integration :
Ebay 2-Way Sync :
Facebook Sync :
Google Ecommerce Analytics :
Google Product Data Feed :
Review Snippet Structured Data :
Email Marketing Automation :
Paypal Checkout :
Printing On Demand Integration :
USPS Integration :
WordPress Integration :
User Generated Content Automation :
Pro $79/month.
Amazon 2 Way Sync :
Amazon Checkout :
Amazon FBA Integration :
Fulfillment Center Integration :
Drop Shipping Integration :
Ebay 2-Way Sync :
Facebook Sync :
Google Ecommerce Analytics :
Google Product Data Feed :
Review Snippet Structured Data :
Email Marketing Automation :
Paypal Checkout :
Printing On Demand Integration :
USPS Integration :
WordPress Integration :
User Generated Content Automation :
Business $299/month
Amazon 2 Way Sync :
Amazon Checkout :
Amazon FBA Integration :
Fulfillment Center Integration :
Drop Shipping Integration :
Ebay 2-Way Sync :
Facebook Sync :
Google Ecommerce Analytics :
Google Product Data Feed :
Review Snippet Structured Data :
Email Marketing Automation :
Paypal Checkout :
Printing On Demand Integration :
USPS Integration :
WordPress Integration :
User Generated Content Automation :

You can’t get Amazon FBA integration or user-generated content automation on any plan – and Amazon 2-Way Sync is only available on the Business plan. You’ll need custom development to integrate your store with WordPress for blogging or with a print-on-demand provider. And you’ll need a paid add-on for email marketing.

Volusion provides an easy-to-use website builder with drag-and-drop and in-page editing. There are 11 free themes and a good number of premium themes. Those cost about $180, and you’ll also have to purchase an SSL certificate. That is a hefty extra cost that some other platforms provide for free.

Beginner support is a big thing; from the dashboard, you’ll immediately see tons of learning materials available on how to build your ecommerce website step by step with Volusion, starting and growing your online business.

Pros

  • Great onboarding and help center
  • Great flexibility with Sitemaps
  • Built-in subscription/recurring payments
  • SMB friendly
  • Well laid out dashboardClear inventory and marketing system

Cons

  • Lacks up/cross selling features
  • Many sites had poor URL structure
  • One of the slower SaaS platforms
  • Many of the sites I studied looked VERY dated
  • No built-in blogging functionality

8. Sellfy

Product
Pros and Cons
Ratings
Easy to Use
Digital product sales
Built in print on demand
Limited integrations
Limited SEO Capability
Poor Google PageSpeed Scores
Overall 3.3
Value 4.0
Features 2.8
Integrations 2.0
Performance 3.1
Design Themes 5.0
3.3
Overall Score
User Rating
5.0

Sellfy is a simple and easy-to-use platform that works for various business models and includes a built-in print-on-demand integration. You can connect the platform to your existing website, build a Sellfy store with a custom domain, or use the Shopify Lite approach with “Buy Now” buttons and other embed options to make sales from other platforms.

The free plan allows users to sell up to 10 physical products, but doesn’t include a custom domain.

Premium starts at $29/month, with the highest tier plan coming in at $159/month before annual discounts. Compared to other ecommerce platforms, Sellfy is one of the most affordable options. Considering the features and ecommerce functionality you get standard, you can save a lot of money compared to Shopify. You’ll have to invest in some expensive third-party apps to take advantage of things like recurring subscription billing.

Sellfy’s claim to fame is that you can get your store up and running within five minutes. While there are limits on the number and types of products you can sell on the Free plan, upgrading to a paid plan means you can sell unlimited products, digital products, and subscription products, too.

Sellfy Features and Plans

1-Click Upsells
Landing Page Builder
Abandoned Cart Email
Digital Products
Personalized Products
Product Export/Import
Product Search
Ratings & Reviews
Real Time Shipping Rates/Tracking
Reward Points
SEO Tools
Subscription/Recurring
Zoomable Product Images
Upselling & Cross Selling
Starter
1-Click Upsells :
Landing Page Builder :
Abandoned Cart Email :
Digital Products :
Personalized Products :
Product Export/Import :
Product Search :
Ratings & Reviews :
Real Time Shipping Rates/Tracking :
Reward Points :
SEO Tools :
Subscription/Recurring :
Zoomable Product Images :
Upselling & Cross Selling :
Business
1-Click Upsells :
Landing Page Builder :
Abandoned Cart Email :
Digital Products :
Personalized Products :
Product Export/Import :
Product Search :
Ratings & Reviews :
Real Time Shipping Rates/Tracking :
Reward Points :
SEO Tools :
Subscription/Recurring :
Zoomable Product Images :
Upselling & Cross Selling :
Premium
1-Click Upsells :
Landing Page Builder :
Abandoned Cart Email :
Digital Products :
Personalized Products :
Product Export/Import :
Product Search :
Ratings & Reviews :
Real Time Shipping Rates/Tracking :
Reward Points :
SEO Tools :
Subscription/Recurring :
Zoomable Product Images :
Upselling & Cross Selling :

Sellfy includes its own print-on-demand platform, so you can sell a variety of POD products without relying on a service like Printful or Printify. It also offers apps and integrations for things like Google Analytics and Facebook Live Chat.

If you want to connect other things to your Sellfy store, you’re stuck relying on a third-party service, Zapier, to do the work for you. While Zapier has a free plan, it is limited in terms of the apps you can connect, the frequency at which the automations run, and the total number of automation that run within a month.

Sellfy Integrations and Plans

Amazon 2 Way Sync
Amazon Checkout
Amazon FBA Integration
Fulfillment Center Integration
Drop Shipping Integration
Ebay 2-Way Sync
Facebook Sync
Google Ecommerce Analytics
Google Product Data Feed
Review Snippet Structured Data
Email Marketing Automation
Paypal Checkout
Printing On Demand Integration
USPS Integration
WordPress Integration
User Generated Content Automation
Starter
Amazon 2 Way Sync :
Amazon Checkout :
Amazon FBA Integration :
Fulfillment Center Integration :
Drop Shipping Integration :
Ebay 2-Way Sync :
Facebook Sync :
Google Ecommerce Analytics :
Google Product Data Feed :
Review Snippet Structured Data :
Email Marketing Automation :
Paypal Checkout :
Printing On Demand Integration :
USPS Integration :
WordPress Integration :
User Generated Content Automation :
Business
Amazon 2 Way Sync :
Amazon Checkout :
Amazon FBA Integration :
Fulfillment Center Integration :
Drop Shipping Integration :
Ebay 2-Way Sync :
Facebook Sync :
Google Ecommerce Analytics :
Google Product Data Feed :
Review Snippet Structured Data :
Email Marketing Automation :
Paypal Checkout :
Printing On Demand Integration :
USPS Integration :
WordPress Integration :
User Generated Content Automation :
Premium
Amazon 2 Way Sync :
Amazon Checkout :
Amazon FBA Integration :
Fulfillment Center Integration :
Drop Shipping Integration :
Ebay 2-Way Sync :
Facebook Sync :
Google Ecommerce Analytics :
Google Product Data Feed :
Review Snippet Structured Data :
Email Marketing Automation :
Paypal Checkout :
Printing On Demand Integration :
USPS Integration :
WordPress Integration :
User Generated Content Automation :

For a small business on a budget, Sellfy is a good starting point. It gives you everything you need to get started selling online – whether you sell physical or digital products. It’s not an ideal solution at scale, though.

Pros

  • Free forever plan – All plans come with a 14-day free trial, no credit card required
  • Has a Wix integration
  • Multiple options for online selling
  • No transaction fees
  • Email marketing included in all paid plans

Cons

  • Poor ratings for SEO
  • Limited options for payment gateways
  • Must use Zapier to facilitate most third-party integrations
  • Missing key marketing tools like 1-click upsells

9. Squarespace

Product
Pros and Cons
Ratings
SquareSpace
SquareSpace
Try For Free Review
Easy To Set Up
Great For Simple Stores
Stunning Template Designs
Limited Ecommerce Integrations
Limited Payment Gateways
No Phone Support
Overall 3.4
Value 3
Features 3.0
Integrations 2.5
Performance 3.5
Design Themes 4.3
3.4
Overall Score
User Rating
3.5

Squarespace is another one of those platforms that offers drag-and-drop. Founded in 2003, they have sleek templates and design capabilities.

If you don’t need a lot of features, try them out. It’s also great for print-on-demand ecommerce business.

Squarespace pricing starts at $23/month ($16/month when paid annually) for the personal plan. Unfortunately, that plan lacks the fully integrated ecommerce features you need to run an online store. For that, you need the Business plan, which is billed at $33/month or $23/month with annual billing. That plan comes with a 3% transaction fee.

To save on that transaction fee, you’ll want to upgrade to the Commerce Basic Plan for $36/month ($27 with discount), which removes the additional fee. To get the most features, including abandoned cart recovery, advanced shipping, advanced discounting, and to sell subscriptions, you’ll need the Commerce Advanced Plan for $65/month ($49 with annual discount.) 

ShopWired Features and Plans

1-Click Upsells
Landing Page Builder
Abandoned Cart Email
Digital Products
Personalized Products
Product Export/Import
Product Search
Ratings & Reviews
Real Time Shipping Rates/Tracking
Reward Points
SEO Tools
Subscription/Recurring
Zoomable Product Images
Upselling & Cross Selling
Pro
1-Click Upsells :
Landing Page Builder :
Abandoned Cart Email :
Digital Products :
Personalized Products :
Product Export/Import :
Product Search :
Ratings & Reviews :
Real Time Shipping Rates/Tracking :
Reward Points :
SEO Tools :
Subscription/Recurring :
Zoomable Product Images :
Upselling & Cross Selling :
Advanced
1-Click Upsells :
Landing Page Builder :
Abandoned Cart Email :
Digital Products :
Personalized Products :
Product Export/Import :
Product Search :
Ratings & Reviews :
Real Time Shipping Rates/Tracking :
Reward Points :
SEO Tools :
Subscription/Recurring :
Zoomable Product Images :
Upselling & Cross Selling :
Premium
1-Click Upsells :
Landing Page Builder :
Abandoned Cart Email :
Digital Products :
Personalized Products :
Product Export/Import :
Product Search :
Ratings & Reviews :
Real Time Shipping Rates/Tracking :
Reward Points :
SEO Tools :
Subscription/Recurring :
Zoomable Product Images :
Upselling & Cross Selling :
Enterprise
1-Click Upsells :
Landing Page Builder :
Abandoned Cart Email :
Digital Products :
Personalized Products :
Product Export/Import :
Product Search :
Ratings & Reviews :
Real Time Shipping Rates/Tracking :
Reward Points :
SEO Tools :
Subscription/Recurring :
Zoomable Product Images :
Upselling & Cross Selling :

Squarespace integrates ShipStation and allows you to install Printul and ShipBob from the app section. Real-time calculation of shipping rates from major providers (UPS, FedEx, USPS) is also available.

The biggest downsides are payment processors and third-party applications. They only support Stripe and Paypal. As for the apps, they only integrate with very few third-party tools.

ShopWired Integrations and Plans

Amazon 2 Way Sync
Amazon Checkout
Amazon FBA Integration
Fulfillment Center Integration
Drop Shipping Integration
Ebay 2-Way Sync
Facebook Sync
Google Ecommerce Analytics
Google Product Data Feed
Review Snippet Structured Data
Email Marketing Automation
Paypal Checkout
Printing On Demand Integration
USPS Integration
WordPress Integration
User Generated Content Automation
Pro
Amazon 2 Way Sync :
Amazon Checkout :
Amazon FBA Integration :
Fulfillment Center Integration :
Drop Shipping Integration :
Ebay 2-Way Sync :
Facebook Sync :
Google Ecommerce Analytics :
Google Product Data Feed :
Review Snippet Structured Data :
Email Marketing Automation :
Paypal Checkout :
Printing On Demand Integration :
USPS Integration :
WordPress Integration :
User Generated Content Automation :
Advanced
Amazon 2 Way Sync :
Amazon Checkout :
Amazon FBA Integration :
Fulfillment Center Integration :
Drop Shipping Integration :
Ebay 2-Way Sync :
Facebook Sync :
Google Ecommerce Analytics :
Google Product Data Feed :
Review Snippet Structured Data :
Email Marketing Automation :
Paypal Checkout :
Printing On Demand Integration :
USPS Integration :
WordPress Integration :
User Generated Content Automation :
Premium
Amazon 2 Way Sync :
Amazon Checkout :
Amazon FBA Integration :
Fulfillment Center Integration :
Drop Shipping Integration :
Ebay 2-Way Sync :
Facebook Sync :
Google Ecommerce Analytics :
Google Product Data Feed :
Review Snippet Structured Data :
Email Marketing Automation :
Paypal Checkout :
Printing On Demand Integration :
USPS Integration :
WordPress Integration :
User Generated Content Automation :
Enterprise
Amazon 2 Way Sync :
Amazon Checkout :
Amazon FBA Integration :
Fulfillment Center Integration :
Drop Shipping Integration :
Ebay 2-Way Sync :
Facebook Sync :
Google Ecommerce Analytics :
Google Product Data Feed :
Review Snippet Structured Data :
Email Marketing Automation :
Paypal Checkout :
Printing On Demand Integration :
USPS Integration :
WordPress Integration :
User Generated Content Automation :

The package comes with all the basic features you’d expect from an ecommerce platform all arranged on the side menu.

The website design part is not that easy though. Their drag and drop editor is not as great as Weebly’s. You might have to try your hands on it a few times before you get the hang of it. When you have gotten past the website design phase, you’ll enjoy the access to marketing, inventory, social selling, SEO, and analytics features.

Pros

  • Easy To Set Up
  • Great For Simple Stores
  • Stunning Designs
  • Solid SEO tools
  • Integrates with ShipStation and ShipBob

Cons

  • No dropshipping
  • No marketing automation integration
  • No Amazon integration
  • Could be faster for the price
  • No app store for more features and functionalities

10. Magento (Now Adobe Commerce)

Product
Pros and Cons
Ratings
Adobe Commerce
Adobe Commerce
Try For Free Review
Robust and Feature Rich
Strong SEO
1-Click Selling Apps Available
Pricey Themes
Easily Slowed Down
Requires Development Skills
Value 3.5
Features 4.4
Integrations 3.6
Ease of Use 2.2
3.4
Overall Score
User Rating
3.8

The large brands like Nike, Procter & Gamble, and Cisco trust Adobe Commerce. Coding is an integral part of the package. So, if you have a developer or the budget for one – and want something truly customizable and powerful – Adobe Commerce is a solid choice. You can do and undo till you get the feature-rich online store you want.

Adobe Commerce’s mostly used for free, but there’s a paid level for enterprise solutions for large ecommerce businesses. It is expensive; the annual licensing fee costs tens of thousands of dollars. That’s huge, but it’s on the cloud, faster, and comes with additional features, including automatic trigger-based email campaigns and automatic cross /upsell.

Whichever you pick, you’ll enjoy the long list of features you can extend. Things like discounts, recurring payments, the ability to grind SEO, adjust content per user, membership subscriptions, unlimited products, and more.

Adobe Commerce Features and Plans

1-Click Upsells
Landing Page Builder
Abandoned Cart Email
Digital Products
Personalized Products
Product Export/Import
Product Search
Ratings & Reviews
Real Time Shipping Rates/Tracking
Reward Points
SEO Tools
Subscription/Recurring
Zoomable Product Images
Upselling & Cross Selling
Community Edition
1-Click Upsells :
Landing Page Builder :
Abandoned Cart Email :
Digital Products :
Personalized Products :
Product Export/Import :
Product Search :
Ratings & Reviews :
Real Time Shipping Rates/Tracking :
Reward Points :
SEO Tools :
Subscription/Recurring :
Zoomable Product Images :
Upselling & Cross Selling :

Adobe Commerce has no shortage of apps and integrations to choose from. While several are free, you will have to pay for others to get the features you need. Things like PayPal Checkout, Facebook Sync, Google Ecommerce Analytics, Google Product Feed and a USPS integration are included. 

Adobe Commerce Integrations and Plans

Amazon 2 Way Sync
Amazon Checkout
Amazon FBA Integration
Fulfillment Center Integration
Drop Shipping Integration
Ebay 2-Way Sync
Facebook Sync
Google Ecommerce Analytics
Google Product Data Feed
Review Snippet Structured Data
Email Marketing Automation
Paypal Checkout
Printing On Demand Integration
USPS Integration
WordPress Integration
User Generated Content Automation
Community Edition
Amazon 2 Way Sync :
Amazon Checkout :
Amazon FBA Integration :
Fulfillment Center Integration :
Drop Shipping Integration :
Ebay 2-Way Sync :
Facebook Sync :
Google Ecommerce Analytics :
Google Product Data Feed :
Review Snippet Structured Data :
Email Marketing Automation :
Paypal Checkout :
Printing On Demand Integration :
USPS Integration :
WordPress Integration :
User Generated Content Automation :

You can use free apps to add Amazon 2 way sync and Amazon Checkout. You’ll need paid apps to handle things like Amazon FBA, fulfillment center and dropshipping integrations, eBay 2 way sync, review snippet structured data, email marketing automation, and print on demand. You’ll need custom development if you want to integrate Adobe Commerce with WordPress.

A big part of Adobe Commerce is the community. It’s large with developers willing to work on your store for a fee or answer some of your questions free. There’s also a marketplace where you can get extensions and themes to increase the functionality of your platform.

Pros

  • Robust and feature rich
  • Strong SEO
  • 1-Click selling
  • Lots of users and community
  • Scalable and highly customizable
  • Flexible to choose where you want to host the software

Cons

  • Pricey themes
  • Easily slowed down
  • Requires development skills
  • Virtually no support
  • Requires ample space and memory to perform well

Key Considerations

Small businesses don’t need all the big features that suck out money from their bank. Asides the cost, the pricing structure of the platform is important – be it month to month or yearly payments and other fees.

Our testing checked the functionalities that startups need. That includes pricing, marketing features, apps, integrations, performance and these other key considerations:

Complexity and Ease Of Use

First-time ecommerce entrepreneurs should be able to launch and run a store on their own without having to call a developer for every last thing. So we gave extra weight for the ability to set up and run your store code free.

PlatformEase of UsePhone Support24/7 SupportChat SupportCommunity Rating# of Apps/ Plugins
Sellfy3.5NoYesNo44
ShopWired4.5NoNoYes4.972
Pixpa3.7YesNoYes4.7103
Freewebstore3.4NoNoYesNone25+
Shift4Shop4.3YesYesYes3.0~250
Volusion4.1YesYesYes2~20
Prestashop2.9YesNoNo33000+
SquareSpace3.8NoYesYes3.010+
Weebly3.6YesNoYes2~350

From our analysis, BigCommerce and Shopify are at par in ease of use scores. You don’t need to be the master of web dev before you can use them and there’s a ton of support. 3dcart and Wix come close.

But Wix is not the best option for ecommerce and WooCommerce kills all-in-one for beginners/startups especially for optimizing costs and growing SEO.

Drag-and-drop website builders, huh? Well, they’re the digital playground where you, yes you, can create a stunning site from scratch. No coding? No problem! Simply drag your preferred elements, drop ’em where you want, and watch your website come to life. A toolbox for creativity with absolute control. It’s that easy.

Payment Gateways

The payment gateway is the bridge between your ecommerce platform and payment processor. It’s important to have a platform that integrates with popular payment processors like PayPal, Stripe and Square. It starts to get complex when you have to deal with multiple countries or when your bank only integrates with certain payment processors.

WooCommerce easily takes first prize as it supports over 100 Payment Gateways . Shopify follows suit with 100+ options available to use including Amazon Payments, Apple Pay & Google Pay out of the box.

What does this mean? You’re less likely to run into problems when using any of these.

Customer Service

Customer support should be available when you need it, not just during business hours. You want to know that if something goes wrong with your store or payment gateway in the middle of the night, someone will be there to help you fix it. Shopify had the best customer service of all the platforms we tested. We got a response to our email within an hour, and their phone support was even faster.

For some people, they need to be able to get on a phone for support. Only the best ones offer phone support.

Apps And Plugins

If you need a specific app to run your business, you need to make sure it integrates with your ecommerce platform. The best platforms have app stores with hundreds of options to choose from. Shopify leads the pack in number of apps available.

BigCommerce falls short here with only a fraction of the app store offerings as its competitors. If you need an app that isn’t already built for Bigcommerce, you’re out of luck or will have to hire someone to build it for you.

Website Hosting

If you run a large ecommerce business, you might want complete control and server autonomy. In that case, you’re looking at buying a dedicated server or VPS from a web hosting company and set up your platform in there. As such, SAAS like Shopify will not satisfy you.

On Premise

On Premise Ecommerce

On-premise hosting refers to the practice of a company storing all of its website’s hardware and software at its physical headquarters, which is usually somewhere nearby. The company must buy and operate all of the servers, firewall, operating systems, software licenses, and other equipment as a result of this strategy. Backups and upgrades must be kept current. On-premise isn’t a good option for you if your organization doesn’t have an IT department or the funds to hire one.

Headless Ecommerce

Headless Ecommerce

The front and back ends of an ecommerce application are separated by headless ecommerce. This method provides marketers greater control over the customer experience.

How Headless Commerce Works

Building whatever you want is now more possible. APIs, engagement tools, experience managers, and an IT team are all required for headless commerce. As a result, smaller firms often choose alternate solutions.

SaaS Ecommerce

SaaS Ecommerce

SaaS, or software as a service, is a popular business model. Not just for ecommerce platforms, SaaS enables businesses to get access to all the software they need without having to be tied to the machine they’re using. SaaS solutions are accessible from any device where there’s an internet connection.

When it comes to SaaS ecommerce, many popular platforms are available including Shopify, BigCommerce, and Wix. These solutions take care of everything for the customer. There’s no need to worry about web hosting, software licenses, domain name, SSL certificate, etc. In exchange for a monthly or annual fee, the service provider handles all of the technical stuff. It’s an affordable way for small businesses that do not have an IT team to handle ecommerce.

However, if you’d rather set it up and not bother yourself with web hosting technicalities, then a platform like BigCommerce could be it.

Shopping Cart vs Platform

A shopping cart is software that allows customers to add items to a virtual “cart” and then checkout. This software can be used on its own or as part of a larger ecommerce platform.

If you plan on selling digital products you probably don’t need a full fledged ecommerce platform. A digital product could be something like an ebook, online course, audio file, video file, or software application. Once the customer pays for the product they’re given access to it immediately via download or email. There’s no need for shipping since there’s nothing physical to ship.

So if you plan on selling digital products then an ecommerce platform cart isn’t necessary. If you have physical products, numerous SKUs, categories – then you need a full ecommerce solution.

Website Platform Performance

In our testing, we based the best ecommerce platforms for SEO on page load time, mobile and desktop speed, SEO, and average organic traffic of top online stores using each platform.

PlatformPerformanceLoad TimeMobile SpeedDesktop SpeedAvg SEO Traffic
Sellfy3.11.446.872134
ShopWired4.31.385680717
Pixpa2.31.622.6665.572
Freewebstore3.51.895379927
Shift4Shop3.02.850589703
Volusion2.93.5485615779
Prestashop2.94.62505233851
SquareSpace3.53.542635678
Weebly2.634959186

Load time is a pretty straightforward indicator of how fast your site is. Simply put, it’s the measure of how long it takes a page (or pages) on your site to fully load. A slow site is a killer in ecommerce – potential customers run away from slow sites, and as we mentioned earlier, each second you gain in site loading speed translates directly into sales gained.

In ecommerce, speed is money. Every second your site takes to load is costing you. A lot.

According to research by Portent, average conversion rate is almost 40% when pages load in a second. The conversion rate falls to 34% at a 2-second load time. When a 3-second load time is reached, the conversion rate begins to level off at 29%, before finally reaching 6 seconds.

image

According to our data, the load time for average ecommerce sites is 3.2 seconds, but the platform you use makes a big difference.

Price might be the problem – optimizing for speed isn’t cheap, and ironically, can take a lot of time.

An out-of-the-box solution that offers great loading speed is a secret weapon in your ecommerce arsenal. Don’t underestimate the value of this metric.

Speed performance is so important; we collected multiple types of data (from 2000 ecommerce website domains) to determine how well a site performs.

Wouldn’t that be nice? If you’re running a self-hosted platform, you can optimize it for speed, but again that takes time and effort. Most self-hosted sites don’t bother; the average Adobe Commerce site loads in 5 seconds. Forget collecting any credit card payments with that slow site.

Google’s PageSpeed Score is based on several factors that rate your site’s speed and usability. Across the board, you’ll notice poor mobile speed scores. The average score is 51.5/100.
Marketers and developers are really starting to feel the mobile speed crunch. Mobile users expect pages on their mobile devices to load faster than desktop.

What is it about mobile? More than a passing fad, mobile tech is an ecommerce retailers’ dream. Mobile-friendly sites are a must have for all e-retailers, and with good reason –

  • 66% of the time spent on online ecommerce is done through mobile devices
  • 82% of smartphone users turn to their devices to help them make a product decision

Customers want mobile-friendly ecommerce website design, and the market is showing that mobile commerce is growing 300% faster than ecommerce, which means your site also has to have a responsive design.

To get the most out of mobile site design, you need to make sure your online platform is easily upgradable. Look at live sites to see what works and what doesn’t.

Test your site repeatedly and on multiple devices, and don’t forget to keep your mobile set heavy on the visuals and with a font that’s large enough for everyone to use – not to mention easy and intuitive navigation.

Take a true mobile-first approach with your design and UX loading performance.

In this regard, WooCommerce, Shopify, and Weebly wear the crown. All being at or above the median score of 94%.

SEO is crucial. You’re going to have a hard time running an ecommerce store if users of the net can’t discover your website through a search engine. Many platforms offer some SEO tools to boost your website. Nevertheless, some are better than others.

Study Results

When evaluating SEO performance, we looked at the average organic traffic of sites using each platform. We also looked at other important technical SEO factors.

From our stats, I’d say – stay away from Shopify if SEO is your top priority. They still need lots of improvement. Where’s WooCommerce scored 5, they got 2.5 and the median is 3.7. It’s not surprising that where the average organic traffic score is 20,346, Shopify only passes half of that by a thread but Woo is at a 70+.

URL Structures

URLs are super important. Do NOT skip over good URL structure.

It’s not something you can make up for through great content and backlinks. Although we hate to point fingers and bring up bad examples, we’re begging you.

Don’t ever let your URLs look like this:
https://purplesagetea.com/epages/472f26ef-dbcc-482e-8f37-4e8a0b5ede3c.sf/en_US/?ObjectPath=/Shops/472f26ef-dbcc-482e-8f37-4e8a0b5ede3c/Categories/Category3 (via 1&1/ePages)

Great selection of teas, but between the slow load time and the painful URL, we’re betting their shop isn’t making anywhere near what it could be.

They’re lacking good technical SEO.

Search engines like to keep things simple and easy for the end user. Bulky, huge URLs are NEVER user-friendly. They’re not good for your business, either. Short, relevant URLs are an important ranking factor. Good for usability.

WooCommerce is by far the best for SEO. Adobe Commerce doesn’t do bad either. That’s because you can customize everything and expand your functionalities.

Website Security

Security in ecommerce isn’t a game, folks. It’s a necessity. You need a platform offering rock-solid protection against hackers and breaches. Additionally, diverse payment methods? Oh yeah, a must-have. Cards, PayPal, Apple & Google Pay – you need all the options. It’s about keeping transactions smooth and secure for customers.

Inventory Management

If you have orders ranging in hundreds or thousands weekly, you’ll need a platform that gives you enough flexibility to connect software, helps you reduce errors, and seamlessly integrates your warehouse management and other inventory systems. We also considered platforms that enable multiple currency and store, allows integration with Google services, and 3PLs.

While evaluating ecommerce platforms, we looked for features like:

  • Order management features- such as processing orders in batch
  • Inventory and pricing sync with online marketplaces
  • Ability to manage multiple products and locations from a single platform
  • Fulfillment center integration

The level of intentory management you need depends on your ecommerce business model.

Dropshipping & Print On Demand

With dropshipping, you never have to order or touch inventory. This makes it a very beginner friendly business model. But you’re not in control of many things; product quality and returns might be a hurdle.

Also, there are technical stones that you need to move to keep your orders leaving as fast as they enter your ecommerce system if you’re going to dominate the supply of that product.

How Dropshipping Works

When evaluating, we looked at these features:

  • Ability to sync with supplier’s inventory
  • Support of many dropshipping plugins
  • Automating different suppliers or SKUs for the same product
  • Tracking of order both from your and end customer’s side
  • Free/paid dropshipping integration

Private Label & Online Retail

For these types of businesses, you need an ecommerce platform that integrates with your supply chain management. With this business model, you’ll end up with a lot of dollars tied up in inventory, and you’ll need to move that inventory around without getting it lost.

How private labeling works

When evaluating, we looked at these features:

  • Support of Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA)
  • Tracking of order both from your and end customer’s side
  • Re-order products from your dashboard
  • View stock levels on products
  • Bulk order CSV template for easy product ordering

Fulfillment Center Integration

For ecommerce business owners, especially those with a large inventory, having an ecommerce platform that integrates with their fulfillment center helps streamline operations. Without it, store owners must manually submit orders for fulfillment, which is time-consuming and leaves room for error.

The good news is most platforms integrate with fulfillment centers. If you run a Shopify Store, you can use the Shopify Fulfillment Network if you meet certain requirements. However, if your offer more than 2,000 SKUs or ship fewer than ten orders a day, you won’t qualify. In that case, you’ll want to find a fulfillment company that doesn’t have monthly order volume requirements.

Many 3PLs offer apps that connect with the most popular platforms like Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, and Adobe Commerce. If you use a smaller platform like Wix, or Weebly or Zyro, you may run into integration problems. Some fulfillment providers offer custom integrations for an additional one-time fee.

Fulfillment Services
ShopifyFulfillment
Deliverr :
Falcon Fulfillment :
Ryder E-Commerce :
Simpl Fulfillment :
Fulfyld :
Badger Fulfillment :
Phase V Fulfillment :
Floship :
ShipBob :
The Fulfillment Lab :
eShipper :
SHIPHYPE :
BigCommerceFulfillment
Deliverr :
Falcon Fulfillment :
Ryder E-Commerce :
Simpl Fulfillment :
Fulfyld :
Badger Fulfillment :
Phase V Fulfillment :
Floship :
ShipBob :
The Fulfillment Lab :
eShipper :
SHIPHYPE :
WooCommerceFulfillment
Deliverr :
Falcon Fulfillment :
Ryder E-Commerce :
Simpl Fulfillment :
Fulfyld :
Badger Fulfillment :
Phase V Fulfillment :
Floship :
ShipBob :
The Fulfillment Lab :
eShipper :
SHIPHYPE :
Adobe CommerceFulfillment
Deliverr :
Falcon Fulfillment :
Ryder E-Commerce :
Simpl Fulfillment :
Fulfyld :
Badger Fulfillment :
Phase V Fulfillment :
Floship :
ShipBob :
The Fulfillment Lab :
eShipper :
SHIPHYPE :
WixFulfillment
Deliverr :
Falcon Fulfillment :
Ryder E-Commerce :
Simpl Fulfillment :
Fulfyld :
Badger Fulfillment :
Phase V Fulfillment :
Floship :
ShipBob :
The Fulfillment Lab :
eShipper :
SHIPHYPE :

Ecommerce Website Design Considerations

Your website should deliver a rich and smooth experience that entice customers to visit your site, make them stay, and convince them to buy. One crucial place that starts is the design. Too often, online stores go all out with complicated designs that do nothing more than slow down the load time and annoys visitors. Every design you choose should be with the aim to hook potential customers.

The same goes for the navigation, and checkout process.

PlatformDesign & ThemesVisual DesignMobile UXCost Of Premium Themes# of Free Themes
Sellfy5.0593$05
ShopWired4.3593$3495+20
Pixpa4.35940131
Freewebstore4.35920100+
Shift4Shop4.34.095$200+50+
Volusion3.7492$18018
Prestashop3.2494$29+0
SquareSpace4.35.05100.00%14
Weebly4.3597$4515

Customization Features

To get the best, you’ll need to tweak some features in your ecommerce platform. About that, Shopify checkout process is limiting. The changes you can make to the checkout pages are minimal except if you pay for Shopify Plus. Sure, Shopify Plus has its benefits, but if you don’t need most of them, paying at least $2000 every month only for the sake of the checkout page might be total madness.

If you’re thinking WooCommerce, you can customize almost everything due to child themes. This is one place that self-hosted platforms do well.

Theme Selection

Your theme is the frontline for any tweaking you will do. If you’re a beginner to coding or your platform doesn’t allow much for developer re-coding, you need to choose a theme that meets your needs and suits your customers. In picking the right theme, look out for the one that’s best for your niche and what other ecommerce sites are picking.

Another thing is cost. While you can get a large number of free WordPress themes, Shopify and BigCommerce are restricted to 9 and 12 respectively. You’ll have to pay for the other great guys that you might prefer. If you’re into spending more for the best, you can reach out to an expert to customize a theme for you or design one from scratch..

Mobile User Experience

About half of the traffic to ecommerce stores come from mobile devices. Mobile ecommerce is growing so fast that you need to not only think about responsive design but also the best possible experience. One way to go about this is the Google Mobile User Experience Score.

Google’s Mobile User Experience score offers an excellent idea of just how much your website will frustrate mobile users…or not. This score tries to mimic how a real user interacts with the page.

According to a post on Moz, five key factors to consider for mobile user experience include:

  • Viewport configuration
  • Font legibility
  • Use of incompatible plugins
  • Content to viewport
  • Size and proximity of links

All platforms but Wix did well here. This is more of your work though.

Read Sharon’s article to learn more about fixing common mobile UX mistakes.

Other Ecommerce Website Builders to Consider

If you’re not convinced any of the top will work for your business, there are plenty of other options to consider. We’ve included them below for additional research and support.

Weebly

weebly-home-page

Founded in 2006 and with about 40 million customers, Weebly is a great option for someone looking for a simple store with marketing automation built in. That will cost you $38 per month vs. using Shopify and Active Campaign ($29 + $17). But if you plan to do any type of marketing, you’ll quickly outgrow Weebly. Don’t use Weebly if SEO is important to you.

Until recently, there hasn’t been a solid focus on ecommerce, and as such, you wouldn’t find some of the sophistication that other top platforms have. Nevertheless, it remains an excellent choice for startup entrepreneurs or those who do not wish to hire a developer.

Product
Pros and Cons
Ratings
Excellent Value For Basic Store
Stunning Template Designs
Powerful Email Tools
Transaction Fees On Lower Plans
Weak SEO
No Amazon Integration
Overall 3.0
Value 2.5
Features 2.8
Integrations 2.3
Performance 2.6
Design Themes 4.3
3.0
Overall Score
User Rating
3.0

Prestashop

Founded in 2007, Prestashop is an open-source and cloud-hosted ecommerce platform that gives the best overall value.

While the word “free” automatically makes most of us salivate, the other costs you will accrue with the free version might make the PrestaShop Ready look like a better option especially if you don’t have the technical skills.

With the free downloadable version, you’ll have to pay for web hosting services, SSL certificate, and other modules to complete your store. Also, if you don’t have the heavy technical skills in HTML, CSS, and/or PHP, you’ll have to pay a developer. Nevertheless, that open-code allows extensive integration with couriers, payment gateways, accounting, warehouses, ERP, and more.

You have access to the 16 days trial or pay straight away. It comes with the SSL certificate.

There are ten themes (all free) available in the admin. You might need little knowledge of HTML and CSS as the theme customizer doesn’t have a drag and drop functionality.
The dashboard is straightforward and simple. There’s an onboarding video, but it’s not as comprehensive as Shopify. However, you can achieve most needs through modules that you enable with one click. Those allow better SEO working, Ads, Cross-selling, and social analytics.

Pros

  • Tons of apps/integrations available
  • Strong SEO
  • Open source very flexible
  • Large and ready-to-help community

Cons

  • Slower than the other builders
  • Add-ons can add up
  • Limited third-party marketing integrations
  • Developer skill needed to tweak
  • No multichannel functionalities on the hosted version
Product
Pros and Cons
Ratings
Prestashop
Prestashop
Try For Free Review
Tons Of Apps Available
Strong SEO
Flexible and Free
Slower Load Times
Apps Can Become Costly
Limited 3rd Party Automation Integration
Overall 3.1
Value 4
Features 2.6
Integrations 2.9
Performance 2.9
Design Themes 3.2
3.1
Overall Score
User Rating
4.1

Ecwid

Ecwid Homepage

Ecwid by Lightspeed is a bit different than other platforms like Shopify and BigCommerce. It is an ecommerce widget you can add to any other website. Using the Instant Sites option gives you a full ecommerce site. Pricing ranges from $19/month for the Venture Plan to $99/month for the Unlimited Plan. With an annual plan discount, that brings pricing down to $14.08 to $82.50 a month.

Pros

  • Free forever plan
  • Add ecommerce features to any website
  • Lots of apps and integrations

Cons

  • Product limits
  • Phone support limited to the top plan
  • Product variants only on top plans
Product
Pros and Cons
Ratings
Free forever plan
Add ecommerce to existing website
Lots of apps and integrations
Product limits
Phone support limited to top plan
Product variants only available on top plans
Value 4.0
Features 3.9
Integrations 4.0
Ease of Use 3.6
3.9
Overall Score
User Rating
3.8

Square Online

squareup.com us enScreenshot

The payment processor Square offers a storefront functionality for free. With it, you can get things up and running fairly quickly, but you cannot use a custom domain. If you want more options and features, you can upgrade to a paid plan. The Plus plan is $29/month and includes features like abandoned cart email, personalized products, and ratings and reviews. The Premium Plan is $79/month and includes all that plus real-time shipping rates.

These plans do not allow for month-to-month billing, but do come with a 30-day free trial. All plans charge transaction fees, which can add up for high-volume online retailers. 

Pros

  • Free forever plan
  • Easy to use
  • Works for brick-and-mortar businesses too

Cons

  • Limited customer support availability
  • Transaction fees can be costly for high-volume merchants
  • Limited customization choices
  • No month-to-month billing
Product
Pros and Cons
Ratings
Square Online
Square Online
Try For Free Review
Free plan available
Easy to use
Works for brick and mortar businesses too
Limited customer support availability
Transaction fees costly for high volume merchants
Limited customization choices
Value 4.0
Features 3.9
Integrations 3.7
Ease of Use 4.0
3.5
Overall Score
User Rating
3.5

Frequently Asked Questions

The top online shopping sites are Amazon, Alibaba, and Walmart. These retailers have millions of shoppers every year – and offer marketplaces so you can use the platforms to sell your products.

If you are just getting started with eCommerce and looking for some inspiration. We suggest you check out our eCommerce business examples post where we shared small and brick-and-mortar businesses that became market leaders in a span of a few years.

In our tests, Shopify is the fastest, making it among the best ecommerce software options for many businesses, particularly dropshipping stores.

Platforms like BigCommerce, Shopify, and Zyro are all easy to set up. Zyro’s guided set up process with niche templates makes it easy to get up and running within minutes.

Yes, you can start ecommerce for free, but there is no 100% free platform. Even with something like Square Online, you’ll pay extra payment processing fees and deal with ads on your site. You’ll eventually need to upgrade to paid plans to make real progress.

There’s no perfect ecommerce platform, but I’ve narrowed down the top choices.

Choosing the best ecommerce site builder is really based on your needs. We do want to recommend that you consider a few as front-runners – BigCommerce was by far the best overall platform for any business model and performs excellently for SEO.

WooCommerce is catching up with market leaders like Shopify in terms of features and apps. Perfect for private/white label ecommerce sites. Awesome for affiliate marketing. And the strongest option if you want to run a private label & affiliate marketing combo site.

Shopify is the best platform for dropshipping, including print on demand.

Wix works for simple stores. If I were running a local bakery that takes few online orders, I’d choose Wix over Squarespace or Weebly. Wix has come a long way in a few years and it’s perfectly priced for soloprenuers or small stores.

If you’re considering Adobe Commerce, X-Cart is worth a look.  It’s one of the best free ecommerce platforms if you have dev resources. Plus it has made a lot of investment in expanding the product and brand in recent years.

Most ecommerce platforms do a decent job. There is a handful we’d warn you to think twice before committing to, including Open Cart, Jigoshop, ePages (1&1), CoreCommerce, and Big Cartel. There are much better options available at similar price points. Still, many people use and love these platforms.

Not sure what the best ecommerce platform is for you?

About the author

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Darren DeMatas
Darren has an MBA in Internet Marketing and 10+ years of experience marketing retail, manufacturing and Internet marketing corporations, 7-figure brands and startups online. Follow him on TwitterLinkedIn

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