What is the Best Platform To Easily Build an E-Commerce Site?
E-commerce is one of the most dominant industries in the world right now, and it is showing no signs of slowing down. There are nearly 2 billion e-commerce shoppers across the globe.
That’s about a quarter of the world’s population that does most of their shopping online.
Your online store should be a focal point of your sales strategy. Netting a loyal pool of buyers over the long term can earn you sustainable revenue.
Bolt Goodly
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What is the Best Platform To Easily Build an E-Commerce Site?
An e-commerce site is just like a regular website when you ask this question – it really depends on what you need. Whether you are dropshipping your products, shipping them yourself, or you have a specific vendor partner could all determine what type of website you need.
E-commerce can be a bit more concerned with data than a standard informational website as you’ll be storing customer account information such as their shopping cart, previous purchases, ordering information, shipping information, payment information, etc. And the type of data you’re storing varies based on the inventory system, as mentioned above.
So you want to set up your first e-commerce site. Where should you start?
The Best Platforms:
Some of the most commonly used e-commerce platforms include:
- WooCommerce
- Wix
- Shopify
- Squarespace
These platforms all have their own pros and cons, so you should choose based on which one offers you the features you want. So let’s dive ina little more into some of the questions you’ll need to ask before you can select the right e-commerce platform:
What Kind Of Services Do You Need?
In order to understand the best types of services for your business, you should make sure you match them with the type of product or service you offer. Is it a physical product? Do you require shipping? Do you have a warehouse? These factors all contribute to the complexity and unique services you may need your ideal e-commerce platform to offer.
The more complex your needs (just like any website), the more robust of a platform you’ll need and the more money to play with.
What is Your Budget?
E-commerce platforms have gotten very advanced and now incorporate services such as automation and analytics services. As you scale your business up, keep in mind which of these investments may be worth it to further improve your ROI per campaign.
When it comes to budget, I enjoy likening website to tattoos – you get what you pay for! If you want a cheap e-commerce website that you can do yourself, this is possible but it won’t have that many bells and whistles.
If you have a higher budget and hire professionals (such as us =) ), the skies the limit!
What Are Your Stylistic Needs?
Most of the platforms offer a good amount of freedom as far as design. Squarespace, though, allows for a lot of creativity compared to the other sites. If you want to experiment on your own and try to design a professional e-commerce site that encapsulates your brand, Squarespace is hard to beat.
If you have a higher budget and would be outsourcing the work, WooCommerce is through WordPress and has virtually unlimited stylistic options.
Let’s Make a Decision
Before deciding which platform to build with, you should already have a solid foundation of the look and type of features you want to augment your store.
WooCommerce
This is your best choice if you are an enterprise-level business with a decent budget (think $5000+), if your store has more than 20 items, and if you require any technical complexities. There are thousands of additional plugins that are compatible with WordPress/WooCommerce to enhance all of your needs.
WooCommerce is also scalable, so while it might be a bigger investment upfront, you will be able to scale your 20 item business up into the hundreds and beyond without having to redesign and launch a new website once you grow.
Squarespace
If you want a simple website that also houses your store, Squarespace is a good choice. It is affordable and offers a simple and intuitive design tool that allows you to work with professional templates in a click-and-drag interface. The only downside of Squarespace is that it doesn’t handle the scalability that other platforms can.
Wix
If you want to easily design a great looking website then Wix is always a great choice. They are a staple in the industry due to their great UI and simple templates. You will be surprised just how quickly you will be up and running with Wix. This is yet another option, though, that offers easy access to e-commerce but is designed for smaller boutique operations rather than enterprise-level e-commerce.
Shopify
Shopify, similar to WooCommerce, may be one of the most powerful and scalable e-commerce platforms available. It can match the creative and complex scalability necessary for even the most ambitious of businesses. It is a perfect fit whether you want to start small and scale fast, or want to take your already booming business online into your own uniquely hosted store.
Get selling!
E-commerce is a flourishing market that should not be overlooked. All of the platforms we described can help you get an e-commerce store setup effortlessly. With a little extra planning and a solid brand foundation, your e-commerce store can have the look and feel it needs to help you capture buyers and funnel them to the sale.