电子商务Platform Comparison – Which Will Be Best for You?

If you haven't already entered the world of eCommerce or are unhappy with your existing solution, you might be considering which eCommerce platform will work best for your business. There are many different eCommerce platforms from which you could choose. We have already looked at a selection inTop 14 eCommerce Platforms to Power Your Business, but how do you know which is best for you?

As with any business decisions, you need first to do your research. You will need to look at potential eCommerce platforms and ask yourself a few questions. As we talk about in ourUltimate Guide on How to Start an eCommerce Business, you need to ask questions like:

  1. Will you hire a designer or use prefab templates to determine the look and feel?
  2. How big is your customer base?
  3. What shopping cart software suits the way you want to run your site?
  4. Do you want a full suite of tools in a bundled package?
  5. 你可能会使用一个商业或开源吗option?
  6. How do you intend to take payments?

假设他们想要一个单独的电子商务网站,而不仅仅是从现有在线市场上销售或工作的社交媒体,您还需要采取三个主要步骤来建立您的电子商务业务:

  1. 找到电子商务平台
  2. Find a hosting provider
  3. Register your domain

一些电子商务平台可以帮助您使用188滚球地址步骤2和/或3,以及步骤1。但是,如果您采用自托管路线(请参阅下文有关此信息),则可能必须自己执行步骤2和3。

Gross Monthly Revenue

1290$

Total Monthly Fees
Total % of Revenue Paid in Monthly Fees
Bigcommerce(Plus Plan)
$400
15%
Shopify(Shopify Plan)
$140
5,35%
在线方形(Performance Plan)
$135
15,55%
Wix(Business Unlimited)
$135
15,55%
Woocommerce
$135
15,55%

The Ultimate eCommerce Platform Comparison


What is an eCommerce Platform?

Anybody with a bit of technical skill can create a website nowadays. The days of needing extensive knowledge of HTML, CSS, and all those other acronyms are over. Sure, you might prefer to develop a team of web developers and designers if you want a large or complex site or if you're particularly busy and have better uses for your time. But even small businesses or individuals with a limited budget can put together a website using a WordPress site. And the drag-and-drop editors in some of the eCommerce platforms we have looked at here are even easier to use.

However, even a professional-looking WordPress site doesn't come equipped to make it an eCommerce site out of the box. eCommerce sites have special needs, like accepting payment and including a purchasing process, that doesn't come included with a standard WordPress installation.

If you want to use a website to sell goods or services and don't intend to pay developers for a fully customized solution, you need to implement an eCommerce platform.

An eCommerce platform is a specific type of software that enables you to make online sales. Most eCommerce platforms help you build a shopping website from scratch. Others act as an add-on to an existing website builder/content management system, like WordPress. And some recognize that you might prefer not to create a website at all and would instead operate a store within an existing marketplace or perhaps just sell via social media.


Two Main Types of eCommerce Platform

There are a surprisingly sizable number of eCommerce platforms in the marketplace. These work under a variety of models, and many specialize in some way. However, if they include a website, they fit into one of two categories: hosted or self-hosted.

1. Hosted

借助托管解决方案,您将更多的决策留给电子商务平台公司。他们通常会为您提供某种形式的网站构建器,其中包括电子商务所需的所有基本功能。但是,最重要的是,他们为您“主持”您的商店 - 您不必担心找到网站主机并维护您的网站。

Because hosted eCommerce platforms do much of the "heavy lifting" for you, you should be able to create your online store more quickly on these platforms, compared to those that require self-hosting. They are generally easier to develop and more straightforward to operate. You will need less technical knowledge, as well.

The main downside to this simplicity is that you will usually have less flexibility when using a hosted platform than with a self-hosted one. You can't change and modify things as quickly, and they may impose more rules and requirements on you.


2. Self-Hosted

If you opt for a self-hosted eCommerce solution, you create your website and pay a web hosting provider, like Bluehost, Dreamhost, HostGator, or one of hundreds of others, to host your site for you. You will need better technical skills (or be willing to pay somebody else who does) to set up and run your eCommerce platform.

Your eCommerce provider will require you to be more autonomous, and you will have to do more of the site maintenance yourself. On the other hand, you will have more flexibility with a self-hosted site and feel that you have more control over your eCommerce site.

Some eCommerce platforms give you both hosted and self-hosted options. For example, you could create a Shopify store on their hosted platform. Alternatively, you could download a Shopify plug-in that works in conjunction with your self-hosted site.


What to Look for in an eCommerce Platform

There are a surprisingly large number of eCommerce platforms on the market, so you need to research which will be best for your needs. To an extent, this depends on what you are looking for in an eCommerce platform. Somebody who is new to eCommerce and wants something quick and easy to set up has very different requirements from an experienced online retailer that has already created several sites and wants to expand his or her site's capabilities.

You need a platform that matches your knowledge and technical skills. An advanced open-source platform, such as Magento, will overwhelm a beginner yet be ideal for a coder wanting to tinker with every option to improve a site's capabilities. Yet a plug-and-play site builder, like Wix, will frustrate an advanced user wishing to tinker with technical features.

It's essential to recognize that an eCommerce site differs from other types of websites. Your customers need to see what you have to sell, and they have to have some way of purchasing and paying for what they buy. Virtually every eCommerce solution includes taking and processing orders, allowing for tax on purchases, enabling customers to make payments, and offering shipping methods. Some platforms offer more advanced and robust solutions than others.

尽管我们通常在此处参考您的电子商务网站,但一些电子商务平台认识到您可以以多种方式销售并整合其他市场,例如社交销售和亚马逊市场。188滚球地址他们中的许多人都可以轻松(无论是开箱即用还是通过应用程序或插件)。许多较大的电子商务平台,例如Shopify和BigCommerce,它们都与其他市场拥有许多集成。188滚球地址他们还拥有相当大的应用商店,为核心平台提供了许多扩展。188滚球地址


Best eCommerce Solutions for Smaller Businesses

1. EcWid

Prices:Free $0, Venture $15/mo, Business $35/mo, Unlimited $99/mo

EcWidis an effective eCommerce site builder, as well as a WordPress plug-in you can use with an existing website. As you will note from the pricing, you can even use a free plan if you only have limited eCommerce needs (and funds).

最近的Ecwid创新是其即时网站。这为您提供了一家小的一页商店,如果您想在有限的时间内建立一个小型电子商务网站,也许是为了进行活动或特殊活动。

The Venture plan lets you add 100 items, which should be enough for many small stores. A significant advantage here is that you can still access all the payment and shipping options. You can also sell via a Facebook or Instagram store, along with mobile point-of-sale. Therefore, it would be ideal for all those small eCommerce businesses that just sell a few products.

The Business plan is useful for those with more significant needs, up to 2,500 products. It also gives you access to marketplaces, such as eBay, Amazon, and Etsy. You can tie EcWid in with your Mailchimp account for automated email marketing. EcWid also adds quite a few additional features to this plan, including abandoned cart emails and product variations.

顾名思义,there is no limit to the number of products you can add when using the Unlimited plan. You also qualify for priority support.


2. Jimdo

Prices: Basic $15/mo, Business $19/mo, VIP 39/mo

Jimdois primarily based on a website builder, Jimdo Creator. However, the company offers a separate Jimdo Online Store product, and the above pricing plans target those who intend to create a store, compared to merely building a website.

Jimdo不会尝试与您在本文中进一步看到的相当大的电子商务平台竞争。188滚球地址它销售自己是“非常适合小型企业,不需要编码知识”。当然,您不会期望您将拥有一个专门用于电子商务商店的技术团队。它还强调说:“ Jimdo非常适合首次卖家。我们拥有您开始的所有功能。只需拍摄产品照片,填写详细信息,添加您的付款信息,然后就可以开始订单。”但是,如果您想与亚马逊竞争,这可能不是您的产品。

Even the basic plan includes a free domain and the ability to build an online store. Significantly for the budget conscious, Jimdo doesn't charge any transaction fees.

The plan you choose will affect the size of your website. The Basic plan limits you to 10 pages, and the Business plan has a 50-page limit. If you have more significant needs, you can have unlimited web pages on the VIP plan. The Basic plan also lacks a few of the eCommerce usability features found in the higher-level plans.

Jimdo doesn't offer all the payment options that some of the bigger competitors do. However, you can still give your customers a choice of PayPal, direct debit, or credit card.

Jimdo believes its online shops are ideal for up to 100 products. However, you can offer different variants of the same product—different colors, sizes, etc.


3. Squarespace

价格:业务$ 18/mo,基本商业$ 26/mo,高级商务$ 40/mo

Squarespacealso separates creating a website from "Selling Anything." We have not included the Personal plan in our prices above, as that plan doesn't allow fully integrated eCommerce.

When you look at the images displayed on Squarespace's webpage, it is clear that they target small businesses and people wanting to sell a few items via a website. Although they say that "whether you're just getting started or are an established brand, our powerful platform helps your business grow," it is clear Squarespace is more interested in providing a solution for craftspeople and other small businesses rather than enterprises. They also stress, "an online store isn't just for physical goods. Create a website that helps your business attract new customers and allows them to book your services."

Squarespace integrates products well with both blogs and social media. They recognize that their customers are very likely to promote goods or services in this way. People can buy items from your store without leaving their social apps.

Squarespace includes all the main features you would expect of a platform aimed at this customer type. It isn't great for dropshipping, but It does cater well to digital goods and subscriptions. If you're selling your own goods or services, it might be ideal for your needs.


4. Weebly

Source: sitebuilderreport.com

Prices: Pro $12/m0, Business $25/mo, Business Plus $38/mo

Weeblyhas separate pricing for websites and online stores. The above prices are its online store plans. Weebly was acquired by mobile payments company Square in 2018, so obviously has strengths in that area.

All Weebly online store plans come with a free domain, a website, and $100 worth of Google Ads. Also, Business Pro includes email marketing capabilities.

职业计划只提供有限的中性电子商务ities, including a shopping cart and accepting payments through both Square and some third parties. Each of the other plans adds additional eCommerce capabilities, including item options, inventory management, and automatic tax calculator, shipping calculator, and more.

To get your eCommerce website up-and-running, choose a design theme, add your products, set up shipping and taxes, then select your preferred way to accept payments. Weebly automatically creates a storefront for you to customize as much or as little as you'd like, including an option for full CSS/HTML control and editing.


5. Wix

Prices: Business Basic $17/mo, Business Unlimited $25/mo, Business VIP $35/mo

Wix尽管他们将Wix电子商务推向“创业在线业务,零售商在线移动商店或已经销售超过100万美元的品牌”,但主要针对较小的市场目标。您使用Wix拖放网站构建器将您的网站放在一起。您可以选择一个模板并自定义任何问题,也可以回答一些问题,并获得仅为您设计的免费网站。

Wix crystalizes the steps of creating an online store into seven steps:

    1. 登录到您的帐户或注册。
    2. Choose from 500+ professional online store templates.
    3. Customize your online store's design.
    4. Add products to your store.
    5. Connect a payment provider and set up shipping.
    6. Choose a custom domain.
    7. Publish your eCommerce website and start selling.

All Business eCommerce plans allow you to accept online payments, choose from various payment methods, connect a custom domain, and remove the Wix ads (that appear on a standard free Wix website). The higher plans add a few additional features, more storage, and offer a professional logo. The Business VIP plan also ensures you receive priority response and VIP support.


Best eCommerce Solutions for Medium to Large Businesses

1. BigCommerce Essentials

Prices: Standard $29.95/mo, Plus $79.95/mo, Pro $299.95/mo, Enterprise pricing on request

正如BigCommerce的名称所表明的那样,它特别适合大型电子商务商店;然而,BigCommerce Essentialstargets those businesses that do not yet class themselves as operating at enterprise-level.

It sets its plans on a sales threshold – you can only use the lower pricing tiers when you make smaller sales. The Standard plan is for firms making less than $50K in online sales per year. Once you hit that level, you have to move to the Plus plan (which has a few additional features like Abandoned Cart Saver, so you may opt to move there at a lower sales level). Similarly, once you reach $180K annual sales, you need to change to the Pro plan. Once you're making $400K online sales per year, BigCommerce considers you an enterprise, and you need to shift to BigCommerce Enterprise.

Because the thresholds on these pricing plans are based on sales values, BigCommerce is not so suitable for firms that sell large quantities of low margin products.

BigCommerce指导您创建在线商店。它为您的网站提供了许多有吸引力且可用的模板。您会发现各种各样的选项和功能。

顾名思义,BigCommerce is geared towards building an online store. You can easily upload images and videos to create a catalog of products to sell. It allows for product variations. For example, you can upload the full range of colors and sizes you may sell of a particular shirt style, and the customer can select and purchase the specific color and size they desire.

You can also easily set up a BigCommerce site to work with most online payment methods. You can also use it to determine shipping costs.


2. Magento Open Source

价格:开源,如此有效免费(尽管您有一个自托管网站的通常的网络托管和其他相关费用。

顾名思义,Magento Open Sourceis thefree open source version of Adobe'sMagento eCommerce platform. This makes it an economical eCommerce platform for a business with a tech team or developers (or a business owner with above-average technical skills). It is definitely not designed for somebody looking for a simple drop-and-drop solution to their eCommerce needs.

It offers necessary eCommerce capabilities that allow you to build a unique online store from the ground up. You can expand on its basic capabilities by using an extension from Magento Marketplace.

线上购物的开放源代码包含一个集成checkout, along with integrated payment solutions and shipping. You can transact in multiple currencies and use worldwide shipping providers. You can use Magento Open Source to manage a catalog of numerous types of products.

显然,您必须自己负责一个Magento开源网站,安排自托管并购买合适的域名。


3. Shopify

Prices: Shopify Lite $9/mo, Basic Shopify $29/mo, Shopify $79/mo, Advanced Shopify $299/mo

虽然您可以使用Shopifyto create eCommerce sites of virtually any size, it is particularly well suited to larger online stores. Shopify powers over 1.6 million websites. Some sources claim that it is the most popular eCommerce platform, althoughStatistaplaces it in third place, holding 10.98% of all eCommerce software platforms and technologies worldwide as of April 2020.

As you can see from Shopify's process, the company pitches versions of its product to all businesses large and small.

最基本的计划,Shopify Lite,承认many people selling online don't want to go through the effort of building a website. They are happy to sell a few products on social media. Shopify Lite effectively lets you add a Buy Now button to your social advertising posts, enabling you to engage in eCommerce directly from those social posts.

Basic Shopify will suit most new businesses creating an eCommerce platform. You can still sell unlimited products on this plan, although Shopify will charge a 2% transaction fee unless you use their payment gateway, Shopify Payments.

You will have to buy a domain with Shopify, but you should pick one up simply enough from any specialist domain-selling company (Shopify sells them too). Although this is an extra cost, it is a worthwhile expense. You have a much better chance of directing traffic to your own domain than one provided as part of a plan.

The standard Shopify plan charges a lower credit card rate and adds some additional features, such as handling gift cards. It also increases the quality of the reporting it makes available to you about your site's performance.

Advanced Shopify charges the lowest credit card rate. It also offers some better shipping options. It provides even more advanced report capabilities, including an advanced report builder.

In most cases, it probably makes sense to start with Basic Shopify (unless you simply need to make social sales), and then consider moving to a higher plan if you make sufficient credit card transactions to make a real difference with the fees. If you live in a country that offers Shopify Payments, it is likely to be worth it for most businesses because you avoid having to pay a transaction fee of between 0.5% and 2% per transaction.

As a whole, Shopify is easy to use, with no need for any coding experience. You can select from many designs and themes, ensuring you can put together an attractive website for your customers.

The Shopify App Store is one of the most comprehensive you will find, meaning that thousands of extensions are available for your site.


4. Volusion

Prices: Personal $29/mo, Professional $79/mo, Business $299/mo, Prime based on GMV

Volusionwas one of the first eCommerce website builders. It describes itself as providing eCommerce for everybody.

It bases its pricing tiers on GMV (Gross Merchandise Volume). You can use the Personal Plan if your GMV is less than $50K per annum. Once you reach that level, you need to move up to the Professional Plan until you earn $100K GMV/year. The next tier, Business, applies until you make $500K GMV/year. If you sell more than that, you automatically move to the Prime plan. Volusion Prime is designed to help large businesses take big strides in growth and provide their customers with a seamless experience unique to their brand.

As each plan offers more capabilities than its cheaper predecessor, you can opt to move to a higher plan than your GMV would suggest. For example, you can only list 100 products on the Personal Plan, so you would upgrade to a higher plan if you intend to sell more than that, even if you have a comparatively small GMV.

即使许多小型企业都使用亚马逊或eBay,但与这些市场的集成仅发生在业务和主要计划中。


5. WooCommerce

Prices: Open source, so effectively free (although you have the usual web hosting and other related costs for a self-hosted site)

WooCommercecan be an excellent eCommerce solution for medium to large businesses, particularly any using an existing site, but it requires some technical capability. Of course, if you're running a large eCommerce store, the odds are that you will have a development team (or at least one specialist technician) at your disposal to assist with your site maintenance.

WooCommerce is primarily a plug-in for your WordPress site. This means that you can turn an existing website into an eCommerce store or use one of the extensive range of WordPress themes to build a site from scratch. You will have to pay for a domain, hosting, emails, and a theme, however, like any other WordPress site.

Not all WordPress themes are compatible with WooCommerce, so make sure you pay for one that does.

WooCommerce includes many powerful features, including attractive product images and catering for multiple product variants. Standard WooCommerce comes with quite a few payments and shipping options, but you can add more by using relevant add-ons.


Best eCommerce Solutions for Enterprises

1. BigCommerce Enterprise

Prices: Contact for prices

BigCommerce Enterpriseis the version of BigCommerce targeting enterprise-level firms. If you are a BigCommerce user that brings in more than $400K only, BigCommerce will automatically transition you to BigCommerce Enterprise. Anecdotally, expect to pay at least $400-$500 per month for the extra services and attention offered by BigCommerce Enterprise, although the exact price will depend on your specific situation.

我BigCommerce强调其企业版s a full-service open platform. Some features exclusive to this version of BigCommerce are custom facets (product filtering), price lists, and unlimited API calls.


2. Magento Commerce

Prices: Contact for prices

The easiest way of describingMagento Commerceis as a more user-friendly version of its open-source brethren, with additional features added. Enjoy rich, out-of-the-box features, an unlimited ability to customize, a flexible headless architecture, and seamless third-party integrations.

It recognizes that many of its users have development experience and offers many opportunities to customize your site. However, it also included an easy-to-use drag-and-drop site builder for those who prefer to take the simpler route to site design.

It has a gigantic community of developers who offer their support and are happy to give advice and answer questions.


3. Salesforce Commerce Cloud

Prices: Contact for prices

Salesforce Commerce Cloud有两个版本,一个用于销售的人B2Cand another for those firms who primarily use aB2Bmodel.

No matter which version you use, it is strongly enterprise-focused – small businesses need not apply. You can use it to create unified, intelligent digital commerce experiences — both online and in the store.

如您所料,它几乎包含了您期望电子商务解决方案的所有可想象的功能。您可以在没有IT支持的情况下快速构建和启动活动和促销。这包括使用页面设计师设计,调度和发布页面。拖放接口和功能强大的可重复使用的组件使使用点击构建页面(而不是代码)变得容易。同样,您可以根据消费者行为,渠道和位置开发和启动创新的活动,促销和A/B测试,而无需技术支持。

Salesforce Commerce Cloud使您可以通过店面参考架构更快地构建功能丰富的店面,这是一个开箱即用的网站框架,结合了网站设计,商品销售和技术体系结构中的最佳实践。通过广泛的预先建立的认证集成图书馆,包括付款加速器,评分和评论以及忠诚度计划,以增强购物体验。

The B2B module offers similar capabilities to the B2C one. Give your customers the same easy, consumer-like shopping experiences they enjoy in their personal life — anytime, anywhere, on any device. However, it does include features specifically designed for B2B, including fast reorders, account hierarchies, contract pricing, custom catalogs, and more. You can customize your B2B eCommerce site to fit the needs of specific industries.


4. Shopify Plus

Prices: Contact for prices

Being designed for enterprises,Shopify Pluscan handle much more than a standard Shopify store. It realizes that enterprise-level businesses can have many thousands, indeed millions, of inventory items. Multiple customers are likely to use the site at any moment. It can handle you selling across a full range of channels – even large businesses sell on Facebook and in the Amazon marketplace, alongside their own store.

Shopify recognizes that the users of Shopify Plus will have more significant support needs too. Shopify Plus offers personalized, dedicated help and support. It gives you a dedicated launch manager who ensures that your website fully integrates into Shopify.

Shopify Plus has the same look and feel as other versions of Shopify – it uses the same dashboard for a start. However, you have more options available on Shopify Plus. You have more control over your site's setup, customization, and everyday operation.

Shopify Plus makes a range of additional features available exclusively for its Shopify Plus clients. These include Shopify Flow (allowing you to tailor the storefront) and a script editor (so your developers can write scripts to customize sections of the site, such as shipping).

Shopify Plus also includes access to enhanced analytics, with Shopify partnering with industry-leading third-party analytics companies for their premier customers.

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