Which Ecommerce Platform Is Best for Small Businesses?
You no longer need to invest in a building to start and run a store, thanks to the digital revolution. Anyone may launch their own internet business selling goods and services thanks to ecommerce.
You can get started with a much smaller budget if you choose to do so rather than spending money in a building and concentrating on strategies to enhance your foot traffic. To create an online store that serves as a virtual storefront rather than a real one, you’ll require an ecommerce platform.
But what if you already operate a physical business and want to offer customers the opportunity to place an order online and pick it up in person? What if you want to make sure that the inventory you’ve put aside for online orders doesn’t conflict with the inventory you have in your store?
You can accomplish both with the correct e-commerce platform. Finding the product that best suits your needs can be difficult with so many selections on the market today. So that you can choose the finest ecommerce platform for your needs, we prepared this guide to assist you in side-by-side comparisons of the most well-known ecommerce platforms.
How to Pick the Ideal E-Commerce Platform for a Small Business
Ecommerce systems vary widely from one another. While some are developed expressly with enterprise-level enterprises in mind, others are made for startups and small businesses. Some have a low cost and are perfect for operating an internet store, while others have a high cost. Many have features that are beneficial for business expansion. Here are some things to think about as you select the best ecommerce platform for your online sales.
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- Your company’s size
- Charges related to the platform (some are free but have startup costs)
- Whether your company is young or well-established in your industry
- Whether or not your company will have physical locations in addition to an online store
- The types of goods you market
- Your intended audience
Your sales and marketing spending plan
What percentage of the technical side you want to handle
What matters most to you? Is cost more important than creative control? Are some features unassailable? To handle your web business while you’re on the road, do you need a mobile app? Do you favour having full control over your website?
Make a list of the features that your e-commerce platform must offer. Include a list of extras that you’d like to have but aren’t necessary. You can then focus a little bit as you browse through this list of ecommerce solutions.
It’s crucial to comprehend how we arrived at the ratings before we get into the descriptions of each platform on our list. None of the ecommerce platforms can purchase their way to a high rating, which sets Ecommerce CEO apart. We don’t just offer advice since the businesses we list here will pay us a portion of the commission.
We’ve put each ecommerce platform through a battery of tests and gathered feedback from actual users.
Our team studied the data and created a mechanism that assigns a score to each platform according on factors like:
- Speed and effectiveness
- Easy of use
- Features
- Themes and design
- Integrations
- General worth
BigCommerce
Many people think about BigCommerce as one of the best e-commerce platforms. Tens of thousands of e-commerce companies are powered by it. Despite having numerous eCommerce tools and capabilities, it is not appropriate for all stores.
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Depending on your plan, pricing ranges from $29 to $299 per month. There are no transaction fees and unlimited products are included in every package. Additionally, it offers a respectable mobile e-commerce experience. It has an advantage over many other ecommerce systems because of these factors. It does, however, have a loading time issue, which might be upsetting for customers.
Design and Usability
Utilizing BigCommerce is simple. Although there aren’t many free themes available, the ones that are available are excellent. All of the themes in the BigCommerce store, like many other ecommerce platforms on this list, are mobile friendly, giving customers a great experience.
BigCommerce’s e-commerce platform shines in one area: it is simple to use for small business owners with no technical knowledge and efficient for programmers. For small enterprises with no technological know-how, there is a website builder. The Stencil framework was used in its construction for those who want to utilise an experienced developer.
Functionality and Intergrations
Basic SEO tools, drop shipping, coupons, real-time shipping rates and tracking, and Amazon FBA integration are all features included in all BigCommerce plans.
You must purchase either the plus or pro subscription if you wish to add abandoned cart emails or product search. On any plan, one-click upsells are not offered. Only third-party apps offer features like loyalty points, tailored items, upselling, and cross-selling.
If you require features like a fulfilment centre integration, a drop shipping integration, or a print-on-demand integration, you will have to pay for an additional add-on. This could imply that massive commerce is too pricey depending on sales volume.
Pros
- Selling things through several platforms is simple. From the BigCommerce platform, you can manage online stores for Amazon, eBay, Facebook, and Pinterest. You never oversell because the inventory syncs between all of the channels.
- great SEO results
- There are no transaction fees, but you are still liable for credit card processing costs
Cons
- The number of free themes you can use to construct your store is limited.
- The more expensive plans are the only ones that offer certain features.
- Selling restrictions on each of the plans can require you to upgrade.
For established small businesses seeking to expand quickly, BigCommerce is the best option. Additionally, it’s the best option for businesses with greater inventories. For start-up businesses, it’s a more expensive option. Stores with low profit margins may suffer as a result of revenue-led billing.
Want to know the one thing that every successful digital marketer does first to ensure they get the biggest return on their marketing budget? It’s simple: goal-setting. This is an absolutely essential practice for any digital marketer who knows how to execute their campaigns in a productive, cost-effective way. With a few. With a few simple tips, you can be doing the same in no time! In this blog, we’ll walk you through the first steps every savvy digital marketer takes to ensure that they’re on target to hit all their marketing objectives. Get ready for revenue!
Remember: even if the channel you’re considering is all the rage right now, it might not fit your brand. Always make informed decisions that directly relate to your company. Otherwise, your message won’t be delivered to its intended audience and you’ll have wasted time, effort and money.
Know Your Digital Goals
The first step is clearly identifying which goals you want to achieve. Get specific. Do you want to increase brand awareness? Are you all about locking in leads? Do you want to establish a strong network of influencers that can help you be discovered? How about pushing engagement on social media?
Get Specific
A useful tool for narrowing down your goals to ensure they’re viable is the SMART mnemonic. It’s important to get specific to understand exactly what you’re working towards, and help you break down the process of hitting your targets. This is exactly what this mnemonic helps you to achieve.
- Does the channel reach my intended audience?
- Is the channel sustainable and affordable within my company’s marketing budget?
- Will I be able to measure the success of the channel?
- Does the channel allow me to express my brand’s intended message?
- Do the channels I’m considering work together to convey my message?
Always Remember Your Goals!
Establishing a solid vision for your business is the first step to planning your digital marketing budget. Always keep your final goals in sight when organising anything for your company. When deciding which steps to take next in your business, ask yourself how they will help you achieve the goals you outlined in Step #1. This will ensure that you stay on track and prevent you from spending your budget on anything that won’t help you achieve.
As your budget progresses and evolves, continue referring to your SMART objectives. Stay focused and remember your goals – they will always inform what your next step will be!
