Nowadays, most entrepreneurs use website builders to jumpstart their ecommerce adventure. Most of these tools are intuitive and come with a vast number of integrations and features. You can utilize them from Day 1 to create a powerful branded online store.
Let me help you navigate your selecting the best ecommerce website builders on the market, their key features, and how they can help you out.
What is an Ecommerce Website Builder?
Ecommerce website builders allow you to quickly launch an online store. These platforms come with all sorts of advanced marketing tools and extra features ideal for any ecommerce business. Whether you’re in the fashion, beauty, food, or home furnishings industry, you can find everything you need to launch and run a successful brand.
Unlike traditional website builders, these ecommerce platforms have numerous features that make online selling a breeze. For example, they allow you to showcase unlimited products with their simple layouts. They also include numerous filters and search bars that make it easier for users to browse large stores. Of course, they also support various payment gateways.
What to Look for When Choosing an Ecommerce Website Builder?
There are lots of things you need to consider when choosing between these third-party apps:
- Coding requirements
- Ease of use
- Easy checkouts
- Transaction fees
- Ease of changing plan
- Website security
- Native add-ons and widgets
- Inventory management
- Website migration option
- Integration with marketing and SEO tools
- Other advanced features
Choosing the right online store builder is much more complicated than you might think. I’ll go as far as to say that choosing a highly-ranked platform might not always be the best choice for your particular situation. Instead, you might want to focus on digital solutions with critical functionality needed for your particular business.
The good thing is that most of these eCommerce builders come with free plans. You can test the basic eCommerce functionality without being rushed, and then, if you like the platform, you can convert it to a business plan. Among others, I suggest you pick software that has competitive transaction fees as
The 15 Best Ecommerce Website Builders
Finding the right platform to sell your digital and physical products takes some time and research. So, I’ve decided to hasten the process! Check out the 15 best builders you can find on the market today.
When choosing one of these platforms, Shopify is a no-brainer for most people. A major perk of this platform is that it’s available in more than 100 countries, so you can probably use it no matter where you live. As such, it is a perfect solution for dropshippers and large international brands.
The main reason for using Shopify is its simple interface and customer support. This makes it ideal for any business owner with limited technical skills. Shopify works for just about any payment processor you can think of, comes with premium themes, and has plenty of marketing tools.
As for the drawbacks, I have to mention the lack of customization flexibility, expensive pricing plans, and a subpar content management system. Whatever the case, the software still has stellar customer reviews and is worth a try.
Those looking for quality eCommerce platforms on a budget should have Wix at the top of their lists. The thing I love about this product is that it works like a drag-and-drop builder, giving you lots of freedom during the customization process. Wix is also a fantastic choice if you’re looking to build a multilingual site.
The software comes with business intelligence data and more than 200 integrations (keep in mind that you can’t access this data with cheaper plans). Another major issue with Wix eCommerce is that you can’t change your eCommerce templates once you choose them. Users also have limited data storage, which can be a problem with large online stores.
There are a few good reasons why online store owners should consider Squarespace. First and foremost, the platform comes with hundreds of templates and requires minimal technical knowledge. That way, you can get your site up and running in just a few hours. Squarespace is ideal for creative projects as it gives you lots of customization flexibility.
The eCommerce site builder is also a great solution if you wish to run several sites from the same platform. Experienced users can even set up content and download restrictions, which is a must-have for membership sites.
One of the biggest issues is navigation, which is more complicated than it should be. The platform also suffers due to a lack of SEO and email marketing tools and other integrations. All in all, you might get less functionality with Squarespace that you would with Shopify or BigCommerce.
Further Reading: Email Copy for eCommerce Sites: 19 Examples to Inspire You
Unlike Wix and Squarespace, BigCommerce is caught after for its multi-currency feature, making it a great choice for international sites. The platform also supports various payment methods and credit cards and has a cart recovery feature. BigCommerce also has numerous shipping options, allowing you to change transaction fees based on weight, number of items, and order value.
Besides physical products, the platform is also effective for digital products. You can also mess around with coupon codes and gift cards and utilize abandoned cart emails. All of this makes it ideal for larger businesses.
While BigCommerce has pleasing website templates, there’s only a handful of them compared to other eCommerce builders. The program might also be tricky for people with limited technical skills, as it has a steep learning curve.
WooCommerce is a platform that works in conjunction with WordPress, making it one of the better solutions for content creation. It also helps that the digital product comes with a free plan (although with certain limitations). Users pay for different functionalities separately and have 1,400 integrations at their disposal.
As an open-source online store builder, WooCommerce is perfect for people with technical skills. Developers can tinker with all sorts of options, creating customized solutions for their brands. You also can tap into various marketing and SEO tools to increase its potential.
The main thing I disliked about this program was the limited customer support (although it has a knowledge base). Furthermore, although the platform is free, you’ll likely have numerous extra costs along the way. As with any other open-source software, WooCommerce is much better for experienced users.
If you’re looking for an online store builder that supports social media, you should check out Square Online. The platform allows selling on Instagram and Facebook, so it isn’t strange that many small entrepreneurs use it to move their goods. That way, you can reach the customer base regardless of their preferred platform.
I also need to mention that Square Online comes with a free plan. However, you can create a custom domain only with paid versions. The platform also has various built-in tools that will boost your marketing efforts. Square Online’s biggest issue is the additional transaction fees that ramp up rather quickly. So, if you choose to use it, keep track of your sales.
The biggest benefit of Weebly is that it has a responsive design for beginners. The drag-and-drop builder doesn’t take much time to get accustomed to, allowing you to quickly boost your online presence. Still, the lack of customization flexibility can pose a problem for any online business owner looking for something extra.
Similar to Wix, Weebly is completely free. You get all the business basic functionality that would allow you to start an online store. However, if you’re looking for extra functionalities, you’ll need to go with at least the cheapest plan. My main concern is the lack of mobile designs and advanced design features. You’ll also have to deal with annoying ads if you go with the free plan.
Further Reading: 17 Best Ecommerce CMS Platforms to Build Your Online Store
The eCommerce builder supports various payment methods, including credit cards and other virtual options. Through Zapirer, Volusion offers 1,000+ integrations, allowing you to run Google Shopping campaigns and optimize your site for search engines. The program also offers advanced commerce features, like “suggest product.”
Unlike most entries on this list, Volusion lacks solid design functionality. It also doesn’t have the same selection of eCommerce designs as some other platforms, and while you can use it to sell unlimited products, you can’t use it for digital items. On top of that, even its basic eCommerce plan is relatively expensive compared to competitors.
While not the most popular entry on the list, this platform offers lots of nifty features for online sales. You can use the digital solution for free without any hidden or additional cost. The only catch is that you need to reach a specific sales volume; otherwise, you’ll have to pay like everyone else.
Shift4Shop allows you to sell unlimited products with unlimited variations. It’s also a great solution if you’re looking to build a loyalty program, introduce discount codes, or quickly calculate your sales tax. The platform allows numerous integrations with search engine optimization and affiliate marketing tools like Google Analytics.
Although the platform is great for basic commerce, it only works in the US. There are also concerns with its lack of priority customer care and, overall, poor customer support. Then again, this is a minor flaw given the platform’s functionality.
Further Reading: 10 Ways How to Make Money with Ecommerce Today
The main reason why Big Cartel has such an excellent customer score is because of its easy-to-use interface and a large number of custom theme options. The platform is an excellent choice for artists and other creative users who need something more from their customer theme.
Big Cartel allows you to manage shipping labels and create product catalogs. Even the basic personal plan is really cheap, making it ideal for small businesses. As you can presume, this comes at a price: Big Cartel has a limited number of advanced eCommerce features, and its lack of SEO tools won’t do you much good for climbing rankings on search engines.
GoDaddy has an intuitive interface that makes website creation rather straightforward. In fact, I daresay, this might be the best platform for beginners. I also liked the fact that your content changes as you change the theme, adapting to the new layout.
Despite having 300+ eCommerce templates, sites made with this platform don’t have a pleasing web design. Another thing I didn’t like is the lack of depth; some of the advanced features simply won’t cut it if you’re looking to run a successful webshop.
Further Reading: 13 Free eCommerce Platforms to Launch Your Store on in 2024
Web.com has an enticing offer for new users. You can create a new site practically for free and use a custom domain name. The basic plan also allows you to register an email address for the first three months. If we also consider various templates, a drag-and-drop website builder, and extra functionalities, it becomes obvious that Web.com is a good choice for newbies and experienced users alike.
Unfortunately, this comes with a caveat – while the basic offer is cheap, the subsequent pricing plans are not. The lack of customization flexibility is another major issue, and you’ll likely struggle to manage promotional activities from the dash.
The thing that caught my attention with Zyro is its various AI features. The program also comes with numerous integrations, with an emphasis on search engine optimization tools. I also liked that you can use it with Facebook Pixel to run large campaigns through this social media.
Cheap pricing and the fact that the company doesn’t change its commissions on your payments make it a good choice for budget sites. You also get access to about 100 templates and unlimited storage. The platform doesn’t have many issues, with one of the bigger drawbacks being that you can’t change the custom theme once you select one.
Further Reading: 13 Ways to Use AI in Ecommerce in 2024 (with Tools Recommendations)
Bluehost is a comprehensive builder with a plethora of business analytics features. With this program, you can create detailed business reports and monitor monthly and annual sales. The platform has high scalability, allowing you to grow a company from its earliest stages.
The digital solution can be a bit faster, though. I also need to mention somewhat lackluster advanced features for online selling.
The online builder comes with a free plan for US-based entrepreneurs and more than 200 nifty features. 3DCart gives you enormous flexibility when it comes to payment processing, supporting 100+ providers.
As for the drawbacks, I need to mention limited bandwidth, a lackluster dashboard, and somewhat uninspiring free themes. The company also imposes limitations on sales volume, which can be nasty as you scale the business.
Conclusion
Just about any of these ecommerce website builders can be a good solution for your business. My suggestion is that you take your time and revise a few of them – most come with free plans! Also, make sure to check their pricing plans as some of them are rather convoluted forcing you to spend much more than initially planned.
Hero Photo by Surface on Unsplash
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