Best eCommerce: find the one that suits you best

What are the best eCommerce platforms to build your online store?

 

With the arrival of digitalization, many elements have been integrated into the digital world. Reservations, magazines, information, entertainment and much more. Even the stores have found space on the web, so-called online stores or more commonly called ecommerce were born. This type of platform is increasingly in demand by web surfers, who are increasingly appreciating the convenience of buying products and services sitting comfortably on their home sofa. For many businesses, therefore, having their own store also in online mode, is almost a necessity, able to strike and allow to differentiate in the eyes of possible customers.

 

In today’s article we will talk about what it means to create an eCommerce site and what are the most known platforms to do so. We will see advantages and disadvantages of each of them.

 

The two macro categories in which eCommerce sites are divided

Let’s see some features of the main eCommerce platforms

 

Shopify

Used by over a million users, this platform allows you to create and manage your digital store in different ways.

Let’s see the different pros that the paid ecommerce platform, potentially better for you, offers:

 

• Shopify is considered a "user-friendly" platform, therefore easy to use and intuitive. In this way its users can create their own portal without any computer programming experience.
• The platform provides many tools and features. Their applications range from creation, order management and analysis of results.
• Security is a big plus. It is very advanced and can offer customer data protection.
• Thanks to this platform you will enjoy 24/7 customer support on different channels.

Instead, on the side of the cons:

 

• Potentially high costs, especially for complex and advanced sites.
• Debiting fees on transactions made.
• Shopify is a proprietary platform, so all "child" stores on the platform depend on its support.
• There may be limitations on advanced features such as integrating third-party tools or accessing raw data.

WooCommerce

It is a plug-in of the well-known WordPress CMS software, able to make ecommerce within your website. The advantages of the platform are as follows:

 

• Being a free WordPress plug-in, you will not have to add costs for its use and will be perfectly integrated into the CMS.
• WooCommerce has several plug-ins, free and not, that allow a customizable use from user to user, configuring it according to the needs of your business.
• It is suitable for an international audience since it supports different languages and currencies.

Among the cons that could shift the focus to another better platform for ecommerce you have:

 

• The possible difficulty of use and initial learning, especially if you are not familiar with creating sites via WordPress.
  
• The platform, and plug-ins connected, require frequent updates for proper operation, taking time away from work.
• Security is equal to the average of websites. Thus, hacking or cyber attacks may occur. This does not mean that the site will be attacked, but as with any website, an ecommerce created with WooCommerce may be subject to attacks.
  
• If you don’t have server or cloud resources to run your site, you may experience scalability issues. That is to say problems in handling an ever-increasing number of transactions.

Magneto

Acquired by Adobe in 2018, it is now part of the Adobe Experience Cloud suite and just like previous platforms is used in the creation and management of ecommerce.

 

The advantages that could make Magneto the best ecommerce platform for your business are:

 

• As WooCommerce is very flexible, giving the opportunity to adapt and be used depending on the subjective needs.
• It is highly scalable in managing an increasing number of transactions, adapting and growing together with the business.
• It offers many tools and advanced features. These include catalog management, shipping and payment integrations, and various advanced marketing tools.
• Developers can be part of the Magneto community, where users can compare, support and help each other.
• It is a platform that allows you to optimize your site for SEO, ensuring discreet positioning on search engines.
• The basic version of the platform is free.

Among the cons you can incur are:

 

• The complexity of the platform, not suitable for those with little advanced technical knowledge.
• In case the free option is not enough, the paid ones require a considerable investment. To this can also be added the costs of different extensions and customizations.
• Just like WooCommerce, Magneto needs frequent updates to ensure it works properly.

Big Commerce

Thanks to this platform, since it is based on cloud technology, it is possible to carry out all operations purely online.

 

Now let’s see the advantages and disadvantages of BigCommerce, so that you can compare this platform to the others for ecommerce already mentioned. Here are the advantages:

 

• Just like Shopify, it is a user-friendly platform that can be used without any special skills.
• BigCommerce offers its users integrated marketing tools. We talk, for example, about promotions and strategies email marketing campaigns or SEO.
• Another common point with Shopify is the ability to account on a 24/7 support through different communication channels.
• This platform adapts perfectly to both small and large sales volumes, ensuring good scalability.

Let’s see now the disadvantages that characterize BigCommerce:

 

• The costs for using this program could be high, especially if you add them to the costs required for the advanced features of your App Marketplace.
• Loads are sometimes perceived as long and slow.
• Once the site has been created, its management can be complicated, especially for those who lack experience.

What is the best ecommerce platform?

The best eCommerce platform is one that, according to the type of its processes, the type of business and its objectives, will be more advantageous than another.

 

Under every single platform we have not put a "advantage", as common to all platforms. All, in fact, offer the total customization of their site, giving the possibility to graphically create the perfect site for the business.

 

The platforms available for creating ecommerce sites are many more than those mentioned in this article, some may be Prestashop, Squarespace, Wix or Volusion. They are also characterized by certain advantages and disadvantages, leaving the user to choose the best one for his goals.

 

The best platform for you

In this article we have been able to list and explain different tools for the realization of your ecommerce in order to allow you to better evaluate what you will choose. We have omitted one specifically for the end of this reading.

 

At Ekeria, a digital agency, we can create your ecommerce according to your needs and wishes. The ecommerce would be created to measure, presenting your products in the most optimal way and positioning itself on the web, thanks to a work of optimization SEO. Contact us to find out more, and tell us about your project!