Ecommerce is an exciting business to start. Choosing a business name, creating a logo and branding, and creating a website is all up to you. Though it’s easy to focus on your current needs, you should also consider your company’s future and what tools it will require in the future.
In order to build an online store today, it isn’t enough to pick the best platform; it’s about choosing the ecommerce platform that’s right for you. Savvy entrepreneurs are looking for ecommerce platforms with an ecosystem of tools that integrate seamlessly, giving them complete control over every aspect of their business and the ability to scale as their company grows.
WooCommerce
The adoption rate of WooCommerce is constantly increasing, making it one of the top eCommerce platforms. WooCommerce also regularly introduces and updates new features.
There are many reasons why WooCommerce is so popular, including that it is a simple, free plugin for WordPress – the most popular content management system today. Moreover, you can quickly scale your ecommerce store with WooCommerce with little to no trouble.
In addition to WordPress hosting, you can optimize your site’s performance with WooCommerce hosting.
Instead of having to integrate each plugin manually, the WooCommerce Starter Bundle features 1-click integrations for ReadyCloud and some of the popular plugins, including:
- Kadence Email Designer
- Stripe Gateway
- Paypal Checkout
- Checkout Field Editor
- Coupon Shortcodes
- Shipping & Tax
- Google Analytics
- Cart Abandonment Recovery
Those who want to launch their WooCommerce stores as quickly and efficiently as possible should consider this option. The flexibility offered by WordPress for ecommerce product page SEO makes it a great choice as well.
BigCommerce
BigCommerce is one our top picks for platforms. It allows businesses to build, innovate and grow online. With more than 600,000 online stores in 150 countries, they are one of the most prominent players in the eCommerce industry and continue to grow. Ben & Jerry’s, S.C. Johnson, Skullcandy, Sony, Vodafone, Woolrich, and Molton Brown are their customers.
Merchants looking for a well-rounded approach to selling online and offline will find BigCommerce a good choice thanks to its integrations with Amazon, Google, Walmart, ReadyCloud, and more.
Shopify and Magento have yet to cede ground to BigCommerce; however, BigCommerce is trying its best to catch up. They have successfully challenged global competition through their aggressive acquisition strategy and outgrown themselves as an emerging ecommerce platform.
Magento
In 2017, Magento had 9% of the global ecommerce market share, making it the 2nd largest platform. However, Shopify overtook it in 2018, and the tables turned. Shopify will have twice as many users as Magento in 2021, continuing to widen the gap. The ease of functionality prompted many Magento users to switch to Shopify. On the other hand, Magento offers customization that Shopify cannot provide, therefore staying relevant with technically savvy customers.
With Magento ecommerce, you can track, analyze, and optimize conversions with several tools. Magento supports OOPS and MVC architecture, making it a great web development tool but not so much for less tech-savvy individuals. Modifying Magento and scaling its ecommerce stores can challenge users without sharp technical skills. Nevertheless, Magento could prove a fantastic platform for your online store if you possess the technical expertise.
Shopify
Looking at the top 10 B2B ecommerce platforms for 2020 and beyond reveals that Shopify is the second largest. Since then, the company has maintained its dominance by moving up to the second spot. Due to its user-friendly interface, Shopify is the choice of most eCommerce entrepreneurs.
Shopify has also gained a more significant market share through the integration of Amazon services. With a wide range of Shopify marketing tools available online, it is one of the best platforms for eCommerce marketing.
One interesting thing we’ve found about using Shopify as your platform is that it also applies to localized ecommerce merchants. For example, not only is this site great for selling products online, but we’ve even seen more creative uses for it at the same time.
One such example is what Flyside Games has done with their Austin bounce house rentals business — where Shopify manages and tracks the inventory in stock (at their warehouse) for local party rentals, and helps this company fulfill and manage the delivery and rental of this inventory while never actually having to fulfill an ecommerce product via standard shipping methods.
Squarespace
Over the past couple of years, Squarespace’s B2B platform has become very popular, although it is nowhere near the popularity of Magento or WooCommerce.
There is everything you need to create a successful online store with Squarespace, including themes, customization options, and more. There are, however, a few restrictions that prevent it from being affordable to large retailers. A limited number of customization options are available on Squarespace, for example. In addition, since it is a hosted platform, you may have difficulty choosing the right host.
Square Online
Square Online, formerly known as Weebly, offered exceptional value for money and design flexibility before being acquired by Square. It is ideal for small businesses, and it still exists. Square Online, however, might be the better option if you run a large ecommerce store. All the necessary features, such as marketing tools built right in, and a dashboard that presents all the required information, are available.
eBay
In the ecommerce world, most people are familiar with eBay. EBay serves as an online marketplace for buyers and sellers. Each transaction is charged between 12- and 15%. Ever since the e-commerce website was launched, it has attracted customers from all around the world. They were among the first to embrace e-commerce. Its ability to operate as an online marketplace is one of the main reasons it has achieved this success.
Amazon
With a market capitalization of more than $268 billion US as of June 2018, Amazon is a massive online retailer. Amazon is an online retailer as well as a platform, where individuals and businesses may sell products online. In 2017, it generated revenues of more than $177 billion, making it the world’s largest online retailer.
As one of the most popular and diverse online marketplaces, Amazon can be accessed both by individuals as well as businesses. The site is available in many different languages and in many different countries. Amazon Kindle and Amazon App Store are two of its most popular products.
Last but not least, Amazon offers business and individual software. In 1994, Jeff Bezos founded Amazon in Seattle, Washington, which was initially just an online store. The humble beginnings of Amazon transformed it into one of the largest online eCommerce retailers on the globe. Furthermore, Amazon now offers streaming video, cloud computing, as well as banking services, in addition to its existing products and services.
Walmart
The ecommerce narrative shifted dramatically in 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic forced retailers to move sales online, forcing Walmart to become one of the leaders in ecommerce savvy. Before, everyone focused on Amazon, but during the pandemic, a number of retailers sprang to life with their ecommerce skills.
Amid a challenging situation brought about by the pandemic, the 59-year-old retailer has been able to turn it into an opportunity. Its success in ecommerce can be seen from the results. Following solid growth in the prior year, Walmart’s ecommerce sales saw a 79% increase in 2020, then a 1% increase in 2021.
Walmart now makes up around 13% of its sales through e-commerce, making it the second most popular ecommerce retailer in the United States. Walmart is gaining ground on Amazon, despite being a long way behind in online sales.
With the largest social media network in the world becoming an ecommerce platform, it is inevitable that it will have a lasting impact on the industry. The Facebook Business Pages and Instagram Business Profiles started featuring ecommerce shops in May 19, 2020, which means that selling with hashtags has become a reality as of the present day.
Of course, Facebook has been experimenting with commerce long before it announced this. In addition, the company offered a Facebook Marketplace, much like Craigslist, and an Instagram platform for listing and promoting products. The platform is different, however. Facebook and Instagram have just introduced new ways to engage in social commerce, including shop tabs and product catalogs managed through their respective Commerce Managers and Catalog Managers.