In our modern digital world, where online buying has become the standard for daily life, the eCommerce sector has developed to become one of the largest and most profitable business models. It will be more profitable than ever to switch from a traditional brick-and-mortar store or launch an online business by 2025 when the eCommerce industry is predicted to have more than 4.8 billion customers. To thrive in this fiercely competitive eCommerce sector, however, having the correct tools for the job is important. Knowing the top eCommerce platforms and the features they provide, as well as choosing the one that best suits the company’s needs, may help businesses succeed to higher heights in the volatile world of online commerce.
What are eCommerce Platforms?
A platform to host the website is required for a firm to run its operations online. A Content Management System (CMS) that offers a platform for sellers to conduct goods or service transactions through an online storefront is known as an eCommerce solution. Sellers may control cataloged goods, track purchases, and control consumer experiences using an eCommerce platform.
The majority of contemporary eCommerce platforms are SaaS (Software as a Service) programs that provide sophisticated cloud-based shopping capabilities with prebuilt marketing, content, and sales frameworks that smoothly integrate into current processes for the benefit of both B2B and B2C businesses.
Read More: 6 B2B Marketing Strategies to Improve Business and Workflow
Why Use eCommerce Platforms?
A website is a requirement for starting an eCommerce business so that vendors and consumers may sell and buy products online. There are three approaches to setting up an eCommerce platform. The first is to hire a website developer or agency, which frequently requires a sizable budget that most newly established firms may not have on hand. The second option is to invest internal resources to build the website from the ground up, but this takes a lot of technical expertise and time to deploy.
This leads us to our third choice, which is to choose a reputable eCommerce platform. Without the need for intricate coding or an eCommerce specialist, eCommerce platforms are pre-packaged solutions with all the capabilities needed to quickly set up an online store. Businesses may launch more quickly and increase their time to market by utilizing the full range of functionality offered by eCommerce platforms. Therefore, eCommerce systems provide greater operational flexibility, increased ROI, and superior company scalability. The ability to provide clients with excellent multi-channel purchasing experiences on desktop and mobile platforms is another advantage provided by eCommerce systems. Most contemporary eCommerce systems also frequently can provide discount coupons and employ pop-ups to boost sales.
Every contemporary eCommerce platform provides businesses with a wide range of features to support their growth and provide efficient and satisfying consumer experiences. But ultimately, the best eCommerce platform depends on the particular requirements and expansion strategies of the company. Here is a thorough guide to the best eCommerce platforms to watch out for with 2023 just around the horizon.
Your company is using an e-commerce platform to operate several business apps. To automate your business operations and achieve exponential development for your company, integrate your whole software stack with your eCommerce platform in a safe, intelligent, and seamless manner.
The Top eCommerce Platforms for 2023
3dcart-eCommerce
A cloud-based eCommerce platform called 3dcart allows businesses to easily build and deploy online storefronts, conduct online sales, process payments, and deliver orders. An all-encompassing platform, 3dcart has more than 200 built-in features, including tools for abandoned cart recovery and SEO optimization.
Pros:
- A wide range of premium features without the need for the most expensive pricing structure.
- Allows for quick order processing by linking with well-known shipping companies, printing one or more orders with a single click, creating shipping labels, and marking items as delivered.
Cons:
- Only offers a few free templates to create the business.
- For new users, navigating the platform might be challenging.
Pricing:
The Nano Plan costs $9.99 per month, the Mini Plan costs $19.99 per month, the Starter Plan is $35.99 per month, the Professional Plan is $65.99 per month, and the Professional Plus Plan is $99.99 per month.
Adobe Commerce (formerly Magento)
Before being acquired by Adobe in 2018, Adobe Commerce, formerly known as Magento, is a non-hosted eCommerce platform designed for users that desire a robust, versatile system that is highly adaptable. Users of Adobe Commerce have access to a potent page builder with features like customer segmentation and data reporting. Its features evaluate client behavior using sophisticated algorithms and AI (Artificial Intelligence) technology to provide them with individualized shopping experiences and product suggestions.
Although Adobe Commerce offers a wide range of powerful capabilities, customers must rely largely on specialized developers and pricey maintenance, which can make it challenging to estimate the total cost of ownership.
Pros:
- Pre-built connectors for Adobe applications are offered in abundance.
- A marketplace with thousands of extensions that offer more functionality and cost anything from $0 to $15,000.
- Supports Progressive Web Applications (PWAs) natively.
Cons:
- Adobe Commerce implementation calls for in-depth technical expertise.
- The system lacks natural SEO friendliness.
- For beginners, the eCommerce platform might be challenging.
Pricing:
On-premises Adobe Commerce costs $22,000 to purchase, whereas Adobe Commerce Cloud costs roughly $40,000.
BigCommerce eCommerce
BigCommerce may be the right eCommerce solution for medium-sized to large organizations, such as B2B firms or distributors. BigCommerce is a SaaS eCommerce website builder that provides a full range of marketing tools, business statistics, premium design options, and a ton of assistance from pros in the field.
Big commerce’s Channel Manager for multi-channel selling is its distinguishing feature; using it, merchants can list items directly across Amazon, Google Shopping, Facebook, and many more channels using a single platform. Additionally, the platform provides social media integration along with robust SEO tools and a built-in CDN for quicker site loading.
Pros:
- Effective sales across various channels require robust built-in multi-channel selling features and seamless inventory management through a single platform.
- Extensive business administration tools with a huge selection of simple-to-use built-in features.
- Has 0% transaction costs and accepts more than 65 different payment methods
- Users may easily update the website without endangering the eCommerce infrastructure thanks to headless commerce capabilities on a fully hosted site.
Cons:
- The platform does not provide a native point-of-sale (POS) solution.
- The more complex tools might have a steep learning curve and are not user-friendly design alternatives.
Pricing:
The monthly prices are as follows: Standard: $29.99; Plus: $79.99; Pro: $299.95; and Enterprise: Custom Pricing depends on the size of the firm.
Read More: What Is BigCommerce and How Does it Work? Find Out Now!
OpenCart eCommerce
OpenCart is a self-hosted, open-source eCommerce platform that makes use of the MySQL database and HTML elements. The platform has built-in integration features for most of the popular shipping and payment channels currently available on the market. With the help of an easy dashboard, OpenCart gives the user quick access to the vital business data they need to make an informed choice. The platform includes several sophisticated features including multi-store admin, infinite goods, product filtering, and marketing analytics tools. It also comes pre-configured with a mobile-friendly layout.
Pros:
- Gives website visitors the option to check out as a guest.
- Provides a large collection of integrated features that are already built-in, eliminating the need to install extra extensions.
- Built-in support for many currencies and languages
Cons:
- Lack of drag-and-drop, low-code website construction tools.
- Platform version updates need a laborious manual procedure.
Pricing:
Free
OroCommerce-eCommerce
OroCommerce is the most popular platform for establishing a B2B eCommerce platform. OroCommerce is an open-source B2B eCommerce platform with built-in CRM and third-party application connectors that is aimed at medium- and large-sized businesses. OroCommerce is built with premium features that are readily customizable to match the needs of transactions in the B2B and B2C sales sectors, enabling company flexibility.
Pros:
- eCommerce platform with a B2B focus and many features.
- Integrated CRM for managing and controlling all business accounts
Cons:
- There aren’t many extensions available in the market.
- The system is not appropriate for small firms.
Pricing:
While the Enterprise Edition is depending on the size of the firm, the Community Edition is free.
PrestaShop eCommerce
PrestaShop is a well-known freemium open-source eCommerce platform with premium add-ons and plugins available for additional functionality. PrestaShop may be downloaded for free, but to utilize it, a Prestashop web hosting package must be purchased. The PHP programming language and the MySQL database management system are used to create the open-source platform. PrestaShop Professionals is a special tool that links sellers to eCommerce professionals from all over the world to provide them with the support they need to operate a successful online business.
Pros:
- Simple product category development, predefined minimum purchase quantities, etc. allow for effortless inventory management.
- Global selling uses a huge collection of payment plug-ins that are supported everywhere.
- Customers that provide the required files can alter goods.
Cons:
- A fully working platform requires purchasing extra templates and modules.
- Exchange rates must be manually changed for pricing.
Pricing:
Free
Salesforce Commerce Cloud
The first thing that comes to mind when discussing Salesforce is their CRM product, however, with their Salesforce Commerce Cloud platform, they also give merchants access to eCommerce features. By integrating an online shop, predictive analytics, order management, and a POS system that is mobile-first, Commerce Cloud achieves this. Additionally, the platform offers a multi-tenant design that improves its security and dependability.
Pros:
- Users have the option of using a third-party integration or doing their update without jeopardizing the native cloud upgrade.
- Salesforce Commerce Cloud has a mobile-first strategy, offering a mobile-optimized eCommerce store with a user-friendly interface to draw in clients and keep them coming back by making buying enjoyable and straightforward.
Cons:
- You can come across several discrepancies with the platform’s design and functionalities.
Pricing:
Order management edition includes Starter at $0.30 per order and Growth at $0.50 per order in the B2C Commerce Edition with configurable pricing depending on Gross Merchandise Value.
Shopify eCommerce Website
With a very user-friendly drag-and-drop website builder, Shopify, which was founded in 2006, is one of the most well-known eCommerce systems available today. A great platform to use when starting a dropshipping business is Shopify. The platform makes it simple to import items from a third-party shop and sell them on Shopify. It also lets you amend a listing and accept orders in small or large quantities.
Shopify is a SaaS eCommerce platform that provides the advantages of managing PCI compliance, mobile-friendly designs, and pre-made design templates for developing a unique website.
Pros:
- With more than 1 billion active websites, the sector has years of knowledge and competence.
- For creating an eCommerce website, choose from 70+ professionally created responsive templates.
- Built-in capability for recovering abandoned carts.
- The Shopify App Store offers over 6000 add-on applications for extra features.
Cons:
- The extra transaction charges for payment gateways from third parties.
- Shopify Payment Pricing is supported in a small number of nations.
Pricing:
The plan starts with a 14-day free trial and has the following monthly price plans: Basic Shopify: $29.99; Shopify: $79; and Advanced Shopify: $299.
Read More: How to Plan & Write Blog Content for Your Shopify Store?
Shopify Plus Website
Shopify introduced Shopify Plus in 2014 to provide eCommerce features to larger businesses. While small to medium-sized enterprises can use the Shopify platform’s basic features. Shopify Plus seeks to control online transactions for bigger companies that experience strong growth and volume.
It might be challenging for firms that are growing into larger enterprise-grade organizations to upgrade their current eCommerce infrastructure to accommodate their more modern business strategy. At this point, Shopify Plus steps in to offer a more scalable alternative. RedBull and Budweiser are two well-known companies that use Shopify Plus.
Pros:
- Gives businesses more operational scalability with limitless bandwidth and sales capacity.
- A large selection of applications and extensions are pre-bundled with Shopify Plus to improve operations.
- Shopify Plus offers unrivaled, top-notch account management and customer service.
Cons:
- User-end customization is limited because Shopify manages a large portion of the website.
- Operating the shop using Shopify Plus necessitates a more hands-on approach and a certain degree of skill.
Pricing:
A variable cost starting at $2,000/month for larger volume enterprises
Shopware eCommerce
Shopware, a German-made eCommerce platform established in 2000, enables online retailers to quickly create and launch an online website. Shopware announced the release of Shopware Cloud in 2020, a new feature that provided businesses with D2C (direct-to-consumer) features.
Pros:
- A Shopware website is relatively simple to set up and run.
- The platform provides cloud-based and on-premises solutions.
- The platform includes SEO features and allows for simple interaction with email service providers like Mailchimp.
Cons:
- Greater cost compared to alternatives
- A relatively modest number of plugins and extensions
Pricing:
Depending on the needs of the organization, Evolve and Beyond has unique pricing starting at $600/month.
Swell Commerce
Swell is a strong eCommerce platform created for aspirational and expanding companies. It offers a broad range of features that modern eCommerce companies prioritize, including direct-to-consumer, marketplace, multi-vendor, pre-order, subscription-based, B2B, wholesale, and corporate sales. The platform works well for businesses of all sizes, from microbusinesses to massive corporations.
Pros:
- The platform concentrates on headless operations for organizations using an API-first approach.
- Swell Commerce’s unique approach to localization features enables retailers to easily expand into nearby regions of the world.
Cons:
- Limited third-party app integrations.
Pricing:
The community edition is free, Standard costs $299 per month, and Enterprise costs more than $2,000 per month.
Volusion eCommerce
In 1999, Volusion began as a web design firm, and in the early 2000s, it evolved into one of the first SaaS eCommerce systems. Strong built-in SEO tools on the platform can assist increase website presence. Users may quickly construct their businesses using the platform’s simple, user-friendly interface, drag-and-drop eCommerce website builder, and free templates that are appropriate for different sectors.
Pros:
- One of the top platforms for dropshipping in the online retail sector.
- Advanced functionality and capabilities, like store management software, inventory tracker, and barcode generator, are available in an easy-to-use website builder and administration tool.
- a tool that makes it possible to manage meta descriptions, title tags, and URLs to optimize your sites for search engines.
Cons:
- Dropshipping capabilities are only available in the USA.
- Costly SSL certificates are available.
Pricing:
Price plans include Personal at $35/month, Professional at $79/month, firm at $299/month, and Prime depending on the size of the firm; with 14-day free trial.
Wix
Wix is a user-friendly, beginner-friendly website builder that is perfect for small-business owners. Individuals may utilize the platform easily because there are a ton of free, high-quality online store templates available. The platform also offers other feature-rich options, such as the ability to sell an infinite number of items, abandoned cart recovery, and recurring payments, to increase the effectiveness of online selling.
Pros:
- Full hosting, a domain, and an SSL certificate are all included in the package price.
- Provides more than 500 themes and templates to help create a website.
- Permits the creation of multilingual shops.
Cons:
- Analytics and tracking need a premium package.
- Storage space allotment for the fundamental e-commerce plan is 50 GB.
Pricing:
The platform costs $23/month for Business Basic, $27/month for Business Unlimited, and $49/month for Business VIP.
WooCommerce-eCommerce
WooCommerce, an open-source eCommerce plugin for WordPress, is an obvious choice for companies with an existing WordPress website because the majority of contemporary websites are developed using WordPress. Users may easily control the WooCommerce plugin from the WordPress dashboard after it has been installed. WooCommerce is a fantastic option for both novice and experienced users due to its simplicity of setup and enhanced capability with hundreds of plugins.
WooCommerce, which is based on WordPress, has integrated SEO features, several payment channels, and possibilities for multichannel selling.
Pros:
- A great choice for companies with WordPress-powered websites already.
- Because WordPress is the platform it was built on, WooCommerce and WordPress both have access to a huge library of plugins and extensions.
- A sizable community supports WooCommerce to assist with problems on your online store website.
Cons:
- Several extensions must be installed because WooCommerce’s native functionality is limited.
- WooCommerce shop owners must handle their PCI compliance because the platform does not include it by default.
Pricing:
Free
Read More: How to Develop a Successful WordPress Website Strategy
Zoho Commerce
The eCommerce platform provided by Zoho Corporation, Zoho Commerce, connects smoothly with other business-related Zoho applications, including those for sales, marketing, and finances. The platform has an intuitive customizable interface and is pre-packaged with marketing and inventory management capabilities.
Pros:
- Tools for marketing and inventory management are already included with the platform.
- Supports a large number of well-liked payment processors, such as PayPal and Stripe.
- A digital infrastructure with SSL certification that is extremely secure.
Cons:
- The platform doesn’t have a free plan and is more expensive than its rivals.
Pricing:
Advanced is $175 per month, Professional is $75 per month, and Starter is $27 per month.
Conclusion
As more people opt to shop online, eCommerce will be the way businesses operate in the future. Given the constant demand to provide customers with the best experience possible as quickly as is practical, it is important to be aware of the eCommerce platform that is best for a company’s specific requirements. Due to the abundance of eCommerce platform alternatives available, it’s important to think about which aspects are most beneficial to a business’s operations since what works for one seller may not work for other sellers. With the aid of a strong eCommerce platform that works in sync with their long-term goals, organizations may considerably expand their market reach and achieve speedy, scalable company growth!
