eCommerce is a necessary part of the SMB world. But how do you choose the best option for your business? Your choice will be based on a variety of factors: how user-friendly you want your option, how web-savvy you are, and what your specific website’s needs and products are. The right choice will greatly help your business’ success. These are some of the best and most popular prebuilt eCommerce options for SMBs.
Shopify
Shopify is one of the most well-known eCommerce options in the market today. It’s one of the easier platforms to set up, making it a good choice for those businesses looking to quickly get up and running. Its basic monthly plan prices range from the Starter Plan of $14 up to the $179 Unlimited Plan, with its $79-a-month Professional Plan being the most popular option. Ease of use, options offered, and overall affordability for what’s offered make Shopify’s popularity well justified. Tweet This eCommerce Option
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Bigcommerce
Bigcommerce is a good option for high-volume businesses in particular. It offers a variety of helpful features, themes, and tools with its various plans. The basic monthly plans start at the $34.95-$199.95 range. Although it has ranked lower than Shopify in terms of available features and templates in the past, Bigcommerce has more recently been adding more features (like the abandoned cart saver) that bring it up to speed with Shopify’s offerings. While Shopify and Bigcommerce share many similarities, Bigcommerce tends to currently edge Shopify out in terms of options for larger businesses and overall amount of templates and features. Tweet This eCommerce Option
Woo commerce
Quick, easy, and user-friendly in terms of both set up and use, Woo commerce is another solid choice, powering nearly 13% of all eCommerce websites. Woo commerce is a WordPress plugin, making it very straightforward to set up and use; you don’t have to be technically savvy to get it running, and it makes sense to use it if you’re already making use of WordPress. However, this isn’t the best option for larger, high-volume businesses. Tweet This eCommerce Option
Volusion
Volusion has been around since the late ‘90s, giving it a leg up in terms of longevity and experience. Its FAQ and help desk features tend to be more comprehensive and accessible than those of other eCommerce platforms. One big feature is that it integrates with Amazon and eBay, allowing your business to make sales through multiple venues. Its monthly price range starts at $15 and goes to $135, with the value-per-plan increasing at higher rates than the rates of other popular options. Tweet This eCommerce Option
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ApplicationX
If you’re looking for for a more customizable eCommerce solution more tailored for your specific needs, ApplicationX could be the option for you. They pride themselves on creating specialized solutions- outperforming standard off-the-shelf packages. Their product is SEO-friendly and PCI-compliant. Tweet This eCommerce Option
Third Party Marketplaces
On the other side of things, your business could instead choose to go through third-party sites like Etsy, eBay, or Amazon. These various websites make your business page easy to set up, but you’ll be charged fees based on what you sell, and you’ll definitely have less freedom of choice and flexibility. If your business is small and you can’t or don’t want to go through the trouble of setting up your own eCommerce site, then making use of a third-party option could at least be a good starting point. However, for maximum profit, most SMBs would do well to consider independent eCommerce platforms. Tweet This eCommerce Option
There are a wide variety of eCommerce options available to small businesses. By taking the time to learn what your business needs and how much effort, time, and money you wish to invest, you’ll be able to make the best choice for your company.
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