Having an online shop is a great advantage from the very start. Your customers do not need to wait in long lines, there is no need to actually dedicate time to visit your store – everything can be done from the comfort of their homes. On the other hand, business owners can only rub their hands and wait for money to fall in their lap. But is it really so?
Like with everything online, nothing is at it seems. For a business owner, selecting a proper ecommerce platform can be an extremely challenging task, one that can will define how your business operates. All of them area easy in essence, but some of them come more equipped to deal with particular situations, and you need to know what you are getting yourself into.
First, you want something that you alone can manage, and second, even if you do need help, you do not want to wait an eternity for your shop to become ready. There are a lot of nice solutions, and we have picked out a few, just for you.
- WooCommerce
If you are running a WordPress website, WooCommerce will come natural to you. What makes this platform great? Well, it is free, easy to use for simpler shops, and it is extremely adjustable (almost every part of WooCommerce can be adjusted to suit your needs). Naturally, if you want a more advanced approach, you will need more advanced knowledge, but WordPress offers it all, in a neat little package.
It is extremely SEO friendly, and will guarantee the best ranking results for you, just visit and compare the best SEO companies and you will see that many of them guarantee the effectiveness of WooCommerce.
In the end, the most important thing here is that it is free – there are no monthly or hidden costs, and for many startups, this can be a lifesaver. It offers PayPal integration, so if you have a merchant’s account, you are only a few clicks away from getting your first payment. In addition to this, there are many add-ons (both free and paid) that can add to its functionality.
- Shopify
Shopify is a word within itself. It can offer a standalone website, which can cut down costs and speed up the creation process for you. If we had to give Shopify one adjective, it would be: beautiful. It really is, and it is lightning fast.
It has plenty of options for you to set up your online shop. It is a perfect out of the box solutions, as it even comes with premade plans for you to simply implement. Another great thing here is that you absolutely do not need any kind of HTML or website coding knowledge to set up and operate – which is great; but Shopify does come at a price, a monthly price to be exact (starting at $26 a month and up).
It comes with three plans: Basic Shopify for $29, Shopify for $79 and Advanced Shopify for $299 (all the prices are per month). Naturally, you can select something here, and if those 80 bucks are not a problem for you, then go for it. It will offer the easiest installation and product incorporation, all the while looking great. If you are looking for advanced options or simply to edit things to your liking, you might want to try something else.
- Magento
Finally, we have the most complicated, yet the most interesting shopping platform up to date. If you are a DIY guy or girl, this is it for you. It is not designed for those who want to save either money, or time, as it will require both to function properly, but it will offer plenty of options others have found too complicated to include.
In essence, it is available for free and it is open source,meaning that anyone can edit it as much as they want. There are, naturally, paid plans, that will offer even more options and are well suited for bigger businesses.
On the bad side, it will require more than average technical knowledge, and will require you to pay for some additional help from time to time (many companies pay teams to handle and maintain their Magento shops). They are not flashy, and they are not simple, but they are one complex and complete solution for those who are looking for the best.
Now you have at least a glimpse into what ecommerce platforms have to offer, so that you can more easily choose what suits you, and your business.
