Convenience has been a rule of thumb for successful businesses. You must entertain maximum convenience for your businesses. Since the dawn of e-commerce, it has shifted the entire canvas of how we grab and engage customers.
As a result, the number of buyers and sellers has grown to adopt e-commerce as their way of business.
According to the statistics shared by eMarketers, global e-commerce sales in 2012 surpassed 5 trillion for the first time. They account for more than a fifth of overall retail sales. Despite the slow growth, it will exceed 7 trillion by 2025.
Why so much craze about e-commerce?
E-commerce has been shifting the way we shop online by speeding up the buying processes and saving lots of time for customers.
You can order anything without even stepping out of your door. The pandemic has already made an exploding trend of selling online even more important. That’s the beauty of e-commerce!
With the rapid growth, the number of online sellers is also growing.
Such vast competition demands your online presence to stand out in the crowded market.
Here, a robust and reliable e-commerce store comes into play.
According to the statistics shared by BuiltWith, more than 167,000 active eCommerce stores by Magento 1 & 100,000 by Magento 2 in October 2022. It makes up around 0.9% of all stores registered online.
Besides, we’ll explore the different types of e-commerce platforms available, including hosted, self-hosted, and open-source platforms. Plus, we’ll also discuss hosted, self-hosted, and open-source platforms.
I will share valuable insights to help you make an informed decision.
Stay with me & let’s compare different platforms based on their features & benefits to help you choose the best e-commerce platform for your new or existing business.
Keep scrolling, and let’s dig deeper!
Key considerations when choosing an e-commerce platform!
When looking for a suitable platform for your online business, it’s essential to keep a few things in mind to help you decide effectively.
Start with your goals to check for the needs of your business. It will never let you exceed or subceed your business requirements. It’s the most effective start.
When you are looking for the needs, start with the number of products you want to sell. It’s an essential factor to consider because if you sell the least number of products, I suggest using square space or Wix.
However, if you plan to sell many products, use Magento or Shopify. Both platforms quickly evolve with your product line growth.
Another key factor is considering your targeted audience. It’s important to know who will buy your product, where they are hanging out & what are their specific needs.
Knowing your targeted audience helps you understand your audience’s expectations from the stores they choose. Therefore, as an e-commerce store owner, you must look for and fulfill those needs accordingly. And for those needs, which platform provides the better solution?
Let’s say you want to target a global audience and ship your products beyond borders. Now language barrier is the most probable situation falls here.
Now to handle this situation, it’s important to consider the platform that provides the best solution in this scenario.
Let’s take another scenario. Suppose you are about to launch your new product online and are sure about your product demand and uniqueness.
You will experience massive traffic from Google or other popular search engines after your marketing efforts. Here, it’s essential to consider which platform is reliable enough to stay strong from being crashed or slowed down if it receives such many online visitors. You need a reliable platform with scalable infrastructure, fast load times, and a reliable hosting provider.
Another important factor to consider is the technical requirement of your business.
Let’s say customization options!
It ensures that your website reflects your brand and offers a user-friendly shopping experience whether they come from mobile, tablet, or desktop.
Other technical requirements include hosting, security, and integrations with tools and platforms like email marketing software USA and social media.
The last key factor to consider is the budget and pricing to choose the right platform.
Upfront costs vary among e-commerce platforms. Some platforms offer free plans. However, others require significant investment. Ongoing fees and transaction costs can also add up.
Therefore, it’s important to evaluate all the best e-commerce platforms & make sure that your desired platform provides a sustainable and affordable e-commerce solution.
Let me make it simpler. You need thorough research before you decide on a platform. There are many other factors to consider. However, the most important are product types and quantities, target audience and market, sales volume and revenue goals, technical requirements, and budget.
This way, you will find a platform that isn’t only robust but also helps you grow in the long run.
Types of e-commerce platforms
Now let’s talk about types of e-commerce platforms in terms of hosted, self-hosted, & open source. Also, let’s see what features and benefits these platforms offer.
We will dig deeper into every detail of these platforms. We will find the best option for online business.
Hosted Platforms
The first option is hosted platform. It offers maintenance, technical support, and other must-have essentials. It’s the best option for those sellers who aren’t tech-savvy. They can set up their store easily.
Shopify, BigCommerce, and Squarespace are the most popular options in this category.
Besides technical support, you can easily customize & integrate your website with other required tools and services.
Now, what is the problem with using these platforms?
Hosted platforms are expensive, especially when your online business grows, and you must buy higher-tier plans.
Similarly, you must work in a confined workspace when you need customization.
Self-hosted Platforms
Self-hosted platforms allow you to host your website & enable complete control over your website functionality and customization.
Magento, WooCommerce (built on WordPress), & OpenCart are popular self-hosted platforms.
They are flexible and allow complete control over your e-commerce store. You can customize your website in many unique ways. It doesn’t confine you to work with limited options.
Now what you won’t like about these platforms?
First, you must have the technical expertise to set up and maintain your online store self-hosted. You will have to look for security, hosting, and maintenance independently. It takes time!
Furthermore, you also have to grab additional tools and services to customize and optimize your online store. It takes a budget!
Open Source
The platforms we discussed in self-hosted also fall in open source. The good thing is they are free to use. You can customize, modify or mould your website in any way. Anything is possible!
WordPress (with the WooCommerce plugin), Magento, and OpenCart are famous examples of open-source platforms.
The good things about open source platforms are easy-to-use, highly customizable, and cost-effective.
These advantages give you the green signal to fold your sleeves for your e-commerce business.
However, you also must know its shortcomings.
It needs technical expertise to work with open source to set up your hosting, security, and design.
As anyone can modify them, there is a greater risk of security vulnerabilities or compatibility issues.
Finally…!
For a turnkey solution, hosting is the best option. On the other hand, if you want more flexibility and control, then self-hosted is the right choice.
Now you know enough to decide precisely what platform will suit best for your business needs.
Top Picks for Choosing E-commerce Platforms!
Now you know the types of e-commerce platforms and what to look for when choosing one.
It’s time to inform you about our top picks based on the research. Let’s dig deeper into the details of popular choices for e-commerce platforms.
Magento!
Let’s take a look at Magento first. It’s an open-source & self-hosted e-commerce platform that makes it an excellent choice for your store.
Magento offers many valuable extensions that enable robust functionality for your store. You can use the Magento platform to enhance search capabilities, product management, and reporting.
Moreover, you don’t have to worry about the massive traffic and a large number of products. Magento covers it.
However, there are some shortcomings in using Magento too. It’s complex for non-technical users. But overall, it’s the best platform.
Let me share some of the best Magento 2 extensions:
1. Partial Payment by FMEextensions!
Magento 2 Partial Payment is one of the best Magento 2 extensions developed by FMEextensions. It’s a turnkey solution for businesses who want their customers to buy products on installment, EMI, or Customized layaway plans. As a result, it elevates your sales and increases your store’s credibility.
2. One-step Checkout by Mageplaza!
One-step Checkout is another best Magento 2 extension created by Mageplaza. It streamlines your checkout process and reduces card abandons.
Shopify!
Shopify is the best choice platform for small, medium, and extensive online businesses. It’s robust and has hundreds of excellent features. Therefore, Shopify is loved by one million active users and is considered the most popular e-commerce platform.
You can use many features and integrations offered by Shopify to make it an ideal store for your business.
WooCommerce!
WooCommerce is another famous self-hosted platform powered by WordPress. It has many customizable options to design a unique and robust online store. WooCommerce host around 3,966,269 live stores. It’s considered the most reliable and powerful e-commerce platform.
BigCommerce!
Every platform has specialized capabilities that stand them out from its competition. BigCommerce is known widely for its SEO capabilities and user-friendly websites.
Both capabilities of BigCommerce are the key factors to earning success in the world of e-commerce. Therefore, it is an excellent choice for those who want more visibility and an enhanced interface.
Volusion!
Volusion is our last option key e-commerce platform that has many built-in features like CRM etc. The one thing I don’t like about it is its limited customization compared to other platforms.
However, there are other factors that make it stand out. It lets you identify product types and quantities, target audience and market, sales volume, and revenue goals.
Besides these factors, ease-of-use, price, and excellent support team are key factors that make Volusion unique.
The Final Words!
Now let’s wrap up the discussion and reach a final decision.
You must take everything you can to research for the best platform for your business. You have to look for its reliability, credibility and affordability from the start. Because once you choose it takes a lot of work to migrate from one platform to another.
Therefore, evaluate different platforms by your own lens to take an informed decision.
Above all I like Magento 2 for its vast array of Magento 2 extensions, flexibility, and customization.
However, you can look at your needs and requirements to choose a platform that best suits your business requirements.
Talk Soon,
Cheers!
