Having an internet presence has become a necessity for various businesses. Besides, even the customers have started to shop online after the pandemic. According to research, by the end of 2022, online shopping can be a trillion-dollar industry. It is positive news for small business owners who can easily set up their online store on the right e-commerce platforms and with the right tools to enjoy its benefits.
You can easily list your products, take payments, manage to ship, and perform other functions from home. However, it can be a little confusing when choosing a platform to list your business. Therefore, we have some suggestions for you.
5 E-commerce platforms of 2022
There is a platform for every business in this industry. Therefore, you need to pick yours according to your business goals and requirements. Below are some famous e-commerce platforms for you to explore.
BigCommerce
Online stores with a high sales volume and extensive inventories can choose BigCommerce. You can tie 600 variants to a single SKU and multiply with the help of a professional. It is incredibly beneficial for businesses that have a large variety of products. Interestingly, it supports 100 kinds of currencies.
They also have dedicated customer support. Furthermore, you can create multiple staff accounts and make your work easy. They can track your customers, earnings and manage social media. Although BigCommerce can give design challenges and may not be suitable for small businesses.
WooCommerce
WooCommerce is the best all-in-one platform for running an e-commerce and affiliate site. It integrates with WordPress to transform any website into a fully-functional e-commerce store with minimal hassle. Apart from that, there are add-on extensions available that let you integrate payment gateways, social media handles, email marketing, and 1-click selling.
It’s absolutely free. There are few add-ons that come with a price tag, and a few WordPress themes can be costly. However, if you don’t need them, there are some excellent free WooCommerce based themes available. For those of you who are already comfortable with WordPress, installing and using WooCommerce will be super easy. All you have to do is set it up, add your own products, and then customize it as needed.
Shopify
Online businesses prefer using Shopify as it’s beginner-friendly and can handle big sales. Different plans offer additional services, and you can choose any according to your budget. The most popular service is adding essential buttons to your site. Moreover, this platform provides 6700+plugins, apps, and tools to connect on social media.
You can quickly make multiple accounts and track the performances of the business. Besides, Shopify has excellent customer support, and they help religiously. Although, you may face drawbacks because there are limited free layouts, expensive plugins, and fewer product variety options.
Squarespace
The stores that want to list online and need style plus stability can choose Squarespace. It’s ideal for niche users who need to offer a more on-brand unique experience. Moreover, this platform lets you tag your products on social media like Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest. It helps brands increase their reach. With Squarespace, you’re free to customize your website design without many challenges.
Furthermore, if you choose a free theme, it’ll automatically get updated. However, it may need additional plugins to support various functions of the business. The drawbacks you may feel can be no control over the site’s design because of the available templates, low customer reach, and limited functions.
Wix
Do you have a store with less than 100 products? Then Wix is the perfect choice for you. It has 122+ free templates for your site to fit your design needs. Moreover, Wix is offered a quick setup for businesses and is comparatively easy to use.
Wix also allows you to drag and drop elements anywhere to help you make an attractive layout. Finally, it will enable you to track orders, shipping, and payments. However, you may not scale much because it has fewer supported currencies and fewer plugins.
Are you ready to set?
More than anything, you need to start selling online. You may feel intimidated by numerous competitors. However, it’s not fair to give up and think that it’ll take time to build an audience. You can always gain knowledge and take additional professional help. Therefore, choose your eCommerce platform, list the products, and enjoy optimum benefits.