Choosing an ecommerce solution can be a daunting task, regardless if you are a retailer who is just getting started selling online or an experienced seller with a robust inventory.
E-commerce is no longer a trend; it's a necessity. It's projected that by 2023, the global e-commerce market will reach $6.54 trillion, up from $3.53 trillion in 2019. With such incredible growth on the horizon, it's important for businesses to have the right e-commerce solutions to help them maximize opportunities and increase revenue. Let's take a look at some of the leading e-commerce solutions in 2023 and why they are so successful.
Since each ecommerce solution comes with its own unique feature set, it is vital that prospective retailers do their research to identify which platform is the best fit for their business.
To kick-start the research process, read below to discover 14 ecommerce solutions for every type of ecommerce retailer:
With built in SEO features, Volusion offers start-up's a full featured ecommerce solution for them to begin their journey of selling online. Also, those that decide to leverage Volusion can sell their products in multiple marketplaces including Amazon and eBay.
Little brother of Shopify Plus, this ecommerce solution offers start-ups more than 100 different themes for their website and a mobile optimized shopping cart among many other features.
Shopify is one of the most popular ecommerce solutions on the market, with over one million businesses using the platform to power their online stores. Shopify is known for its ease of use, with a user-friendly interface that makes it simple for businesses to get started with ecommerce. The platform also offers a wide range of customization options, with hundreds of themes and plugins available to enhance the look and functionality of a store.
Shopify is also highly scalable, allowing businesses to grow as their customer base grows. The platform supports multiple payment options, including credit cards, PayPal, and Apple Pay, and offers integrated shipping options to make it easy for businesses to manage their orders and shipping.
One of the key advantages of Shopify is its cost-effectiveness, with plans starting at just $29 per month. This makes it an attractive option for small and medium-sized businesses that are looking to start their ecommerce journey without breaking the bank. Also, for those interested in starting a blog along with their store (read about the benefits of blogs here), Shopify offers a simple blogging platform where users can publish their posts as well as receive feedback from their readers.
However, Shopify is not without its drawbacks. Some businesses may find the platform to be limiting in terms of customization options, as it does not offer as much flexibility as other ecommerce solutions. Additionally, Shopify's transaction fees can be high for businesses that generate a high volume of sales.
With little money to spare and a small pool of employees, start-up's need an ecommerce solution that they can work with on their own terms. PrestaShop delivers a wide range of features including inventory management and advanced stock management to help ecommerce start-ups create and run a successful online store with ease.
WordPress is one of the most popular content management systems on the market, and with thousands of plugins available users can transform their website into whatever they need it to be. For ecommerce start-ups, the WooCommerce plugin allows users to quickly set up, market and analyze their storefront while not wasting any of their limited resources.
The platform is highly customizable, allowing businesses to create a unique online store that reflects their brand. WooCommerce also offers a wide range of plugins and extensions, giving businesses the ability to add new features and functionality to their store as needed.
One of the key advantages of WooCommerce is its cost-effectiveness, as it is free to use and only requires a small investment in hosting and domain name registration. The platform is also highly scalable, allowing businesses to grow as their customer base grows.
However, WooCommerce can be more difficult to use than other ecommerce solutions, as it requires a certain level of technical expertise to set up and manage. Additionally, the platform may not be as user-friendly as some of the other ecommerce solutions on the market, making it less accessible to businesses that are new to ecommerce.
BigCommerce is another popular ecommerce solution, known for its ease of use and user-friendly interface. The platform offers a wide range of customization options, with hundreds of themes and plugins available to enhance the look and functionality of a store. BigCommerce also supports multiple payment options, including credit cards, PayPal, and Apple Pay, and offers integrated shipping options to make it easy for businesses to manage their orders and shipping.
One of the key advantages of BigCommerce is its scalability, allowing businesses to grow as their customer base grows. The platform also offers a range of advanced features, such as multi-store management, customer segmentation, and advanced reporting, making it an ideal choice for businesses that need a more sophisticated ecommerce solution.
Some cons of using BigCommerce include lack of advanced customer segmentation and reporting compared with other ecommerce solutions. BigCommerce also relies on third-party apps which can be costly and time-consuming.
Through a simple drag-and-drop creator and responsive design, Ecwid enables small businesses to quickly create an online storefront. Those that choose Ecwid will also be able to leverage a variety of integrations, including those for social networks like Facebook as well as a wide selection of payment solutions.
From the popular in-store payment solution comes a mobile ready ecommerce solution where small businesses can create their own storefront, integrate social media links and leverage promotional codes.
Big Brother to the regular Shopify ecommerce solution, Shopify Plus is for enterprise-level businesses that receive massive amounts of traffic. The solution offers a variety of enterprises features, including unlimited bandwidth and 99.97 percent uptime.
Magento is a powerful ecommerce platform that is designed to meet the needs of large businesses. The platform is highly customizable, with a wide range of themes and extensions available to enhance the look and functionality of a store. Magento also offers a range of advanced features, such as multi-store management, customer segmentation, and advanced reporting, making it an ideal choice for businesses that need a more sophisticated ecommerce solution.
One of the key advantages of Magento is its scalability, allowing businesses to grow as their customer base grows. The platform also supports multiple payment options, including credit cards, PayPal, and Apple Pay, and offers integrated shipping options to make it easy for businesses to manage their orders and shipping.
However, Magento is not without its drawbacks. The platform can be complex to use and may require a significant investment in time and resources to set up and manage. Additionally, Magento can be expensive to use, with plans starting at $22,000 per year, making it an unrealistic option for small and medium-sized businesses. Furthermore, the platform can also be difficult to customize, with many businesses relying on third-party developers to make changes to their stores.
As an open source platform, X-Cart allows for enterprises to have full control of the solution so they can scale and add features as they see fit. Also, with responsive design and hundreds of add-on extensions, enterprises can make sure their websites look great on all devices.
Offering a wide variety of ecommerce solutions for enterprises, Hybris is a one stop shop of sorts that has specific offerings for both B2B and B2C enterprises. Moreover, Hybris recognizes the critical role that mobile devices play in ecommerce today and provides full support for both iOS and Android apps as well as can execute both push and text message marketing campaigns.
*** This list is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to ecommerce solutions available on the Web. Share your favorite ecommerce solution in the Comment Section below.
No matter what type of business you have or what kind of products you are selling, there are plenty of e-commerce solutions available that can help you maximize your online presence and increase your sales in 2023 and beyond. As we've seen, the solutions listed all offer unique advantages that make them popular choices amongst entrepreneurs worldwide. If you are looking for an effective way to start selling online this year then one of these might just be perfect for you! With the right choice of e-commerce solution in place now, you could very well be ready for the projected growth of global e-commerce by the end of 2023!