With the immense rise in demand for ecommerce solutions, making the move towards building an online store can benefit your business. But the wide variety of options available makes the selection process quite overwhelming. That’s why in this post, we will provide you with a good comparison of the best ecommerce solutions to use in 2022.
This information is based on our first-hand experience of using the different ecommerce solution providers mentioned in this post. These are all popular and high-rated ecommerce solutions that have allowed millions of users to build an online store without having to indulge in hard-core coding.
If you want to create an online store and sell products online, make sure you read this post until the end. This content will help you to make the best decision to get your online store up and running in almost no time.
What is an Ecommerce Solution?
Setting up a substantial online presence for your brand allows businesses to reach out to potential customers in different parts of the world and make international sales without opening physical or brick-and-mortar retail outlets everywhere. This is a cost-effective way of expanding your operations, getting international customers, and gaining a significant competitive edge in your target market.
The platform you use to build your online presence for selling your products or services on the internet is your chosen ecommerce solution. The purpose of ecommerce solutions is to allow businesses to conduct business over the internet effectively.
Different ecommerce solution providers offer various features and packages. Some of them are website builders with tools that enable you to create product pages and checkout solutions, while others are web development software that requires you to do hard-core programming. Some mobile app builders can also be categorized as ecommerce solutions.
However, in this article today, we will only discuss ecommerce solutions that are simple online store builders and do not require you to get involved in any coding or programming work. These are built for use by businessmen, marketers, and entrepreneurs who are not adept at programming languages and coding skills. They offer easy-to-use features, such as drag and drop interfaces, which are just as simple to work on as a Google Doc or Microsoft Powerpoint file.
Choosing the Right Ecommerce Solution Provider
Before diving in, make sure you are clear about the kind of website or online store you would like for your business. Do you have a particular layout or business model in mind? Have you thought about the features you will require? Have you figured out your monthly and yearly budget to spend on your store maintenance and marketing? Are there tools that you can do without if they do not fit in your budget for the time being?
Once you have answers to these kinds of questions, you are all set to select the ecommerce solution you’ll be using to sell online. Here are a few things you need to consider before selecting the best ecommerce solution for your business.
- Check the system requirements of the software you consider using. This is to ensure your device or computer can run it smoothly. If your device is not updated to the required version, it might cause the software or solution to run inefficiently, giving you a disruptive experience.
- Consider choosing an ecommerce solution with scalable features and adjustable packages. This will be incredibly beneficial as you grow your business and audience. You can easily upgrade your package without losing data using a scalable package.
- It might feel tempting to select the most complex and robust ecommerce solution. But keep in mind that for starters, it is usually best to choose software that tailors specifically to small businesses. That’s because such a solution will be more straightforward for you to get familiar with. This can save you a lot of time in getting started.
Image taken from Strikingly user’s website
5 Best Ecommerce Solutions for 2022
The ecommerce solution providers we chose for comparison and analysis are based on the important aspects of building an online store and features online merchants require to make their sales process easier. Our goal is to make your choice of an ecommerce solution as stress-free as possible.
1. Shopify
The first spot on our list belongs to Spotify. Spotify is not only a very popular platform, but has a proven track record of providing an ecommerce solution for businesses operating in almost all types of sectors and markets. It provides organizations with many easy-to-use features that help them launch and manage an online store.
On Shopify, you can make in-person sales using its offline retail features. The platform has over 120,000 online shops created by businesses who prefer this ecommerce solution over others. It is fast to work with, easy to set up, and offers over 100 themes to give your online store a personalized and professional look.
Shopify will host your online store, which ensures your data protection. It offers 24/7 customer support for resolving any maintenance issues. It has a large online community of its users where they discuss their experiences of using the platform. All the features for creating an online store on Shopify, as listed below, can be used free of cost.
- More than 1200 plugin apps
- 24/7 customer support
- Scalable features
- SEO and marketing tools
- Hundreds of themes for your storefront
2. WooCommerce
WooCommerce lands on our second spot. It is among the best ecommerce solutions, designed to transform websites built on WordPress into appealing online stores. Interestingly, WooCommerce is developed using WordPress best practices despite having a robust toolkit.
WooCommerce is more like an eCommerce plugin for a website built on WordPress. It allows you to either create an online store from scratch or add products to sell from your existing WordPress site. Its updates and upgrades are available free of cost.
WooCommerce offers complete customer support for using the system. Its customer support staff comprises software experts who are well adept at using its tools. The interface is robust and intuitive and provides an onboarding wizard to ease out your process of setting up the system.
The greatest benefit of using WooCommerce is that it supports a wide range of add-on features. These include subscription management, fraud management, and membership system management. It also provides tax calculators, payment gateway integration, shipping fee calculators for your country, and other cutting-edge tools that make it into a competitive ecommerce solution.
3. BigCommerce
The next ecommerce solution we have on our list is BigCommerce. BigCommerce offers all the tools required to successfully manage an online store. It offers tons of customizable store templates that can be used to blend your brand’s color theme and aesthetics into your online store.
BigCommerce allows you to distribute digital and physical products and market your business efficiently. This ecommerce solution provider has partnered with shipping and delivery companies, which enables it to guarantee timely product shipments. Online stores created on this platform showcase the brand beautifully and give a professional look to your website.
The templates provided by BigCommerce are responsive enough to be viewed smoothly from any device. They contain high-resolution images that can be customized and used in your store. The checkout process is convenient and gives you access to real-time inventory information.
4. A2X
A2X is an ecommerce solution that helps small and large organizations consolidate their sales transactions across multiple marketing channels for a more efficient accounting process.
Besides allowing you to collect financial data and ensure transparency in business, A2X offers online store features like inventory accounting, transaction recording, and financial reconciliation.
It also helps you generate your detailed monthly sales reports. It supports multiple currencies and creates multiple merchants or sellers per account. All in all, A2X is a unique eCommerce solution provider that makes it easy for businesses to handle international sales across various channels. It is built to integrate other eCommerce solutions vital to your online business.
5. Strikingly
Image taken from Strikingly.
The last on our list is a rising website building platform called Strikingly. Strikingly provides an easy-to-use interface to build all kinds of websites, including online stores. With the help of our user-friendly editor, you can create a complete eCommerce website within a few hours that has attractive product pages, a smooth checkout system, and a tool to allow customers to write product reviews.
Image taken from Strikingly user’s website
Image taken from Strikingly user’s website
Strikingly is an ecommerce solution that you don’t need to think twice about. It is the most straightforward platform for building your online store, especially if you are just starting off with your online business and want to make things happen fast and at the least cost. Our free plan provides you with all the features needed to build a basic online store.
Starting an ecommerce website for selling goods and services online is a major milestone for any business. But the point of analyzing different eCommerce solution providers to select the best eCommerce solution to use is to help you make the most informed decision. We want you to choose the eCommerce solution that makes the process of creating an online store as cost-effective and convenient for you as possible.
