Choosing the right ecommerce platform for your startup is a big decision. There are a lot of options out there to set up an online store, and you want to pick the right one for your business. When it comes to ecommerce, entrepreneurs are looking the best possible features, attentive customer service, and an affordable price.
I’m going to highlight some of the solutions that creators use before or after their crowdfunding campaign. These e-commerce platforms offer flexible services that are perfect for starting out after a successful crowdfunding campaign. Best of all – most of them allow you to sell to customers from your own website, so you get complete control over your branding and image!
1. Shopify
Shopify gives you the flexibility to sell online, on Facebook (or anywhere online with a buy button), and even in store with Shopify POS. They have a lot of in demand features like abandoned checkout recovery, fulfillment solutions, SEO, gift cards, and more.
Their Basic plan starts at $29 per month and lets you sell with your own online store. With over 200,000 online businesses started, Shopify is one of the go-to options for entrepreneurs after a successful crowdfunding campaign.
2. WooCommerce
WooCommerce was created by WooThemes, a team that creates themes and plugins for WordPress. According to their website, “With 10,912,476 downloads WooCommerce powers over 30% of all online stores.”
If you’re going with WooCommerce, I recommend hosting your site with Bluehost, what this site uses.
WooCommerce makes it easy to keep track of your stock, has automatic tax calculations, lets you sell both physical and digital items, and more. Along with a free download, there is also an affordable hosting package with Bluehost that offers better features and a quick setup.
3. Bigcommerce
Bigcommerce markets themselves as, “The cloud ecommerce platform for fast-growing brands.” Their Plus plan costs $79.95 and comes with all standard features, including: abandoned cart saver, no transaction fees, checkout hosted on your domain, and more.
Bigcommerce also offers helpful analytics, marketing and sales tools, and best-in-class SEO to give you all the tools you need to grow your business in one place.
4. Magento
Magento is a company that offers open source digital and retail commerce solutions, as well as order management services. They come highly recommended, and their website boasts over $50 billion in transactions per year!
Magento is SEO optimized, multilingual, promises seamless checkout and allows you to sell on multiple storefronts. One thing to note: Magento is not for beginners. You should have at least intermediate or professional web development experience if you want to try this option.
5. Webs
Webs is a simple ecommerce tool for small businesses. They offer useful features like custom layouts, coupon codes, mobile optimization and more. With over 450 templates to choose from, Stripe and PayPal integration and global currency options, Webs is a good user-friendly choice for those looking to start a small ecommerce business. Packages with a free custom domain name start at $12.99 a month.
6. Volusion
Volusion is an all-in-one hosted ecommerce platform that has helped customers make over $18 billion in sales! Some of their features include easy social media sharing, powerful SEO tools, customizable templates, and more.
Customers love how easy Volusion is to use and how easy it is to reach them with questions. With monthly plans ranging from $15 – $135 per month, they have options for businesses of all sizes.
7. Weebly eCommerce
Weebly eCommerce is a simple, all-in-one solution that lets you sell digital and physical products online with a customizable website that is optimized for all devices. They have a long list of helpful features like inventory management, order processing, coupon codes, flexible shipping options, and more. Weebly’s Business package with free integrated ecommerce is $25 per month.
8. 3dcart
3dcart is an all-in-one ecommerce solution that gives you the option to easily sell online or in person. Their online stores are easy to customize with no transaction fees, mobile optimization and 24/7 free tech support.
With plans starting at $19.99 per month and over 23,000 active stores, 3dcart is a good option for beginners who want sophisticated features but don’t have a lot of experience with web development.
Conclusion
These are some of the most popular ecommerce services that are being used today by small and fast growing businesses alike. These platforms have a focus on good customer service and providing all-in-one solutions from building your own website, attracting customers, to processing sales and shipping!
For more information on successful starting an ecommerce business, check out this recent interview: Life after crowdfunding: Mompreneur does $1.5 million in sales.
