Managing an online store for your small business is no mean feat. Typically most small to medium sized businesses have limited budgets, so the effort that can be put into developing online sales and visibility is also limited. This makes it essential to make use of the eCommerce platform and tools that suits the need of your business and helps to improve your business’s performance and productivity.
It's important to have a clear idea about your business objectives and goals as this will guide you in choosing the best tools for you. Using the right type of eCommerce platform combined with the best tools can result in great improvements in your online revenue generation.
The platforms and tools listed below have been selected as they have small initial investments and a faster rate of return, which makes them ideal for startups and SMBs.
1. Shopify
Sample Site - http://www.goodasgold.co.nz/
Shopify is considered one of the most popular and highly demanded eCommerce tools in the market. With Shopify, you can choose your template, add product catalogs, create optimized designs and layouts, as well as write and publish new blog posts, all from the same administrative dashboard. The tool also includes eCommerce features for mobile devices consisting of an app for iPhones and mobile storefronts. It’s advantageous because users don’t need to have any specific technical skills in order to handle the design and customization of the platform.
There are over 100 website design templates to choose from, leaving only product integration. Developing your online store on Shopify allows for easy integration, including secured shopping carts that process payments using VISA, MasterCard, and American Express. What’s more, Shopify includes built in analytics to help you track store performance. The rate is $14 a month, with no transaction fees. You can start with a free 14-day trial before deciding whether it’s a good fit for your business.
2. WooCommerce
Sample Site - http://www.ecokitty.co.uk/
WordPress has long been known as the platform to choose if you are building a DIY website. If you want an open-source platform and marketing software for your online business as well, then WooCommerce is your best option. This is an eCommerce platform from WordPress, which, like all other WP solutions, offers you a convenient and highly customizable option for your website without the lock-in of monthly contracts, fees, and patented software. WooCommerce is the best choice for small businesses who are just starting out, and serving niche markets. If you’ve used WordPress before, then it will be even faster for you to get up and running on WooCommerce, and achieve maximum profits. What’s more, you have no monthly payments. It’s a user-friendly and effective solution for your online store.
3. Square Market
Sample Site - http://www.mgcparanormal.org/
If you want to build an online store within a short time, the Square Market is your go-to platform. You can set up your shop within a matter of minutes, including sign-up, setting up the shipping procedure and costs, and creating a products list. Once you do this, your online store is ready to go live. Once live, you can begin to optimize specific aspects to attract more traffic, generate leads, and improve conversions. There are many resources online if you want to know more about the process. In addition, Square Market comes with a host of features for customization, so that business owners can modify according to their needs, and at their convenience. These include personalized logos and images, agile promotional code, flexible tax rates, social media links, options for color and sizes, mobile-friendly store fronts, as well as effective tools for online marketing. You don’t have to pay any monthly subscription, but it does come at a rate of 2.5% per sale made.
4. Magento Small Business
Sample Site - http://www.heathceramics.com/
Magento is a powerful tool with a host of impressive features. Having closed down it's cheaper subscriptions (Go and ProStores) at the beginning of 2015, Magento looked like it was narrowing it's scope to larger retailers.
However Magento Small Business with Pixafy makes use of it's Community Edition features which are perfect for smaller growing businesses. The focus is on easy of use and scalability.
Still the more costly option, the Do-it-yourself package is $89/month or you can select the Do-it-for-me option and they'll match you up with a partner.
5. BigCommerce
Sample Site - http://www.superdeliveryguys.com/
BigCommerce is a very user-friendly and effective e-commerce platform, useful for small business owners trying to get their online store to compete with larger sites. They even scooped up a large number of ex-Magento customers after they cut their cheaper pricing plans. (see above)
Coming with a load of striking features, users gain the help of an expert team though every step; whether you are building your store from scratch or are trying to migrate from another platform. The tool has a lot of customizable templates to choose from. Website modification and management is very straight forward.
Pricing starts at $29/month.
6. Vee24
Sample Site - http://www.baublebar.com/ Vee24
Vee24 is a great choice if you are looking to improve your customer experience for your online store. The tool offers the latest technology in video and animation to help improve online engagement with prospective customers. This allows store owners to meaningfully interact with their target audiences where concerns and queries can be addressed. Vee24 offers three products: VeeChat, VeeKiosk, and VeeStudio, all of which are designed to improve service delivery to customers, which in turn improves business metrics by encouraging online conversion and customer retention.
7. MobiCart
Sample Site - http://www.flybe.com/ MobiCart
is the perfect choice if you want to have a mobile online site. This tool transforms your online store into an app for mobile devices, enabling you to further drive traffic from mobile sources, which is in its all-time high. The mobile store is fully customizable and includes links to your official website, which improves chances of closing sales with traffic from mobile sources. The platform is integrate-able with more than 45 shopping cart platforms, among them: 3DCart, Volusion and Shopify. It also includes a native app creator feature for Android, iPhone, iPad, and HTML5 web apps. For 10 products, it comes free of charge, with a monthly rate of $15 for the basic plan thereafter. However, paying yearly subscriptions earns you two months free.
Which eCommerce platforms and tools do you use for your online store and why?
