Are you looking for the best e-commerce platform to start your online business? Are you facing the dilemma of Shopify vs other eCommerce solutions? If yes, you’re at the right place.
Choosing the right e-commerce platform is significant when starting an online business because your chosen platform can make or break your business. The right e-commerce platform will give your online store features such as WooCommerce banner images to visualize your business dream. The right software will help you automate your manual tasks, maximize conversions, improve your site’s SEO rankings, and offer your various sales channels, making it super easy for you to grow your business and stay ahead in this competitive age of digital landscape.
So, the question is where to start our e-commerce journey. In this article, we’ll share an overview of the top 9 e-commerce solutions, making it easier for you to select the right one to efficiently meet your business demands. Let’s start.
Shopify Vs Other Top 10 E-commerce Solutions
1. Shopify
Shopify is an all-in-one commerce solution designed to empower your online businesses of all sizes. It is a leading software for starting, growing, and managing your online store. It offers a user-friendly interface, vibrant features, seamless payment processing, comprehensive sales channels, and a vast ecosystem of themes, plugins, and templates, equipping you with the right tools for e-commerce success. Moreover, its self-hosted software handles every feature of your site, from its design to shipping, helping you sell wherever your customers are. Its professionally designed features help you create a unique look and feel for your brand empathetically. Its security features, scalability, robust app ecosystem, and g24×7 customer support team availability make it the No. 1 choice of every new brand.
2. WordPress
WordPress, the world’s most extensive open-source content management system (CMS), can build virtually any website you want. Compared to Shopify, this powerful e-commerce solution is super easy to use, helping you ensure your online presence with unmatched flexibility. Like Shopify, WordPress provides users with a vast library of themes and plugins.
Moreover, its clean code structure and built-in optimization tools make it SEO- friendly, helping your site climb the search engine rankings. Unlike Shopify, this platform is incredibly beneficial and designed for small businesses and solopreneurs, for it is free to use, offering its users an array of cost-effective features.
3. BigCommerce
Like Shopify, BigCommerce is an e-commerce platform specially designed for enterprise-level online businesses, as its name suggests. Like Shopify and WordPress, this comprehensive e-commerce solution offers its users an array of vibrant customization options for international selling, robust hosting, improved SEO rankings, and excellent user experience with top-best security features. Unlike Shopify, BigCommerce lacks simplicity, user-friendliness, and flexibility. This was the core reason that a famous clothing brand, Grace & Lace, left this platform and migrated to Shopify.
4. Wix
Like WordPress, Wix helps you build your site free of cost. However, you can purchase its advanced features to cater to your business needs. It is one of the best drag-and-drop website builders, with a vast repository of vibrant customizable templates, excellent web hosting, and easy domain name registration. This powerful e-commerce solution helps you make online payments, answer customer queries, track orders, and help you manage orders across various channels. However, unlike WordPress and Shopify, it lacks vital features like built-in low-stock alerts and other essential inventory management tools. Merchants need third-party apps and a separate app to use mobile POS, making it difficult for your day-to-day store operations to run smoothly.
5. WooCommerce
Unlike Shopify, WooCommerce is a free, open-source WordPress specially designed by WordPress developers for online merchants. It converts a content management system into comprehensive e commerce software, providing online businesses with product listings, an intuitive user interface, a user friendly shopping cart, and a few-step-based checkout process. It’s free to build digital stores on this platform however with paid extensions, you can create an advanced e-commerce site, including an array of customizable themes, plugins, extensions, and critical functionalities like shipping, security, and other standard features
6. Big Cartel
Like Shopify, Big Cartel is a fully hosted e-commerce solution for artists and creatives. Unlike Shopify, you can build your site free of cost on this platform. However, like Wix, BigCommerce, and Shopify, you can avail yourself of its advanced features, such as a robust, customizable theme library, popular payment processing plugins, and real-time sales tracking tools. Compared to any other e- commerce platform, Big Cartel’s free plan offers more tools and functionalities than its paid packages, making it the No.1 choice for every maker and artist. However, unlike Shopify and WooCommerce, you can add only a few product listings and a limited number of payment gateways, and you are also allowed pay extra costs for proper inventory management.
7. Square Online
Square Online, formerly known as Weebly, is a simple e-commerce solution for small to large businesses. This platform is the best option if you are a fresher or will initiate a new venture. It is widely recognized among the e-commerce community for its unique payment processing solutions, allowing sellers to connect online and in-store sales. Unlike Shopify, this platform lacks advanced e-commerce features and is only designed for Square Payments users. Like WordPress, you can build your store free of cost on this software. However, you must purchase its pro version to use your domain name or remove in-app ads.
8. Shift4Shop
Shift4Shop is also a simple platform for creating a digital store. It’s accessible for freshers or mobile users to build e-commerce websites using this platform. Many small-level merchants prefer this platform over others because it allows you to link your store with other applications using its API. If your monthly earnings are approximately $500, you must not pay extra charges for using this e-commerce solution. You can buy its pro version to access its advanced features. Unlike Shopify, it lacks advanced e-commerce features, and it is harder for merchants to personalize their stores than with Shopify.
9. OpenCart
Like WooCommerce, OpenCart is also a free, open-source e-commerce solution. This platform offers its users an extensive list of excellent features, over 13000 modules, a vast theme library, and a dedicated support team, guiding you on every step to effectively creating and managing your store. It is widely popular for allowing users to create and manage multiple stores simultaneously. This fantastic platform also gives you a dashboard that shows essential metrics like sales and repeat customers. Unlike Shopify, it provides its users with limited marketing and sales features, making it less favorable for large enterprises.
Features to Consider for Choosing the Right E-commerce Solution
What exact features checklist is required to choose the right e-commerce software that is a perfect fit for your online business success? If you’re a fresher, to know this checklist is vital for your online success. Some of these considerations are:
The platform you choose to build your online store must be safe and secure, with a reliable, few-step checkout process and various payment options. Check its online and offline selling options, hosting environment, inventory management, shipping, marketing, and customer growth tools. Additionally, check its security features, business and financial management features, and overall support system. Choose the one that is the perfect combo of all these features, turning your business goals into a reality, a memorable and long-lasting success.
Conclusion
In conclusion, while comparing Shopify with other e-commerce solutions, the goal should be to find the best overall e-commerce solution that best suits your needs and offers you an effortless, user-friendly, and intuitive online shopping experience for your customers. Remember, security is the key when it comes to online businesses. After all, you must secure your data and customer sensitive information. Consider additional extensions the platform provides, like shopping cart, inventory management, checkout process, and payment processing, before signing up on an e-commerce platform.
If you truly want your online business to reach new heights, Shopify is the best option. It is simpler, quicker, and more scalable, allowing you to reach customers online, in person, and everywhere in between. It is a perfect combo of all the features a business requires to run smoothly.
