Ecommerce Platforms: Which One is the Best?

Ecommerce software is what is used to manage online stores. Today, selling on multiple channels is very important as that is what the majority of customers prefer. In order to cater to their needs, it’s crucial to have a solid foundation that will help you give shoppers what they need while maximizing profit as simply as possible on your end.

Before diving into the best ecommerce solutions currently available, it’s important to understand the different types. The two kinds of ecommerce software available are self-hosted or hosted solutions.

• A self-hosted ecommerce solution is both installed and managed by developers at the company’s location. With it, there’s more control over your ecommerce solution, you get better insight into your own data, and you have a better handle on data security. However, it’s very costly.
• A hosted one, which is also known as a SaaS (Software as a Service), gets rid of the difficulties surrounding managing an online company since you won’t be managing the software on your own. It’s also much less expensive than a self-hosted one. On top of that, the revenue earned is typically greater with a hosted solution.

As you can see, each one comes with pros and cons, but since a hosted one is typically much cheaper while offering more revenue, we’ll be reviewing some of the top ones in the category. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all platform since every business is different due to different wants and needs. That’s why it’s up to you to choose the one that would fit your business best versus the one that many claim has worked for them because it may not actually work for you.

Ecommerce platforms typically offer some benefits and tools such as product management, merchandising, pricing, promotions, and search capabilities, just to name a few. However, it is up to you to decide which features would benefit you the most. You need to ask yourself whether it would be beneficial to your company to integrate with social media platforms or if it’s possible to speak to someone whenever you’ve got a problem, for instance.

On that note, though, there are some platforms that stand out due to their functionality and features available. Let’s take a look at some of the top contenders.

Ecommerce Software Reviews

Shopify Plus

They are known for powering some of today’s fastest expanding businesses. They help merchants sell both online and in physical stores through marketplaces such as Amazon and eBay. A few of their features include category and channel management, email marketing, and product configurator.

Users claim that some parts are pretty easy to use and they’ve got quite a few good apps. The user interface is nice as well. However, for one, users need to pay monthly for each little addition, which isn’t very beneficial for startups. They also don’t offer much room for customization and they aren’t strong in the content management department. However, you do get a chance to try it out with a free trial so that you can figure out whether investing in it would actually be profitable.

BigCommerce

BigCommerce is known to be a good place for startups to begin their journey of selling online. The company has grown quite significantly and today; it powers a number of stores. It promises to provide a securely hosted site, a shopping cart, an item catalog, and more. They’ve got some themes as well as a drag-and-drop style design editor, making it easier to design the site on your own.

It’s nice that they don’t have any transaction or set up fees and they also offer fairly good support. Additionally, it’s easy to use thanks to their straightforward navigation. However, they don’t have that many free themes to choose from, but paying for a good one, plus the setup of it can become costly. On top of that, their analytics page isn’t especially effective and it’s actually difficult to use. Users have also found that customizing reports isn’t as breezy of a task as you’d think it would be.

Shopping Cart Elite

Our ecommerce platform is notorious for helping companies pick up their pieces from past platforms that promised their business plan to work, granted they bought very costly third-party applications. In reality, those applications weren’t very promising.

With SCE, you are able to work with any channels, whether it be eBay, Amazon, or Google Shopping, while managing orders, inventory, and customers across all of the channels all on one platform. They offer a variety of features, including but not limited to, allocation, cost tracking, forecasting, item and order management, and many more. This is all just for inventory. When it comes to other aspects, SCE offers users just as many, if not more, features, so you know that you won’t have any extra expenses due to the need of, for example, third-party applications that complete the most elementary of tasks that could actually be easily integrated within a platform.

We are also known for our strong professionalism and customer service. The platform is very easy to use, as mentioned earlier, we offer many features and functionality, and as a whole, you get a good value for your money. We truly take the time to listen to what you need and work with you in order to understand what you’d need in order to make that happen, therefore getting you to where you need to go is a very positive experience.

Conclusion

These three ecommerce platforms are a few of the big ones that stand out due to their functionality, features offered, and ease of use. However, these are just mere suggestions of where to start. By testing out their free trials, you can see which features you prefer and which ones your company could do without. You also need to take into consideration your budget. Out of the three, Shopping Cart Elite gives you the best bang out of your buck because of the number of solid, free themes that they offer and we offer many applications that are typically bought as third-party ones with other platforms. You may find even cheaper ones, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’ll be cheaper for you in the long run, so think hard prior to making your final decision.