
The best ecommerce site builders were evaluated based on four criteria: price, ease-of-use, features and customization.
Small business website builders that work well
Let’s take a look at the best ecommerce platforms that you can use for building your store.
- Shopify
- Big Cartel
- Wix
- Squarespace
- GoDaddy
1. Shopify
You might feel that you only need a website builder when you begin this process. While this is your first goal, you will soon discover that there are many more important things than simply building a website. You can have them built in natively by a website builder or to be ported to one.
You might not need the extra commerce tools if you are merely looking for a website designer. If your goal is to build a successful ecommerce company, it’s better to go with an all-in one commerce platform right away.
Shopify is a all-inclusive subscription based commerce tool . It’s ideal for stores of any size and at any stage. It is designed to grow with your business. It allows you to get a domain name and web hosting. It also offers high storage and bandwidth allowances and free marketing tools such as email marketing, social media, chat and other marketing tools. It also allows you to sell through online websites to increase sales and reach.
Shopify’s greatest asset is its ability to be a great fit for most business owners.
- Simplicity. Shopify is easy to use and easy to learn. While you can look under the hood, you don’t have to know how to code. However, you can maintain, customize, scale, and scale your shop without having to learn any programming.
- Performance. Shopify offers lightning-fast loading and the fastest checkout experience on the web. A managed host is not required for your domain. You also don’t have to connect a third party checkout tool. Shopify’s integrated shopping cart is top-notch.
- Omnichannel. Sell where your customers are. Shopify helps merchants expand their product offerings to new markets. The TikTok channel was recently launched. We also offer a ShopPay plus Facebook and Instagram partnership. You don’t need any plug-ins or add-ons.
Here are some quick facts:
- Pricing: Shopify gives you a 14-day free trial to try out the platform. Shopify costs $79/month, which is best for small businesses that have one shop. Advanced Shopify costs $299/month for larger businesses with multiple shops.
- Easy of Use:Shopify’s interface is extremely intuitive. If you have any questions, you can consult the extensive help center or forum.
- Features: Great customer service is available 24/7 via phone, email, chat and live chat.
- Levels of customization: Shopify templates are easily customizable. If you need more control, you can always access the HTML and CSS for your site.
- Example: To see Shopify in action, check out Greens Steel Premium drinkware
2. Big Cartel
Big Cartel can be a great choice for artists who want to sell their work online. It is easy to set up and use, and the founders have considered everything you need to sell your art online.
Here are some quick facts:
- Prices: Big Cartel offers a free service for up to five products . This is great for artists who are just beginning to sell their work online. Platinum (50 products), Diamond (250 products), and Titanium (599 products) are $9.99/month.
- It’s easy and quick to use It’s easy to create your website with BigCartel. However, if you want to grow your business over time, it can be difficult to expand your reach beyond the web.
- Features:Customer Support is available via email seven days per week, 8am to 6pm ET. You can upload up to five product photos; you can also customize the themes (plus codes access); sell online or in person; use custom domains; hook up Google Analytics; track inventory and shipment; sales tax auto pilot; bulk edit.
- Customization level: You can use one of BigCartel’s premade themes to quickly set up your site, or you can design it all yourself with full code access.
- Example Take a look at The Feebles shop for an example of what a Big Cartel retail store looks like in real life. Stripe is the Feebles’ payment processor.
3. Wix
Wix is a popular website builder. It offers many pricing options depending on your needs. The inventory tracking is not as good as it could be and many of the ecommerce features need to be upgraded to the top tier. Wix ADI is a web design intelligence tool that can create a website in minutes. It requires very little information about you business.
Wix still offers options for subscriptions, plans, and recurring payment. This builder is perfect for those who sell products that customers subscribe to.
Here are some quick facts:
- Wix Price:Wix distinguishes its ecommerce plan from its standard website plans. You will need to process and accept payments so you should choose one of its business plans. Business Basic costs $23/month, Business Unlimited costs $27/month and Business VIP costs $49.99/month. Wix will reimburse the premium plan cost if you cancel within 14-days of upgrading.
- Wix is easy to use thanks to its drag-and-drop builder.
- Features: Wix websites do not have inventory management tools. If this is something you depend on, then you might want to consider moving. The Business Unlimited plan or Business VIP plan will give you full ecommerce access. Dropshipping and tax automation are not features that the Basic plan offers. Features for the upper level plans include: drag-and-drop website builder; recurring payment options; 24/7 customer care; automated tax; dropshipping; search-engine-optimized pages; shopping integrations with Facebook, eBay, Instagram, and Google Shopping.
- Customization level: Use the drag-and drop builder to personalize one of 800 templates. Each element in any template can be customized.
- Example: Please visit Coal and Canary candle firm.
4. Squarespace
Squarespace has a reputation for creating beautiful, simple website themes. This is a great choice if you need a website quickly built and customized very little. If you want to sell services, Squarespace is a great choice.
A day spa may need a website that allows clients to make bookings or purchase/subscribe to items used by therapists after a treatment. Squarespace websites are easy to make and function well.
Here are some quick facts:
- Pricing: The Basic Commerce plan costs $30 per month, while the Advanced Commerce plan costs $46 per month. By committing to a year , you can cut 30% off your plans.
- Easy of Use: Square space’s interface is very simple. If you have any questions, the company has a help centre, webinars and a forum.
- Features: Drag-and-drop builder, customizable templates, responsive design and image scaling. You can sell physical goods or services. There is no limit to the number of products you can have in your shop. Product catalogs are available. Post purchase emails sequences are available. Inventory management and low inventory notifications are possible. Stripe and Paypal integrations are also available. Subscriptions may be purchased.
- Customization level: All templates can be customized via Squarespace’s editor. If you are a programmer, you can also access the code. You won’t have the ability to customize below the page level if you choose a Squarespace template. The styles you choose will remain consistent across all pages, giving you less flexibility.
- Example: Accessories Brand Bembien Runs on Squarespace.
5. GoDaddy
GoDaddy, a popular website builder, is used to create portfolios and ecommerce stores, as well as service-based websites. The drag-and-drop interface is easy to use and allows you to quickly design your website using artificial intelligence.
GoDaddy’s designs are quite basic. Although they are clean and modern, the interface is best for simple designs. You will need to purchase a separate online store builder if you wish to create an online store. It is twice as expensive as the main builder.
Here are some quick facts:
- Pricing: GoDaddy has a basic plan that costs $6.99 per month. Standard plans cost $10.49/month, while Premium plans cost $13.99/month. You’ll need ecommerce functionality to pay $14.99 per month. By paying annually, you can save up to 40% on your subscription.
- Easy of use:GoDaddy offers a simple and pleasant editing experience for beginners, even those with no coding skills.
- Features Over 100 mobile-friendly template; integrations with social media websites like Instagram and Facebook; multiple payments options such as Venmo and Google Pay; Square pos (point-of-sale) integrates to connect online and retail businesses.
- All templates can be customized at GoDaddy’s templates are simple and can not be customized to create unique online experiences.
- Example She moves mountains Apparel was built using GoDaddy.