This article is a review of the top hosted eCommerce platforms for building an eCommerce website as well as for hosting capability. Truth be told, choosing the ideal hosted eCommerce platform for your startup online store can somewhat feel like a Herculean task. You may have heard that hosted eCommerce platforms relieve the stress of setting up an eCommerce website. However, you may not know which eCommerce platform to choose as there are several hundred eCommerce platforms on the market.
Here is a quick overview of the top 6 choices for hosted online stores including their features:
1. Shopify
Price : $29.99/mo
Recommended for: Most comprehensive eCommerce hosting.
Shopify is the most comprehensive eCommerce host and it leads the hosted eCommerce platforms, boasting over 200,000 users. Shopify is an excellent and ideal choice for hosting a store. Shopify is well-designed and easy-to-use for beginners who are just starting out with building an eCommerce website. Also, they are known for their vast selection of modern and beautiful themes, with designs that works both on mobile devices and desktops. More importantly, Shopify provides the flexibility and functionality needed to expand your store. Their customer support is top notch with round-the-clock customer support, which is not surpassed by any other eCommerce platform. Here are some features:
- Beautiful and responsive themes
- Convenient to use
- Round the clock customer support
- Search engine optimization
- Mobile Management App
- Unlimited products and services
2. BigCommerce
$29.95/mo
Recommended for: powerful customization features
BigCommerce is a trusted eCommerce platform, made for small and medium-sized businesses. BigCommerce platform is built on CSS and HTML coding, with many advanced web developers praising their flexible customization features. While other eCommerce platforms charges 1-3% on each transaction, BigCommerce doesn’t charge a transactional fee. Here are the key features:
- Social media integration
- Advanced and customized features
- CSS & HTML capability
- Beautiful and responsive themes
- Single page checkout
- Zero transaction fees
3. Wix
$17.00/mo
Recommended for: Affordable solution for small eCommerce stores
www.wix.com is a popular website builder for small business owners. The website has its own hosted eCommerce platform. Wix is ideal for small scale eCommerce businesses that do not plan to expand their products beyond 100 items. Also, Wix is an ideal choice for entrepreneurs who are just starting out and want to keep their startup costs minimal. Their drag and drop editing feature allows you to design an inexpensive but beautiful website. Here are the key features:
- Simple inventory management
- Convenient to use
- Affordable
- Mobile and desktop friendly
- Zero transaction fees
- Drag and drop editing feature
4. Volusion
Price : $15.00/month
Recommended for: product-heavy online stores
www.volusion.com boasts of an improved inventory management system. The eCommerce platform makes tracking your sales and inventory levels easy. More importantly, Volusion gives you the chance to connect with your audience by integrating your store with Facebook, Amazon, and eBay. Here are some key features:
- Zero transaction fees
- Improved inventory management
- Customer loyalty program
- CSS & HTML capability
- Mobile store management
- Amazon and eBay integration
5. Magento
Among the e-commerce platforms widely used for the world of digital business, Magento undoubtedly takes first place. And it is not for less since it is the platform recommended by a large majority of experts thanks to its strength, flexibility, scalability, and availability of integration with other platforms. Here are some key features:
- Community Edition: FREE
- Business Edition: license fees start at $ 18,000/year, escalated as income
(The higher the income, the higher the cost).
6. PrestaShop
Although this platform is free, its templates and plugins usually have a higher value than those of other platforms such as WooCommerce. However, the simplicity and ease of use are the most predominant features of this platform, which makes it a favorite for small and medium enterprises. You do not need excessive knowledge to master the online store with ease and your user experience is so intuitive that its use is very fluid.
Is all for today? We hope that this article has helped you to choose the best platform for your virtual store. And if you have any ideas or suggestions on the subject, write us in the comments!
