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The 6 best eCommerce website building platforms in 2024

As the world moves into a digital era, we’ve witnessed a lot of changes in our daily lives. From smartphones and smartwatches that can track your vitals to modern houses that are integrated with smart technology, we’ve seen it all.

Blog Author
Manikanda Pandian

Oct 10, 2024

As technology advances, so does the demand for products and services. Consumers are buying more and more products and services every day. Almost all of these purchases are made online because it is now easier than ever to just place an order and have the products or services delivered to your doorstep.

Just to give you an overview, India was ranked second in the top ten countries that saw retail e-commerce sales growth in 2022. In 2023, the worldwide e-commerce sales amounted to $6151 US dollars! By the end of 2024, India’s ecommerce revenue is expected to hit 4,416.68 billion rupees. So, if you own a small, mid-sized, or large-scale business and have not already started selling products online – you’re missing out on big opportunities. There are many ecommerce platforms that can help you build an online store, but If you’re wondering how to choose from the various platforms, we’ve already made it easier for you. Keep reading to find out:

Best eCommerce website building platforms
  1. What is an ecommerce store
  2. What makes the best eCommerce website builder?
  3. How to properly choose an e-commerce website builder platform
  4. The overview of the best ecommerce store builders
  5. Review of the 6 best ecommerce store building platforms
  6. How can small businesses and large enterprises build online stores

What is an e-commerce store?

E-commerce stores are websites or platforms that are specifically designed for buying and selling goods or services online. Businesses list their products or services and customers visit these online stores to search and make purchases, exactly like in a physical store. This process makes the shopping experience much easier since people can place an order anytime, anywhere. Business owners can now build digital stores in no time and these stores have all the features and functionalities that make selling online a seamless process.

What makes the best eCommerce website builder?

There are several factors that you need to consider before choosing an e-commerce website-building platform. You need to have features like a user-friendly interface, integration capabilities, strong security, effective customer support, performance and reliability, scalability features, and more. It must allow businesses to create and manage their e-commerce site efficiently.

How to properly choose an ecommerce website builder platform for your business

  • Technically responsive: Choosing an e-commerce store builder that is fully responsive is important because it can determine your store’s functionality. Platforms that have advanced technology for building online stores improve the overall user experience. Good navigation, quick loading time, and other factors must be considered for your website to work properly on all devices.
  • Sell what you want without high fees or taxes: Before selecting a platform to build your online store, you need to look into the various fees and taxes that might affect your total sales revenue. E-commerce store building platforms must list their prices and any fees that are applicable to the sales you make. It should also allow you to sell your products without any hidden charges or restrictive policies.
  • E-commerce platforms with full service: If you’re building your store with online selling platforms, make sure it comes with full service for everything, from creating the store to analytics of your sales and other data that can help your marketing efforts. Look for tools like inventory management, CRM, and social media integration. This can save you time and effort because you can manage everything in one place.
  • Easy integration with other apps: The ecommerce builder you choose must be able to easily integrate with other apps or platforms like payment gateways, marketing tools, accounting software, and also shipping. By integrating with other apps, you can automate your processes and keep track of everything.
  • Affordable price of the platform: Various ecommerce building platforms offer various prices but you need to check if it aligns with your budget. There are platforms that are very affordable and at the same time offer all the features to build a functional online store.

List of the 6 best e-commerce store building platforms

  1. Shopify - if you’re looking to build an online store very quickly
  2. Square - choose this platform for selling offline and online
  3. Ecwid by Lightspeed - this platform offers a free plan that you can upgrade as your business grows.
  4. BigCommerce - This is the best option if your business sells a bulk products
  5. WooCommerce - suitable for building e commerce sites for WordPress websites
  6. Wix - You can build a complete website and an ecommerce store for your business

The overview of the best e-commerce website building platforms

Platform Why to choose Price Transaction fees
Shopify To build stores quickly and it has a built-in payment gateway Basic plan for unlimited products is $39 per month 2.9% + $0.30 for each transaction
Square To sell offline and online e commerce service and product Free for unlimited products but from $29 per month to remove the Square brand 2.9% + $0.30 for each transaction
Ecwid Free plan when starting out Standard version is free but starters from $19 each month for pro features Depends on the payment gateway you choose
BigCommerce For selling bulk quantity Starts from $39 each month for selling unlimited products Depends on the payment gateway you choose
WooCommerce Suitable for WordPress sites Standard features are free if the website is built on WordPress Depends on the payment gateway you choose
Wix Build a website and online store. It has a built-in payment gateway Starts from $28 for each month 2.9% + $0.30 for each transaction

Review of the best e-commerce website
building platforms

  1. Shopify - This platform has been around since 2006 and as of today, more than 4.4 million ecommerce websites are built on Shopify. It has a user-friendly interface which makes it easy for beginners to build their stores. It offers many themes and customization options but for additional customization, you need developers’ help.

    Features: Multi-channel selling, reporting and analytics, built-in payment gateway
  2. Square: This platform hosts thousands of ecommerce stores and has a drag and drop interface that makes it easy to build the store.

    Features: This can be integrated with Instagram and Facebook for selling and also with Square’s point of sale (POS) system.
  3. Ecwid by Lightspeed: Ecwid hosts over 1 million online stores worldwide. It has an easy setup and integration process. It offers a free plan for small stores so it is the best to start an e commerce website project.

    Features: You can add the online store to any existing website, integration with various CMS platforms, multi-channel selling, and automatic tax calculations.
  4. BigCommerce: This ecommerce building platform powers over 1,50,000 online stores and it has a simple user interface that is a little complex compared to Shopify. The monthly fee for this platform can be high for some small businesses and it has limited themes in the free plan. You need technical knowledge for some customizations and features.

    Features: It has built-in SEO tools, It has good B2B functionality, and it supports multi-currency transactions
  5. WooCommerce: WooCommerce was launched in 2011, and today, it hosts more than 5 million active online stores. It is a WordPress plugin so if you want to build your ecommerce store with this platform, you need to understand and become familiar with some WordPress features as well. You can customize your store as much as you want with the available themes and it can be integrated with other payment gateways.

    Features: It is free to use but you need to pay for additional extensions, seamless integration with WordPress, can become expensive if you’re using paid extensions.
  6. Wix: This platform hosts over 200,000 ecommerce websites and it is very easy to use because it includes a drag-and-drop building feature, which is suitable for beginners. It might lack some advanced e-commerce features and not much customizable when compared to some platforms.

    Features: Drag-and-drop website builder, built-in SEO tools, a wide range of themes and templates, and it has a Wix app market for extra functionality.

How can small businesses and large enterprises build E-commerce websites?

If you are a small business, you can use user-friendly platforms like Shopify or Wix to quickly set up e-commerce websites with less technical knowledge. Large enterprises can choose BigCommerce or WooCommerce for its scalability and customizable solutions that allow advanced features and integration. These platforms provide ecommerce companies with a range of tools depending on the size of the business to make sure their online stores are efficient and fully functional.