Best eCommerce Solutions for Small Businesses in 2019
This article is going to focus on the best online shop development platforms that are trending this year. Read on and choose the platform that fits your online business requirements the most.
Today, there are so many options for selling online. Before getting an eCommerce solution and developing an online store for your business, here is a list of eCommerce features on which you should focus.
URL structure: Having the ability to customise the URL with the business’s name and your products will help in boosting your search engine optimisation that makes your online store easier to find.
Mobile friendliness: According to market-based research, more than 60% of smartphone users have bought something using their phones. Hence, building an online store with responsive design is crucial as the majority of sales will come through that mobile device.
UX: Two types of users are needed to be considered here: the customer and the shop owner. Most platforms make it easy to build online stores with little to no programming experience. Once the story is live, it should be easy to navigate with features to help filter the search for products.
Speed: Slow-loading pages will cost you sales. If you sell physical products, you are going to want to load your online store with plenty of pictures and possibly videos. And it definitely has to be fast-loading pages.
Scalability: It is important for eCommerce platforms to grow with their online clients. Also, some online shops need more than just the basic eCommerce solution. Opt for such a platform, which won’t force you into a plan, which is not right for your business.
Software integration: The ability to add on tools and applications - some paid, some free - is appealing for store-builders, who may not be coders.
Cost: Depending on the size of your business, eCommerce store development costs can range from free to thousands of dollars. Most of the websites will let you try them out for free without using a credit card. Carefully, shop the features to make sure you actually need what you will eventually pay for. Also, make sure you consider all costs like extensions, hosting along with other add-ons.
While keeping these things in mind, here are a few popular choices for some of the best eCommerce platforms in 2019.
Let’s check out the global market share of the leading platforms for eCommerce solutions first.
Magento
This platform is most suitable for the retailers, who are successful, established, and ready to take the sales game online.
For small businesses, Magento Commerce offers cloud hosting and deployment, and business intelligence tools to help in boosting sales. In the “Express Package”, you will get everything including security and payments, marketing, finance and accounting, customer support, site optimisation, shipping and fulfilment.
When you are ready to go big like having multiple online stores, a global footprint, and multiple channels etc, Magento Commerce will put you with dedicated “customer success contacts”. The main focus will be on order management, business intelligence along with the tools to boost sales.
Shopify
This is one of the leading choices for small eCommerce businesses. Starting from generating the domain name with its free tool, designing company’s logo on their site to finding products to sell through the vendor relationships and getting product images through the free library of stock photos - you will get everything under one roof.
You can track orders, chat with the customers online, and send invoices. For big retailers, an enterprise-level solution is also available.
WooCommerce
It is built on WordPress. This open-source platform has almost 300 official extensions in its store which cover marketing, accounting, payments, and shipping. All these extensions are as simple as clicking a box. Well, some shipping or payment solutions you can get with additional costs.
OpenCart
You will get different design themes available in OpenCart using which you can dress up the online store the way you want. This open source platform has limited themes and limited features, but it is very affordable. Choosing OpenCart as the online store development platform will be the best choice for someone who is just starting out.
BigCommerce
The robust product search engine makes BigCommerce as the ideal choice for larger retail brands. The highlighted features of this platform are:
- Scalable and flexible
- Impressive theme designs
- Strong SEO performance
- Excels with multi-channel selling
- Comprehensive abandoned cart feature
- A broad community of designers and developers
It is a great choice for people who want to start an online shop, or who have a physical store and want to expand their operations to include online orders. Its available tools make it possible for any niche or industry to be successful.
So, these are some of the development platforms for successful eCommerce solutions or online shops. Depending on the genre of your business, opt for the right option. You can consult with eCommerce solution providers to get the right platform for your eCommerce business.
Jonathan Paul is an expert for developing eCommerce solutions for small businesses in Australia. He has been working in this Australian market for years and understands the market demands well. Presently, he is working with Visions and Solutions and leading a team of trained eCommerce store development professionals, who work on multiple trending technologies.
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