Nowadays, customers are purchasing more goods, services, and memberships online.
In 2021, almost 80% of Americans purchased online, and more than half prefer to buy on the web rather than in person. It is estimated that the ecommerce industry will be worth a trillion dollars by the end of 2022.
In short, online shopping is booming!
Part of this may be attributed to the still ongoing pandemic, but it is also a part of a long-term trend.
Despite this, however, half of the small companies in the United States still do not have websites, making it difficult for clients to purchase from them. As a result, many businesses are losing out to their competitors that use specialized e-commerce platforms and have strong presence online.
With that said, our Miami SEO services team has come up with a list of the best e-commerce platforms all small business owners can use to promote their products and services online!
Without further ado, let's get started.
The Five Best Online Selling Platforms in 2022
Best Overall: Shopify
Best for Selling in Person and Online: Square
Best for Large-Volume Purchasers: BigCommerce
Best for WordPress Websites: WooCommerce
Best for User-Experience: Wix
Shopify
Shopify is a simple and effective tool for online merchants that also includes a Point Of Sale (POS) tool for accepting payments in physical locations. It enables retailers to develop a multi-channel experience that promotes the brand.
You may construct a website and utilize their shopping cart solution to sell, ship, and manage your items using their subscription-based platform.
Shopify has a range of tools to aid you with your e-commerce activities. It provides the following advantages: increasing income and gaining access to new clients via online sales.
Pros of Using Shopify
Easy to Use: Shopify allows you to sell products or services with little setup. It includes an easy-to-use drag-and-drop editor for customizing the design of your online store's homepage without the need for any coding.
Mobile-Friendly Design: Shopify has a mobile-friendly design that allows consumers to shop at your e-commerce site using their mobile devices. Shopify's mobile responsive themes assist in attracting more consumers from the palm of their hands.
Excellent Support: Customer service is available anytime via Shopify's e-commerce platform. Support is provided by specialists who are accessible 24/7 by email, live chat, or phone to assist with any difficulties.
Allows Users to Own Domain Name: With Shopify, you may use your own domain name, which you can link to Shopify from your store's admin. You may purchase one from Shopify or a third-party source if you already have a domain name.
Dropshipper-Friendly: Dropshipping on Shopify allows you to sell things by partnering with a supplier that keeps the inventory and delivers the product for you. You may use it to pick a product to sell, locate a dropshipping supplier, create your e-commerce shop, upload your items to your site, then launch and promote your dropshipping business.
Square
Square is a mobile payment startup that provides business software, point-of-sale (POS) systems, payment devices, and small business services.
Unlike other payment processors, Square is accessible to companies of all sizes and provides the most complete free POS system on the market. Square's payment and POS app has been downloaded over 33 million times, and there are over 2 million active sellers.
In general, for any small company processing less than $120,000 per year, Square is the ideal POS and payment processing solution. Why? Because it has no set monthly charges and provides an excellent value with the free POS system.
Pros of Using Square
Easy, Flat-Rate Payment Processing: Square charges a fixed fee for every credit card transaction. This implies that the credit card company, the customer's bank, and the merchant account processing costs combine into a single flat price. This applies regardless of the kind of card being processed.
Free and Low-Cost POS Software: Square provides free and premium POS software subscriptions for retail, restaurant, and appointment-based companies in addition to the regular free Square POS app. Payment processing, inventory management, basic staff administration, customer relationship management (CRM), reporting, analytics, and industry-specific capabilities are all included in any POS software solution.
High-Quality Merchant Services: A virtual terminal, invoicing, online payments, and tools to monitor and challenge chargebacks are included with every free Square account, in addition to mobile and in-store payments.
Square Banking: With Square Banking, the company has taken the next logical step in its business offerings. It provides business checking and savings accounts and the aforementioned small company loans. Square sales revenue may be deposited straight into your accounts, providing you easier access to your earnings.
BigCommerce
BigCommerce is much more than simply an e-commerce site builder. It comes with some fantastic shop management features that will help you keep on top of your company.
The unique native features include an extensive product catalogue, configurable shipping and real-time estimates, coupon and discounting tools, and more.
BigCommerce interacts with Amazon and eBay, and it features social selling capabilities that allow you to sell on Facebook. It is also the only cloud solution that includes a thorough interface with ShipperHQ, a complete shipping rate calculation, and a rules engine.
Pros of Using BigCommerce
App Integration: BigCommerce gives you the option of selling on many websites. You will be able to sell on eBay, Amazon, and even Facebook using BigCommerce. As a result, you will not want to be without these possibilities. Using these eCommerce platforms helps you establish a customer list and increase traffic to your website.
Robust Management Tools: Bigcommerce provides excellent management tools. This covers product management, order management, analytics, reporting, and all of that other nonsense. In summary, Bigcommerce is fantastic for day-to-day operations with your shop.
Customer Loyalty: With the option to offer gift cards and promo coupons, BigCommerce enables you to increase client loyalty. BigCommerce also allows you to send these cards when and how you want, allowing you to arrange your marketing in the most beneficial method for your company.
Easy Returns Management: BigCommerce will enable you to simply handle returns with a straightforward inventory management interface. When it comes to eCommerce, you just cannot do without the capacity to efficiently handle returns, and this tool accomplishes the job admirably.
WooCommerce
WooCommerce is a WordPress plugin that allows you to create an eCommerce shop.
WordPress functions similar to your website's operating system. It is also by far the most common method to create a website.
WooCommerce transforms the simple WordPress operating system into a fully functional eCommerce shop.
Furthermore, WooCommerce is the most common solution to create an eCommerce shop for a profitable website. It powers 25% of the top 1 million eCommerce sites on the planet.
Pros of Using WooCommerce
Completely Free and Open Source: Because it is founded on open collaboration, any user, designer, or programmer may modify its code. Shopify, Magento, and other WooCommerce rivals offer free versions; however, its sophisticated features need premium payment plans.
Completely Customizable: This platform has hundreds of themes available. After selecting the best one, you may edit all of its elements, including the header, footer, product sheets, checkouts, and so on. This is made feasible by the open availability of CSS, HTML, and PHP style code.
Optimal Cybersecurity: This platform is frequently updated to stay current with cybersecurity. However, the WooCommerce plugin does not contain an SSL certificate (Secure Sockets Layer) or backup tools. Regarding payment security, WooCommerce works seamlessly with secure gateways and e-wallets like Stripe, PayPal, WePay, and Payza.
Wix
Wix is a cloud-based website builder that offers online hosting and design services. Wix makes it simple for individuals to develop their own websites without the requirement for professional knowledge or the employment of web specialists.
Wix sites are mobile-friendly and quickly constructed, updated, and managed via the Wix website. Wix offers the following options for building a site, regardless of the user's degree of experience:
Wix Editor - The conventional drag-and-drop website builder, users may choose and personalize a large variety of templates.
Wix ADI (Artificial Design Intelligence) - Wix ADI produces a custom website for customers, making it the fastest and simplest method to set up a Wix site.
Wix Corvid - Corvid, the most technical choice for developing a Wix site, is an open development platform that allows users to create and design their site from the ground up.
Pros of Using Wix
Upgraded Design Templates: The Wix design has a clever drag-and-drop functionality that enables almost anybody to have a gorgeous design up and running in a matter of minutes. This implies that everyone can have a fully functional and appealing online presence for almost little money. While the free plan provides less than the premium plan, you will still get a good experience and instant access.
Intuitive Interface: The back-end interface for setting up and designing the website is functional. All of the tools you'll need to get your site up and running are right there. Furthermore, you will discover many ideas, rules, and configurable templates for enhancing and polishing your brand's appearance.
Exemplary Cybersecurity without Compromising Speed: After setting up your Wix account, you will see that these sites function well and load quickly. You will never have to be concerned about performance concerns since all of these sites run on a secure platform. This means you'll have more time and resources to devote to optimizing the functionality of your site and learning about the numerous services available in their various premium packages.
In Conclusion
As you may have figured from this post, there is no one-size-fits-all eCommerce platform option for every company owner. The option you choose will be determined by your specific requirements.
Remember, if you have the opportunity to test the technology for free via initial demo or trial, it's well worth it to do so to identify what you're most comfortable with.
Need a hand getting your business' website up and running? Our Miami SEO services team at Digital Resource can help you get started!
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