5 Best Platforms For Ecommerce Website Development Of 2019

A recent study suggests that 87% of UK retail purchases have been made online. Online shopping has emerged as the most relentless trend of the existing era, corresponding to the fact that owning one eshop can give a massive boost to your business. Learn which are the best platforms for ecommerce website development to get on-board with online merchantry in 2019.

You love your customers- they bring you revenue, market recognition, and word-of-mouth publicity. Pretty much everything that a brand needs to stamp its presence in this big and ambitious world.

Customers, on the other hand, love businesses that provide top-quality offerings with much sought-after convenience. This demands no elucidation- after all, we also happen to take the role of customers and enjoy/choose things made available in an easy-to-access platter. Being so, if you offer your products-services online, your target segment will prefer to stay yours forever.

To take a business on the web, choosing an ecommerce platform that covers an uncomplicated setup process and store management is must. Perks of efficient inventory management, payment and shipping, design functionality etc. will help you expand your brand authority on the web with ease.  

If you are thinking to reach beyond your physical storefront, you get to first determine which ecommerce platform makes the best match for your business model and how many features it boasts to offer a seamless online shopping experience. To simplify the quest of such platform, we have compiled a list of top 5 platforms that are ideal to win the digital commerce this 2019. Explore them all and see which platform can work the best in your business setup.

Shopify

Let’s start off the list with the most ‘complete’ ecommerce platform from the lot we have- Shopify. It’s a Canadian-based ecommerce solution that makes starting and managing an online store a cakewalk. This ultra-sophisticated platform empowers merchants to open up several channels for the influx of finances- be it web and mobile or a conventional brick-mortar-store, social media or pop-up shops, shopify has some serious options to help you broaden the presence of your brand. Being a powerful solution, Shopify has powered over 600,000 stores and generated over $82bn in sales. Here’s more that you need to know-

Pros

• Fast & easy setup
• A grand choice of impressive storefront themes
• Shopify app store- there’s an app for every need
• Powerful marketing features and intuitive reports
• Security- PCI DSS compliant
• Better loading speed
• Responsive design
• SEO-oriented
• 14-days free trial
• Impeccable 24/7 customer support

 

Cons

• It can be more expensive with its monthly rental and transaction processing fees.
• Email hosting is not included
• Limited creative freedom
• Lock-in

 

 

• Region-specific functionalities- it has been observed that certain features like payment method, language availability etc. are more convenient for merchants of the UK and North America.
• Migration of Shopify store to other platform is difficult

 

BigCommerce

BigCommerce is a paid-for ‘hosted’ ecommerce builder- it comes with a super-clean dashboard and easy directions that enable users to set up their eshop within few minutes. It’s a Software as a Service (Saas) product where you don’t own the software, but can use the same by paying a business-friendly monthly fee.

At present, BigCommerce powers over 95,000 stores and boasts a fantastic average growth of 28% for its clients year on year. Know BigCommerce better-

Pros

• Highly scalable
• Fast & secure
• Numerous built-in features
• Integration with other e-commerce platforms like Amazon, eBay etc to drive more traffic
• Rich visual design tools
• Single-page checkout
• Exceptional SEO and marketing tools
• Let’s users sell across multiple channels like Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram
• 15-days free trial
• Excellent support

 

Cons

• Risk-free trial comes with galling limitations
• Expensive BigCommerce themes
• Lock-in
• Extra fees for successful users

 

Volusion

Need a nicely structured, fast, and easy-to-use ecommerce platform to sell your products and expand your business? Well, Volusion can make the most apt choice for you. This cloud-based ecommerce platform acts as a comprehensive toolkit, bringing all the fundamental functionalities one needs to get their online shopping store up and running. Over 18,000 entrepreneurs have trusted Volusion to create result-oriented online stores and many big brands like 3M, Intel and Slickwraps are among the list of famous (past & present) clients.

Pros

• User-friendly interface
• Easy and efficient store management
• Customisable storefront design
• Great selection of free, high-quality themes
• Merchandising- unlimited product options with SmartMatch technology
• 100% PCI/CISP Certified
• Advanced SEO management
• Marketing tools (coupon & discount system, email marketing, affiliate management etc.)
• No transaction fee
• Convenient payment processing
• 24/7 support

 

Cons

• One of the slower SaaS platforms
• Weak product search function
• No blogging function
• Every pricing tier come with finite bandwidth that ranges from 1 GB to 35 GB.
• Limited selection of free, responsive templates

 

WooCommerce

Made by Automattic, WooCommerce is a fully-customisable, free, and insanely powerful WordPress plugin that has made a noteworthy name in the world of electronic commerce. Several e-merchants rely on this solution to sell their products/services on their WordPress website, enable secure payments, manage their inventory and tackle the taxes automatically. Moreover, the platform allows businesses to handle unlimited orders and users, thus making way to magnetise more customers and grow in size.

Pros

• Ease of installation
• Simple and robust architecture
• Several ready-to-use plugins and extensions
• Professional and customisable
• Comes with a secure payment gateway and shopping cart
• Smart analytics
• Easy to integrate shipping
• Flexibility and security
• Large community

 

Cons

• Theme customisation can be costly
• Content may sometime look off
• Frequent WordPress updates can affect the plugin performance
• Adding WooCommerce can sometimes make your website slow (this depends on the web host)

 

Magento

Launched in 2008, Magento is one of the most popular and the best platforms for ecommerce website development. It empowers thousands of online merchants to control the look, feel, and functionality of their ecommerce store and tempt tech-savvy buyers without much ado.

The platform is available in two editions-Magento community (free to use) and Magento Express (premium paid version).

Pros

• Out-of-the-box robustness
• Ultimate site management features
• 100% scalable
• Several marketing and conversion tools
• Product alerts
• Easy checkout, payment and shipping
• Advanced analytics and reporting
• Flexible and scalable
• Active developer community
• Multiple pricing options

 

Cons

• Magento Express can be a bit heavy on the pocket
• Slow loading time
• Product support for Magento can be quite expensive
• Requires regular maintenance & optimisations

 

A right merger of your business model with the best-fit technology can help you win frequent buyers, outmatch vying competitors, and influence the future of your business. We at Systango build powerful ecommerce websites that nurture sales and surge the market value of up-and-coming businesses. Our team of ecommerce developers have hands-on experience with all popular and emerging platforms and can help you make most of the digital commerce. To connect with our ecommerce development specialists, contact us here!