Imagine making a simple, but well-designed ecommerce website which can be shared across devices, and let millions of people browse products and make purchases without downloading anything. Sounds impossible? With a built in ecommerce platform, best online web marketplace software you can allow it to happen more easily than you think.
If you are planning to start e-commerce business then these are the top best web ecommerce software’s which will help your business grow up. You can choose any ecommerce platform that is listed in our website as well as other websites by comparing features, price and customer support of all of them
Every ecommerce needs an ecommerce platform. While it might seem simple to build an online store, you should also make sure that you have the right ecommerce software in place. Choosing the right tool that’s easiest will always help. Don’t forget though, that everything comes with a price tag attached. Therefore, it’s very important that you evaluate your needs, investments and desired outcome prior choosing your eCommerce platform.
If you are considering an online store (i.e. ecommerce / web ecommerce) for your business, there are lots of options out there. Several open source platforms as well as world class paid solutions like Shopify, BigCommerce and Magento give a ton of flexibility and power that enable you to build an online store yourself or hire experts to do so.
A Suitable E-Commerce Platform
An e-commerce platform is the most important tool your online store needs to succeed. Before you start an e-commerce business, choose somewhere suitable to host your products.
An e-commerce platform makes your store available to potential customers or visitors who might search for your business online.
OpenCart
Easiest to use self-hosted software
| OpenCart Pros | OpenCart Cons |
|---|---|
| Easier to use than other self-hosted platforms | Still requires technical knowledge and coding |
| Free to download | Extra costs make it less scalable than other solutions |
OpenCart Gallery
Click the image below to expand
OpenCart is an easy to use, self-hosted ecommerce solution, although it’s less scalable than some of the other software on this list.
OpenCart has a marketplace featuring free and paid extensions. However, many don’t have reviews – so be careful when choosing what to install!Eco-conscious outdoor products company Schtinky Dog uses OpenCart for its online store – it features an interactive menu, product search feature, and newsletter subscription.
OpenCart is another very powerful piece of open source ecommerce software.
Like WordPress + WooCommerce and Magento, it promises everything you need to build, scale and run your business online. However, as with those other self-hosted ecommerce solutions, you will need technical chops to get the most out of it..
We can’t stress this point enough: if you’re not experienced with code and aren’t keen to learn, head back to our three best hosted ecommerce software solutions and pick one. You will save time, money and A LOT of stress.
On the flip side, if you do have a bit of coding knowledge (or plan on hiring someone), OpenCart is worth considering.
It’s also worth noting that OpenCart is one of the easiest-to-use self-hosted ecommerce solutions. The interface is fairly accessible, and you don’t have to be a Harvard-educated programmer to add products or change your store’s theme.
One of OpenCart’s biggest selling points as an ecommerce solution is the number of payment processors it supports. You can choose from over 20 different payment methods – a great variety for your future customers!
Key OpenCart features include:
- Unlimited product categories
- Customer reviews and ratings
- Support for multiple currencies
- Ability to sell digital products (like e-books)
OpenCart is free to download, but watch out for charges for installing new features. These can be as much as $300 a pop, so scaling your online store will get expensive pretty quickly!
And remember, your hosting (where your store lives online) is not included with self-hosted ecommerce software. You will have to pay at least $5/month to host your store – a fee that’s included with hosted ecommerce software like Shopify.
WordPress + Easy Digital Downloads
- Price: from $6-$10 / month
- What it is: self-hosted ecommerce software
- Sell: digital products
- Features: 6/10
- Ease of use: 5/10
- Designs: 7/10
WordPress + Easy Digital Downloads is our other self-hosted ecommerce software on this list. As you can see, the core element of the setup is the same – that’s WordPress. But here, the ecommerce portion of the job is done by a plugin called Easy Digital Downloads.
Setting aside all that is cool about Easy Digital Downloads, the one downside is that it’s only meant to sell digital products – downloadable goods. While such feature set can be considered a bit limited, for some online stores this might be all they need. And Easy Digital Downloads is really good at its job!
Easy Digital Downloads lets you sell software, documents, photos, ebooks, songs, graphics, and any other type of media file. Then, it also handles the part where you make that product available for the customer to download directly from your site.
The same hosting requirements exist here as well – similarly to how it works with WooCommerce. Meaning, you need to buy a web hosting account separately, which will set you back $6-$10 a month. Again, we recommend SiteGround.
The story is also the same when it comes to designs – as in, you can choose from thousands of ready-made themes from around the web.
Here are some of the features you get with Easy Digital Downloads:
- Everything unlimited: orders, products, file storage, bandwidth
- Lets you sell all types of digital products
- Support only from your web host
- Optimized for mobile
- SSL certificate via your host
- Accept PayPal and Amazon Payments by default, and you can also install extensions for processing credit cards
- Good drag-and-drop builder for site content
- A top-of-the-line blogging platform included
- Works with multiple languages
- Set up customer profiles and accounts
- Optimized for the search engines
- Social media integration via extensions
- PCI compliance depending on your host
See Easy Digital Downloads in action:Main dashboardNew productThemes directory
Easy Digital Downloads is your choice if you know that you’re only going to be selling digital products and you also enjoy the prospect of having full control over your online store.
At the same time, you can’t be intimidated by the need to set up the bulk of everything on your own.
BigCommerce
BigCommerce is the best overall ecommerce platform. Its robust product search engine makes it ideal for larger retail brands. It’s also a good choice for people who want to start an ecommerce store, or who have a brick and mortar 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.
The interface allows you to customize your online shop without having to know how to code by using any of the customizable templates to design your store, sell and market your products. It’s aimed at those without so much web dev skills, but it also allows tech-savvy people to tweak the HTML and CSS.
I love BigCommerce themes; you will see advanced and buyer-centric templates in the store, however only very few are free. Two to be exact with variations on both making a total of seven free themes.
On the fly side, there’s a broad community of designers and developers. The partner directory helps you find experts for an extra hand.
As for pricing, the lowest plan costs 29.95/month. Some goodies like checkout codes, gift cards, unlimited bandwidth, and professional reporting come along. However, you don’t get a custom SSL or abandoned cart saver, but it’s still really good for simple stores not getting sales worth more than 50k per year. As the plan goes higher, so does the sales limit.
Pros
- Flexible and scalable
- Excels with multi-channel selling
- Strong SEO Performance
- Fantastic Theme Designs
- Comprehensive abandoned cart feature
Cons
- Inconsistent speeds in consecutive studies
- Gets expensive for high volume stores
- Cart abandonment isn’t on entry plan
- No 1-click Selling/Upsells
ProductSummaryRatings
BigCommerceTry For FreeReviewFlexible and scalable.Excels with multi-channel selling.Strong SEO Performance.Inconsistent loading speed.High volume stores pay more.No 1-Click SellingValue4.0Features3.9Performance4.5Ease of Use4.8Design & Themes3.8Integrations4.2
Square Online
- There is a free plan available, the pro plans start at $12 per month
- What is it: Hosted ecommerce solution + POS equipment and software
- Sell physical and digital products, online food ordering, accept donations, book appointments
- Features: 9/10
- Ease of use: 9/10
- Designs: 8/10
Square started their commerce adventure as a suite of tools and hardware for storefronts and businesses operating in the offline. Actually, the name itself – Square – goes back to the original design of their now-famous credit card readers.
For years, the company hasn’t been known in the online space, even though they did provide some services geared for ecommerce since 2010. Over the last couple of years, Square doubled down on ecommerce, and they now offer a complete suite of tools, software, and website scripts that let every business owner launch an online store all on their own.
What’s great about Square is the ease of use of their online dashboard – it’s where you get to build and manage your ecommerce website. And it’s not just the dashboard itself. It all starts when you’re first signing up for Square Online. The whole process is straightforward, and Square takes you by the hand through the key steps.
It’s also good to know that Square will continue giving you tips on what to do next and how to set up your store the right way. Their onboarding sequence is particularly effective at that.
Also, let’s not forget about Square’s mastery of running a storefront! You can still sign up for Square’s hardware (such as credit card readers, cash registers, and more), and have everything integrated with your online catalog.
What’s more, Square Online is perfectly capable of letting you sell standard products, set up online food ordering, appointment booking, restaurant table booking, or whatever else your business might be about.
On the design side of things, Square offers some good-looking website templates that you can customize using their fully visual builder tool. In the catalog, you’ll find templates optimized for various types of businesses, like restaurants, retail stores, non-profits, and more.
Pricing
We’re not done with surprises yet because Square Online offers a free plan. What sets it apart from the competition is that Square doesn’t limit the number of products you can sell or the storage/bandwidth that your ecommerce site gets.
Then, if you need more advanced features, like the option to sell via a custom domain name, no Square branding, customer reviews, access to discounted shipping, etc., you can upgrade to a paid plan. Those start from $12 per month.
What’s cool is that you also get a free domain name for the first year included in that price. And, there’s 24/7 support via live chat and phone as well.
Here are the highlights from Square’s list of features:
- Unlimited orders, products, file storage, bandwidth
- Restaurant table bookings, event tickets, appointment booking
- Accept donations
- Offer pickup, delivery, or shipping
- Coupons and gift cards
- Point of sale hardware
- 24/7 support – live chat and phone
- Visual website builder tool for ecommerce
- Mobile apps
- Social media integrations with Instagram and Facebook ads
- Customer reviews
- Abandoned cart emails
- Discounted shipping rates
- SEO features
See Square Online in action:Main dashboardNew productThemes directory
Why use Square Online?
The main benefit of Square is that you get all your tools from one place. Even if you ever want to move into the offline and open a storefront, Square has got you covered! You can get their POS hardware and start operating in sync without any hiccups.
Then, of course, there’s the online dashboard and all the features you get there. Square Online limits the steps required to launch an online store to a minimum. This can be a big benefit for business owners who simply want to start going as soon as possible.
Keep in mind though that Square might not be the solution for international businesses not based in the US.
Easiest Ecommerce Platforms: Comparison Criteria
What did I look for when I selected the easiest ecommerce platforms? Here’s a summary of my evaluation criteria:
- User Interface (UI): Is the ecommerce platform interface clutter-free, clean, and user-friendly? Are the product listings easy to arrange, view, and inspect?
- Usability: Is the ecommerce platform easy to learn and master? Does the company offer good tech support, user support, tutorials, and training? Is it easy to launch a fully functional ecommerce store and sell products without complicated customizations?
- Integrations: Is it easy to connect with other tools? Any pre-built integrations or APIs? Is it easy to connect with social platforms and other marketplaces? Can other tools be integrated without complicated workarounds?
- Value for $: How appropriate is the price for the features, capabilities, and use case? Is pricing clear, transparent, and flexible?
Conclusion
There is a lot of buzz about ecommerce these days. Everybody seems to be talking about it, but what about web ecommerce? Ecommerce has become mainstream, and the internet is full of stories about startups that have made thousands, even millions in no time, thanks only to their ecommerce platforms and websites. The best ecommerce software solution will help you build attractive and effective online stores, whether you are just starting a business or already run a growing enterprise powered by ecommerce.
If you are up to starting an online business, the first thing that comes to your mind is to find the best web ecommerce software. To find the most suitable software, you may search the internet or ask different friends affiliated with business. But in order to help you avoid repeated searches and efforts, we would like to share with you our research on best web ecommerce software that goes beyond other solutions.