Today, there are many small businesses which are looking for a good place to build their online stores. They want to get a free online store builder tool that can help them start their online business but they don’t know how to find one. It could be hard for you to decide the best ecommerce website builder for small business. Therefore, in this article, I’m going to list some of the best free ecommerce website builder for small business so that it will be easier for you to start an online business in minutes!
There are plenty of companies offering free online store builder services. If you are looking for an affordable option, Wix and Squarespace would be your best picks. They offer user-friendly drag and drop interface, which doesn’t need any coding knowledge. On the other hand, if you need more advanced features, Shopify is the best choice for you.
Many small businesses start out by building their own website. As the owner, you want to make sure that you create a website your customers can find you easily. In addition, you want to design and build a website that looks good and functions as expected. It’s not easy to make your own ecommerce website while keeping your small business tight on cash.
For small business owners, finding a free ecommerce website builder to suit their needs can be really difficult. That’s why we developed our own in-house solution, a 100% free ecommerce website builder with all the features you need to run and grow your online business without paying anything. With a simple drag and drop tool, plenty of customizable templates, 1-click installation and a dedicated customer support team at your disposal, you’ll wonder how you ever managed without us.
How to evaluate online store builders
The best online store builder is the one that meets your unique selling needs and business model. It’s easy to say that Shopify or WooCommerce are the top contenders due to its overwhelming popularity. However, many highly successful websites run on other platforms for various reasons.
BigCommerce, for example, is fast becoming the darling of multichannel power-sellers, while Ecwid and 3dcart offer economical all-in-one solutions. Likewise, Square Online is an easy pairing for Square users, Wix offers great localized commerce tools and Squarespace appeals to influencers leveraging Instagram.
Strikingly
‘Build your brand. Conquer the world. Zero code or design skills required.’
That’s Strikingly‘s tag line, and it certainly packs a punch.
It’s a website builder offering users the opportunity to build an ecommerce store.
There are four packages, and its free version gives you five GB monthly bandwidth and up to 25 product listings. However, you can’t remove the Strikingly name from your site if you go with the free option, but you can publish an unlimited number of free sites. You also get free 24/7 support from their “happiness officers”!
What’s impressive about Strikingly?
- Strikingly specializes in sleek one-page websites. Small stores integrate nicely into these designs.
- Other website builders often complicate one-page plans and don’t do as gooder job as Strikingly.
- Strikingly doesn’t require any coding ability or prior knowledge
- Designed for long mobile scrolling, so these sites are highly responsive and great on mobile devices!
What Strikingly doesn’t do as well:
- Severely lacking in design and theme customization. You can only set one core color for the website, and you can’t edit font colors or sizes.
- As Strikingly is primarily intended for single-page designs and quick website building, it isn’t a good base for a large or professional store. Yes, e-commerce is an optional addition, but not the focus of the service.
- You can’t sell digital products.
Who should use Strikingly?
Strikingly isn’t the right program for anyone selling digital products or services. It’s also not an excellent option for anyone who wants their online store to be the focal point of their website. Plus, if you’re looking for creative freedom as you design your website, look elsewhere.
If, however, you want a site built specifically for mobile users, Strikingly is very responsive. After all, it’s intended for long scrolling on smartphone devices.
FreeWebStore
This platform boasts more than 600,000 online store owners.
Freewebstore (read our Freewebstore review) provides secure cloud-based hosting, and you can use your existing domain name. It’s also available to individuals and businesses alike. You can look at hundreds of different store designs and choose one that complements the tone of your brand.
All designs are mobile compatible and come with an image editor and allow you to link to your store’s social media accounts. There’s also access to Google Maps to make it easier for customers to find you- this is especially handy if you’re operating a brick and mortar store.
Shoppers pay you directly through your chosen payment method, for example, credit or debit card. There’s a whole section on how to get started, how to get a domain name, and how to explain the postage of your products.
You can access the site from anywhere in the world and set up alerts so when items are low in stock; the site will let you know. If you’re going to be selling stock that’s age related, then, this platform can help you set up an age verification process.
What are the best features of Freewebstore?
- Free Webstore provides an option for age verification. This comes in handy if you’re selling products where age-limits apply. Say, alcohol or tobacco, for instance.
- Tools for social media selling
- You can accept different customer payment methods, like PayPal and Stripe
- Provides over 40 design templates to choose from
- You can sell unlimited products in your store, up to $30.000 in sales per month, without even having to enter a credit card.
- You get CSS and HTML access. This is excellent for those looking to expand on Free Webstore’s designs or build their store from the ground up.
Where’s Freewebstore lacking?
- If you sell more than $30.000 per year, you’ll need to switch to a premium plan.
- The free option has several limitations, like no shipping labels or social media buttons. You also can’t add other sections to your website, like a blog (without choosing a paid plan).
Who should use Freewebstore?
The free version of this ecommerce website builder is best suited to tiny businesses looking to sell a few products online. If beautiful website designs and a simplified shopping process is essential to you, you’re in luck. But, if you’re strictly looking for a free service, Freewebstore isn’t a scalable option, so you’ll have to switch or start paying if you’re looking to expand your business.
Mozello
Not to be mistaken with Mozilla, this small Latvian company isn’t a household name, but they have one feature that big companies don’t: multilingual websites for free.
The same applies with their online store offer. Free deal, multilingual options. You can sell up to 5 products, which isn’t too bad, but other providers offer more.
Unfortunately, working with their editor isn’t as fun or flexible as we’d like. For instance, you can’t add image galleries to all the pages.
What we like:
- 500MB of storage: good for small stores.
- Multilingual option: you can sell in numerous languages.
- Inventory tracking: good for replenishing stocks.
- Product variant and options available: for example, shoes in different colors, sizes, materials, etc…
- SSL: is included.
What we don’t like:
- Basic system: your ecommerce will be pretty unsophisticated.
- Physical goods only: you can’t sell digital products.
- No credit card payments: Stripe only comes with premium plans.
- Number of products: Unfortunately you can only sell up to 5 products for free.
Sign up free here: www.mozello.com
Squareup
Squareup comes from Square, the famous Point of Sale system available for smartphones, desktops and tablets. It is like a portable version of your store that can be used to sell and manage payments everywhere with Internet.
Since they process online payments (for example Weebly uses them), you can also create an account with Square and open a free online store.
It’s not the most obvious solution, but it works! You can sell your items in person, and also on the web. You don’t have to pay monthly fees, but they take 3% of every transaction.
What we like:
- Great P.O.S: obviously, combining your online store with Square is what makes it appealing. You can sell all kinds of things face to face, from services to concert tickets.
- Sell tickets: Square’s system comes with a feature to sell event tickets.
- Inventory tracking: manage your stock easily.
What we don’t like:
- Digital sales option: there is the option to sell digital products, which in itself is great. However, it’s a bit inconvenient, since you have to send the items to your customers manually.
- Poor SEO options: no title tags or customizable URLs, among others.
- Limited payment options: PayPal isn’t supported, for instance.
Sign up free here: www.squareup.com
Shopify 4.7/5
Shopify is one of the leading ecommerce platforms, offering a 14-day free trial period in which you can test its powerful sales features.
Those features are powerful and plentiful in equal measure, with Shopify scoring 4.7/5 for sales features (the highest of any platform). You’ll also have access to 1,200+ apps.
With plans starting at £22 per month once the free trial ends, it’s not the cheapest platform we tested, though. It also enforces transaction fees if you don’t use Shopify Payments, but it remains great value for money overall thanks to its range of tools and generous free trial period.
Pros:
- Sell on all the big social media channels, plus Amazon, eBay, and Buzzfeed
- Offers most sales-specific features of any platform we tested
- Very easy to customise your features and online store
Cons:
- You’ll need to reformat your entire site if you decide to switch templates
- It imposes transaction fees if you don’t use its own payment processor
Shopify has the most sales-specific features of any platform we tested
Squarespace 4.3/5
Best for combining design with impressive sales features
During your 14-day free trial period, you can use Squarespace’s stunning templates and powerful design tools to build a free ecommerce website that truly stands out. It now scores 4.3/5 (up from 4.1/5 in our previous research period), thanks to its improved app store, ease of use, and customer support. What’s more, it now supports five payment processors, rather than just two.
We’re sure you’ll be impressed by Squarespace (we definitely were), so you’ll need to then sign up to an ecommerce price plan if you’d like to continue selling products online through its platform. Starting from £20 per month, it’s more expensive than Square Online and Wix – however, you’re paying for superb features, and a beautiful website that can truly stand out from the competition.
Using Squarespace is the closest you can get to a professionally designed ecommerce website, which will help boost your brand image and attract more sales. Lastly, don’t forget Expert Market readers can save 10% on Squarespace by entering EM10 at the checkout.
Read Full Squarespace Ecommerce Review
Pros:
- Best-designed templates of any platform we tested, helping your products stand out
- 14-day free trial and great value for money premium plans
- Impressive ecommerce features, including multi-channel integration
Cons:
- Harder to use than Wix
- Supports very few payment processors (only PayPal and Stripe)
Squarespace has the templates and design tools to help your online store truly stand out
How much does a small business website cost?
On average, website builders for small businesses cost around $12-30 per month. If it doesn’t include a hosting solution, hosting platforms’ prices range between $15 and $240 depending on the hosting type (shared hosting, VPS hosting, dedicated hosting, etc.)
Conclusion
Ecommerce is a growth-oriented industry that doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon. It’s among the best examples of how technology is changing the way we do business, and it’s creating new opportunities for small businesses to compete in a global marketplace. If you are looking for a new opportunity in online business, ecommerce may be one of the best ways to go. By using the right tools, you can launch an online shop and start selling products or services with little upfront investment.
Our best free ecommerce website builder for small business allows you to build your own highly customizable online store. Build an online presence for your products and services, or start a drop shipping business with full merchant accounts. This free website builder software provides unlimited products, unlimited storage, and you can choose from hundreds of free ecommerce templates to get started immediately.