A website without an online store is like a car without wheels. We are in the age of e-commerce, where almost everything can be bought and sold using the internet by using shopping carts and payment gateways. If you have a business you should have an online store!
The purpose of this article is to serve as a guide to the best eCommerce platforms available online. Over the past decade, many online merchants and store owners have used various platforms to create their own brick and mortar stores online. I haven’t found any online eCommerce platform that feels more forward than Shopify. Out of all the available platforms, it is my primary choice for 5 years.
The best free online ecommerce sites offer turnkey shopping cart software, so you won’t have to install and host the cart yourself. That way, you can focus on selling your products and keeping customers happy. These websites are great for newbies because they offer user-friendly, intuitive interfaces that walk you through each step of the process.
Wonder how to create an online store? We have made a well-researched list of the best free ecommerce sites for you where you can build your ecommerce website. Here’s a list of the most popular and reliable free ecommerce website builders. Familiarize yourself with these top ecommerce platforms, and choose the one that is best for you!
Consider Your Sources
There’s no shortage of places to find high-quality WordPress themes. And if you’re looking for free eCommerce WordPress themes in particular, you can’t go wrong with the official WordPress theme directory. Simply narrow your search by the term “eCommerce” and you’ll find more than enough options to choose from. In fact, this is the source we’ll be using to compile our list here today.
It’s worth mentioning that ThemeForest offers different free themes every month — that are usually premium offerings — so if you have some time to wait, it may be worth checking that resource out as well.
Or, if you need even more features you can consider purchasing a premium eCommerce WordPress theme on ThemeForest outright.
LightSpeed
LightSpeed is the world’s most dominant POS (Point Of Sale) and eCommerce software. You can create an omnichannel shopping experience for your customers and bring them back frequently. Customers will enjoy this reliable and spontaneous POS system and eCommerce solution.
LightSpeed OnSite gives the leverage to all the retailers to have command over their physical as well as online store. You can also manage functions, enjoy multi linguistic options choosing default language as per your choice, handle sales & customers from your system.
Here are some advantages and disadvantages of Lightspeed you should know:
Advantages
- The initial level of editing and customization is very easy in Lightspeed.
- Lightspeed gives you unlimited bandwidth usage.
- Lightspeed comes with great SEO and social media marketing features.
Disadvantages
- There’s only one plan available in Lightspeed and may not be a good option for small businesses.
- Lightspeed themes are billed monthly, and that might be a problem for a lot of small businesses out there (in terms of cost).
- If you make edits in the theme codes & CSS, Lightspeed will not give you any support services.
- The payment integrations are very limited compared to other eCommerce platforms that we’ve seen.
Magento
Magento holds the second rank in the eCommerce market share in 2017. Magento is an open source eCommerce platform with tons of exciting features. One of the benefits of open source eCommerce platforms is – you get tons of exciting themes. Although, you might need Magento developers to set up your online store, as coding is an integral part.
With Magento, there are endless possibilities when it comes to customization. That’s why big brands usually go for Magento as they have money and resources to build the best eCommerce store. If you have enough funds and time to create a feature-rich online store, Magento is the answer. You can hire a good Magento Development Company, and create a store with endless features.
Here are some advantages and disadvantages of Magento you should know:
Advantages
- Magento has a vast community that continually helps in developing the platform and fixing the bugs.
- Magento has many templates to choose from and Magento add-ons & widgets are updating and evolving.
- Magento stores perform very well in terms of SEO.
- The online stores are mobile friendly.
Disadvantages
- Magento requires a very powerful hosting environment.
- You need ample space and memory to perform your site well.
- You need Magento developers to customize your store at the complex level.
WooCommerce
WooCommerce holds the biggest eCommerce market share in the world. WooCommerce holds around 11% of the total eCommerce market. Basically, WooCommerce is a WordPress plugin that can turn any website into a fully functioned eCommerce store. It’s an open source plugin and gives features like inventory management, coupons, product pages, etc.
Although, there is much external development you might need to enhance your store. There are certain downfall WooCommerce as well that leads to eCommerce replatforming.
Here are some advantages and disadvantages of WooCommerce you should know:
Advantages
- WooCommerce offers limitless customization. You can literally design the store of your dream.
- It’s an open-source platform, hence talented developers are always there to guide, help and upgrade.
- WooCommerce stores are compelling in terms of SEO performance.
Disadvantages
- You will not get quick support like BigCommerce or Shopify.
- You need experts with WordPress knowledge to build an online store.
- WooCommerce stores often face security issues.
Weebly
Compared to some of the other ecommerce platforms that we’ve covered so far, Weebly is still a relatively small up-and-coming service for today’s small business owners. It’s excellent for building a beginner-friendly website online. You don’t need a lot of spare time or tech talent to get started. Additionally, Weebly is very budget-friendly, with very cheap starter prices.
However, this platform lacks some of the scale that comes with the other eCommerce solutions that we’ve looked at so far. You can’t sell across a wide range of channels, such as Etsy and Facebook. Additionally, customizing various aspects of your website – like the checkout page, is harder than it should be. On the plus side, you do get some fantastic additional features included with Weebly, such as password protected pages and blogging. Additionally, Weebly is great for businesses that are only selling a handful of products that want to stand out online.
There are tons of professional themes to browse through with this site builder. What’s more, because Weebly powers it’s transactions through Square, you know you’re getting a payment system that you can trust.
Pricing: Pricing starts off with a free tier for basic use. You can also upgrade to the Pro version of the Weebly store for $12 per month, with a free domain and $100 of Google ads credit included.
Pros
- Very beginner friendly and easy to use
- Lots of responsive themes to choose from
- Wide selection of integrated apps to choose from
- Membership areas and team collaboration
- Very affordable
Cons
- Limited design options – particularly in the checkout page
- Not ideal for international websites
Ecwid
Ecwid was designed as a powerful platform for online selling, intended to support companies that want to sell their products, anywhere, any time. You can set up an account for free online and keep it for as long as you like, without paying anything. Ecwid is great for companies in search of something that they can integrate with their existing website, social network, or business page. All the storefronts you get will be synced and managed from the same control panel.
One of the biggest benefits of Ecwid is that it’s a cloud-based platform. This means that it’s hosted for you – with no installation required. You can also add your Ecwid experience to any website using a plugin, including Drupal, Wix, Joomla, and WordPress sites. Features include a responsive design that’s perfect for any device, automatic language detection, and the option to add your site to multiple sites, blogs, and social networks at once. There are no transaction fees or setup fees. Additionally, you can choose from a host of different ways to accept payments securely.
Pricing: There’s a free forever plan which is excellent for small companies that are just getting started online. Alternatively, you can use the Unlimited plan for just $99 per month for everything you need to sell online.
Pros
- Works with your existing website
- Free plan available and reasonably priced premium plans
- Option to sell on various marketplaces and social sites
- You can create a mobile app for the app store
- Automatic language detection
- Secure payment options available
Cons
- Integrated payment fees are quite high
- Not a standalone solution or eCommerce (you need a website)
- No phone support or live chat on lower plans
- Back-end stats aren’t very comprehensive
Square Online
Square Online, formerly known as Square Online Store, is the ecommerce website builder from Square. Square is best known for its payment processing product that integrates with many of the ecommerce platforms on this list. They decided to join the ecommerce platform market. If you already have a Square account, you can get started quickly. If you’re not already using Square, it’s still easy to set up your store.
In 2019, Square Online revamped its product after acquiring Weebly in 2018. Weebly powers the Square Online platform.
Square also recently debuted a new service, Square Online Checkout, that allows small business owners to accept payments online without setting up an online store.
One thing that makes Square Online unique is that there’s an entirely free plan available. It includes basic features and unlimited products. It is limited to 500 MB of storage. It does require you to process payments exclusively through Square, but you won’t pay anything other than the standard credit card processing fees. You’ll pay those transaction fees regardless of which store builder you choose.
The free version doesn’t allow you to use a custom domain. And it forces you to display Square advertisements on your site. Paid plans start at $29/month, with a discount for annual billing.
Design and Ease of Use
While the platform is easy to use because you don’t have to be a web designer or developer to make it work, there are some design limitations.
The templates are limited, and customizing them is, too. It’s challenging to edit your page layouts.
Features and Integrations
You can sell digital or physical products, as well as services, tickets, and donations. It allows for curbside pickup, delivery, and third-party courier.
You’ll get automatic inventory, items and sync with the Square POS. You’ll also have support for social media integration, coupon codes, gift cards, order customization, and more. It includes SEO features, lead capture, and contact forms. For the small business owner on a budget, this is a great way to get started.
Pros
- Easy to use and no coding skills required
- Free plan available
- An ideal option for low-volume sellers
- All-in-one ecommerce and payment processing
Cons
- Limited features
- Limited customization
- Limited payment options – most ecommerce platforms offer at least 40 choices. Square Online only provides Square, Google Pay, and Apple Pay. If you want to add PayPal as an option, you’ll have to upgrade to either the Performance or Premium plan.
- As sales volume increases, your business will outgrow this platform.
- Only available to merchants in the U.S. and Canada. You can only sell to customers in your country – so it will not work for international sales.
Square Online is the best ecommerce solution for businesses that use their online shop as an additional sales channel instead of the main selling platform.
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.
Conclusion
Ecommerce store business model has become quite a success over the past few years. This model is helping people to earn big profit margins, thanks to the internet. Millions of people all around the globe are being able to shop for their favorite items and getting them delivered at their doorstep.
One of the biggest mistakes you can make is to think that commerce and ecommerce are only for the big boys out there, creating it in the traditional sense takes a lot of time, effort and a nice amount of funding too. We hope this has ultimately helped you in knowing about the best ecommerce platform and also get some insight into the free online ecommerce sites , please write back to us if you have any other questions regarding free e commerce websites