When you run an e-commerce business, there are many parts of your business that need to be taken care of. There is shipping, inventory, shipping rates, customer service, payments, accounting…the list goes on and on. One major part that will help your business is software. The best software for your e-commerce business can be very broad. If you sell on eBay you will need different software than if you sell only on Amazon.
Staying on top of technology is important in any industry, especially when it is directly related to your business. There are thousands of software for e-commerce businesses available when it comes to choosing what is best for your business. Shopping Cart Software Comparison can be challenging which means it is important to do your research when choosing what is best for your business.
Reasons You Need E-Commerce
Before we talk about what to look for in a e-commerce service, you may be wondering why you need one. As mentioned earlier, many web hosting services now offer e-commerce packages as part of their hosting plans, using built-in tools or integrating with open-source tools. It boils down to just how much extra work you, as a small business owner, want to put in to manage your store from scratch. It’s just another set of hoops through which to jump if you have to set up your own merchant account and payment gateway. Plus, everything is on the web now: If you make your customers place an order and then call you with their credit card information, you are going to lose a lot of sales.
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A PayPal button on your website is a good first step, but if you want to operate an attractive, modern online storefront from which people can shop day or night, then you really are better off using full-featured e-commerce platform instead of trying to glue all of the separate parts together on your own. E-commerce services streamline the relationship between buyers and sellers by handling multiple payment methods, collecting tax, and calculating shipping costs. A straightforward shopping experience means buyers get the product faster, too. A happy customer is just good business, after all.
How Much Does It Cost?
It’s difficult to choose an e-commerce platform strictly based on price. Some offer advanced features, but impose restrictions on transaction or monthly data transfers; others limit a plan’s features by price. Most e-commerce tools offer templates (also known as themes), but some may fence off popular ones into their premium packages. That means you must pay more money for an attractive website. A website builder is useful for customizing templates.
Some services may have a low monthly cost, but charge fees for transactions and for add-ons that let you integrate with third-party tools. Depending on your requirements, you can expect to see prices as low as $9.99 and as high as thousands of dollars per month. As always, it pays to read the fine print.
There are two types of transaction fees to keep track of when evaluating e-commerce services: the ones charged by the shopping cart and the ones charged by the payment gateway. You can’t avoid the payment gateway fees; whichever service you select will charge a certain amount per credit card transaction. That’s the fee from Authorize.Net or PayPal, for example.
Some e-commerce platforms charge an additional transaction fee for using the service regardless of the payment gateway. This means you pay your shopping cart vendor a certain percentage per transaction before the payment gateway collects its fee. Consider this scenario: A customer came to your store and paid $100 via PayPal. Your vendor will collect $3.20 for that transaction and PayPal will collect $3.20 (the actual amount will vary based on your PayPal account type). E-commerce platform typically offer bandwidth restrictions if they don’t charge transaction fees.
Many services have tiers based on how much monthly data you need. If you expect high traffic volumes and sales, then you should look at unlimited plans or at least something more generous than the typical 1GB of bandwidth. Others restrict storage, which limits the number and size of product images you can display. Cheaper plans have smaller storage capacity, so if you have a fairly large product database or plan to have multiple images per product, then you will have to think about how much you need. Otherwise, that monthly bill with overage fees is going to be a surprise.
Monthly data is consumed whenever visitors swing by your website. If you list several images for a single product or you have a long slideshow, then that will eat up data. In that case, you’ll need a generous data allotment. Think carefully about what you want from your store to determine if bandwidth limits or transaction fees make sense for you.
Important Features
Some e-commerce services are better suited for selling physical goods, while others support digital and virtual products, such as ebooks and services. As a result, you need to think about the types of products you want to sell before selecting a service. Some e-commerce companies let you migrate data from an existing service. They handle bulk, product database uploads, as well as moving customer and order history. If you aren’t setting up a brand-new storefront, then you really need to look for e-commerce tools to help with the move.
Look for plans that let you organize inventory and maintain a customer database. If there aren’t any built-in tools, see if you can integrate your cart with a third-party service. If you plan to send emails from your e-commerce website, then MailChimp, for example, might integrate with your service tier. See if you can issue discounts, gift certificates, and run sales.
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You want search engine optimization (SEO) tools to help your storefront rise up in search results. You should consider integrating Google Analytics (GA) into the dashboard to understand who is coming to your store and what they are doing. You won’t need GA if the shopping cart provides its own website metrics, but it’s still a good tool to consider using with your store.
Don’t rely on documentation, tutorials, and forums for customer support. Those are great resources but, ideally, you should be able to get someone on the phone or in a web chat, at least. Ideally, the support should be available at any hour of the day. You don’t know when things will go wrong, so why should you have to wait for normal business hours to get help?
Many e-commerce tools offer trial periods. Take advantage of the trial to learn how to work with the shopping cart dashboard. If you find it annoying to see the placed orders, enter products, or fulfill orders, move on to a shopping cart that fits into your workflow.
Finally, think about security. While many of your customers will shop while using a virtual private network (VPN) service, there are still plenty who won’t. To protect them, make sure your online store and its underlying web hosting provider either offer a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate or can accommodate a third-party certificate you purchase from someone else. In addition, make sure to invest in a dependable website monitoring tool to stay on top of any security or performance issues in real time.0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
#1. Shopify
Best ecommerce solution for larger businesses
Start selling from $29 a month
Best for large stores selling 10+ products
4.6out of 5TOP CHOICEEase Of Use
3.5 out of 5 starsDesign Flexibility
3.9 out of 5 starsSales Features
4.5 out of 5 starsWebsite Features
4.2 out of 5 starsCustomer Score
4.7 out of 5 starsHelp and Support
3.8 out of 5 starsValue For Money
3 out of 5 starsVisit SiteRead Review
| Shopify Pros | Shopify Cons |
|---|---|
| Easy to create a powerful online store – no coding needed! | Poor for international growth |
| Powerful sales features help large stores continue to grow | Transaction fees are applied to sales unless you use Shopify’s inhouse payment gateway, Shopify Payments |
Shopify Gallery
Click the image below to expand
Shopify is the best hosted ecommerce software for large stores, with strong sales tools and dedicated ecommerce designs and features.
Browse Shopify’s themes to find one that suits your store’s branding – once you’ve chosen your style, you can customize it, too!Shopify’s standout feature is its enormous app store, which holds over 6,000 apps. This lets you fully customize your store’s features.
Shopify has three core price plans, ranging from $29 to $299 per month. Most new stores will find the cheapest plan provides more than enough features to start fueling growth.
Shopify is one of the best ecommerce software in the market today.
It’s suitable for small businesses who are just starting out, but we recommend it most for larger stores that sell a range of products and manage large inventories. Shopify customers include Tesla and Penguin Books Store. This is a solution with the scalability to grow with your store as your business expands.
Here are some key Shopify highlights:
- Over 100 beautiful, professional, mobile-ready themes to help your store look great
- Over 1,400 apps to add to your store and extend the functionality of your business
- 24/7 anytime support (perfect if you find yourself pulling your hair out at 3am)
- Qualified/re-approved experts available to hire if you want to customize your design and functions
Shopify is a one-stop-shop for ecommerce solutions. Its drag-and-drop functionality eliminates the usual challenges of building an online store, with no coding required whatsoever.
In our research testing, Shopify scored an impressive 4.5 out of 5 stars for its range and quality of sales tools. Some of these tools include:
- Multi-channel selling through Facebook, Instagram, Amazon and more
- 100+ payment options
- No limit on number of products you can sell
- Mobile app to manage your store on the go
- Customizable checkout and guest checkout options
- Automatic email notifications for customers
- Abandoned cart recovery
- In-depth analytics and insight reports
- All-round shipping support
To put it simply: Shopify is one of the very best ecommerce solutions. It’s used by brands like Red Bull and Tesla, so it must really be doing something right! It’s perfect for starting and scaling your business.
Shopify has three main price plans: Basic Shopify ($29/month), Shopify ($79/month), and Advanced Shopify ($299/month), unlocking a wider range of brilliant sales tools the more you pay.
Save Up to 20% on Your Shopify Plan
You could save almost $190 per year on the Shopify Plan if you sign up for two years, or you could save $94 annually if you sign up for one year!
Is Shopify the Best Choice For You?
Shopify is perfect for large stores! It can support stores of all sizes with its awesome sales tools and huge app market.Yes! I Want to Try Shopify
Further Information
- Read Our Shopify Review to see our detailed pros and cons discussion of Shopify
- This could be you! Check out these Success Stories/Case Studies and see how others have built successful ecommerce businesses using Shopify
- Got a big business? Read our review on Shopify Plus (Enterprise Level Users) – If you’re in the big leagues and your business generates 6 to 7 figures in sales per year, find out how Shopify Plus can help you grow even more
- Compare the top market leaders in our Wix vs Shopify Review
- Just starting out? Read our guide on How to Build an Online Store for essential tips on setting up your online business
#2. BigCommerce
Best ecommerce solution for purely online businesses
Start selling from $29.95 a month
Bestfor purely online businesses
4.1out of 5Ease of Use
3.3 out of 5 starsDesign Flexibility
4 out of 5 starsSales Features
4.6 out of 5 starsWebsite Features
3.6 out of 5 starsCustomer Score
3.1 out of 5 starsHelp and Support
3.4 out of 5 starsValue For Money
3 out of 5 starsVisit SiteRead Full Review
| BigCommerce Pros | BigCommerce Cons |
|---|---|
| Has the most amount of built-in features out of all its competitors – makes it extremely scalable | Prices aren’t suitable for very small-scale sellers |
| Fantastic SEO and multi-channel integrations | Terminology can make it tricky to get to grips with |
BigCommerce Gallery
Click the image below to expand
BigCommerce is a powerful ecommerce software that has more built-in features than any other ecommerce solution.
BigCommerce has a well-stocked app market for any extra features you may want to add to your store – however, you’ll be less reliant on it than you would be with Shopify.BigCommerce is perfect for ambitious sellers with big plans for growth, as it’s a very scalable ecommerce solution, with plenty of features to boost traffic.
BigCommerce’s pricing starts at $29.95 per month, and doesn’t charge transaction fees on any of its plans.
BigCommerce’s themes are fully optimized for ecommerce, and you can filter by industry – or even by layout!
BigCommerce is another reputable ecommerce software option that allows you to build your store without getting tangled up in technology.
As one of the best ecommerce solutions, BigCommerce is suitable for businesses of any size. It has more in-built features than any of its competitors, so you’ll have everything you need to succeed right at your fingertips. It’s especially great for online businesses thanks to its multichannel features and SEO tools!
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BigCommerce has the best sales features on the market; it scored 4.6 stars out of 5 in our research! With BigCommerce, you get:
- A comprehensive set of “out-of-the-box” ecommerce tools to help you build your store
- The chance to leverage different social channels to help you grow your sales
- Advanced tools through their app store (just like Shopify)
- 24/7 support
- A mobile app
The BigCommerce mobile app is a new addition that allows you to view performance metrics, update orders, and more while on the go. Another exciting recent update allows you to integrate your BigCommerce store with your WordPress site. This is a great option for combining the specialist ecommerce features of BigCommerce with the flexibility and customization of WordPress.
We like BigCommerce because it focuses on growing with your store. As you grow, you get access to more features and functionality to take your store to the next level. There are no limitations on whether you sell one or 100 products through your store. Plus BigCommerce gives you great analytics tools and reports to track the success of your business.
You can integrate your store with multiple social channels including Facebook, Instagram, eBay and Amazon. You can manage all your integrations from one place with the BigCommerce Channel Manager. This makes it super easy to sell across these different platforms and expand your business.
Because of the number of features and tools, BigCommerce is really best for anyone looking to scale their business. You get the top-notch features you pay for.
BigCommerce Named a “Strong Performer” in the Ecommerce Space
In two recent reports from Forrester Research – one on B2B commerce suites and one on B2C commerce suites – BigCommerce earned the highest possible score in five total criteria: Expanded Sales Channels (B2C Wave), A/B and Multivariate Testing, Platform Architecture, Platform Integration, Delivery Model, and Technology Partners and Marketplace (B2B Wave).
The reports evaluate the most significant software providers, to help digital businesses select the right technology for their needs. The reports also use feedback from BigCommerce customers, who said that they “like the culture and responsiveness of the support experience” when using the platform.
If you’re a large store with a physical presence, you’re better off with Shopify – but if you’re an online business, BigCommerce is truly worth every cent. While it’s not quite as polished as Shopify, it’s still an excellent ecommerce solution.
Do You Have Big Plans For Your Store?
BigCommerce is perfect for fast-growing online stores, thanks to its built-in features and multichannel integrations. You can try it free for 15 days!Yes! I Want to Visit BigCommerce Now
Further Information
- Read our BigCommerce Review to see our detailed pros and cons discussion about BigCommerce
- Read our BigCommerce vs Shopify comparison to see the major differences between Shopify and BigCommerce, and how they affect you
- Check out our review of BigCommerce Pricing Plans to find out about BigCommerce’s unique pricing strategy
- Using WordPress? Read about BigCommerce’s WordPress plugin in our review to find out how you can combine these two market leaders
#3. Volusion
Best for tracking your store’s progress with analytics features
Start selling from $29 a month
3.3out of 5Ease Of Use
3.2 out of 5 starsDesign Flexibility
3.4 out of 5 starsSales Features
3.7 out of 5 starsWebsite Features
2.5 out of 5 starsCustomer Score
1.9 out of 5 starsHelp and Support
1.7 out of 5 starsValue For Money
2.5 out of 5 starsTry For FreeRead Our Volusion Review
| Volusion Pros | Volusion Cons |
|---|---|
| Great analytics features | No blogging tools, which can limit your marketing strategy |
| Multi-channel selling is easily managed from your dashboard | Limited bandwidth can result in unexpected fees down the line |
Volusion Gallery
Click the image below to expand
Volusion’s ecommerce solution has great analytics features to help you track – and improve – your store’s performance.
Volusion has a smaller number of themes than Shopify and BigCommerce, and some of its designs aren’t quite as sleek. Not to worry, though – you’ll still have plenty of choice!Volusion has very similar pricing to Shopify, but offers less value for money due to its more limited features. Still, its 0% transaction fees are a great perk.
Like BigCommerce and Shopify, Volusion is a comprehensive ecommerce solution.
Key features include:
- 24/7 customer support – impressively thorough support pages and video tutorials, plus phone support on higher price plans.
- Broad range of mobile-responsive themes – whatever you want to sell online, Volusion has you covered. Its themes cover fashion, beauty, food & beverages, electronics – pretty much anything you can imagine! These themes are also mobile-optimized, meaning your customer’s experience will be smooth no matter what device they’re using. However, for sheer number of designs, Volusion can’t match Shopify (offering 45 compared to Shopify’s 100+).
- App market – you can choose from over 20 apps to bolt onto your store from Volusion’s App Marketplace.
- Ecommerce tools – add products, offer subscription billing, get automatic tax rates, and integrate with Amazon and eBay – all without touching any code.
We like the simplicity of Volusion’s design. The overall offering is not as comprehensive as Shopify or BigCommerce, but Volusion’s store editor is pretty accessible.
Volusion does not charge transaction fees on any of its plans. This means you can keep all your profits and reinvest them in your store.
Like Shopify and BigCommerce, Volusion also has a great range of analytics tools. This makes it easy to assess where your store is doing well and where it could be improved.
Volusion is especially helpful if you’re selling over multiple channels, such as Facebook and Instagram. It allows you to pull all your sales into one place, making it really easy to keep track of everything.
But beware: Volusion doesn’t have any in-house blogging tools, which is less than ideal for growing your store. Blogging can be central to your marketing efforts, so Volusion’s lack of blogging tools is a big drawback.
On the whole, though, Volusion is a more than decent ecommerce software that can get you online even if you’re not at all technical. It’s not quite up to the standard of Shopify or BigCommerce, but it’s still an ecommerce solution that lets you build a stylish store and sell online without coding.
Do You Love Analytics?
Volusion helps you grow your store by tracking performance using its top notch analytics tools. You can try it free for 14 days!Yes! I Want to Try Volusion Now
Further Information
- Read our Volusion Review for a full look at this popular ecommerce solution
- Torn between Volusion and Shopify? Read our Volusion vs Shopify comparison to see these two leading brands side by side
- Still unsure? Check out our Ecommerce Comparison Chart to see these solutions ranked side by side.
Hang on, what about ecommerce platforms like Wix?
At this stage, it’s worth reiterating that this guide deals specifically with ecommerce solutions. If you’re starting your first online store, or getting your first business online, you may want to check out our piece on the best platforms for ecommerce. These intuitive tools are the quickest and easiest ways to begin selling online through your own website.
Best 3 Self-Hosted Ecommerce Solutions
Self-hosted ecommerce software is very flexible, but you need to be quite technical (or hire a capable developer) to help you build your store.
Before we go any further, make no mistake about it – self-hosted ecommerce software solutions will involve a far steeper learning curve than the hosted ecommerce solutions we’ve just looked at.
But if you are technologically savvy and want greater customization options, a self-hosted ecommerce solution might be of interest. The best ecommerce solutions that are open source (we’ll explain what this means in a moment) provide unrivaled customization.
In this section, we’ll introduce you to three leading self-hosted ecommerce software options:
- WordPress with WooCommerce: best overall self-hosted ecommerce software
- Magento: best self-hosted ecommerce software for large businesses
- OpenCart: easiest to use self-hosted software
Self-hosted ecommerce software solutions are open source shopping carts. But what does that mean?
Open source shopping carts are effectively standalone programs you install into your own host (such as Bluehost). This means you’ll have to set up, configure and manage your own hosting service to power your online store.
Once you sign up to a hosting service, you’ll then need to install some shopping cart software into your hosting account.
See why we think these solutions are that much trickier than hosted ecommerce software?
Hosting services such as Bluehost usually have a one-click installation process. But there is still quite a bit of tinkering to do, especially if you’re doing it for the first time. When we tried it ourselves for the first time, it took a couple of hours and was a bit frustrating. But after you figure things out, the next installation is a lot smoother.
Once you have the shopping cart platform installed, you’ll need to install a design template. You should know that unless you are quite confident with codes, you’ll most likely need to hire a coder to help you make most design changes. The templates are not as user-friendly as drag-and-drop ecommerce software (such as the examples highlighted above).
The main benefit of using self-hosted open source software is that you can configure it to function exactly the way you want it to, meaning your store can be heavily customized.
The drawback is that it requires you to be technically experienced to install, set up and configure it to work properly. So if you’re not a techie, or if you don’t have time to learn more advanced coding functions, self-hosted shopping carts will not be the best approach for you.
“If hosted ecommerce software is like a finished house you can start decorating immediately, self-hosted software is like a building site. You get bricks, cement, wood and steel framing – all you need to build a beautiful property. But it’s up to you to put it together.”
That being said, open source shopping carts offer good flexibility, and have lots of advanced features that you can use and configure.
Which is why we’re going to tell you a bit more about three of the leading self-hosted ecommerce software providers…
#1. WooCommerce (powered by Bluehost)
Best overall self-hosted ecommerce software
4.2out of 5Overall Rating
4.2 out of 5 starsEase Of Use
3.5 out of 5 starsSales Features
4.1 out of 5 starsWebsite Features
3.9 out of 5 starsHelp and Support
5 out of 5 starsValue For Money
4.4 out of 5 starsVisit Site
| WooCommerce (powered by Bluehost) Pros | WooCommerce (powered by Bluehost) Cons |
|---|---|
| Easy to install | Fewer multichannel integrations than other platforms |
| Excellent value for money | No built-in abandoned cart recovery feature (requires an extension) |
| Our recommended hosting provider, Bluehost, offers a 30-day money back guarantee | Extra plugins can add up over time |
WooCommerce Gallery
Click the image below to expand
WooCommerce is a popular WordPress plugin that lets you create powerful online stores. You can start from scratch, or turn an existing WordPress site into a store with ease.
WooCommerce is super customizable thanks to its huge marketplace – you can pick and choose the features you want to add to your store.WooCommerce is a self-hosted ecommerce solution, so you need hosting – we recommend Bluehost, which even has WooCommerce-specific hosting plans.
Online store Two Chimps Coffee used WordPress and WooCommerce to create a unique brand.
OK, we’re guessing you’ve heard of WordPress? After all, it’s one of the most popular platforms around.
To turn your WordPress site into an ecommerce store, you need to use extra ecommerce solutions. The best of these is WooCommerce.
How does it work? It couldn’t be simpler. All you have to do is sign up to your chosen hosting provider’s WordPress-specific hosting plans, if it has them, (we strongly recommend Bluehost), and it will automatically install WooCommerce onto your computer for you.
WooCommerce also offers an ‘setup wizard’ that guides you through the process of building your store, helping you set up payments, choose currencies, and decide on shipping and tax options. It’s no wonder that WooCommerce clocked a 3.5/5 score in our ease of use research.
Why do we recommend Bluehost to power your WooCommerce store? Well, we’ve carried out some serious research into all the important areas for building online stores using self-hosted software, such as value for money, ease of use, sales features, and more.
From our findings, we can confidently say that Bluehost is head and shoulders above the rest of the hosting competitors for powering WooCommerce stores. With WooCommerce powered by Bluehost, you’ll get:
- 15+ themes costing on average just $38 (compared to $100 on Magento)
- Bluehost plans starting from just $13.99 per month (helping WooCommerce, combined with Bluehost, score a brilliant 4.4/5 in our value for money research category)
- WooCommerce extensions costing on average just $79 per year
- Translate your site into 24 languages
- Multichannel selling – sell on Amazon, eBay, and Instagram through a paid extension, and sell on Facebook for free.
- Great SEO support (SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization – the practice of boosting your site’s rankings in search engines like Google. The higher you rank, the more traffic and sales you get)
- The ability to add and customize products
- Payment options like PayPal and Visa – WooCommerce scored an impressive 4.1/5 in our ‘sales features’ category.
The great benefit of ecommerce software like WordPress + WooCommerce is personalization. You aren’t tied down to any one way of doing things, instead having the freedom to play around in the backend. For instance, you can customize everything from your check-out cart through to your confirmation emails.
But, while WooCommerce may sound simple in principle, just like Magento, it requires technical skill to run.
In our experience, add-ons that are included in Shopify and BigCommerce plans can get quite pricey with WooCommerce. If you’re looking for an alternative, check out BigCommerce’s WordPress plugin. This allows you to make the most of BigCommerce’s features along with the freedom of WordPress.
BigCommerce has more multi-channel integrations than WooCommerce, so if you want to sell through numerous social media channels or marketplaces, it’s an option worth thinking about.
Do You Want Total Flexibility?
WooCommerce is a powerful, flexible ecommerce solution that’s extremely popular and pretty easy to get started with too!Yes! I Want to Visit WooCommerce Now
Further Information
- Read our WordPress Review to find out if this is the right choice for you
- Don’t know whether to choose hosted or self-hosted for your online store? Read our WooCommerce vs Shopify Review to find out
- Using WordPress? You’ll need hosting: read our verdict on the Best WordPress Hosting Provider to get the best out of your business
- Need a hand getting started with hosting your WordPress store? Read our guide on How to Install WordPress with Bluehost and gain a valuable head start
#2. Magento (powered by SiteGround)
Best self-hosted ecommerce software for large businesses
4out of 5Overall Rating
4 out of 5 starsEase Of Use
2.5 out of 5 starsSales Features
4 out of 5 starsWebsite Features
4.2 out of 5 starsHelp and Support
5 out of 5 starsValue For Money
3.5 out of 5 starsTry Magento powered by SiteGroundRead SiteGround Review
| Magento (powered by SiteGround) Pros | Magento (powered by SiteGround) Cons |
|---|---|
| Ideal for medium to large- sized businesses | Very technical, not beginner friendly |
| Back-end inventory has excellent built-in features e.g. multiple product variants and bulk product import | Expensive extensions for multichannel e.g. $499 to sell on eBay |
Magento Gallery
Click the image below to expand
Magento is a self-hosted ecommerce software that’s best for larger businesses.
Designer Paul Smith uses Magento to power its impressive online store. It features stylish images, banners, and menus, making for a great customer experience.You’ll find plenty to choose from with Magento’s Extensions Marketplace. It’s not very user-friendly, though, so we recommend using its handy search filters.
Magento is one of the most well-known ecommerce solutions on the market. It powers over 240,000 stores, so it must be doing something right!
If you know a bit of code (or are able to pay someone who does), then you have great freedom to build the store of your dreams.
But Magento’s editor just isn’t as easy to use as hosted ecommerce software. For an inexperienced store builder, there are far more potential pitfalls. For example, we found the Magento interface includes a lot of technical terms that will seem alien to a first-time user.
The more time you spend working out what they mean, the less time you spend perfecting your store. This is why we scored Magento 2.5/5 in our ‘ease of use’ research category.
One area Magento is pretty strong in is the sales features category, scoring a brilliant 4/5. With Magento, you can:
- Sell physical, downloadable, and service products
- Accept payments for WorldPay as a built-in feature (though this payment processor is only suitable for large businesses)
- Add multiple product variants
- Generate total revenue reports
- View total visitor count
The Magento community is very helpful, too, and there are lots of quality guides available. This is why, combined with SiteGround’s customer support, we scored Magento 5/5 for help and support.
As with Shopify and BigCommerce, you can purchase themes externally via Magento, while you can also access a large selection of apps and plugins. The key difference with Magento is that you need to pay for your own hosting.
How much does hosting cost? Well, we recommend using SiteGround to power your Magento store, which comes with three main price plans costing $9.95/month, $17.95/month, and $29.95/month. Overall, considering the cost of extensions and SiteGround price plans, we scored Magento 3.5/5 in our value for money testing.
Do You Want to Get the Best Out Of Magento?
We recommend using SiteGround hosting to power your Magento store. Check out SiteGround to see what it’s got to offer.Yes! I Want to Visit SiteGround Now
Further Information
- Torn between hosted and self-hosted? Read our comparison on Magento vs Shopify – Which is the right platform for you?
- Just getting started with hosting? Read our review of the three Best Web Hosting Providers to choose the best option for your store
#3. 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.
Do You Want an Easy Self-Hosted Solution?
We like OpenCart because it’s easy to use and comes with tons of payment methods to choose from. Check it out to see if it’s right for you!Yes! I Want to Visit OpenCart
Further Information
- Still undecided on which hosting provider is for you? Read our review of the Best Web Hosting for Small Businesses and find out the top three choices for you.
Conclusion
In ecommerce, technology is changing faster than you can say “wow those cameras on those drones”. In these modern times, the question of how to choose best software for Ecommerce will arise more often. So what kind of software does your business need? Here is a list based on the software that I have worked with or I know many successful case studies who used them.