Ecommerce software applications are among the most vital tools to run a successful online retail business. Since there are many such software platforms in the market today, it can be hard for you to formulate an opinion about which one is the best. The fact that each of these software platforms has different features and pricing options complicates your decision even more.
I would like to talk about ecommerce software. An ecommerce website is a business website that promotes and sells products or services for customers. These websites have become very popular during the past few years as more and more people have turned to convenience of shopping on their computer and are browsing the net for every product they need, from groceries to cars, from clothing to electronics.
You want to give your customers the best experience possible, and there isn’t anything better than a smooth checkout process. The best ecommerce website software helps you get that up and running quickly. This is one of the easiest pieces of your business once it’s up and running properly.
One initiative that can take your e-commerce business to the next level is, of course, implementing software. There’s a number of different tools on the market when it comes to e-commerce software and many of them promise increased traffic, sales and general prosperity for your business; however, this isn’t always the case.
What is eCommerce Software?
eCommerce Software is an online tool that can handle all processes related to online shopping with ease. For instance, an online store software can manage inventories, facilitate order placement, carryout secure payment through secured third-party applications, manage accounts, among many others. Starting from product selection to successful checkout, it can auto manage the entire process quite efficiently and conveniently. The software can organize and catalog your items as per their size, and quantity. Not just that, it can auto calculate the tax and shipping charges as per the customer location and can send confirmation emails to them on successful business transactions. There can be both b2c and b2b eCommerce software – you have to select as per your need.
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!
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
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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!
Heads Up: Special BigCommerce Savings
Get one month free when you sign up to a BigCommerce plan! You can claim this offer by simply starting a free trial with BigCommerce today.
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.
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.
Square (Web, iOS, Android)
If you want the option to sell in-person, like at a farmer’s market or craft fair, as well as through your online store, Square is the best choice. Your online and offline orders are all organized under a single dashboard, so there’s no jumping between apps, trying to track down customer details using random spreadsheets, or having to enter things manually after the fact.
Square bought the website builder app Weebly in 2018, so when you set up your store, that’s what’s running under the hood. If you occasionally see a URL direct to weebly.com, it’s nothing to worry about. (Note: we noticed fewer Weebly URLs popping up in the most recent review.)
Square has some of the best onboarding around. When you sign up, you have to fill in a quick questionnaire about your business and its needs. You’ve got the option to set up a single booking page, a full online store, or simple checkout links, depending on what you’re looking for. The default theme will also be tweaked to match the business category you chose.
In terms of storefront customization, Square is a little more limited than some of the other options. Instead of picking a theme that does most of the work, with Square you have to make your own design using the (admittedly excellent) site builder—or you can hire a designer from $99 to do it for you.
From the Square Dashboard, click Online then click Website > Edit Site to get started. In the sidebar on the left, you can select the different page elements, or you can just click on them directly. For more options, click the three little dots. You can change the colors, fonts, and layout of everything individually and, of course, upload your own images. It works well, but it is a bit constrained.
You can create “items,” what Square calls products or services for sale, through both the regular Square Dashboard and the Square Online Dashboard, and they’ll be synced to a common Item Library. This means that you can sell the same products both online and off, or have some things you just list in one location. Just go to Items > Item Library, and click Create an Item.
When you want to make an in-person sale, open up the menu and select Virtual Terminal, which acts just like a digital cash register. If you have a Square credit card reader (available for free), you can swipe your customers’ cards for a 2.6% + $0.10 fee from Square, and their details will automatically upload to your account. Otherwise, you can type in your customers’ credit card information for a 3.5% + $0.15 fee per charge. Online, Square’s charges are similar. On the free plan, you’re charged 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction.
Square also integrates with Zapier, so you can connect it to thousands of other apps to do things like post your in-person transactions to a Slack channel for the rest of the team to see or record the details using Airtable.
Square Price: Free with 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction for unlimited products and a Square branded site; from $12/month (billed annually) with 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction to use a custom domain and remove ads.
Ecwid (Web, iOS, Android)
If you’re launching an online store but want to minimize your initial outlay, Ecwid is the best place to begin: it’s got a great, free plan that lets you start selling your first 10 physical products, and affordable upgrade tiers starting at $15/month as you grow or need extra features. There are also no additional transaction fees on top of what your payment gateway charges, so it isn’t skimming any profit with hidden fees.
When you sign up, Ecwid gives you the option to integrate your store with your existing website—it supports most platforms like WordPress, Weebly, Drupal, and the like—or to set up your own store with a company.site domain name (although you can change that to a custom domain at any time by upgrading to the Venture plan).
At the Dashboard, you’re presented with a big, bold to-do list that walks you through setting up your site, adding your first products, localizing your store, and choosing how you want to deliver goods—and get paid for them. Working through the full list takes less than 15 minutes.
Where Ecwid stands out from some of the other free options is its customizability. In the sidebar, click Website and then Edit Site to open the site builder. To change the theme, click Themes and choose from one of the dozens of different options. Whatever you’re planning to sell, there’s a decent base theme to work from. Then, dive deeper into the intuitive builder to customize every section, text block, and photo.
While Ecwid is a great free option, it doesn’t skimp on the features with the paid plans. It integrates with social channels like Facebook and Instagram so you can sell directly to your followers, you can list your products on Amazon or eBay, or take payments in person. It automatically calculates tax, offers discounts, and tracks your inventory. If you set up a free store on Ecwid, you don’t have to worry about moving to a new platform if things take off.
Ecwid integrates with Zapier too, so you can connect it to all your other apps and do things like receive texts when someone places an order or track sales with Google Sheets.
Square Price: Free with 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction for unlimited products and a Square branded site; from $12/month (billed annually) with 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction to use a custom domain and remove ads.
Wix
- Pricing starts at $13 per month for a standard website or $23 per month with a site that offers eCommerce functionality.
- What is it: Hosted eCommerce solution
- Sell: Physical and digital products, services, and dropshipping
- Features: 10/10
- Ease of use: 10/10
- Designs: 9/10
Wix stands out as one of the most versatile tools on the market for businesses of any size. You don’t need to be a master coder or have years of experience online to succeed with Wix. This sensational product ensures that you can access everything from high-quality templates to automation with ease. There’s even complete design freedom with drag-and-drop customization.
Wix gives you all the functionality you need to build a successful website. There are over 500 templates to choose from, and many of them are highly professional and attractive straight out of the box. You can sell products in a range of ways, and you can even build your site with the help of AI thanks to Wix ADI. This means that you can get the Wix system to build a multi-channel solution for your eCommerce business. You won’t get that from companies like ECWid and BigCommerce.
Wix also gives business owners and retailers plenty of access to extra add-ons and features, such as plugins for cart abandonment, drop-shipping, SEO, and beyond. You can find SaaS solutions for all of your needs, and there are plenty of analytics for tracking the performance of your campaigns too.
Whether you’re a startup trying to scale fast, or you’re a larger business that needs a flexible website for sales, Wix has you covered. To make it even better, the Wix experience also keeps updating with new features and functionality all the time.
Pricing
If you need Wix Ecommerce,then you will need to go with the Business Basic package that starts at around $23 per month. This product comes with customer accounts, secure payments, a custom domain which is free for a year, and a host of other great functionalities.
Upgrade to Business Unlimited and you’ll unlock 10 hours of video for $27 per month, as well as unlimited bandwidth, 35GB of storage, and so much more.
The final product for eCommerce is Business VIP, which comes with 50GB of storage space, all the features of Business Unlimited, priority support, a loyalty program by Smile.io and support for automated sales tax on 500 transactions per month.
If you do have a particularly large business, you can upgrade to an Enterprise package, which comes with custom pricing. You’ll need to contact the team to find out how much service this will be for you, but it usually starts at a price of at least $500 per month.
Some of the notable features you get with Wix include:
- More than 500 templates
- Complete drag and drop customization
- Mobile friendly designs
- Industry leading integrations with things like Salesforce
- AI supported designs
- Media galleries and advanced design options
- Tons of app options and plugins
- SEO and marketing feature
- Unified database management for your CRM
- Scalable range of API connections
- Restaurant booking and reservation
- Multiple payment processing support
- Forums and memberships
- Event management
- Booking forms and contact management
- Comprehensive analytics and reporting
- Integration with social media
- Custom domain name
- SSL certificate support
- A professional mailbox
Main dashboardNew productThemes directory
Some examples of existing ecommerce stores built on Wix:CanO Water
Alaya Tea
Kaeekoo
Why use Wix?
Wix is just one of the many leading tools on the market for eCommerce site building today, but it’s extremely popular for a reason. It’s not just ads featuring Heidi Klum and Gal Gadot that make Wix so appealing. This is a service that can appeal to businesses of all sizes, selling a wide range of products online. Wix is designed to be extremely flexible and scalable, with plenty of add-on features to help your business grow with the needs of your customers.
If you need a site builder that’s easy to use, brimming with extra features like abandoned cart recovery, friendly for beginners, and affordable, it’s hard to find anything that offers the same impact as Wix.
Features and Guides on eCommerce Software
The eCommerce software helps companies and businesses by simplifying everyday tasks and activities, such as managing inventory, computing taxes, and fulfilling orders, payment of fees and much more. Previously these small processes used to take long hours as well as careful input from the users, as even a small mistake could result in a drastic loss to the company. However, the various aspects of the eCommerce software have automated the different processes ensuring greater work productivity with reduced wastage of resources. So, let’s check out some of the exciting features of the software.
› WEBSITE BUILDER
This feature helps beginners create their personalized website without the need for churning their head over the internet. Following the easy-to-follow steps, one can easily set up a site and make income from it within hours with the help of the ECommerce software. This is made possible by providing in-built designs, templates, themes, and more which tackles the need for hiring commercial designers to design your website.
› CENTRAL STORAGE
The second feature which serves as an essential factor for setting up websites and efficiently managing them is the central storage. This facility allows users to store, access, and retrieve information whenever needed with just a few clicks. Other information like customer data, product listings, account information, transactions, and more can also be stored in the central storage which helps in securing them from vandalism.
› SEARCH TOOLS
Search tools come in handy when there is a need to find for the perfect product among the heaps of many. These small yet sophisticated tools in the online store software can help in retrieval, listing, categorizing, and updating newer products along with their description.
› INTEGRATION WITH EXISTING TOOLS
Nowadays many online store software come with in-built integration with the existing tools to enhance operational management of the eCommerce companies. Hence, additional functions like accounting, email marketing, and payment processing amongst many can be completed without any issues within the single software.
› MARKETING TOOLS
Keeping the need of vendors to have advanced marketing tools within a single online store software in mind, many software developers have provided access to the users to benefit from the tools. Using these tools, one can easily use various marketing strategies to expand the popularity of their brand name, making it reach a much broader population.
› IDENTIFYING LATEST TRENDS
The shopping cart software also uses analytics and reporting to provide its users with the latest updates on the market trends in real time. This is done by tracking the customer’s buying behaviour, demographics, and the keywords which are being frequently used. Afterward, the company can then develop tailor-made products according to the latest trends to increase the traffic inflow to the eCommerce store.
Conclusion
An eCommerce platform can be an adequate solution for all your e-commerce store needs. It will help you to run an efficient online store with all the necessary features, such as order management, payment and shipping management and inventory management. Ecommerce software also includes advanced features such as tracking products’ sales performance by monthly reports, discount management and shopping cart functions.
If you’re a retailer, ecommerce software can be a life-saver for your business. And if you have no budget for a self hosted solution, there’s good news. There are many excellent ecommerce platforms out there that provide exceptional performance on small budgets. Sites like Amazon are seeing high conversion rates thanks to the fact that they rely on ecommerce to power their entire business. So, unsurprisingly, free ecommerce software applications are becoming an increasingly popular option.