We all know in the ecommerce landscape small businesses have been making waves. The way we buy and sell things has completed changed and small businesses are playing a significant role in this great transformation. It won’t be wrong to say that internet has opened incredible opportunities and ecommerce platform for small business to anyone who has a great businesses idea in mind and the passion to purse it. Today, small business owners can showcase their products/services to the global audience and reach wider audience.

However, to do so they need a robust, intuitive and customizable ecommerce platform. Which brings us to us the question, ‘Which ecommerce platform is best for small business?’ Well, the answer to this questions depends upon plenty of factors which is why we have created this guide.

Today we’ll be shedding light on some of the best ecommerce platforms for small business. At the end of this blog post you’ll be able to choose an ecommerce platform for your small business with ease.

What is the Best Ecommerce Platform for a Small Business?

As we all know with increase in ecommerce  businesses, the need of ecommerce website development services has also accelerated at a rapid pace but you’ll only be able to create an ecommerce store if you know which platform is suitable for your business.

Here are some of the best ecommerce platform for small business:

BigCommerce

If you’re planning to create an online shop and sell your products on different platforms like Amazon, Instagram, Facebook, and more, BigCommerce is a great tool for you. It’s especially suitable for smaller businesses looking to grow bigger because it can handle your expansion.

BigCommerce comes with a lot of useful features already built-in, so you won’t have to rely as much on additional apps like you might with other platforms like Shopify. It offers a wide range of options to help you sell effectively and efficiently without spending too much.

However, it’s important to know that BigCommerce can be a bit complicated to use, especially for beginners. It has many advanced features that might take some time to get used to.

The good news is that BigCommerce provides excellent support for selling on popular platforms, and it even offers useful tools to improve your website’s visibility on Google. Just keep in mind that taking full advantage of all the features might require some expertise or assistance from skilled team members.

Features:

• Abandoned cart saver
• Single page checkout
• Bulk product editing
• Customer groups and segmentation
• Built-in blogging platform

Pros:

• Extensive app marketplace
• Responsive and mobile-optimized themes
• Offers marketing and SEO tools

Cons:

• Bandwidth and storage limits
• Data migration complexity
• Design limitations on certain themes

Big Cartel

Big Cartel is often recommended for bigger companies looking to establish a profitable online presence. However, it’s important to know that this platform requires a significant amount of coding knowledge to fully utilize its capabilities. The pre-built themes and design options might not be very robust on their own.

That said, if you’re an artist or a creative company and have experience with coding or know someone who does, Big Cartel can be an excellent choice. It even offers a free plan, allowing you to start selling without any upfront cost.

Big Cartel Good for Small-Scale Selling

Big Cartel among ecommerce platform for small businesses is particularly suitable for small-scale selling, like selling unique pieces of art. However, keep in mind that using this platform requires expertise in CSS, HTML, and JavaScript. While the free pricing plan might be attractive, it’s important to note that it has limitations. 

Big Cartel can be a good option for bigger companies with coding knowledge or small-scale artists looking for an affordable way to sell online. However, it may not be the best fit for businesses that require extensive design support or compliance with certain industry standards. 

If you’re a B2B ecommerce development agency, you might find that Big Cartel’s focus on coding expertise and limited design capabilities may not fully align with the specific needs and requirements of your clients.

Features:

• Designed for artists, creative and small-scale sellers
• Offers plenty customizable themes
• Affordable pricing
• Easy to use
• Support digital products

Pros:

• Mobile-responsive themes
• Strong community and niche-focused audience
• User-friendly interface

Cons:

• Suitable only for small scale businesses
• Additional transactional fees
• Limited SEO capabilities

Shopify

When it comes to ecommerce platform for small business, Shopify is a name that cannot be overlooked. It offers some of the best sales features available, with powerful tools and a vast app marketplace full of useful plugins. If you’re serious about selling online and want to build a top-notch online store, Shopify’s dedicated ecommerce platform is one of the best choices out there.

Shopify is a software that you pay for using the SaaS (Software as a Service) model, specifically designed to help people create an exceptional online store. It offers advanced sales tools that surpass other platforms like Wix and Squarespace, and it even includes a free SSL certificate for added security.

Shopify, Get Access to Discount Codes

With Shopify, you get access to discount codes, 24/7 customer support, and an integrated payment processor, making it easy to manage your online business. You can also sync your inventory and orders across various sales channels like eBay and Amazon, streamlining your operations.

With Shopify, you get access to discount codes, 24/7 customer support, and an integrated payment processor, making it easy to manage your online business. You can also sync your inventory and orders across various sales channels like eBay and Amazon, streamlining your operations. 

If you need additional customization or specific functionalities for your Shopify store, you can take advantage of Shopify development services offered by experienced professionals.

Features:

• Extensive app store
• Abandoned cart recovery
• Shopify point of sales
• Multiple sales channel integration
• Built-in dropshipping capabilities

Pros:

• Professional customizable templates
• User-friendly onterface
• Free-trial available

Cons:

• Limited blogging platform
• Include transaction fees on top of the regular payment processing fees
• Limited control over server and hosting

Squarespace

Squarespace stands out as an exceptional ecommerce platform, especially for businesses seeking creative freedom. This cloud-based website builder shares similarities with Wix but offers additional advanced features, notably seamless integration with various social media channels. 

One of its key strengths lies in the diverse selection of sleek and modern templates at your disposal, giving you the freedom to switch styles as often as you wish. However, it’s important to note that when compared to Shopify, SquareSpace may not offer as many built-in eCommerce features.

SquareSpace Good with Other Valuable benefits

Nevertheless, SquareSpace compensates with other valuable benefits. For instance, with any annual plan, you gain access to SSL security and a free domain. Additionally, all plans offer a mobile-optimized checkout experience, and the best part is, there are no transaction fees.

SquareSpace emerges as an attractive choice for those seeking creative control over their online presence, providing elegant templates, social media integration, and essential ecommerce features, making it a solid platform for building a striking digital presence.

Features:

• Creative website templates
• Seamless social media integration
• Mobile-optimized checkout experience
• Free domain with annual plan
• SSL security included

Pros:

• Integrated analytics
• All-in-one platform
• Built-in SEO tools

Cons:

• Limited customization
• Requires technical skills
• Transaction fees on lower plans

Wix

When it comes to creating an online store, Wix is a fantastic option that offers great value for money and performance. Even if you’re new to building websites, Wix makes it easy for you to create a professional and attractive online store with complete creative control.

With Wix’s eCommerce plans, you get access to a wide range of features, including a user-friendly store builder where you can simply drag and drop elements to design your store. There are hundreds of templates to choose from, and your store will look great on mobile devices too.

Wix with Various Payment Options

Managing your online store is a breeze with Wix’s tools. You can set up various payment options for your customers and ensure a secure checkout process. Plus, you can create stunning product galleries to showcase your products effectively.

Wix also offers features to help you manage the business side of your store. You can calculate global taxes and shipping costs, which makes running your store more convenient.

Features:

• Offers an ADI feature
• Customizable product pages
• Built-in all-in-one marketing solution (Wix Ascend) 
• Extensive app market
• Online store builder (Wix Stores)

Pros:

• Reliable customer support
• Affordable pricing plans
• Offers professionally designed templates

Cons:

• Unable to switch templates
• Limited app integration
• Suitable for only small to medium-sized businesses

Weebly

Compared to other ecommerce platforms we’ve talked about, Weebly is a smaller and emerging service that’s perfect for small business owners who want an easy-to-use website. It’s great for beginners because you don’t need a lot of time or technical skills to get started. Plus, Weebly is budget-friendly, with affordable prices for starting.

However, one downside is that Weebly lacks some of the advanced features that other ecommerce solutions offer. You can’t sell on various channels like Etsy and Facebook, and customizing certain parts of your website, like the checkout page, can be challenging.

Weebly’s Fantastic Additional

On the positive side, Weebly includes some fantastic additional features like password-protected pages and a built-in blogging platform. It’s ideal for businesses that have a small product range but want to create a unique online presence. The platform provides many professional themes to choose from.

Another benefit is that Weebly uses Square for its transactions, ensuring you have a trustworthy payment system for your online store.

Features:

• Customizable checkout
• Mobile-responsive themes
• Offers membership and subscription options
• Abandoned cart recovery

Pros:

• Extensive app center
• 24/7 customer support
• Built-in SEO tools and features

Cons:

• Non-comprehensive reporting and analytics feature
• Limited payment processing options
• Lack of advanced inventory tracking and management features

WooCommerce

WooCommerce is a popular ecommerce solution used by companies all over the world. It’s known for being user-friendly and easy to use, and it’s built on top of the widely-used WordPress Content Management System, which powers a large portion of the internet. Because WooCommerce works with WordPress, it’s easy to get help and support when building your online store. You can simply add it as a plugin to your existing WordPress website.

WooCommerce comes with a variety of useful official extensions that can make managing your website easier. You can choose from different themes to make your storefront look great, and there are tools available for dropshipping too.

WooCommerce is Open-Source

One of the great things about WooCommerce is that it’s open-source, which means it’s highly flexible and customizable. However, because it’s open-source, it does require a bit more technical know-how to get started.

A particularly useful feature of WooCommerce is that it includes built-in blogging capabilities, something that sets it apart from many other ecommerce platforms. Also, there’s no limit to the number of orders you can accept, making it suitable for businesses of all sizes.

If you want to take your WooCommerce store to the next level with additional customizations and advanced features, you can seek WooCommerce development services from experienced professionals.

Features:

• An open-source and free to use platform
• Offers wide range of plugins and extensions
• Built-in blogging platform
• Allows to sell physical and  digital products
• Offers tax calculation and geolocation features

Pros:

• Extensive community support
• Cost-effective solution
• Offers vast collection of customizable themes and templates

Cons:

• Requires technical skills and knowledge
• Scaling challenges
• Needs self-hosting

In need ecommerce website development services? Contact our experts and start your online store today.

To Recapitulate

Did you know that a whopping 68% of small businesses don’t have a proper plan in place to improve their online sales? 

It’s surprising, but it shows how many small businesses are missing out on important opportunities to grow and succeed in the digital world. That’s why having an ecommerce platform that’s specifically designed for small businesses is so important. 

Such a platform would make it easier for these businesses to sell online and attract more customers. By using smart tools and features, it would help them understand their customers better and figure out what works best to increase their sales.

We hope this guide on ecommerce platforms for small business will be of great help to you. If there’s any platform you want us to cover specifically let us know.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is wholesale in ecommerce?

Wholesale ecommerce refers to the selling of goods in bulk to other businesses at discounted rates rather than to consumer rates.