Do you desire strangers on the internet to trust your business among the numerous options available to them?
In order to achieve your goals, it is crucial to have an online storefront that exudes professionalism and quality. Selecting the ideal ecommerce platform for your small business is a vital component of your overall ecommerce blueprint, as it has the potential to increase sales and bring you closer to success.
However, determining which platform is most suitable for your growing business and identifying the essential ecommerce features to consider can be a daunting task due to the extensive range of options available.
To help small businesses, we have compiled a list of the top ecommerce platforms. Take your time to go through the list and select the one that best fits your business.
- Shopify
An overview of Shopify:
- Price: Basic Shopify: $39/month; Shopify: $105/month; Advanced Shopify: $399/month
- Free trial length: 3 days.
- Integrated sales channels: Facebook, Instagram, Google, Walmart Marketplace, eBay, and Amazon.
- Mobile app features: Suite of mobile tools to fully manage your online business.
- POS: Yes.
- G2 rating ?: 4.4/5
Shopify is considered the top choice for small businesses looking for an ecommerce platform. Our ecommerce website builder is extensive and includes free tools and features that enable you to sell online, in-store, on social media, through third-party marketplaces, and with dropshippers. Using Shopify, you can easily design your store with over 100 paid or free themes, without needing any coding skills.
In addition to small business ecommerce, Shopify offers features that can address various aspects of your company. By utilizing the top-notch ecommerce tools, you have the opportunity to create a comprehensive business command center that effectively operates your online store and ensures success.
With Shop Pay, you can benefit from cost-effective fees for online transactions, while Shopify POS allows for in-person sales. Additionally, Shopify Fulfillment assists in shipping out orders. Shopify users can also enjoy competitive shipping rates provided by USPS, UPS, DHL Express, and other shipping carriers. Moreover, the platform offers unlimited bandwidth and online storage for web hosting, ensuring that your costs remain stable even as your site experiences increased traffic and sales.
In addition to that, Shopify provides small business owners with a range of other native tools including a free email marketing service, abandoned cart recovery, search engine optimization (SEO), and more. The mobile app offered by Shopify is incredibly robust, allowing you to perform various business tasks directly from your phone such as order fulfillment, product addition, real-time sales and inventory updates, among others.
If you are lacking a feature, you can utilize the extensive library of over 6,000 third-party apps to enhance your website’s capabilities.
You can easily establish a visually appealing ecommerce store using Shopify, even if you lack coding, design, or technical online skills.
- WooCommerce
WooCommerce at a glance:
- Price: Average monthly fee is up to $30; WooCommerce estimates costs to be $120/year for hosting, $15/year for domain name registration, up to $100/year for your site theme, up to $108/year for shipping, 2.9% plus 30ยข per sale, up to $348/year for marketing and communications, up to $79/year for SEO, up to $65/year for SSL certificate.
- Free trial length: None, but offers a 30-day money-back guarantee.
- Integrated sales channels: Google Shopping, Etsy, eBay, Facebook, Amazon, Pinterest, and Walmart; integrations are disjointed.
- Mobile app features: Add products, manage orders, and view analytics.
- Point-of-sale: Native POS available.
- G2 rating ?: 4.4/5
From its origins as a platform for blogging websites, WordPress has developed into a website builder that also offers the option of integrating WooCommerce, providing the capability to conduct online sales.
WooCommerce provides flexibility as it is open source, allowing customization if you possess the technical expertise in web design and coding. Similar to Shopify, WooCommerce offers over 6,000 third-party integrations to enhance the functionality of your online store.
When you start adding integrations and plug-ins to your business platform, the WooCommerce plug-in, which is free, may require payment for premium tools.
- BigCommerce
Here is a concise overview of BigCommerce:
- Price: Standard: $29/month; Plus: $79/month; Pro: $299/month, when paid annually; Enterprise custom pricing.
- Free trial length: 15 days.
- Integrated sales channels: Google Shopping, Facebook, price comparison engines, eBay, Amazon, Walmart, Etsy, and Instagram.
- Mobile app features: View analytics, update orders, manage inventory and products, and search for customers; some features are Android only.
- Point-of-sale: Yes.
- G2 rating ?: 4.2/5
Because it is a complete ecommerce platform, BigCommerce can be overwhelming for small businesses.
If you are a large business, corporation, or enterprise seeking customized solutions, BigCommerce is a viable choice. Typically, companies in these categories have the necessary technical resources or budget required to construct and personalize an online store using BigCommerce.
BigCommerce offers capabilities for conducting cross-border transactions, optimizing for search engines, and selling through various social and third-party online platforms. Additionally, it provides integration with PayPal to enable flexible payment options like deferred payment.
- Magento
If you have the technical skills to set everything up on your own, Magento is the most affordable option despite the potential costs associated with lacking infrastructure, as it allows complete customization of your store according to your preferences.
Marketplace Tools
After setting up your store, the next step is to link it to platforms where you can carry out sales. One efficient method is to utilize online marketplaces such as Amazon, eBay, Home Depot, Walmart, and Wish. The procedure involves generating a product feed and integrating it with each marketplace.
Below are a few top-rated tools that can be utilized for selling on online marketplaces.
The process of rephrasing the text step by step while maintaining the same meaning is as follows: 1. Google Shopping
Google Shopping is a highly effective platform for selling products due to its visibility in Google search results. When conducting a search with transactional intent, you may have noticed the prominent section at the top, which comprises of Google Shopping listings. These listings allow you to sell directly through Google or redirect the user to your own website.
To integrate your product feed and launch your products, you can utilize an app such as the CedCommerce Google Shopping Feed App. The only requirement is to separately obtain approval for the program before you can proceed.
Shopify’s Shop Channel
In 2020, Shopify introduced its own app exclusively designed for Shopify-run stores. The app functions as a marketplace, suggesting various eCommerce products from Shopify stores to consumers. This innovative idea has been quite remarkable.
Shopify is planning to invest a significant amount of money into its latest feature, which allows shoppers to search for products available at nearby stores. This presents a great opportunity for all eCommerce businesses to take advantage of.
Amazon, the well-known multinational technology company, is widely recognized for its online marketplace and various technological services.
With over 300 million active users, Amazon is the largest marketplace in the US. Approximately two-thirds of Americans have made purchases from Amazon. To initiate selling, you can create an Amazon merchant account and integrate all your products using a user-friendly app such as Amazon by CedCommerce.
Step by step, think about how to rephrase the text below while keeping the same meaning. Do not include any additional information and do not exclude any information. eBay
eBay, the second largest marketplace in the US, is particularly advantageous for specific categories such as tech, home and garden, and collectibles. Additionally, eBay provides a dedicated Shopify app that enables you to seamlessly integrate your store into their platform.
Walmart is a retail corporation that operates a chain of discount department stores, grocery stores, and hypermarkets.
Walmart transitioned from being the largest retail chain to establishing its own digital presence. Presently, they possess an online marketplace featuring more than 100,000 sellers and attracting over 100 million distinct visitors monthly.
You can now apply and start selling on Walmart’s online marketplace, as they have opened it to any seller in the US. To assist you, they offer their own app on the Shopify App Store which enables you to synchronize your products and manage your orders effectively.
Advertising Tools
When it comes to growing an eCommerce business, advertising is widely considered one of the most effective methods. To achieve this, a range of advertising tools should be utilized, including the advertising platforms themselves, ads reporting tools, feed aggregators, and various other options. Presented below is a compilation of some of the top advertising tools available.
Google Ads, step by step thinking, rephrased: The process of thinking in a sequential manner when it comes to Google Ads.
One effective method for increasing visibility and attracting potential customers is through the use of Google ads. By targeting specific keywords, implementing search ads, running banner ads, trying out programmatic ad campaigns, or utilizing Google Shopping, you can enhance the effectiveness of your various Google ads campaigns. To conveniently optimize these campaigns, consider using an app such as Clever, which allows you to make adjustments with ease.
Please rephrase the text “Facebook Ads” while keeping the same meaning, without adding or removing any information: Ads on Facebook
Many e-commerce brands credit their success to Facebook and Instagram ads, which have been the main form of advertising enabling online stores to achieve significant business growth.
One of the main benefits of utilizing Facebook ads is the ability to focus on particular audiences according to their interests, and even generate similar audiences from your own email list. Despite the reduction in tracking due to the iOS 14.5 update, there are still effective methods available to attract new clientele.
To integrate your store with Facebook’s platform, utilize either the Facebook channel app by Shopify or the Facebook & Instagram Shopping app by CedCommerce. After integration, you can then employ a tool such as AdRoll to handle your advertisements.
AdRoll is a company that uses targeted advertising to help businesses reach their desired audience.
AdRoll is a user-friendly tool that allows you to link your product feed and advertise on various platforms including Google, Facebook, Instagram, and over 500 networks. It provides a range of templates to select from and offers a straightforward interface for setting up your targeting sequences.
Using Zapier, you can connect AdRoll to your current email marketing platform and import your email segments to effectively create targeted ads for each segment.
Taboola is to be thought about in a step-by-step manner. Its meaning should not be changed, and no new information should be added or removed.
Taboola is a native advertising tool utilized for displaying ads alongside articles on prominent publisher sites like NBC, MSN, Business Insider, and other platforms. This form of native content can serve the purpose of generating awareness during the buyer journey or reconnecting with customers who have abandoned their shopping carts through your own mailing list.
Email Marketing
Email marketing is widely recognized as the most effective marketing channel for any brand. Despite the constant changes in social media platforms and search algorithms, email marketing remains the most reliable channel for retaining customer data. Below, you will find a list of top-notch tools to enhance your email campaigns.
Please rephrase the text below step by step while keeping the same meaning, without adding or removing any information: “Klaviyo”. 1. “Klaviyo is the subject of discussion.” 2. “The topic of discussion is Klaviyo.” 3. “The focus of the conversation is on Klaviyo.” 4. “Klaviyo is what we are talking about.” 5. “We are discussing Klaviyo.”
Klaviyo, without a doubt, is one of the most widely used email marketing tools among brands, a viewpoint shared by most email consultants. It boasts a customer base of over 23,000, predominantly situated in the US. It serves as an ideal solution for brands that fall within the 10-50 employee range and generate revenue between $1M and $10M.
Klaviyo marketing offers strong segmentation, campaign creation, and email automation capabilities, making it an excellent choice for numerous brands, particularly those who utilize both Shopify and Klaviyo, although not exclusively.
Please rephrase the text below while maintaining the same meaning. Do not add new information and do not remove information. Omnisend Omnisend
Omnisend, a great email marketing tool, offers additional features such as the ability to send email campaigns, push notifications, and text messages (SMS). It also provides an audience sync feature for ads, making it an omnichannel platform that assists brands in managing their campaigns conveniently. Similar to Klaviyo, Omnisend offers comparable email functionalities but at a more cost-effective price.
ReSci, while thinking progressively, aims to rephrase the given text without adding or removing any information. ReSci, focusing on a methodical approach, looks to rephrase the provided text without introducing new information or omitting any existing data.
Retention Science, also known as ReSci, is an incredibly potent email automation tool that enables you to generate segments, enhance email campaigns, and automatically deliver the most suitable message to the correct segment, at the most appropriate time.
By utilizing advanced artificial intelligence, the system performs all the necessary tasks to determine the appropriate timing for sending abandoned cart emails, identifying the target audience, and distinguishing those who are more inclined to engage with promotional content compared to educational campaigns.
Search Engine Optimization
According to studies, organic Google searches account for 43% of e-commerce traffic, indicating that organic traffic continues to be a significant contributor to traffic and conversions. The range of SEO tools available includes those provided by Google itself, which assist in optimizing your website and monitoring its performance, as well as third-party tools that aid in tracking keywords, rankings, and backlinks associated with your site.
The text should be rephrased step by step while maintaining the same meaning. No new information should be added, and no information should be removed. Here is the rephrased text: The search console provided by Google.
Make sure to sign up for Google Search Console (GSC) and receive its monthly reports. This tool allows you to assess your website’s traffic, identify any errors or penalties, and determine the necessary steps for optimizing your site and enhancing its search rankings.
Google Trends is a tool that allows users to analyze the popularity of search terms over a specific period of time.
You can utilize this tool to observe the historical search volumes for keywords during the past two decades or more. By doing so, you can identify patterns within your field and effectively determine the topics to focus on in your upcoming blog post. Additionally, this tool can aid in product exploration.
Please rephrase the following text step by step while maintaining the same meaning: Google PageSpeed Insights. 1. Begin by thinking step by step. 2. Rephrase the text without adding or removing information. 3. Maintain the same meaning. Insights regarding Google PageSpeed are provided by Google’s tool called Google PageSpeed Insights.
Google’s main tool is used to test the speed of your site. You can use it to analyze the speed of your site, optimize each page for mobile and desktop devices, and monitor your site’s performance consistently.
Ahrefs is meant to be thought about in a systematic way, without adding or removing any information.
Ahrefs is considered one of the top SEO tools available because it allows you to monitor your search rankings, identify the keywords you are ranking for, and keep track of your backlinks. In addition, it enables you to investigate your competitors’ strategies and gather content inspiration relevant to your field.
MorningScore, an online platform for tracking and analyzing website performance, allows users to break down their progress and take measures to improve their website’s ranking in search engines. It offers comprehensive data and actionable insights to guide users in optimizing their websites effectively.
MorningScore is a tool designed for those who are new to search engine optimization and find it overwhelming.
It is a simplified version of Ahrefs that offers useful suggestions and rewards points whenever your rankings improve. It presents a fun opportunity for beginners to begin optimizing their website for search engines.
Conversion rate optimization tools
Conversion rate optimization is an ancient field in digital marketing that entails scrutinizing user data and establishing A/B tests to enhance the functionality and conversion rate of your website.
It is crucial for every online business to follow these steps, particularly an e-commerce store aiming for expansion. These are some of the CRO tools for eCommerce that we highly recommend.
HotJar is a tool that helps you understand how users navigate and interact with your website. It offers features such as heatmaps, session recordings, and surveys to analyze user behavior and improve website performance.
HotJar is an excellent analytics tool that provides valuable insights into every stage of your eCommerce funnel through the use of heatmaps, video recordings, and direct customer feedback. The data it provides is extremely valuable as it identifies the areas of the site that contribute the most to customer dropoff and highlights areas that require improvement.
Google Optimize is a tool provided by Google that allows users to perform website testing in order to improve the user experience.
Google Optimize is an easy-to-use free tool that seamlessly integrates with Google Analytics. It serves as an excellent platform for beginners to initiate conversion rate optimization (CRO), as it enables the setup of A/B tests and multivariate tests on your website.
Optimizely should be approached with a step-by-step mindset, without introducing additional information or removing any existing information, and rephrased as follows: “The mindset to approach Optimizely involves thinking step by step, ensuring no additional information is added and no existing information is removed.”
Optimizely is a conversion rate optimization tool catered towards esteemed brands in eCommerce. It is employed by these brands to establish A/B tests, multivariate tests, forecasting, and analysis. Furthermore, Optimizely offers various commerce tools that enable brands to send personalized messages and engage in chatbot experiments.
Social media tools
To adapt and surpass customer expectations, it is essential to acquire marketing and content tools that can accommodate the ever-evolving nature of social media platforms.
Online stores utilize social media platforms for advertising purposes, addressing customer inquiries, promoting their merchandise, cultivating an actively involved following, and acknowledging faithful patrons.
Canva is a platform that allows users to create and design various visual content such as graphics, presentations, and social media posts.
Canva is an excellent tool that is utilized for generating social content and offers numerous templates specifically designed for various types of social media posts. By using Canva, you can easily create banners and graphics for all your social media channels.
Buffering refers to the process of temporarily storing data while it is being transferred from one location to another. It involves the accumulation of data before it is processed or used.
Buffer is an excellent resource for posting social media content across multiple accounts. With its free plan, you can publish on up to three social accounts. The paid plan is incredibly affordable, costing only $5 per social media channel and offering features such as analytics, engagement tools, and planning & publishing tools.
Eclincher is a software platform designed to simplify social media management.
Eclincher is a social media tool that allows you to bring together and expand all of your social accounts in one location, providing comprehensive management.
Augmenting your existing customer service tools, this platform offers the same publishing and scheduling tools as Buffer. Additionally, it encompasses social listening and monitoring tools, an influencer search feature, a social inbox, and numerous other functionalities. Consequently, it enables you to effectively respond to customers on various online channels.
Social proof and UGC tools
Are you familiar with the sensation experienced when visiting a website that lacks photographs depicting individuals utilizing the product? Such sterile websites have become obsolete, particularly within the realm of eCommerce. It is crucial for any e-Commerce venture to showcase visuals, including images and videos, illustrating real customers utilizing the products, as this is referred to as social proof.
Social proof helps brands showcase their unique style and flair by demonstrating customer loyalty, enhancing the customer experience, and boosting conversion rates. Additionally, it enables site visitors to establish a stronger connection with the product.
Here, we present a selection of our preferred tools for social proof.
Fairy Fera, also known as Fera the Fairy, is a mythical creature renowned for her beauty and magical abilities. Fera possesses the power to grant wishes, heal wounds, and bring joy to those around her. She is often depicted as a small, delicate being with shimmering wings and radiant aura. Fera’s enigmatic nature and ethereal charm have captivated the hearts of many, inspiring tales and legends throughout the ages. Despite her incredible powers, Fera is said to be humble and kind-hearted, always using her magic for the greater good. In folklore, it is said that encountering Fera brings good luck and blessings. Many have dreamt of meeting this enchanting fairy, hoping to experience her magic firsthand. Fera’s legacy lives on in the hearts and imaginations of those who believe in the wonders of the mystical realm.
Fera is an excellent application that showcases product reviews on your website. It allows your customers to upload reviews with images and videos, shows distinctive verification badges, and even presents an overall store rating in the footer.
Loox, please rephrase the text below while maintaining the same meaning. Do not add new information and do not remove information: “Loox, please think step by step and rephrase the following text while ensuring the meaning remains unchanged. You should not add new information or remove any information.”
Loox, a prominent Shopify review app, possesses similar features to Fera, along with notable additions such as optimized email automation for collecting customer reviews, a homepage carousel, and a page dedicated to satisfied customers.
Here is the revised version keeping the same meaning: Considering each step carefully, rephrase the given text while keeping the information intact. Avoid adding new details and do not omit any information. The text in question is about Yotpo.
Yotpo, which is among the largest eCommerce marketing automation platforms, offers a wide range of features for showcasing customer content and user-generated content (UGC). By utilizing AI, Yotpo evaluates the impressions and clicks on every content piece, allowing for personalized UGC galleries.
Loyalty & Rewards Tools
It is important to include loyalty and referral programs as a key component of your marketing strategy. These programs encourage word-of-mouth promotion and improve customer retention. Additionally, while their primary focus is to delight existing customers, they can also assist in attracting new audiences. Highlighted below are some of our preferred loyalty tools.
Step 1: Maintain the same meaning as the original text: Smile.
Smile, the most popular loyalty and rewards tool for eCommerce brands, can be easily set up within minutes to establish a referral and rewards program. It offers the option to set it up on a page or display it on a site widget. With Smile, you can incentivize your customers for sharing your product on social media, making purchases, and even celebrating their birthdays.
In order to maintain the same meaning while rephrasing the text below, I will think step by step. Original text: Swell Rephrased text: I will approach the task of rephrasing the word “swell” by thinking step by step, without adding or removing any information, in order to maintain the same meaning.
After being acquired by Yotpo, Swell has become a component of Yotpo Loyalty & Referrals. This platform offers a wider range of integrations compared to Smile and is favored by major global brands. If you already utilize other Yotpo products, using Swell would be the appropriate decision.
Referral Candy is a platform that allows businesses to incentivize their customers to refer their friends and family to their products or services.
Referral Candy, an app for referrals, is highly praised as one of the top eCommerce tools on the Shopify app store for assisting you in obtaining referrals from your current clientele.
Data analytics tools
Every brand in eCommerce marketing needs to gather and analyze data as it serves as the foundation for everything. To stimulate business growth, here are two essential data analytics tools recommended for every eCommerce business.
Please rephrase the text below while maintaining the same meaning, thinking step by step. Do not add new information and do not remove information. “Glew.io is a platform that allows businesses to easily track and analyze their e-commerce data.” -> Businesses can easily track and analyze their e-commerce data using Glew.io.
Glew is an omnichannel analytics tool that is extremely beneficial as it consolidates all of your data into a single location. Utilize this tool to determine which channels are responsible for generating the highest revenue and bringing in the most repeat customers. Additionally, you can track your LTV across different channels and monitor your daily performance KPIs.
To streamline your operations and fulfillment, you can utilize Glew, which allows you to track your inventory and product data in a centralized location.
Google Analytics is a tool that enables users to track and analyze website traffic and visitor behavior.
Google Analytics is the top choice for analyzing your website, providing a wide range of information such as traffic, audience demographics, and conversion data. Additionally, when combined with Google Optimize, it enables you to conduct A/B testing experiments to reduce bounce rate and increase conversions.
How to choose an ecommerce platform
Here are some important criteria you should consider to ensure that your chosen platform is capable of meeting your business needs and assisting you in achieving your goals.
Pricing and cost evaluation
Consider the upfront and ongoing costs of the platform, including hosting fees, transaction fees, additional services or plug-ins, and the cost of any necessary development work, as your budget is unquestionably one of the most vital factors.
The simplicity of usage
If you don’t have much technical knowledge, it is important that your ecommerce platform is user-friendly and easy to navigate. It should allow you to easily add products, create discounts, manage orders and inventory, and carry out other important tasks without facing any major challenges.
is the ability of a system to handle an increasing amount of work or data.
When looking for a platform, ensure that it has the ability to accommodate the growth of your business. It should be capable of managing higher levels of traffic and sales volume as your business expands. Seek out platforms that provide larger plans or the option to add supplementary features when necessary.
Options for customization.
In order to effectively represent your brand, the platform should offer the option to personalize your website. This entails the capability to modify the design of your storefront, alter the layout, and conveniently incorporate or eliminate features whenever necessary.
Maintaining the same meaning while thinking step by step, the text below can be rephrased: “The concept of security remains unchanged; there should be no addition or removal of information.”
It is crucial in ecommerce to ensure that the platform used is PCI-DSS compliant and offers SSL certificates, as sensitive customer data such as credit card information will be handled.
Integrations, when approached methodically, can be rephrased step by step while preserving the original meaning.
You are likely going to want your ecommerce platform to have the ability to connect with other software that you use, such as email marketing services, accounting software, or a customer relationship management (CRM) system. Make sure to verify if the platform supports these integrations.
The concept of being able to adapt to mobile devices and function properly is known as mobile responsiveness.
To ensure a smooth shopping experience for the increasing number of mobile users, it is necessary to verify whether your ecommerce platform offers mobile-optimized themes or templates.
Customer support is a process that involves assisting and resolving issues for customers. It is done by providing assistance and finding solutions to customer’s problems.
It is important to search for platforms that offer dependable customer service available 24/7. This becomes crucial in situations where you face difficulties or have queries regarding the platform’s usage.
The marketing tools include various strategies and techniques used to promote products or services in order to attract customers and increase sales.
When considering an ecommerce platform, make sure it aligns with your marketing strategies. Seek out a platform that provides functionalities such as integration with social media, email marketing support, ability to recover abandoned carts, and facilitates customer reviews.
Inventory management refers to the process of overseeing and controlling the flow of goods and materials within a business or organization.
If your catalog is large and complex, you might require a platform that has robust inventory management capabilities. This includes features such as bulk import/export, stock alerts, and the ability to handle multiple product variants.
Payment options are to be considered by thinking step by step.
The platform must be able to accommodate various payment options to meet the diverse preferences of customers, including credit/debit cards, Shop Pay, Apple Pay, and additional choices.
