Best Ecommerce Platforms To Build Your Website

Whether you are an old brick and mortar store or someone looking to start an online business, one thing will always be certain, you will need an ecommerce platform website

According to stats, more than 64 million ecommerce platform based websites are present on the internet today

And if that is shocking, by the end of 2022, it is expected that over 15 trillion will be generated in sales via ecommerce websites

So, let’s look at some ecommerce platforms one can use to build their own website

Best Platform Choices For Ecommerce Websites

• Magento
• WooCommerce
• BigCommerce
• Shopify

Magento (Now Adobe Commerce)

Starting of the list, we have Magento one. It is an ecommerce platform written in PHP and was acquired by Adobe in 2008

It is an open source platform that uses many frameworks of PHP such as Symfony and Laminas

Up to this time, there are hundreds of thousands of businesses using this open-source to start their online store including big ones like Nike, Samsung, etc.

Some prominent features of the ecommerce platform includes:

• Order Management
• Mobile-Friendly
• Multiple Payment Options
• Easy-to-use multi site management
• Built in Analytics & Data Reporting

WooCommerce

Next on the list, we have Woocommerce, which is an open-source plugin extension for WordPress

It is primarily designed for mid to large sized businesses and is a great fit for the WordPress loving enthusiast

It was introduced in 2011, the plugin has gained a lot of popularity and a cult following amongst a lot of businesses and developers alike

With the least amount of budget required to start a store here, you would need to get an ecommerce website hosting service as a mandatory requirement, but plugins and themes are entirely optional and can be done with the free stuff

Some features of the platform include:

• Cost-effective
• Customize storefront with no limitations
• Built-in plugins and add-on features
• SEO Friendly
• Inventory Management
• Analytics Dashboard

BigCommerce

Next we have the ecommerce platform BigCommerce, founded in 2009 has been around for a while and built a following on it

BigCommerce platform is one of the most widely used ecommerce solutions across the globe.

The in-build features and ease of use makes it emerge as the one of the best ecommerce platforms to consider building your website

Prominent features include:

• Fully Hosted
• User-friendly interface
• Front-end changes only (no backend changes can be made)
• Robust management tools
• Customer Management

Shopify

Rounding of the list, we have Shopify founded in 2006. It is an ecommerce platform that is self hosted and provides a good interface to work with

Some of the biggest names that trust Shopify are Allbirds, Heinz and Kylie Cosmetics 

Shopify offers an easy way to quickly launch an online store without the fuss over development costs

But the lack of development costs can sometimes be bad more than good and it is advised to have a Shopify Developer along for the ride

Prominent features of Shopify include:

• Security
• Front end customization (depending on the plan)
• Functionality covered via apps
• Abandon Cart Recovery
• Self Payment Gateway
• Self Hosted
• Analytics Dashboard With Customer Data

So Which Ecommerce Platform Is The Best

This is a debate, that really you can’t get a right answer to. Some people prefer the sleekness of Shopify, while others like more of the robust style of Magento

In retrospect, there are tons of other ecommerce website platforms out there as well that may or may not be better for you then the list provided here

All in all, these 4 are my top recommendations are they are easy to use and have a strong background and base built with a large pool of the ecommerce audience preferring one of these 4

What I use for my ecommerce websites, it is a draw between Shopify and WooCommerce for me, but I do like working with the other two platforms as well from time to time