You want to set up an online e-commerce store for your business but are simply overwhelmed at the alternatives laid out there before you. Hosted or self-hosted? Expensive all-in-one solution or piece it together?
Don’t despair, you’re hardly alone. Most aspiring merchants have to deal with this question at some point, and what we want to do here is give you a few choices we’ve uncovered that merit a look.
We’re only going to consider hosted e-commerce software solutions this time, as self-hosted is a much more complicated endeavor, requiring far more technical savvy than many new e-commerce entrepreneurs possess. Don’t worry though, as after checking out these choices, you’ll be much better armed to make a smart decision on what’s best for your company and business!
5 Software solutions for E-commerce stores
Shopify – Easily the biggest hosted shopping platform out there today, Shopify is an easy to use solution that offers you all the modern bells and whistles, while providing you with tons of great themes and apps to make your store unique and highly functional. They boast more than 160,000 active online stores.
BigCommerce – Another in the drag and drop variety, BigCommerce is similar to Shopify, but in my opinion a little more complicated to use. Still they have their adherents, as 90,000 stores will attest to!
Wix E-Commerce – If you’re looking for a drop dead easy solution for less money, you can’t go wrong with Wix. You can have your store up in literally a few hours with a fully-integrated shopping cart included. Very easy to use!
Weebly E-Commerce – The e-commerce tool of choice for more than 440,000 sites, Weebly makes it easy to produce a store, but in my experience the building platform can be slow and unresponsive. Still, a good tool for beginners.
SquareSpace – A low-cost offering more in the line of Shopify and BigCommerce, they can’t offer as robust a platform as those options, but you can get a great-looking store at a far lower price with Squarespace. And when you’re getting started, that’s not a bad idea!
