The year is winding down and 2019 will be here in no time. As we sail ever closer to the new year, savvy marketers and small business owners are already thinking about 2019. We may have a few months to go, but when it comes to the best tools that will be making a splash, the writing is already on the wall.
Top Ecommerce Platforms Of 2019
Don’t let yourself fall behind before the new year even begins. Here are the top ecommerce platforms of 2019, ready for you in 2018.
1. BigCommerce
There is no such thing as a successful singular storefront anymore. You have to expand beyond the limits of solo commerce, whether that is brick and mortar or online. Apps, social media, bid site… they all have their place. If you want to move your profits, you have to go to all of the places your customers might be.
BigCommerce helps you do that. It creates attractive and easily integratable storefronts for Facebook, eBay, Amazon and more. All while allowing you to manage payments, shipping and available products. If you want to simplify the process by automating listings, this is a great place to start.
The best part about BigCommerce is its flexibility: You can use it as a pure SaaS solution, you can use it as a “commerce engine only” (managing all of your sales channels from one backend hub), and you can use it with the CMS / site infrastructure of your choosing (there is a new WP plugin in beta and powerful APIs to make integration easier ).
2. Shopify
You have probably heard of Shopify before. It has become one of the bigger ecommerce brands out there. It is also an affordable option, starting at just $29 per month for a basic account and offering enterprise quotes on request for the bigger names that have started using them. You can get tools for branding and no-experience design, help listing on Amazon and eBay, a POS feature and Facebook and Facebook Store solutions.
All of this in one dashboard. The only potential downside is that their pricing is based around stages of business. So one is for starting a new brand and one is for growing it. This could potentially cause some issues for those who would prefer a feature or two from the expanded list but maybe don’t need them all.
Shopify may cost more than you first estimate, given all of the add-ons for third-party apps you may need.
3. BigCartel
Do you own a brand that is creatively based? Maybe you create jewelry, or sell prints of your art, or own a bohemian fashion line. BigCartel is made with artists and creatives in mind, aimed at smaller companies. Other platforms can be customized but will often have too many features that just aren’t relevant for a person who is selling their work on their own.
BigCartel is a simpler, more straightforward platform that doesn’t assume you will be expanding year by year. It has a free version for five products and moves up from there, so you can control how many items are for sale to keep within your budget.
4. WooCommerce
WooCommerce is a fully customizable, open source ecommerce plugin for WordPress. It’s probably the most popular choice for small businesses looking for an easy integration with WordPress.
The biggest selling point of WooCommerce is its support: There’s a huge community of developers and a large variety of plugins making adding any feature a breeze.
There’s another side of that too: It’s hard to estimate the final price of the solution, since premium plugin costs can add up. Plus, as we all WordPress users know that too well, multiple plugins can cause conflicts, negatively impact the site security and slow the site down.
5. Squarespace
If you listen to podcasts you have probably heard of Squarespace. They appear to have become the go-to sponsor for every popular podcast on the web. Think of them as the new WordPress. They are easy to build, accessible to anyone and can be customized without any real knowledge about website creation.
What makes them different than WordPress is that it is focused from the beginning towards brand building and selling. No extensions to install or complicated back-door coding to slog through. One of their more random claims to fame is that Keanu Reeves uses it to build his websites. Just in case that sweetens the deal for you.
6. Demandware
Mobile commerce is a must today. An astonishing $156 billion came from ecommerce sales in 2017, according to Statista. That is one area you can’t afford not to exploit. Yet, the reason that so many people do is understandable… creating a mobile app, strategy and sales portal is a bit daunting.
Demandware is a mobile commerce platform that makes it much easier to integrate mobile sales in your overall brand strategy. They also have a wider array of digital commerce tools included. There are some big name brands that use Demandware, like ADIDAS and GoPro.
7. YoKart
YoKart is another multi vendor system, but it is better known for its payment options. You can choose from credit cards, ewallets, bank transfers or cash on delivery. The last two are less common with smaller vendors, especially the CoD feature, which is rarely seen from online vendors but may be a better option depending on the type of product being sold.
It also has withdraw request, just in case you are running some kind of monetary earnback program or affiliate program. As for their online payments, they are compatible with most gateways (Paypal, Amazon, Stripe, PayU, etc.)
8. Magento
Are you planning on expanding your business into something much bigger? Magento is made for turning small companies into larger ones through a platform built on the idea of regular and measurable growth.
It has a product and payment platform, cloud commerce and flexible features so it will grow along with you and your needs, rather than putting you in one static plan and forcing you into one that is far beyond what you need yet. They also have a community with a pretty good network of experts, business owners, marketers and tech aficionados.
Magento is a self-hosted ecommerce solution which means that you need to download it and basically “take it with you”. All the hosting costs and set-up efforts are your sole responsibility.
9. Volusion
Some of the people reading this are probably a little overwhelmed at the complicated process of making and running a store. Isn’t there something that is just easy, fast and basic? Volusion might be the best platform for you.
You can set up a store within a few minutes, edit it whenever you want and run it right from a single dashboard. Their plans are based on how much in sales you estimate you will be earning (up to $50,000, $100,000, $500,000 or Enterprise levels). So it is pretty adaptable within the scope of those sales.
10. VTEX
VTEX offers an on-demand pricing model based on revenue share.
For those who are looking at the tens of thousands or more in profit, VTEX is a pretty good ecommerce solution. Especially if you are not a new business and have outgrown other platforms.
Do you have a tool that belongs on this list? Let us know in the comments!
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This article, “Top 10 Ecommerce Platforms for Your Small Business in 2019” was first published on Small Business Trends