Our Top 10 Best Ecommerce Platforms To Conduct Your Business In 2020

Do you want to take your business to the next level? Make sure to read through our list. 

E-commerce is the act of buying or selling products and services online. Its definition says thus! Truthfully, E-commerce is a diverse space with several categories depending on the needs. 

Ecommerce categories: 

• B2B – Business-To-Business
• B2C – Business-To-Consumer
• C2C – Consumer-To-Consumer
• C2B – Consumer-To-Business
• B2A – Business-To-Administration
• C2A – Consumer-To-Administration

But for your business to soar, you need to know which platform will help you get there. Remember that successful business transactions need an extensive array of data, tools, and systems for sellers and buyers alike. 

In addition, the eCommerce industry is a highly competitive space, which is why you need to understand the platform that best suits your needs. And here’s another interesting thing. There are approximately 370 eCom platforms available today. 

For this reason, we believe that it’s absolutely impossible for a single person to navigate through hundreds of options. Fortunately, we’re here to help! We have taken the responsibility to choose only the top 10. 

We believe this will help you compare which of these platforms will help you take your business to the next level. 

Volusion

This platform was created in 1999, making it one of the longest-running ECommerce platforms in the industry. Volusion remains popular up to this day despite competing with newer platforms like Wix and Shopify. 

Volusion is a great platform for startups as well as small businesses. It’s best for those who want a quick start but still leaves room for growth in their chosen niche. This platform is unlike any other platform that requires going through the app store. 

Instead, all the standard features are already included in the dashboard. This is what you get from a platform that stood the test of time. It remains a very capable system for your business needs. 

Verticals

• Beauty and cosmetics 
• Consumer electronics 
• Sporting goods 
• Home furnishings 
• Food and beverage 
• Fashion and apparel 

Additionally, Volusion doesn’t charge a transaction fee, available free trial and they don’t require a credit card. 

Site-building features: 

• Secure checkout 
• Safe payment options 
• Drag and drop builder 
• Free and paid themes 
• Discounts and coupons 
• Inventory management 
• SEO tools 
• Automatic tax calculator 
• Ratings and reviews 
• SKU Import/Export 
• Abandoned cart reporting 
• Social media integrations 

Support: 

• Phone support 
• Live chat 
• Online help center 
• Community forums 

2. Salesforce Commerce Cloud (formerly known as Demandware) 

Salesforce Commerce Cloud is a knowledge-intensive platform. It offers a wide range of features, and it’s very capable of handling multi-national companies. In perspective, these are large companies that are managing millions of dollars and large quantities of orders. 

The platform is best for enterprise companies with sophisticated needs. It’s a highly capable yet complex platform but offers a lot of customization options to cover any business. Whether it’s B2B or B2C, the SalesForce Commerce Cloud benefits from the SalesForce integration. 

Verticals: 

• Fashion and Apparel 
• Sporting goods
• Beauty and Cosmetics 
• Food and Beverage 
• Games and Toys 
• Parts and Manufacturing 
• B2B applications 
• Cars and Automotive
• Chemicals 

Unfortunately, Salesforce Commerce Cloud doesn’t come with a free trial. However, it has an international option and customizable according to your setup. 

Site-Building Features: 

• Site Search 
• Guided navigation 
• Customer segmentation
• Tools for marketing and advertising 
• Catalog and product management 
• Comes with the Commerce Cloud Endless Aisle 
• A/B Splitting Test 
• Customer Targeting 
• Single-Touch mobile payments 
• Global scale 
• AI personalization 
• Social media integration 
• Multiple channels and retail locations 

Other features: 

• Contact ordering 
• Segment-specific pricing 
• Order templates 
• Sales to order stock potential 
• Multiple accounts in one company (for customers) 
• Salesforce product cloud integration 
• Multiple-site management 
• Actual reports and analytics 
• Shipments split across locations 

3. Big Cartel 

Big Cartel started in 2005. It’s dubbed as the E-commerce platform built by artists for the use of artists. The platform is a Saas site builder that aims to help creators and artists sell their artwork, photo prints, jewelry, clothing, etc. 

This is the best eCommerce platform for entrepreneurs and artists that are looking for a great alternative to Etsy. Big Cartel is an established platform that has extensive knowledge in the space. In addition, it’s simple and straightforward, which is great for helping artists make a great impression. 

Vertical: 

• Photographers 
• Creators 
• Clothing and Apparel 
• Arts and Crafts 

Fortunately, Big Cartel offers the free trial version. However, the difference-maker for this platform lies in the number of products. Also, it’s important to realize that it doesn’t offer an international option. 

Site-Building Features: 

• SEO Tools 
• Discount Codes 
• Dashboard
• Diverse selling channels available 
• Different product options for different price points  
• Online checkout 
• Inventory management 
• Limited tax calculation 
• Available plugins 

Support:

Social media, email, recorded webinars, online help center. 

Big Cartel is a simple and undemanding eCommerce site builder. Likewise, the platform is very easy to manage. The setup wizard will help you navigate through the process. While it’s simple and uncomplicated, Big Cartel isn’t the best option you’re into selling large volumes of products. 

 4. Wix

Wix is a cloud-based website builder that lets you create your own online store using drag-and-drop tools. It has a wide range of designs and templates that help beginners and startups create a compelling and effective website. 

The Wix platform works best for small businesses. It’s important to realize that it doesn’t have access to a dedicated web designer. It’s easy to use with a strong eCommerce functionality to help you achieve your desired goals. 

Plugins are also helpful in increasing functionality. Unfortunately, if your business has complex product lines, you’re better off choosing a dedicated eCom platform. 

Verticals: 

• Sporting Goods 
• Toys and Games 
• Fashion Apparel 
• Beauty and Cosmetics 
• Food and Beverage 
• Arts and Designs 

Site-Building Features: 

• Digital products 
• Product galleries 
• Shipping options 
• Discount codes 
• Inventory management
• Abandoned cart recovery
• Mobile-optimized
• Payment options
• Other functionalities available via extensions

Support:

Phone, Social media, email, online help center, community forums 

Wix is very easy to use. Thanks to its user-friendly components, the platform works perfectly.  You can also take advantage of its wide range of templates, which is very useful for any type of business. 

5. Squarespace

Squarespace is a New York-based SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) company. It’s an established platform that is capable of hosting and building eCommerce websites thanks to its excellent pre-built website templates. 

Customers would love its drag-and-drop functionality to build or modify webpages. Likewise, Squarespace is best for entrepreneurs and small business owners with basic eCommerce needs. 

While it’s a very competent platform, but Squarespace will work best if you use it only as a companion to the main website builder. For this reason, if you have a large business with an advanced retail requirement and a sizable inventory, it would be best if you choose a dedicated platform. 

Verticals: 

• Fashion and Apparel 
• Food and Beverage
• Beauty and Cosmetics
• Toys and Games 
• Arts and Design 

Important note: Squarespace charges a transaction fee of up to 3% on every purchase you make. 

Site-Building Features: 

• Digital products
• Abandon cart auto-recovery
• Personalized products
• Real-time shipping rates and tracking
• Upselling and cross-selling
• Product import/export
• SEO tools
• Gift cards
• Limited integration options
• Automatic discounts

Support: 24/7 email support, Live chat support from Monday-Friday, online help center, community forums, 24/7 Twitter support

Functionality: Squarespace has one of the simplest interface designs. This translates to a smooth assembly and modifications even for beginners. Unfortunately, it doesn’t come with a lot of add-ons with the default builder. 

Likewise, it doesn’t have an app store for third-party extensions. This will limit the potential functionality of your website. 

6. WooCommerce 

WooCommerce is an open-source WordPress plugin. It’s owned and developed by WordPress. Today, it’s one of the widely used eCommerce platforms, with an amazing 30% of all online stores running with it. 

This incredible feat was achieved despite its limited budget but still proved to be a powerful platform. Moreover, it comes with a huge amount of third-party themes and plugins, which gives it more flexibility to provide for all your needs. 

Verticals: 

• Beauty & Cosmetics
• Food & Beverage
• Consumer Electronics
• Home Furnishing
• Fashion & Apparel

Site building features: 

• Mobile-optimized shopping
• Coupons and discounts
• Inventory management
• Geo-location support
• Search engine optimization
• Catalog management
• Shipping options and calculator
• Product reviews

Support: 

Unfortunately, WooCommerce doesn’t come with an email or phone support. However, tickets are being sent, which gets answered within 24 hours through live-chat. 

• Live chat 
• Community forums
• Online help guides 

Open-source software has the notoriety for giving a steep learning curve for beginners—the same for WooCommerce. Someone who lacks the experience in building their website will find the same dilemma. 

However, you’ll discover not long enough how easy and straight forward the platform is. Once you’re familiar with it, everything will be easy to customize and operate. 

7. Magento

Magento is a popular open-source eCommerce platform being used all over the world. It was created in 2009 but got a major upgrade in 2015 with Magento 2.0. It has a new and improved code base with added stability and functionality features. 

In 2018, Magento was acquired by Adobe. With that, Adobe created two versions: Magento Open Source and Magento Commerce. 

This is an ideal platform for small-to-medium businesses with an established requirement for manpower, time, and skill to create their own website. Magento is a robust platform with an amazing library consisting of over 5,000 extensions. 

However, these benefits will require a longer time for development and a larger budget compared to its competitors. 

Verticals: 

• Beauty & Cosmetics
• Consumer Electronics
• Fashion & Apparel
• Food & Beverage
• Home Furnishing
• Sporting goods

Magento has two tiers. First, the open-source platform is free to download and install. However, you will pay for add ons, hosting, development, themes, etc. On the other hand, Magento Commerce is the enterprise-level solution. Expect that prices will be quoted by their sales reps and would run from $15,000 to $50,000 in annual fees. 

Site Building Features:

• Integrated checkout, payment, and shipping
• Mobile-optimized shopping
• Global selling
• Catalog management
• Extended Functionality via App marketplace
• Instant purchase
• Site search
• Customization options available

Support: 

Magento Open Source doesn’t have support since users are expected to develop your own website with the available guides and community forums. 

However, Magento Commerce support goes directly to Magento, which fetches a high price. Another support sources are on online help centers and community forums. 

Magento is a powerful eCommerce platform. Although it can be overwhelming if you’re a beginner, everything will all into place if you put in the time. Likewise, everything can be learned in the Magento store. 

8. Big Commerce

Big Commerce was developed and founded by Australians Mitchell Harper and Eddie Machaalani. Today, the company moved its headquarters in Austin, Texas, with over 600 employees. Some, however, are working remotely in different parts of the world. 

The platform has an established reputation and a large customer base. In fact it has served online retailers with over $25 billion worth of sales in over 120 countries. 

Big Commerce is an ideal platform SMBs or Small and Mid-Size Businesses who have the resources to invest. The base tier is packed with features but don’t be surprised if it’s priced higher than its competitors. 

Big CommeCommerce’srcer’s advanced feature Abandoned cart and shipping integrations are considered an industry standard. It’s important to realize that the platform doesn’t charge a fee for every transaction. Instead, it caps the amount of sales per tier. 

Verticals: 

• Fashion & Apparel
• Health & Beauty
• Food & Beverage
• Manufacturing 
• Automotive

Site Building Features: 

• Custom domains
• Unlimited product listings
• Unlimited bandwidth & file storage
• Multi-currency sales
• Reporting 
• Ratings and reviews
• Gift cards
• 12 free themes and 160+ paid themes
• Integrations with shipping and POS software

Support: Big Commerce has plenty of support: 24 hours live-chat, phone support, email support, online help center, and community forums. 

Big Commerce is a great eCommerce platform. Beginners will benefit greatly from this platform as long as they are willing to learn the ropes. This platform is powerful enough to be a rival for Shopify. However, Big Commerce offers fewer templates. 

But its biggest advantage is it’s easy to modify SEO-related features such as custom URLs, page titles, etc. But the game-changer for this platform is its capacity to sell in different currencies, which other platforms lack. 

9. Shopify Plus 

Shopify Plus is the improved version of Shopify’s base platform. But this platform is dedicated to enterprise-level businesses. Shopify Plus offers extra benefits that will help big, multinational companies. 

Shopify Plus is considered one of the best eCommerce platforms for enterprise-level companies. That’s a big credit to its capacity to simplify complex technology while being able to handle a wide range of product lineups across numerous channels.

Likewise, it offers considerable levels of onboarding, automation as well as technical supports. These tools are very helpful for companies to function and scale. 

Verticals: 

• Fashion & Apparel
• Beauty & Cosmetics
• Food & Beverage
• Consumer Electronics
• Home Furnishing

International options are available upon request. 

Site Building Features: 

• Real-time sales statistics
• Unlimited product listings
• Inventory tracking
• Custom domains
• AI/Personalization
• Over 70 themes/templates available

Support:

Shopify Plus has a support rating of A+. That’s because it has all the necessary support available.

• Dedicated account manager
• Phone support
• 24 hour chat support
• Online help center
• Community forums

Shopify Plus is founded on the same platform level of the lower-priced models. However, because it’s focused on enterprise-level markets, that translates to having complex custom features. 

Also, it will be for your advantage if you try to learn about Liquid. It’s their proprietary front-end modification language. Or you can opt for the easier option which is to seek help from a third-party agency with expertise in using the platform. 

10. Shopify

Shopify started in 2004 with a group of devoted snowboarders. Today, it’s the most dominant eCommerce solution in the market. It currently serves over 1 million businesses in more than 175 countries worldwide. 

Shopify retailer vendors cover a wide range of sizes and niches. Being the number means that this platform is ideal for beginners or small-to-medium size businesses. Moreover, it’s a platform that already integrated everything you need. 

This ranges from storefront design, content marketing, and finally, performance analytics. All you need is to set up all the basic stuff, and everything will be easy to upgrade. The upgrade comes with third-party extensions, or you can even change your shop’s code. 

Verticals: 

• Consumer Electronics
• Beauty & Cosmetics
• Food & Beverage
• Fashion & Apparel
• Home Furnishing

An interesting fact: 

It comes with a 14-day free trial without requiring a credit card. Also, it comes with international options for Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland. 

Site Building Facts: 

• Unlimited product listings
• Real-time sales statistics
• Custom domains
• AI/Personalization
• Inventory tracking
• Over 70 themes/templates available

Support:

Shopify has a superb rating of A+ with its support. It’s support consists of: 

• 24 hour chat support
• Phone support
• Community forums
• Online help center

Shopify is a straightforward, easy platform to learn. That’s because of its user-friendly interface and codeless store building tools. Beginners will find it easy to choose from their wide variety of available templates, or they can create their own designs. 

Likewise, advanced users will have more things to brag about! For one, Shopify allows full access to codes. In addition, there is an abundance of extensions and add-ons provided by independent developers. This means a bigger potential for your store.

Because of this, Shopify offers the most efficient way to scale between the small and larger online stores.