Whether you’re launching a medium-sized e-commerce business and searching for the best platform to suit your needs, or you’re an established enterprise looking to branch out into the e-commerce space, you’re likely wondering which platform is best.
While many great platforms serve e-commerce businesses of all sizes, each comes with their own benefits and tools that differentiate them in the marketplace. From the cost of hosting and ease of use to scalability and the ability to customize, each business has a different list of must-have features found in the platform they choose.
Read on to learn about some of the best e-commerce platforms out there and why these, in particular, are ideal for medium-sized businesses:
Top 12 Ecommerce Platforms for Medium-Sized Businesses
- Shopify – best for small to medium-sized businesses
- WooCommerce – best for WordPress
- Weebly – best for entrepreneurs
- Magento – best for SEO
- BigCommerce – best for easy scalability
- PrestaShop – best for global e-commerce
- Sellfy – best for digital products
- Wix Stores – best for custom product pages
- Shift4Shop – best for turnkey e-commerce
- Squarespace – best for appealing interface
- Volusion – best for easy connectivity
- Zyro – best for unlimited storage
1. Shopify – best for small to medium-sized businesses
Shopify is the leading player in the e-commerce industry, designed to work best with small to medium-sized businesses and scalable to be used by even multinational corporations.
Why it’s great
Used by more than one million companies worldwide, this cloud-based, multi-channel platform allows its merchants to design their storefronts from the ground up, giving them user-friendly tools to choose every aspect of the website, from the look and feel to the layout – no design skills required.
Shopify seamlessly integrates products onto other platforms like Facebook, Amazon, and even mobile apps to support increased sales. In addition, the payment process is seamless for both merchants and customers alike because of these:
- It has wide range of accepted payment methods from Paypal and Apple Pay to direct payments like credit cards.
- The ability to process multiple currencies.
However, for those new to the e-commerce space, the Shopify Experts Marketplace allows merchants to connect with industry leaders, freelancers, and agencies for everything from support and guidance to outsourcing work.
How much does it cost?
Prices start at $29 per month.
» MORE: Is Shopify The Best ECommerce Platform?
2. WooCommerce – best for WordPress
WooCommerce is the e-commerce platform of choice for medium-sized businesses that are already using WordPress or those who plan to use WordPress to host their website.
Why it’s great
Built as a free WordPress plugin, WooCommerce is fully customizable, with the ability to add on paid features as your business grows. Its scalability allows merchants to design for their needs, whether building a complex storefront from scratch or adding a single product to an existing WordPress site.
WooCommerce also touts a robust community of like-minded e-commerce sellers and experts who share valuable insights and resources, offer services to improve your e-commerce platforms, and host meetups globally for networking and education.
How much does it cost?
The plugin itself is free, and there are some free themes available with limited functions. In addition, you can purchase templates and different add-ons to customize your storefront, and WooCommerce charges a small fee per transaction.
» MORE: Best WooCommerce Hosting
3. Weebly – best for entrepreneurs
For those looking to launch an e-commerce site with a straightforward platform at an affordable price, Weebly is a great option to explore.
Why it’s great
Powered by Square, Weebly’s payment platform is a highlight, offering various payment gateway integrations ranging from Stripe and Paypal to Square itself.
Customizable themes with a drag-and-drop build feature offer professional-looking sites to even the most entry-level players in the web hosting space. Templates are also offered for email marketing purposes, with options for everything from welcome emails to abandoned cart emails, helping merchants turn site visits into sales.
Mobile app capabilities allow businesses to build or edit their sites on the go, making Weebly a great choice for entrepreneurs who may not work from a desk all too often.
How much does it cost?
Basic use of the platform is free, and tiered pricing options are available for all businesses and budgets ranging from $6 to $26 per month.
» MORE: Best ECommerce Platforms For Selling Services
4. Magento – best for SEO
Magento Commerce is the e-commerce offering from software powerhouse Adobe, appealing to the more tech-savvy business owners in the mid-size space and beyond.
Why it’s great
This open-source e-commerce solution prioritizes SEO, helping merchants maximize their visibility and increase sales exponentially. The platform offers the ability to fully customize and continually update your storefront, with an expansive marketplace of extensions and add-ons to bring even the most complex e-commerce visions to life.
Magento’s analytics allow its merchants to see the overall data landscape of their shops, powering them to effectively scale sales and shipping processes to keep their business running as smoothly as possible.
Customer support is unlimited and backed by the tech industry experts at Adobe.
How much does it cost?
Pricing varies greatly based on business needs.
» MORE: Best Magento Hosting in 2021
5. BigCommerce – best for easy scalability
BigCommerce is a leading platform in the e-commerce space that offers medium-sized businesses a place to build, innovate, and grow their brands.
Why it’s great
Designed as a simple, easy-to-use platform that allows merchants to endlessly customize, easily scale, and effectively market their businesses on a high-powered and super-secure platform, BigCommerce offers the tools to suit the needs of quick-growing enterprises.
Lightning-fast site speed and digital wallet integration are just a few of the many tools available to help maximize sales conversions. Cross-channel commerce features allow business owners to sell on all platforms their customers are shopping, from eBay and Amazon to social media and even brick and mortar.
BigCommerce also offers a great deal of customer support, from dedicated account managers, to specialized support for businesses looking to transition their e-commerce site from another platform.
How much does it cost?
Prices start at $29.95 per month.
6. PrestaShop – best for global e-commerce
The e-commerce platform of choice to more than 300,000 merchants, PrestaShop is available in more than 75 languages, giving small to medium-sized business owners globally the ability to host their shop and appeal to customers on an international scale.
Why it’s great
Positioned as an out-of-the-box solution for businesses looking for a straightforward e-commerce shop, many of PrestaShop’s features are ready to go, with a very easy setup process and simple back-end system that even the least tech-savvy shop owners can use.
The PrestaShop Experts marketplace offers shop owners the ability to search for and outsource talent for skills including content management, module development, design and UX improvements, and search engine advertising and optimization.
How much does it cost?
The basics of PrestaShop are free. However, many themes, add-ons, and even advanced customer support require fees.
» MORE: Best Prestashop Hosting
7. Sellfy – best for digital products
Known as a hassle-free option for creators and entrepreneurs selling merchandise and digital products, Sellfy is a platform designed for businesses looking to get their e-commerce shops up and running within minutes.
Why it’s great
A standout feature for sellers of digital products like e-books, videos, and audio files is Sellfy’s file-hosting and delivery capabilities, included for all merchants. The platform also offers the ability to create digital subscription products and charge subscribing customers weekly or monthly.
On the other hand, for those looking to sell physical products instead, Sellfy’s print-on-demand feature will automatically print incoming orders and send them to customers directly. Customization options are also available, along with optimizing storefronts for mobile and translating storefronts into other languages.
Digital marketing features enable shop owners to send email marketing updates to customers and collect newsletter subscribers. Payments can be accepted through Paypal as well as Stripe, and security measures are prioritized to keep customers’ information protected.
How much does it cost?
Pricing starts at $19 per month.
» MORE: How to choose the best eCommerce platform?
8. Wix Stores – best for custom product pages
Powered by web-hosting dynamo Wix, Wix Stores is the natural extension of a brand’s existing Wix site that will allow for e-commerce capabilities, custom product pages, multi-channel integration to social media sites, and more.
Why it’s great
The easy-to-use platform, available as a free add-on in the Wix app marketplace, allows businesses to create professional-looking storefronts that can be customized from start to finish, just like any Wix-built web page can be.
Merchants can accept all major credit cards and integrate payment providers like Paypal, Stripe, or Wix Payments.
Furthermore, the app also enables shop owners to send automated emails, from abandoned cart notifications to seasonal sales announcements and discount offers, right from the platform.
How much does it cost?
Pricing for Wix sites with e-commerce functionality starts at $23 per month.
» MORE: Best Email Marketing Services For Wix
9. Shift4Shop – best for turnkey e-commerce
Shift4Shop offers a turnkey and affordable solution for businesses looking to launch an e-commerce site while working on a tight budget.
Why it’s great
The powerful and intuitive website builder offers plenty of professionally designed templates to start with that can be customized to fit the brand’s look and feel while remaining SEO optimized and mobile-friendly.
For those looking for a more hands-off approach, Shift4Shop’s online marketplace offers up a network of web designers available to outsource site-building and design work, whether you’re looking for help setting up shop or even just seeking a site refresh.
Many of Shift4Shop’s features are free or low-cost depending on the type of plan chosen, including site migration assistance, 24/7 tech support, and no transaction fees, making it a great solution for businesses on a budget.
How much does it cost?
Pricing is free for U.S.-based businesses who choose to use Shift4Shop’s payment processor; all other plans begin at $29 per month.
» MORE: Enterprise eCommerce Platforms
10. Squarespace – best for appealing interface
For businesses seeking a well-designed platform to host an e-commerce site, Squarespace stands out from many of its competitors.
Why it’s great
As is the case with all Squarespace websites, world-class designers are behind the many e-commerce templates available for use, and merchants have the ability to totally customize the design to fit their unique needs. The result is an aesthetically pleasing platform with a clean interface.
Inventory management and rich product displays are where Squarespace shines, offering unlimited product listings with optimized descriptions and visually appealing features like the option to include embedded videos in product listings. In addition, Products are automatically put into a catalog, making it easy for merchants to share them across blog posts, email marketing campaigns, and more.
Templates are designed with mobile optimization in mind, ensuring a clean-looking storefront regardless of whether it’s accessed from a desktop or a mobile device.
Users can also sell subscriptions and digital content. Again, the Point of Sale feature allows for seamless inventory management as it updates inventory regardless of whether an item was purchased online or in person.
How much does it cost?
Pricing begins at $18 per month.
» MORE: Best Live Chat Plugins For Squarespace
11. Volusion – best for easy connectivity
Volusion is an all-in-one platform that offers the ability to get your e-commerce storefront up and running within minutes.
Why it’s great
The user-friendly store editor interface offers a variety of pre-designed themes with full customization at your fingertips, even for the less tech-savvy merchants, and 24/7 support is available for any bumps or questions along the way.
Product pages are also designed on a drag-and-drop platform, so businesses can highlight their offerings exactly how they want to with little assistance or design experience necessary.
Payment setup is also fast and easy and offers integrations with Paypal, Stripe, and Apple Pay. In addition, Volusion also boasts easy connectivity with several external platforms, including Google Analytics, Pinterest, Shippo, MailChimp, and more.
Business growth is easy, too, with built-in marketing tools from SEO optimization features to analytics and data reporting.
How much does it cost?
Pricing starts at $26 per month.
» MORE: Best E-Commerce Platforms for New Businesses
12. Zyro – best for unlimited storage
Zyro is an easy-to-manage and affordable platform with a global reach.
Why it’s great
A newer player in the e-commerce hosting game, Zyro boasts incredible customer support services and a talented team of tech pros to help mid-size business owners build the perfect platform to suit their e-commerce needs.
Well-designed templates are available to choose from, with a drag-and-drop design interface to create beautiful pages with no coding necessary. One dashboard for everything makes it easy for merchants to manage all aspects of the business, from inventory and order tracking to customer service and analytics, all in one place.
Dozens of options for payment and shipping services, and the ability to connect and sell across Amazon, Instagram, or Facebook, provides the opportunity for unencumbered business growth. In addition, it features automatic scaling that allows businesses to grow naturally without limits to storage and bandwidth.
But what sets Zyro apart is its state-of-the-art AI business tools, which can generate things from a business name or blog title to logos, and even content copy.
How much does it cost?
Prices start at $8.99 per month.
Final Thoughts
No matter your needs as a medium-sized business seeking an e-commerce platform to host your storefront, there are myriad platforms to choose from with varying features and price points to fit all budgets and styles.
Whether you’re seeking a quick launch on a straightforward platform or an in-depth design process with complex offerings, there’s a platform out there to meet your expectations. After identifying your must-have features, doing the proper research, and exploring the options available, you’ll be able to find the right e-commerce platform that best aligns with your business needs.