For new businesses looking to get off the ground, finding the right e-commerce platform is key. The right e-commerce platform can make or break a new business. And when the goal is to attract – and keep – new customers, it’s important to make sure that they’re able to find your business, and that once they do, the user experience is seamless and keeps them coming back.
When launching an e-commerce storefront as a new business, it’s important to find a platform that’s designed with early business needs in mind. This can include quick and easy setup, easy customization, easy payment gateway options, and most important: the ability to change and grow as your business does.
With these factors in mind, we’ve rounded up some of the best e-commerce platforms for new businesses. Read on to learn which platforms are the best for getting your new business off the ground and arming you with the tools you need to grow and succeed.
1. Shopify
Shopify is one of the world’s leading e-commerce websites, trusted by more than one million businesses of all sizes. The platform is designed to work best for small to mid-sized businesses, and has great features designed to help entrepreneurs take their ideas and turn them into a reality.
Why it’s great: Shopify’s cloud-based, multichannel platform allows its merchants to design their storefronts from the ground up. The user-friendly interface means that even the least tech-savvy entrepreneurs can create clean, professional, aesthetically-pleasing websites that are totally customizable to fit each brand’s unique identity.
A highlight for new businesses is that Shopify features tools that enable even the newest entrepreneurs to get their business ideas off the ground, including a business name generator tool and a free logo design feature. And when these new businesses grow, Shopify has the capabilities to scale with them, making it a safe choice for any business with the potential to grow exponentially, without needing to worry about changing platforms later on.
For new businesses, the Shopify Experts Marketplace is an appealing feature of the platform as well, enabling them to connect with freelancers, agencies, and other industry leaders to outsource work, ask questions, and receive guidance.
Shopify’s marketing tools are also a great way for new businesses to make sure they reach potential customers as well as attract repeat business, too. With email marketing, SEO optimization, Google and Facebook advertising, and campaign reports and data at shop owners’ fingertips, the platform makes it extremely turnkey to market a new business and help ensure success for its clients.
Shopify offers seamless integration onto mobile apps and selling platforms including Amazon and Facebook to support sales from all over. The ease of payment for both merchants and customers makes it a great choice for new businesses as well, as they’ll be able to accept an array of payment methods and multiple currencies, from Paypal to Apple Pay to credit cards.
How much does it cost? Prices start at $29 per month.
2. Weebly
Weebly, a website builder and e-commerce platform powered by Square, is one of the most user-friendly and affordable options for new businesses looking to establish or grow their online presence. With a drag-and-drop feature and a well-designed mobile app, Weebly is a great choice for new business owners looking to get their storefronts off the ground quickly, and for those who are working on-the-go.
Why it’s great: For many new business owners, the reality is that they are likely wearing many hats, and don’t often have the time or even a dedicated workspace to manage their business from a desktop. Mobile-friendliness is where Weebly shines, as the platform was designed with the ability to easily launch, edit, and manage a business from a mobile app just as easily as from a web browser.
Regardless of where you choose to launch and manage your new business, Weebly offers an array of themes to start from, all of which are fully customizable using a drag-and-drop site builder. This gives new businesses the ability to create a storefront that’s unique to their brand, but is also easy to change and update as the business grows and changes. Running a business is a learning curve, and being able to easily make changes can save business owners tons of time and money.
Weebly’s wide offering of e-commerce features makes it easy for new businesses to manage all aspects of their storefront right from one place. The platform features a shipping tool and inventory tracker, making it easy to ship products domestically or internationally right from the platform. Other e-commerce highlights include a coupon builder and custom gift cards, product search tool and product badges, as well as the ability to feature customer reviews if desired.
And thanks to Weebly’s oversight from Square, taking customer payments is a breeze. Payments are accepted via Square, Paypal, or Stripe, and shop owners can utilize the fully-integrated shopping cart and automated tax calculator.
How much does it cost? Weebly offers a wide range of tiered pricing options. A free version has just enough tools to get a site up and running, and the most robust offering costs $26 per month.
3. Etsy
Etsy is an e-commerce marketplace platform that’s designed for small businesses including artists and creators to sell their designs and products and reach a wide variety of buyers. The platform is immensely popular, with millions of buyers spending billions of dollars each year purchasing products from the platform’s creative entrepreneurs.
Why it’s great: For new businesses who may not have an interest in developing a standalone storefront, or for those who want to get their e-commerce shops off the ground without building out a site right away (or ever), Etsy gives them the chance to launch their products directly into a marketplace with millions of shoppers ready to buy.
With the Etsy app, sellers can manage their own storefront, including managing orders, uploading and editing product listings, and communicating with customers all from one place, right at their fingertips.
For those new to the e-commerce space, the logistics and cost of postage and shipping can be a headache. To alleviate this, Etsy offers discounted postage that can be purchased and printed through the platform as well, offering major savings to new businesses who may be working on a bootstrapped budget.
The best feature of Etsy for new businesses, however, is the built-in marketplace of millions of potential customers that are already familiar with Etsy’s brand name. This gives new businesses built-in brand recognition and the ability to reach a massive audience without the need to completely self-market their business.
Etsy’s brand marketing tools take the guesswork out of marketing as well, and provide guidance for sellers on best practices for crafting posts for Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, or Instagram. Advertising capabilities include Etsy ads as well as offsite ads, meaning store owners can choose whether to boost their products’ visibility within Etsy itself, or can instead direct advertising efforts to other places, such as Google, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, or Bing.
How much does it cost? For standard Etsy selling, there is no monthly charge. Instead, sellers are charged $0.20 per listing, plus a small transaction and payment processing fee for each sale. Etsy also offers a $10 per month Etsy Plus platform, which includes an expanded set of tools to help new sellers jumpstart their shops.
4. Volusion
For new businesses looking to get a quick jump-start into the e-commerce space, Volusion is a straightforward, user-friendly choice. The all-in-one platform offers new businesses the ability to get their e-commerce storefronts up and running within minutes, making it extremely efficient for those looking to transform their ideas into action rather quickly.
Why it’s great: Volusion prides itself on ease of use, with a wide range of pre-designed themes at your fingertips to get started. The store editor is extremely user-friendly, allowing new businesses full creative direction without the need for advanced web design knowledge. And for those who may need a little extra help getting set up, 24/7 support is available to answer questions and help troubleshoot any issues that may arise.
Not only is the storefront design totally customizable, but product pages are also designed on a drag-and-drop platform, making it easy for new business owners to turn their vision into a reality, even for those who are not totally web savvy.
Payment setup is also fast and easy, meaning orders can start coming in quickly. Volusion offers integrations with Paypal, Stripe, and Apple Pay, so customers can choose their preferred payment method and business owners can worry less about payment processing, and more about the day-to-day needs of their business.
Volusion also understands that for new businesses, it can be difficult to manage many different platforms at once to handle social media, marketing, emails, and more. That’s why the platform boasts connectivity with many of the go-to tools that new businesses will use, such as Pinterest, Shippo, Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, Fullstory, Privy, Mailchimp, and more. Plus, with the added benefit of live chats and a discount builder, interacting with customers is a breeze.
How much does it cost? Pricing starts at $26 per month.
5. Shift4Shop
Not every new business is going to get off the ground with a robust budget to dedicate to an online presence and e-commerce platform. Shift4Shop understands this, which is why the platform is positioned as a turnkey and affordable solution for new businesses looking to get into the e-commerce game on a smaller 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.
Many new business owners may not have the bandwidth or the know-how to launch an entire e-commerce site from the ground up. That’s where Shift4Shop’s online marketplace comes in. The marketplace offers up an expansive network of web designers and other talent for outsourcing work, who can help with everything from getting an initial site set up, to making updates as the business grows and needs change.
What makes the platform especially attractive to new business owners is that many of Shift4Shop’s features are entirely free or low-cost. Depending on the subscription plan chosen, these features typically include site migration assistance, 24/7 customer service and tech support, and no transaction fees, meaning new businesses with limited budgets can benefit greatly from working with Shift4Shop to get started.
How much does it cost? Pricing is free for any U.S. based businesses who elect to use Shift4Shop’s payment processor. Pricing for other plans begins at $29 per month.
Launching a new business takes a lot of work, and can be overwhelming if you don’t know where to start. Your e-commerce platform should take away some of the stress and confusion that comes with getting your shop off the ground, instead offering you the ability to manage many aspects of your business from one simple platform.
When searching for the best e-commerce platform as a new business owner, it’s important to research thoroughly, and go with the option that streamlines your business processes, makes your workload easier, and offers many important features under one roof. By making your day-to-day easier, the right e-commerce platform will alleviate much of the workload that comes with running a business, leaving you time to focus on your customers and your growth.