10 Best Ecommerce Platforms to Create an Online Store in 2023
An electronic commerce platform , or ecommerce platform , is essential when creating an online store to sell products online.
At the moment, ecommerce moves more than 3 billion dollars in the world, which is why many people want to start their internet sales project. Even if you already have a local business, creating an online store can help you a lot to boost your sales.
Nowadays it is full of very good quality Ecommerce Platforms, but in this article I am going to mention the 10 Best eCommerce platforms to create an online store in 2023
Its main advantage is that it is not necessary to know web design or programming to be able to use them, they are simple and within everyone's reach.
This means that it is possible to create a website for a virtual store without an e-commerce platform, but it is a much more complex task that requires much more time and investment because it is necessary to have specialized specialists for this.
There are many platforms that are free, others that require a payment or that take a commission for each sale. Also, there are those that are accessible through plugins (as it is in the case of woocommerce)
Basically, there are two types of platform: Open Source (open source software) and SaaS (software as a service). And although the two software that everyone can use to make payments have big differences between them.
In the first case, access to the structure with the first settings is usually carried out by download. The adaptation of the website, the integration into other applications and maintenance, must be carried out by someone with technical knowledge in programming. Of course, this gives you much more freedom to create your own store, but it also requires more cost and work.
With a SaaS-like e-commerce platform, there is no need to download it because it is available online through cloud computing. This is the most practical way because the user can configure and adapt the store according to his needs, even if he has no programming experience or knowledge.
With SaaS e-commerce platforms, everyone can create their store in a few minutes, do a quick registration and then start the first configurations (selection of the template, upload producer, integrations with payment gateways, etc). Therefore, this is the most recommended option for those who found a company in this market and do not have technical knowledge in IT.
In addition to a good e-commerce platform, the person responsible for an online business must also take into account the most important dates, holidays and commemorative events in this sector.
As a summary, there are various ways to create an online store in the market, we could mainly differentiate the following types:
An ecommerce platform worth mentioning has to include options for inventory management, payment processing, and sales reporting. Although these are the most basic aspects, I am going to mention other important characteristics to take into account:
Woocommerce has a premium and a free version, although the free version is more than enough to create an online store.
The main advantage of this e-commerce tool is that it is very easy to use, it is intuitive and it allows you to create online stores very quickly, it also has a 14-day free trial.
This tool has the advantage of being open source, it is also safe, easy to use and scalable.
Many well-known brands in the world such as Pepe Jeans and Liverpool FC, Burger King, Huawei and others use this ecommerce tool.
This tool has many plugins, is free and highly customizable.
The disadvantage of prestashop that I could highlight is that it requires some programming knowledge, it is not as intuitive and simple as the other tools.
Keeping these aspects in mind, in addition to the advantages of SaaS, which we talked about in the previous chapter, we have communicated different details to further understand the importance of having an e-commerce platform in your company.
1. Authority Automation: One of the great advantages of an eCommerce platform is simple inventory or stock management. Sales are recorded automatically and with a few clicks, products are tailored to menu categories and subcategories.
Also, many eCommerce platforms offer the option to upload photos and product descriptions in a huge way or duplicate similar items and just change different images, colors, and/or dimensions.
2. Sales Channel Association – We have already mentioned some administrative additions to eCommerce platforms. Now let's talk about the secondary sales channels that are of crucial importance for the use of marketing campaigns and, consequently, achieve more sales.
Today, a complete e-commerce platform offers plugins for social media (Facebook and Instagram shopping), as well as WhatsApp and marketplaces. You can increase visibility in front of the public (after all, you can reach through different channels) and visit in your online store.
3. Institutional content : What is the story of your brand? What are the values and vision of your company? And above all: How can your audience have access to this type of information? Present your company correctly (and completely!) It is important to give it a more human face. However, bios on social media and descriptions on marketplaces are not the best places to discover your brand identity in detail.
On the other hand, you can create a “whoever” on an ecommerce platform for internet sales to present your history, your work team and the mission of your brand. This type of information has the power, feelings of trust and affinity in the customer to awaken, which makes the difference in conversion.
4. Communicating with your customers : If you've only started your business through Facebook or Instagram, you already know how exhausting and time-consuming it is to send news by sending interesting product photos, prices, and descriptions to drive conversion.
With an internet sales platform, you can do it differently: if a potential customer contacts you, you have to copy and send them your product links from your online store. There you will find all the information required to resolve any doubts that may occur.
5. Financial and fiscal control : Nothing is more bureaucratic than facing financial and fiscal control manually, right? And it becomes even more difficult if you have a physical and online store. Therefore, an online sales platform will help you with such tasks. In addition to the provision of basic data on the development of the company, such as a number of orders after periods and average tickets, SaaS usually allows additions to ERP (enterprise resource planning or enterprise resource planning).
5. Recovery from abandoned carts : If a customer is empty, you have the opportunity to convince him in a physical store. But what about an eCommerce platform? How can you win back the visitor who put something in their cart and then left it?
There are some tools for adapting emails (without technical HTML knowledge). These activate automatic triggers to remind the customer that these are the products they are interested in.
Opening the messages can restore up to 65% of the buyers depending on the application!
It should be noted that it is extremely important to create strategies to combat cart abandonment on an e-commerce platform, such as benefits in shipping forms (free shipping, for example) and payment methods (interest-free installments).
Choosing an eCommerce platform to build an online store can be somewhat difficult, and although I recommend Woocommerce or Shopify , it is important that you keep the following things in mind when choosing the tool:
Do not just observe, also compare all the details you find, so that it is possible to compare.
What are its special features? Does it have compatibility with the applications you are interested in?
Now make sure that the e-commerce platform you choose offers top-notch security, especially when it comes to processing customer payments. Decide on a platform that allows HTTPS / SSL to send information and secure payments.
Templates are great because you don't need outside help and you don't have to be a design genius to look professional and make an interesting offer.
Find an eCommerce platform with which you can check important events and show them to you in a simple format. For example:
Therefore, you must work with the most popular payment gateways to make online ecommerce purchases. For example:
Selecting an eCommerce platform for your business is not something to be taken lightly.
Choosing the wrong vendor could waste time and money, which can be used in other areas necessary for business growth.
When you're just getting started with your business, check to see if the eCommerce platform you choose offers scalability between plans. In this case, you can start with the best available plan and change it as your business growth and turnover.
With regard to usability, it is important to consider whether the online sales platform allows customization of the menu, buttons and CTAs (call to action or call to action) and whether it easily adapts to different screens, from desktop computers to mobile devices.
Therefore, it is important that the e-commerce platform for search engines (SEO) is optimized, so that it reaches the top positions in the search results in terms of its niche in the long term.
To do this, check to see if it offers options to change and create keyword-friendly titles, descriptions, and URLs with your segment.
Is it appropriate on Facebook, Instagram and other social networks?; Will it work seamlessly with marketing and sales platforms or eCommerce or CRM? Are there accessories and extensions to improve the user's shopping experience?
If you don't feel 100% confident even after checking the server information, it's our advice to look for other brands using the e-commerce platform that keep in mind that you will contact them and refer to their experiences there. . This can certainly help you choose!
These are the best ecommerce platforms in 2023
We are a digital marketing agency specialized in eCommerce, get in touch so that we can help you with the development of your online store:
At the moment, ecommerce moves more than 3 billion dollars in the world, which is why many people want to start their internet sales project. Even if you already have a local business, creating an online store can help you a lot to boost your sales.
Nowadays it is full of very good quality Ecommerce Platforms, but in this article I am going to mention the 10 Best eCommerce platforms to create an online store in 2023
What is an e-commerce platform and what is it for?
An e-commerce platform is software that has a complete system specially designed and optimized so that you can create an online store and sell your products or carry out various transactions.Its main advantage is that it is not necessary to know web design or programming to be able to use them, they are simple and within everyone's reach.
This means that it is possible to create a website for a virtual store without an e-commerce platform, but it is a much more complex task that requires much more time and investment because it is necessary to have specialized specialists for this.
How ecommerce platforms work
Ecommerce platforms or electronic commerce platforms are the tool that will allow us to create an online store. This means that there are 2 types of electronic commerce platforms: On the one hand, there are the platforms developed "ad-hoc" by a specialist in web development. And, on the other hand, we have tools or software specialized in the development of web pages or online stores. In the second case, the platforms offer templates, plugins and various features for the development and customization of your ecommerce.There are many platforms that are free, others that require a payment or that take a commission for each sale. Also, there are those that are accessible through plugins (as it is in the case of woocommerce)
Types of ecommerce platforms
There are different types of e-commerce platforms depending on their development, the technology they use and the objectives they cover.Basically, there are two types of platform: Open Source (open source software) and SaaS (software as a service). And although the two software that everyone can use to make payments have big differences between them.
In the first case, access to the structure with the first settings is usually carried out by download. The adaptation of the website, the integration into other applications and maintenance, must be carried out by someone with technical knowledge in programming. Of course, this gives you much more freedom to create your own store, but it also requires more cost and work.
With a SaaS-like e-commerce platform, there is no need to download it because it is available online through cloud computing. This is the most practical way because the user can configure and adapt the store according to his needs, even if he has no programming experience or knowledge.
With SaaS e-commerce platforms, everyone can create their store in a few minutes, do a quick registration and then start the first configurations (selection of the template, upload producer, integrations with payment gateways, etc). Therefore, this is the most recommended option for those who found a company in this market and do not have technical knowledge in IT.
In addition to a good e-commerce platform, the person responsible for an online business must also take into account the most important dates, holidays and commemorative events in this sector.
As a summary, there are various ways to create an online store in the market, we could mainly differentiate the following types:
- Open Source: They are free and open source platforms
- SaaS (software services): These types of tools are the platforms that allow you to design and customize everything quickly and easily, for example Shopify
- Platforms designed by a web programmer from scratch (custom)
Characteristics of an ecommerce platform to create an online store
Electronic commerce platforms have developed much more over time to be more efficient and functional, since the high demand for internet transactions requires these platforms to provide their agility, security and control of their tools. Each of these platforms is:- Logistics management: It is important that these environments offer you everything you need for transactions, the product section, the shopping cart, payment and shipping methods, product tracking, etc.
- Available : It is an accessible and always usable environment for all people, since the operation guarantees the possibility that each user can carry out a transaction regardless of their position or time.
- Comprehensive : It is a platform that focuses on different activities in one place. As in a physical store, the user finds everything he needs to make a purchase.
- Virtual : It is a virtual space that works on the network. All their actions and effects are done in the digital part.
- Flexibility : These are platforms that adapt to the operation of any type of activities and products to sell them online, as well as to help you combine this environment with marketing efforts.
- Traceability : It is an important feature in the best e-commerce platforms, since it allows the flow of the process, phase after phase, with mobility and eliminates any obstacle for the completion of a deal.
- Product management: Allows the management and control of various products forming a well-defined catalog that facilitates the view, sale and monitoring of items.
- Customer management: These platforms support contact management to have the correct management of the customer.
- Intuitive : These environments and tools that they integrate are increasingly intuitive, so that practically everyone can manage them, even without knowing programming.
- SEO PULS : These platforms are generally friendly enough in terms of SEO and promote search engine optimization.
- Scalable – This feature is important because on these platforms you can usually start a small business, and as your business grows along with the level of transaction, you can increase the skills and tools of your eCommerce.
An ecommerce platform worth mentioning has to include options for inventory management, payment processing, and sales reporting. Although these are the most basic aspects, I am going to mention other important characteristics to take into account:
- The possibility of configuring product categories : This is in the event that you sell more than one type of product.
- Product page customization options: The customization of the pages is something important, they must look good and at the same time be functional for SEO.
- Ability to make promotions and discounts : This is very important for your customers and your strategy.
- Multiple payment methods: It is very important to have different payment methods for your customers.
- Reports : The more information you have about your customers and about purchases, the better analysis and reports you will be able to obtain. This will allow you to greatly improve your digital marketing strategy.
- Responsive design: Responsive design is very important, this makes it look good and is optimized for mobile devices.
10 Best Ecommerce Platforms to Create an Online Store in 2023
Now yes, we go with the 10 Best e-commerce platforms to create an online store.woocommerce
Woocommerce is a wordpress plugin that allows you to create an online store . This is possibly the best choice when choosing a platform to create an online store. Also, most of the world's ecommerce stores were built with this plugin.Woocommerce has a premium and a free version, although the free version is more than enough to create an online store.
Advantages of WooCommerce
- It is the most popular and used platform. It has many tools, plugins and integrations both free and paid so that you can create a totally professional online store.
- It is a flexible and intuitive platform with which you have better administration.
- It is a very good option for SEO
- If you have knowledge of web development, you can do almost anything very easily and without any limitations.
Disadvantages of WooCommerce
- There are many plugins that allow you to do the same, it is often difficult to know which one to choose depending on the situation.
Shopify
Shopify is the most popular tool to create online stores these days, and together with woocommerce they are the best ecommerce platforms. The disadvantage it has compared to woocommerce is its price, the basic plan costs about $30 and they also take a commission for each sale.The main advantage of this e-commerce tool is that it is very easy to use, it is intuitive and it allows you to create online stores very quickly, it also has a 14-day free trial.
magnet
Magneto is another leading ecommerce platform in the market, it is an excellent option for large projects (at the business level), that sell products on a large scale.This tool has the advantage of being open source, it is also safe, easy to use and scalable.
Many well-known brands in the world such as Pepe Jeans and Liverpool FC, Burger King, Huawei and others use this ecommerce tool.
prestashop
Prestashop is another popular e-commerce platform, along with the 3 mentioned above, it accounts for a large part of the digital commerce market.This tool has many plugins, is free and highly customizable.
The disadvantage of prestashop that I could highlight is that it requires some programming knowledge, it is not as intuitive and simple as the other tools.
oscommerce
Despite not being a widely used ecommerce platform, Oscommerce stands out for its simplicity and performance. It does not offer much customization in the designs and it is somewhat obsolete, but even so it has a wide community since it is a veteran tool in the ecommerce market.zen card
Zen cart is an e-commerce platform similar to Oscommerce. It has been on the market for a long time and its user community is quite large.Drupal
Drupal is a content manager just like wordpress. So if you usually use this platform and have the necessary knowledge, it is a great option.3d cart
3d cart is another good option for those who want to try different tools.Other ecommerce tools to sell products online
There are other platforms that allow you to sell products, even if that means that you cannot have a personal online store. For example:- Facebook Marketplace
- Amazon FBA
- Free market
- ebay
Why use an ecommerce platform?
In order to consolidate a brand and professionally present it to the audience, it is important to use an e-commerce platform with which you can create and manage an online store. This also applies to brands that already have a physical business and want to modernize it.Keeping these aspects in mind, in addition to the advantages of SaaS, which we talked about in the previous chapter, we have communicated different details to further understand the importance of having an e-commerce platform in your company.
1. Authority Automation: One of the great advantages of an eCommerce platform is simple inventory or stock management. Sales are recorded automatically and with a few clicks, products are tailored to menu categories and subcategories.
Also, many eCommerce platforms offer the option to upload photos and product descriptions in a huge way or duplicate similar items and just change different images, colors, and/or dimensions.
2. Sales Channel Association – We have already mentioned some administrative additions to eCommerce platforms. Now let's talk about the secondary sales channels that are of crucial importance for the use of marketing campaigns and, consequently, achieve more sales.
Today, a complete e-commerce platform offers plugins for social media (Facebook and Instagram shopping), as well as WhatsApp and marketplaces. You can increase visibility in front of the public (after all, you can reach through different channels) and visit in your online store.
3. Institutional content : What is the story of your brand? What are the values and vision of your company? And above all: How can your audience have access to this type of information? Present your company correctly (and completely!) It is important to give it a more human face. However, bios on social media and descriptions on marketplaces are not the best places to discover your brand identity in detail.
On the other hand, you can create a “whoever” on an ecommerce platform for internet sales to present your history, your work team and the mission of your brand. This type of information has the power, feelings of trust and affinity in the customer to awaken, which makes the difference in conversion.
4. Communicating with your customers : If you've only started your business through Facebook or Instagram, you already know how exhausting and time-consuming it is to send news by sending interesting product photos, prices, and descriptions to drive conversion.
With an internet sales platform, you can do it differently: if a potential customer contacts you, you have to copy and send them your product links from your online store. There you will find all the information required to resolve any doubts that may occur.
5. Financial and fiscal control : Nothing is more bureaucratic than facing financial and fiscal control manually, right? And it becomes even more difficult if you have a physical and online store. Therefore, an online sales platform will help you with such tasks. In addition to the provision of basic data on the development of the company, such as a number of orders after periods and average tickets, SaaS usually allows additions to ERP (enterprise resource planning or enterprise resource planning).
5. Recovery from abandoned carts : If a customer is empty, you have the opportunity to convince him in a physical store. But what about an eCommerce platform? How can you win back the visitor who put something in their cart and then left it?
There are some tools for adapting emails (without technical HTML knowledge). These activate automatic triggers to remind the customer that these are the products they are interested in.
Opening the messages can restore up to 65% of the buyers depending on the application!
It should be noted that it is extremely important to create strategies to combat cart abandonment on an e-commerce platform, such as benefits in shipping forms (free shipping, for example) and payment methods (interest-free installments).
How to choose an eCommerce platform
After learning the advantages of a SaaS and why it is better to use an eCommerce platform, you may ask how to select the ideal option for your company.Choosing an eCommerce platform to build an online store can be somewhat difficult, and although I recommend Woocommerce or Shopify , it is important that you keep the following things in mind when choosing the tool:
- Initial investment and monthly price : It is recommended that its cost does not exceed 20% of the total capital for your project. Although it is also important to look at its quality-price ratio
- Its Front End Features: Front End features are the visible functionalities of a website. Its importance lies mainly in the user experience and therefore, in the conversions that you will be able to get.
- Its Back End Features: Back End features are the functionalities that are not visible to users, but are still very important. For example, integration with other SEO tools or options
1. Join different platforms to find out what is best with your style
As soon as the business planning has been established, what follows is a comprehensive search to find the platform that best suits your ecommerce.Do not just observe, also compare all the details you find, so that it is possible to compare.
What are its special features? Does it have compatibility with the applications you are interested in?
2. Priority of practicality and safety
Have you ever visited a website that is difficult to navigate? Thus, you will know that it is an unpleasant experience and that it leaves a bad impression on users. Keep in mind that online shoppers expect a smooth, fast and easy experience.Now make sure that the e-commerce platform you choose offers top-notch security, especially when it comes to processing customer payments. Decide on a platform that allows HTTPS / SSL to send information and secure payments.
3. Simple setup
Find a simple platform to set up and design. There is value in fully transferring your brand's unique features and then checking out the various models each platform offers.Templates are great because you don't need outside help and you don't have to be a design genius to look professional and make an interesting offer.
4. Opt for analytical platforms
Your online store is an important source of income for your company. Therefore, it is important to verify transactions.Find an eCommerce platform with which you can check important events and show them to you in a simple format. For example:
- Number of sales;
- Payment conditions;
- Order quantities;
- abandoned shopping cart;
- User acquisition channels;
- Interactions with each element of the page;
- Visits on certain pages;
5. Consider tech support
If the terms HTML, CSS, and JavaScript seem complex, it might be a good idea to find an eCommerce platform that offers customer support. There are many providers on the list that offer personalized attention, but also with an active chat bot support that is active.6. Customer payment options
If it's not easy for your online customers to pay for your product or service, how will they make their respective purchases?Therefore, you must work with the most popular payment gateways to make online ecommerce purchases. For example:
- PayPal;
- Google Pay;
- Apple Pay;
- Mercadopago;
- Stripe.
7. Analyze investments
Some platforms are equipped with standard monthly pricing, others offer fixed fee pricing, some transaction fees, and others require additional costs for app subscriptions. Before working on a certain service, weigh the pros and cons, and of course stick to your budget.Selecting an eCommerce platform for your business is not something to be taken lightly.
Choosing the wrong vendor could waste time and money, which can be used in other areas necessary for business growth.
When you're just getting started with your business, check to see if the eCommerce platform you choose offers scalability between plans. In this case, you can start with the best available plan and change it as your business growth and turnover.
8. Speed and user experience
If we think about the good performance of an ecommerce platform, it is important to take into account the speed, and if it has an intuitive interface to guarantee an excellent user experience.With regard to usability, it is important to consider whether the online sales platform allows customization of the menu, buttons and CTAs (call to action or call to action) and whether it easily adapts to different screens, from desktop computers to mobile devices.
9. SEO
Creating organic traffic to your e-commerce should be one of the main goals of your online business. After all, Internet users know well that we are almost always looking for something on Google when we want to search for something.Therefore, it is important that the e-commerce platform for search engines (SEO) is optimized, so that it reaches the top positions in the search results in terms of its niche in the long term.
To do this, check to see if it offers options to change and create keyword-friendly titles, descriptions, and URLs with your segment.
10. Basic functions of the e-commerce platform
When choosing an eCommerce platform for your business, it's important to consider whether it offers the following features.- Designs – Can you not only adjust the design, but also add banner with extraordinary products?
- Payment methods : Does the e-commerce platform have integration with the largest in the market, such as Mercado Pago or PayPal?
- Shipping Methods - Is there more than one option? And is it possible to set up custom deliveries as a withdrawal from the business, to be set up from the platform?
- Promotions : Can you create a coupon discount? It is one of the main campaigns to attract and keep customers.
- Content Pages:Can you create a "who we are" (institutional content) and create one of the "frequently asked questions" (send and answer the most common questions from your consumers)?
6. Integrations to the platform
Due to the development as a profitable business, your virtual store probably needs additional tools that go beyond the e-commerce platform. Therefore, it is important to understand if you have integrations to the most used tools:- Google Analytics : Ideal for the analysis of the audience of your website (age, gender, position and purchase intention) and more effective strategies.
- ERP : management systems with which you can receive orders, classify and label, invoices, etc.
- Live Chat: Ideal for the team to communicate with customers and visitors on the website and ask questions in real time. This contributes to the brand conversion rate.
- Sales channels: Like the markets and social networks that we have already explained above.
Is it appropriate on Facebook, Instagram and other social networks?; Will it work seamlessly with marketing and sales platforms or eCommerce or CRM? Are there accessories and extensions to improve the user's shopping experience?
7. stable server
If you have an online store that goes down, this often affects the credibility of your company. Therefore, look for information about the server of the platform you are interested in and how stable it is (for example by Amazon, it is considered the best on the market).If you don't feel 100% confident even after checking the server information, it's our advice to look for other brands using the e-commerce platform that keep in mind that you will contact them and refer to their experiences there. . This can certainly help you choose!
These are the best ecommerce platforms in 2023
professional advice
If your goal is to create a professional and personalized online store for your business, you should invest in a web developer who can advise you on what you need. Investing in web design and development services for online stores will allow you to have a perfect, professional online store that meets your needs and budget. You will save yourself a lot of time, mistakes and headaches, plus you will have a higher conversion rate.We are a digital marketing agency specialized in eCommerce, get in touch so that we can help you with the development of your online store:
