So, finally you have decided to become an e-tailer (online retailer). If you don’t know where to start from, then this article is for you. Once you know what to sell and whom to sell, the next thing is to shortlist a suitable eCommerce platform.
Options are numerous- free and paid, simple and sophisticated, when it comes to the availability of online selling products.
soumit (Photo credits)No matter what you’re going to sell, selection of an eCommerce platform plays an important role. Here is a list of both paid and free and simple and complex online platforms that you can choose from, depending upon your offerings and budget.
Here is the mega list of eCommerce Platforms to Sell Products Online
1. Magento
Magento is one of the most popular eCommerce platforms, offering different solutions based on your business requirements. It has a special version for small businesses. The biggest benefit is that it’s an open source Content Management System that can be downloaded and installed for free. However, you’ll need to seek expert assistance in case you don’t have technical expertise in house. The other advantage of Magento is that it can be used as a simple platform and can be turned into a more complex platform using different plug-ins and modules.
2. Zen Cart
With the right punch line “The art of e-commerce”, Zen Cart is an excellent online selling platform that allows you to be as creative as possible. Like Magento, it’s also free and open source software that is easy to install and set up. Moreover, it’s pretty simple to use. The best part is that you don’t need very high level of technical expertise to work on this; but you certainly need to have basic understanding of technology.
3. osCommerce
osCommerce is another open source platform that boasts of over 260,000 existing and active users across the globe. The eCommerce platform is well supplemented with modules, plug-ins, templates and other add-ons to make the website feature-packed and fully-functional.
4. BIG Commerce
BIG Commerce allows anyone to create an online store without any technical expertise. You can give a completely customized look to your eCommerce store just by using your mouse. The biggest advantage of this open source platform is that it has in-built SEO features using which you can help your business website rank better on various search engines, especially Google and Yahoo.
5. Volusion
Volusion cannot be downloaded and installed for free. It’s a paid all-inclusive hosted eCommerce platform but the prices are competitive. Backed by 24×7 support, it also offers a 14-day trial absolutely free of cost.
6. CubeCart
Available in both free and paid versions, Cube Cart is a relatively flexible eCommerce solution offering you a simple and quick way to build your online store. The free version is called Lite that limits you to 250 products and 100 customers. Plus, there is no backup or technical support for free version. The paid version (Pro Version) costs $180. It’s a one-time fee but allows you to access complete tech support unlimited features 24×7. There is no restriction on the number of products and customers.
7. Shopify
Not available for free, Shopify, however, offers a risk-free 30 day trial at no cost to potential businesses who are looking to sell online. The beauty of this platform is that it allows you to build your store within minutes. It’s a hosted eCommerce platform with secure shopping carts. Don’t forget to use its trail version to know if it suits your needs well.
8. WordPress
It’s absolutely impossible to forget WordPress when it comes to listing major and popular eCommerce platforms. Although WordPress bears a reputation as a blogging engine but recently it’s gaining immense popularity as an eCommerce platform. It’s free to download and install; however, requires little bit of work before it can be used as an eCommerce platform.
9. Highwire
Highwire is an excellent eCommerce solution with free as well as paid plans. The best part about this software solution is that apart from letting you create an online store, it also allows you to use it to sell on Facebook and eBay. No matter what you want to sell, where you want to sell, you can easily sync your inventories across multiple eCommerce channels. It is a mobile friendly eCommerce solution and works on Android and iOS also. Besides this, Highwire allows you to keep a track of the orders and payments on all eCommerce channels from one centralized system.
10. Ubercart
Ubercart is eCommerce software as well as a Content Management System that can be easily incorporated with Drupal-powered website. It’s a free and open source platform with paid downloads, shopping carts and other features.
So, depending upon the size of your business, number of offerings and size of the target market, you can choose any of these eCommerce platforms to create an online store.