Top 5 Best eCommerce Platforms in 2021 in details

Many businesses take the process of choosing a platform into account as their business foundation. That’s absolutely right! Now, building an eCommerce website is not difficult, but if you start with a wrong eCommerce platform, it’s going to harm your business soon.

In this article, we’re going to summarize some elements of an optimal platform and highlight the best eCommerce platforms.

Then let’s do that.

What is a platform?

A platform may be a business model that makes value by facilitating exchanges between independent groups, which usually brings together customers and producers. Platforms create communities and markets that allow users to interact and transact through network effects. The shift to digital and advanced technology in commerce has changed the way we do business, create both resources and opportunities for business doers.

Those who want to seize this chance can’t ignore the appliance of digital and technology in selling products. as long as, online stores are sustainably replacing brick and mortar stores.

Brands strive to succeed with their first online stores, but the results don’t are the available expectation. one of the worst mistakes they made is to partner up with the incorrect eCommerce platform.

Fundamentally, an eCommerce platform is that the backbone of a web retailer. An eCommerce platform may be a software during which businesses launch, host, and manage their online stores. The platform provides features that allow merchants to create a branded online storefront to locate and sell their products and services.

An online business, like all other businesses, needs additional software to manage backend functions like accounting, order management, inventory management, and customer service.

It’s possible to piece together many various software solutions to make an entire platform, but the method is sort of complicated and causes your website frequent maintenance and inefficient functions.

Fortunately, a replacement breed of business software can solve this problem by integrating all essential commerce and business functionalities into one platform.

When it involves the eCommerce platform, there’s a critical term you would like to know , “platform design.” The platform design isn’t almost considering technical factors. It’s about understanding and creating features for the entire business operation.

It creates value for both users and stores also as build a network around them. Remember that an eCommerce platform may be a business model, not just a bit of technology.

8 Key features of an eCommerce platform

Though different platforms offer different features. numerous platforms out there with countless features and functions available can get you overwhelming.

Among the sheer number of choices, always remember that a mean eCommerce platform provides you with the unification of core business processes to realize complete visibility across your company and ultimately satisfy the foremost discerning customers.

It’s sometimes hard to mention that which eCommerce platforms will offer the function you would like , or it’ll still be cost-effective as your store is scalable.

To choose a winning eCommerce platform, you can rely on the following features:

• Run-on one, unified platform: an eCommerce platform should provide natively unified eCommerce, accounting, POS, inventory, and order management, marketing, customer service, financial, merchandising on a cloud-based platform.

• Offer an entire customer view: an honest eCommerce platform should deliver consistent experiences, targeted marketing, and excellent customer service. All customer interactions and transactions should be during a single view across all the touchpoints and channels.

• Intelligent order management: create the foremost convenient way for patrons to get , fulfil, and return the products. Centralize the order management to maximise profitability. It’s optimal to possess one view of the inventory across all channels and units within the supply chain of your company.

• Provide superior customer experiences: choose a platform that makes responsive, friendly, personalized and rewarding mobile, web, and in-store experiences for patrons if you would like to form your store stand out and live up to customers’ expectations.

• Support bottomless expansion: fully support multiple business models, brands, channels, locations, currencies, and languages all on an equivalent platform.

• Site security: if you’re a replacement store owner, terms like “PCI compliance” or “eCommerce SSL certificates” might offer you a head-spinning. But you’ll be conversant in them soon. Choose a platform that gives an SSL certificate and PCI compliance to assure the safety of your store and customer data it contains.

Many platforms offer additional security packages. you’ll consider these packs counting on your demands, your store’s future needs, and your budget.

• Easy to make content: you ought to search for platforms that allow you to simply create content on new or existing pages, also new pages, and get in touch with forms. It should be a snap to make and publish content on your store. If your store doesn’t have strong supporting content, it’ll suffer much in Google searches.

You can believe a platform with a reputation for having a reliable content management system (CMS).

• Highly dedicated support and document: your platform provider should provide help whenever you would like it. Companies often offer support via many channels like email, live chat, ticket support, or direct phone calls. Choose which one is that the best for you, then you’ll reach bent your platform provider if you’ve got any problems associated with the platform.

Also, take a glance at their available document, tutorial, like user guide, FAQs, how-to blog posts, knowledge domain posts. you would possibly find solutions before contacting the providers.

Why are eCommerce platforms important to brands?

Imagine a house without a solid foundation; it’s terrible like a web store without an honest platform. An eCommerce platform doesn’t just support, but it enables the expansion of a web store.

Put simply, eCommerce platforms are crucial to the business success of any online retail enterprise.

Back within the 20th century, people mostly came in brick and mortar locations to facilitate exchanges. Now, after a few years , because of connected technology and therefore the Internet revolution, platforms are created to facilitate the exchanges useful from decentralized networks of people .

Accordingly, the platform has grown exponentially, and therefore the ability to enable value exchanges has reached an unprecedented level. no matter being hosted on-premise or within the cloud, eCommerce platforms guarantee the scalability and security protection of your data, offer a good range of operational benefits and business tools, including:

• A product management suite
• Merchandising
• Search capabilities
• Pricing
• Promotions
• Personalize sales and services to your prefers

Using eCommerce platforms, you’ll customize your product information to suit your online business needs best. It’s beneficial for both store owners and customers.

5 best eCommerce platforms

Shopify

Shopify is one among the foremost popular eCommerce platforms within the world. it’s an internet application that helps you to make a web store quickly and simply with many available templates. you’ll customize those templates to best suit your online retailer needs or design your own store’s look.

The company claimed: “You don’t got to have any technical or design experience to make a gorgeous online store easily.”

Shopify supports a comprehensive range of credit cards, so you don’t need to worry about the payment conflict issue in your store. Also, you’ll confirm the info of your customer and store is safe because the Shopify has level 1 PCI compliance and 256-bit SSL encryption for security.

Providing a full CMS, Shopify gives you the facility to manage the functionality and therefore the layout of your online store. Another outstanding advantage of Shopify is that it allows users to manage their store on Shopify mobile apps. The platform is fully responsive in order that users can easily track, manage, and modify their store anywhere no matter access from mobile or desktop.

It’s a convenient and optimal way for business doers who usually need to work on-the-go. That’s one among the explanations why Shopify is that the best platform at selling.

Check Shopify Features & Price Plan here!

Magento Commerce

Magento is one among the foremost used eCommerce platforms within the world. Although it’s also well-known for being incredibly complicated, this platform has significant benefits that make it deserving to be at the primary position on this list. Besides, the launching of Magento 2 has taken the platform to a better level, accelerating many providers to make simpler solutions for B2B eCommerce firms.

Some outstanding benefits of using Magento eCommerce:

• Versatile content management: The backend and content management interface suit the rule “what you see is what you get” allow store owners to create and customize features on their online stores on the fly.

• Mobile-friendly configuration: Magento interface and shopping carts design are aware of smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices.

• Advanced program optimization: With SEO efficiency, it gives online stores have more opportunity to rank highly on search engines like Google, Bing, and more.

• Sturdy and spacious: The platform allows a site with up to 500,000 products, and handling 80,000 orders per hour.

• Flexible third-party integrations: Magento enables your online stores to integrate with third modules or apps like MailChimp, Google Shopping, and more efficiently.

• Customizable security permissions: Magento supports you to customize multiple levels of security permissions, control internal access, and ensure your site’s safety.

• Save time and money: Magento is open-source and a number of other custom extensions which will share between multiple Magento users. Through one instance of Magento, you’ll manage numerous eCommerce stores with various languages and various currencies.

The basic version of Magento is free, but the enterprise version can cost about $20,000 annually. If your brand is new the eCommerce landscape and isn’t all that tech-savvy, it’s quite risky to settle on Magento. As long as you’ve got enough capacity to run your business with this platform, grow your business alongside it.

Check Magento Commerce Pricing & Packaging Plan here!

3DCart

3DCart may be a powerful and secure eCommerce software that has served over 22,000 online businesses in 20 years of service. the corporate dedicates to assist online merchants to build online stores that rank higher and sell more.

3Dcart has over 200 built-in features, 50 free themes, offers SEO options and supports over 100 payment processors.

The platform provides intuitive features, mobile-ready themes, latest SEO standards, and marketing eCommerce tools to form your store convert higher and increase conversion rate.

With 3DCart, you’ll build a web store that contains all the subsequent features:

• All-inclusive: 3DCart gives you everything you would like for creating an optimized eCommerce store with customizable features including design, shopping carts, and more. no matter selling physical or digital products, you don’t need to add more eCommerce tools or services as hosting and domain names are available.

• Customer-friendly: The platform supports you to make an internet site with the simplest customer experience. It allows you to use high-quality product images, and let your customers perform essential actions on your website.

• Synchronized: 3DCart is flexible for selling on social media, multivendor marketplaces, and other channels.

• Secure: 3DCart is totally secured with sitewide HTTPS, PCI Certification, two-factor authentication, and anti-fraud tools. Your customers’ data are going to be safe on your site, which stimulates customers’ trust and sales.

• Scalable: The platform supports all size businesses and handles unlimited traffics and sales with built-in or integrated CRM software.
• Reliable: With 99,94% uptime, 3DCart is confident to stay your website faraway from downtime and low-speed. you’ll anticipate to flawless and seamless user experience.

More features are available this optimal eCommerce solution. Plus, 3DCart offers 24/7 expert eCommerce support.

Sell Products Online wih 3dcart. Free 15 day trial, then just $19.99/mo!

BigCommerce

BigCommerce is legendary for the world’s leading cloud eCommerce platform. The platform is additionally known for its low total cost of ownership and highly flexible APIs.

BigCommerce provides you with a comprehensive set of eCommerce tools with a spread of features and options. It enables your store to integrate out-of-the-box with most of the specified solutions within the eCommerce ecosystem.

Businesses covering both B2B and B2C customers can use this platform because it makes it easier to make different tariffs or catalogs to different customer groups.

Due to the complexity of built-in features, the initial learning curve of BigCommerce is above another software-as-a-service platforms. However, it’s still possible for a replacement brand to find out about this platform and make use of it quickly because of the well-thought-out and in-depth guiding documents and support team of BigCommerce.

Check BigCommerce Features & Price Plan here!

WooCommerce

WooCommerce may be a free WordPress plugin that permits merchants to show their WordPress sites into online stores freely and also offer additional paid features and integrating options to streamline the functionality of the handcart.

This open-source platform is a perfect solution for little brands with WordPress development resources because it are going to be easy to customize. Through its secure payment processor, WooCommerce ensures PCI compliance and secures communications between your customers and your server.

However, WooCommerce can hamper because it can’t handle an excessive amount of weight of themes, plugins, or products you increase your store. So if you would like to proportion your business, it’s better to settle on another platform.

In case of using this platform, take care of everything you put in which will impact your store performance. Choose the proper hosting environment that determines the quantity of traffic your store can handle.

Check WooCommerce Drive repeat purchases with subscriptions!