Leading e-Commerce Platforms Shopify, WooCommerce or Magento

It has never been easier to start an online business with the abundance of e-Commerce solutions out there.

Therefore, it is of no surprise that global e-Commerce sales are on the rise with every year, reaching 2.86 trillion dollars globally in 2018 with a projection to reach 4.88 trillion dollars by 2021. (Source Statista)

Gone are the days when you needed to hire a developer and create your online store from scratch. Unless you need a super custom solution for your very special shop, you don’t need to break the bank for your new startup business.

There are many e-Commerce platforms out there, and the most important question today is not how to create your online store, but rather which e-Commerce platform to choose from to best fit your needs.

Below you will find a list of the most popular e-Commerce platforms as of today.

Shopify

Launched in 2006, the Canadian based startup quickly gained popularity with its easy to use interface and high adaptability to social platforms. It is a great solution for small and medium types of businesses which do not want to invest thousands when starting up their online store. With over 1 million active users, Shopify is a suitable e-Commerce solution for businesses that are just starting up.

Benefits

  • Easy to Setup – You do not need to be a graphic designer to set up a beautiful looking online store that ‘reflects the personality of your brand’.
  • Recovery of abandoned Shopping Cart app.
  • Social integration – You can integrate your shop with Facebook, so users can shop while they are in the social media platform.
  • Mobile friendly Shopping Cart app.
  • Abundance of themes available.

Downsides

  • Additional Fees – There are additional transaction fees when it comes to taking payments other than Shopify payments.
  • Adding extras can be Costly – Any practical extensions that you might want to add come at a certain cost, and customizing it according to your shop’s needs might sometimes require a substantial investment.

WooCommerce

With over 43 million downloads, WooCommerce holds the top spot for most popular e-Commerce platform in the world, according to BuiltWith. It is fully customizable and ready to integrate with almost any sales channel out there.

Benefits

  • Fully Customizable – As an open source platform, there is a plethora of both free and paid extensions you can choose from in order to customize your online store according to your needs.
  • Secure payment Gateway.
  • Easy to use and manage admin panel – You do not need to be a developer to find your way around the platform.
  • An abundance of themes to choose from.

Downsides

Although the WordPress plugin is offered for free, in order to fully integrate the shopping cart into your website, you will be required to invest in it. WooCommerce offers options to add an unlimited amount of products, but as your business grows, the platform can slow down, which is probably one of the biggest downsides of it.

Magento

As the developers of Magento say “growth is always in fashion”, probably the best thing about the e-Commerce platform is its flexibility and scalability. The e-Commerce platform is popular for its reliability and it can be used no matter whether your business is B2C or B2B. According to their official website, 90% of wholesale business is powered by Magento.

Benefits

  • Fully Customizable – As an open source platform, there is plenty of free and paid extensions to choose from to customize the platform according to your store’s needs.
  • Scalability – The platform grows as your business grows.
  • Plenty of themes to choose from

Downsides

Magento can be intimidating for beginners, and especially for those who do not have any developer experience. The basic version is free, but when your business starts growing, you will need an upgrade which may require an incremental investment on your side.

There are plenty of other e-Commerce solutions for creating online store on OpenCart, PrestaShop, BigCommerce and others. When choosing a platform that will best suit your business’s needs, look for additional hidden costs that might turn up in the future, consider your own experience with e-Commerce platforms and whether you are going to need hiring a team of developers as your business grows or to partner up with a digital web agency.