In today’s digital age, having an eCommerce website is essential for businesses looking to expand their reach and increase their sales. However, creating an effective online store can take time and effort, especially for those with limited technical expertise.
Fortunately, many eCommerce website builders are available, making it easy to build and manage an online store without requiring extensive technical knowledge.
In this article, we’ll take a closer look at the different types, features and how to choose the best eCommerce website builders available today.
Key Highlights
- eCommerce website builders provide straightforward and practical solutions for creating online stores
- Website builders offer extensive features that help customize stores for all kinds of businesses
- Different templates, hosting solutions, and payment processing options are available to help simplify operations
- The most popular eCommerce website builders offer high security, reliability, and scalability for businesses of all sizes
- Wix, Hostpapa, and Shopify are some of the top eCommerce website builders today.
Types of eCommerce Websites Builders
Several eCommerce website builders are available, each with features, benefits, and limitations. Some of the most common types of eCommerce website builders include:
Hosted eCommerce Website Builders
These are designed to provide everything necessary to create, customize, and launch an eCommerce website. These all-in-one solutions include features such as website building, hosting, payment gateway integration, and more.
Some famous examples of cloud-based website builders include Shopify, Bigcommerce, and Wix.
Self-Hosted eCommerce Website Builders
These website builders provide more flexibility and control over the website’s design and functionality but require more technical expertise to set up and maintain.
If you’re looking for a more robust, custom eCommerce experience with no limits on design or functionality, self-hosted options may be the best solution. Popular open-source eCommerce website builders include Magento, WooCommerce, and OpenCart – each of which provides its unique features and functionalities.
Open-Source eCommerce Website Builders
These website builders are free, open-source platforms that offer extensive flexibility to customize and expand an eCommerce website to meet specific business needs. PrestaShop and osCommerce are famous examples of open-source eCommerce website builders.
With these platforms, businesses can enjoy complete control over their website and customize them according to their unique requirements.
Additionally, these builders also provide a supportive online community to address any technical issues and access a variety of third-party plugins and extensions to enhance website functionality.
Marketplace-Based eCommerce Website Builders
These eCommerce website builders allow sellers to create and manage their online stores within more significant online marketplaces like Amazon, eBay, or Etsy. Instead of building an independent website, businesses can leverage the existing infrastructure of a larger online marketplace to reach a broader customer base.
These platforms provide sellers with an intuitive and user-friendly interface to list their products, manage orders, and communicate with customers.
Custom-Built eCommerce Websites
These websites are created from scratch and tailored to the specific needs of a business. They can be built by in-house development teams or outsourced to professional web development companies.
Key Features of an eCommerce Website Builder
An eCommerce website builder is a platform that enables businesses to create and manage their online stores without needing extensive technical knowledge. While features vary depending on the website builder, some critical components of an eCommerce website builder include:
User-Friendly Website Design
An eCommerce website builder should offer a variety of website templates and design options that are easy to customize without requiring extensive design knowledge.
Product Catalog Management
This feature allows businesses to easily create and manage their product catalog, including product images, descriptions, and pricing information.
Customization Template
When building an online store, customization is critical in ensuring that the website stands out from the competition. An eCommerce website builder should offer customizable templates to ensure that each page looks unique and professional. You can customize these templates with image galleries, product categories, and more.
Shopping Cart and Checkout Process
An eCommerce website builder should offer a simple and secure shopping cart and checkout process that enables customers to make purchases quickly and easily.
Payment Gateway Integration
For an eCommerce website builder to be effective, it must provide secure and reliable payment processing options. It should offer a variety of payment methods, including credit cards, PayPal, and other online payment services.
A secure payment processing system is essential for protecting customers’ personal and financial information. The eCommerce website builder should offer encryption and other security features to ensure that payment data is safe from hackers and other unauthorized parties.
This ensures that customers have a convenient and safe payment experience, which can lead to increased customer loyalty and repeat purchases.
Shipping and Tax Settings
To provide an excellent shopping experience, an eCommerce website builder must-have eCommerce shipping features that enable businesses to accurately calculate shipping costs and taxes for their customers. This ensures that you charge customers the correct amount for their orders, improving their satisfaction and increasing the likelihood of repeat business.
Shipping cost calculation is an essential feature of an eCommerce website builder. It helps businesses determine the appropriate shipping fees for each order based on weight, size, and destination factors.
Marketing and SEO Tools
An eCommerce website builder should provide various marketing tools to enable businesses to reach more customers and improve their website’s search engine ranking. These tools include email marketing and social media integration, which are essential for driving traffic and customer engagement. A good eCommerce website builder should offer SEO features such as keyword optimization, meta tags, and more.
Analytics and Reporting
The website builder should provide tools for businesses to analyze their website’s performance, including sales data, customer behavior, and website traffic.
Customer Support
When selecting an eCommerce website builder, businesses should look for one that offers customer service support for any technical issues and offer resources such as online documentation or forums for companies to find answers to their questions.
Choosing an eCommerce Website Builder
Choosing the right eCommerce website builder is essential for the success of any online business. There are several factors to consider when selecting an eCommerce website builder, including:
Features – Look for an eCommerce website builder that provides all the features your business needs to sell products online, including payment processing, inventory management, shipping, and tax calculation. Ensure that the platform offers tools like email marketing, social media integration, and SEO features.
Ease of Use – The eCommerce website builder should be user-friendly and easy to navigate, even for those with little to no experience in website design or programming. A simple and intuitive interface can save time and help you focus on other areas of your business.
Design Options – Choose an eCommerce website builder that offers a wide range of customizable templates and design options to help you create a unique and professional-looking online store that represents your brand.
Mobile Responsiveness – With most online purchases now made on mobile devices, choosing an eCommerce website builder that provides mobile-responsive designs to ensure your website looks great and functions well on mobile devices is essential.
Scalability – Look for an eCommerce website builder that can quickly scale up as your business grows and you add more products and features to your online store. The platform should accommodate increased traffic and provide the resources needed for successful online sales.
Customer Support – Look for an eCommerce website builder that provides excellent customer support, including 24/7 technical assistance, online help resources, and a community of users who can offer advice and support.
Budget – Consider the cost of the eCommerce website builder and ensure that it fits within your budget. Some platforms may offer free plans, but you may need to pay for additional features, so be sure to compare prices and features before making a decision.
Comparison of Popular eCommerce Website Builders
Choosing the right website builder can be critical to your success when setting up an eCommerce store. There are many options, and each platform has its strengths and weaknesses.
In this comparison, we’ll look at six of the most popular eCommerce website builders on the market: Wix, Hostpapa, GoDaddy, Shopify, Squarespace, and Bigcommerce. We’ll evaluate each platform based on its features, pricing, and the specific strengths that make it the right choice for certain eCommerce businesses.
Wix – Best for Building Small Online Stores
Wix is the perfect platform for small business owners looking to build an online store. With Wix, you can easily set up a professional-looking website and start selling in minutes. You can customize your site to fit your brand, add products and services, manage payments, and more.
The simple drag-and-drop editor allows you to create beautiful product pages and checkout processes that convert customers.
Plus, Wix’s Ascend by Wix suite of tools provides even more features to help you manage your store and increase sales. With these tools, you can efficiently process orders, track inventory, offer promo codes, and more.
Features
- Wix offers a powerful drag-and-drop website editor for accessible site-building and design
- With over 1000 advanced design capabilities, you can create a unique, professional-looking website with ease
- Wix provides custom domain setup and logo tools to help you create a more branded experience for your visitors
- Develop custom functionality with full-stack web development tools and AI technology that can create an entire website with minimal effort
- Multi-cloud hosting ensures reliable uptime, even during traffic spikes
- Powerful SEO capabilities help you optimize your site for better search engine visibility.
Pricing
- Business Basic(Accept online payments) – US $17/month
- Business Unlimited (Grow your business) – US $25/month
- Business VIP (Get the full suite) – US $35/month.
Hostpapa – Best for Your Online Store’s Security
HostPapa’s Website Builder makes it easy to create a website and eCommerce store with the assurance of secure transactions. Your customers’ data is safe as HostPapa uses the latest SSL encryption technology, ensuring your visitors can trust that their data is encrypted and secure.
With HostPapa’s Website Builder, you don’t have to worry about payment security. HostPapa is also PCI(Payment Card Industry) compliant, offering a safe and secure environment for customers to make purchases on your eCommerce store.
Features
- eCommerce capabilities for selling physical or digital products online
- Proactive security to keep your website safe from cyber threats
- Advanced editing abilities with drag-and-drop functionality
- One-click website publishing for a fast and easy setup process
- Access to an extensive library of professional templates to customize your website
- Easily add sections, tools, and forms to make your website even more unique
- 24/7 customer support.
Pricing
- Starter(or free with hosting) – $3.99/month
- Business(or free with pro and ultra hosting) – $10.99/month
- Premium – $20.99/month
- Enterprise – $40.99/month.
GoDaddy – Best for Creating a Website Quickly
GoDaddy is the world’s largest services platform for entrepreneurs. Their mission is to empower their 20+ million customers and entrepreneurs everywhere by giving them all the help and tools they need to grow online.
With GoDaddy’s services, users can easily create a website in minutes with its ADI website builder. GoDaddy also provides domain registration, web hosting, security tools, online marketing, and more to help businesses of any size achieve success on the internet.
Features
- Professional website creation: With GoDaddy, you can easily create a modern, professional website with no technical skills required. Choose from hundreds of industry-specific templates to customize your website.
- A.I.-powered advice: Get tailored guidance for your business with GoDaddy InSight – an A.I.-powered platform that provides personalized recommendations to propel your business forward
- Online store: Add an online store to your website and quickly sell physical and digital products. Track your inventory and even let customers book appointments online
- SEO, Social Media, & Email Marketing Tools: Get found on the sites your customers visit most with built-in tools for SEO, social media, and email marketing.
Pricing
- Basic – £3.99/month
- Standard – £5.99/month
- Premium – £8.49/month
- eCommerce – £9.99/month.
Shopify – Best for large businesses and larger online stores
Shopify provides an excellent solution for companies looking to establish, expand, and manage their online store, regardless of size. The platform offers a variety of tools and features to help business owners optimize their stores, such as a free website builder and customizable options.
Moreover, Shopify’s point-of-sale (POS) system enables businesses to extend their presence into physical stores, making it an attractive option for those seeking to diversify their operations.
For larger businesses and online stores, Shopify offers a wide range of advanced features that provide increased flexibility and customization options.
Features
- Discounted rates with global and regional carriers through Shopify shipping
- Automatic tracking updates for customers
- Built-in SEO features to get ahead of the competition
- Integration apps with significant marketing channels (Google, Facebook)
- Centralized inventory tracking for improved visibility over stock levels
- Comprehensive dashboard to keep everything organized in one place.
Pricing
- Basic (Best for new eCommerce businesses with occasional in-person sales) – $24/month
- Shopify (Best for growing businesses selling online or in-store) – $69/month
- Advanced (Best for scaling businesses that require advanced reporting) – $299/month
Squarespace – Best Quality Website Templates Suitable for Artists and Photographers
Squarespace is one of the leading website builders and offers a wide range of highly customizable templates, perfect for artists and photographers. Squarespace’s quality website templates provide an elegant, unique look that stands out from competitors.
The design library includes pre-made designs that allow users to customize their websites quickly and easily. Squarespace also offers a selection of hand-made designs crafted with attention to detail and designed by professional designers.
Features
• Create and customize a beautiful website with easy drag-and-drop tools, access to hundreds of design templates, and a vast library of images
• Design unique and engaging virtual classes, workshops, newsletters, podcasts, and video series in the Member Area
• Provide clients with an easy way to view your availability and book appointments through your website
• Harness the power of eCommerce by creating an online store with everything you need, from merchandising to checkout.
Pricing
- Personal – $16/month
- Business – $23/month
- Commerce(Basic) – $27/month
- Commerce(Advanced) – $49/month
Bigcommerce – Best for Scaling Quickly
BigCommerce is the premier choice for those looking to scale their business rapidly. With its easy-to-use store builder and robust feature set, it’s no wonder many companies choose BigCommerce for their online store needs.
The platform offers powerful built-in sales tools that simplify promoting products and services across multiple channels, including email, social media, and even offline. Plus, BigCommerce offers a wide range of integrations with third-party services to make connecting with customers on different platforms more effortless than ever.
Features
- Flexible product and pricing options to meet the needs of your business
- Powerful APIs for rapid integration with existing systems
- Global scalability to accommodate growing online sales
- Ultrafast performance for quick page loading times and smooth customer experience
- Essential back office integrations for order management and inventory tracking
- Comprehensive security to protect customer data and safeguard against malicious attacks
- Open architecture without proprietary blockers or limitations, so you can customize and innovate as needed.
Pricing
- Standard – $29.95/month
- Plus – $79.95/month
- Pro – $299.95/month
- Enterprise – Custom pricing.
Conclusion
There are many options available for eCommerce website builders, each with its features and benefits. When selecting a builder, consider factors like ease of use, cost, customer support, design flexibility, and available features.
With the right builder, you can create a professional online store that is easy to manage and provides a great shopping experience for customers. Popular options include Wix, Shopify, and BigCommerce, each offering unique advantages.
To ensure you find the best eCommerce website builder for your needs, it is essential to compare the features and prices of different platforms. HostAdvice is an excellent resource that can assist you in making an informed decision.
Next Steps: What Now?
Now that you know what the best eCommerce website builder in the market is, it’s time to start setting up your store;
- Web hosting and security should be at the top of your list to ensure customer data and transactions are secure
- Pick an eCommerce platform such as Shopify or Bigcommerce that fits your needs and budgets
- Choose from a selection of eCommerce WordPress themes to ensure you have a look and feel that fits your brand and product line.
