What and Why E-Commerce?

E-Commerce refers to the sale and purchase of goods, products, and services over the Internet. Nowadays online shopping is a modern trend all over the world. It provides quick delivery of goods and services to the customer with very little effort. The main advantage of online business is that it is available to customers 24*7. So that they can place their order anytime from anywhere in the world.

You can also create a custom e-commerce website from scratch, but it is very expensive. Small businesses cannot afford it. There are several ready-to-use e-commerce platforms that are affordable to both small and large businesses.

 

 1)  Magento:

  • Magento is an open-source framework. It is used to build E-Commerce websites. If we compare it with other frameworks then Magento is expensive and a bit difficult for beginners to use and understand.
  • Magento is specialized and scalable for E-Commerce. But at the same time, the main drawback is that handling heavy loads becomes a bit difficult at times. Installation and modification are also expensive.

 

 2)  Shopify:

  • Shopify is a popular cloud-based online E-Commerce platform that allows small businesses to set up an online store without any hassle. Shopify provides many responsive themes that are easy to use.
  • But, Shopify provides limited functionality with high transaction fees and strained customer support.
  • Shopify is the first hosted E-Commerce platform used for content distribution. You can build your store quickly no matter where are you but due to hosted  solution, you don’t have full control over the code. You can only add and update your data but you don’t have full access to control it.

 

 3)  Big-Commerce:

  • Big Commerce is a web-based E-Commerce platform that allows you to design your online store. BigCommerce is used for both large and small businesses. Using this, company owners can create their own stores and sell their items digitally. As long as they have a web browser with an internet connection, they can manage and build their store remotely online.
  • BigCommerce is easy to use without any transition fees and has multiple sales channels. But, there are different pricing options for all types of businesses. It offers limited themes and no lite version is also available.

 

4)  Square Online:

  • Square Online is a completely free E-Commerce platform that allows all types of businesses to sell their products online with the ability to accept online payments. Free plans are also available but some paid plans provide more features that help you sell your products more effectively.
  • Square Online paid plans are available at affordable prices. It has inbuilt marketing features that support everything from email marketing to paid ads, but it provides limited customization features.

 

5)  Presta Shop:

  • PrestaShop is a freemium, open-source E-Commerce platform that allows users to build E-Commerce websites. Where they can sell their products online and provide all kinds of services. It is easy to install, budget-friendly, and user-friendly.
  • Prestashop provides limited designs. It is good enough for small businesses, but not suitable for big businesses. When the platform needs to be expanded, PrestaShop is not an ideal choice as it provides limited scalability.

 

6)  WooCommerce:

  • WooCommerce is an open-source, customizable, and flexible software solution used to create WordPress-based E-Commerce websites. WooCommerce is completely free so, anyone can download, use and modify it. WooCommerce is mostly used to build E-Commerce websites. WooCommerce has become the most popular E-commerce software in the world because it is easy to use for both beginners and experienced people.
  • WooCommerce offers all kinds of customization functionality. It provides simple and effective design options.
  • WooCommerce is affordable for everyone.
  • Both front-end and back-end loading speeds are also faster compared to other plugins.
  • WooCommerce offers thousands of unique design stores through WordPress themes.
  • WooCommerce is completely free. It is easy to use even for non-entrepreneurs.
  • WooCommerce is SEO-friendly  You can sell any type of product on it.
  • WooCommerce provides thousands of free plugins and there are some paid plugins as well, which are available at affordable prices.