During these unprecedented times, eCommerce has become a vital lifeline for a number of businesses – in particular those who’ve had to close their physical stores in the face of lockdowns and enforced restrictions. Equally though, the pandemic shouldn’t be the only reason a business heads online, as ultimately eCommerce can allow a company to tap into a huge online market.
So if you’ve yet to move into the eCommerce markets and you’re looking for some guidance as to which platform you should choose, this post has taken a closer look at some of the major platforms in 2021 and what they have to offer.
Shopify
Shopify is the most popular eCommerce platform in many countries across the world, but it’s not hard to see why. It’s relatively straightforward to set up, it’s quick to deploy and comes with a variety of themes you can personalise to fit your brand.
In a similar vein, Shopify has an app store with over 2,500 apps you can use to improve the features of your online store and offer customers a better shopping experience. To build on this it can also easily sync with your business’s social media platforms for multi-channel selling.
A final plus point is that Shopify has a customer base of over one million businesses, which certainly suggests it must be doing something right. That being said, one of the areas it falls down is that it’s not the best for SEO as some users have had issues trying to optimise their store for search using the current interface.
Magento
Magento is another popular choice for businesses around the world, but is a little more technical than Shopify and is better-suited to those with some experience with web dev.
Magento is also brimming with customisable features that can offer a top experience for your customers. It’s also scalable and can easily grow with your business, plus it’s often considered to be the best for SEO and for integrating a digital marketing strategy.
However, many big brands use Magento so it’s clearly got a lot going for it. Your other option here would be to then hire or use a developer to help you create a class-leading platform for your business.
Wix
Wix has really established itself in recent years and is a very popular choice for small businesses as an eCommerce platform. This is mainly down to the really easy to use interface that can allow you to design an attractive site for your business, but equally there are hundreds of great templates and themes to choose from as well.
Like Shopify it also integrates well with other sales channels and has a ton of additional features that can be used to personalise and improve the UX of your business’s eCommerce site. The downside to Wix is that it’s not that scalable and has limited storage space, so if you’re expecting quick online growth this might not be the best choice.
Making the Right Choice for You
The above are only a few examples of the options you have for an eCommerce platform, but you should aim to choose something that best suits your needs. As such, take into consideration things like:
- Cost
- Ease of use and setup
- Integration options
- Additional features and scalability
- Design features
If in doubt, look to those which offer free trials so you can try them out first. You may also want to get the thoughts of your consumers about what they’d expect from your online store and check out your competition to see what they have to offer.
Andrew Rogers
Andrew is a veteran eCommerce consultant who has been on the frontline of eCommerce for over 10 years, firefighting the industry’s problems from setup to acquisition and writing for a variety of publications. His aim, with the help of his self-help website eCommerce Value, is to educate the sector and help fill the skills gap.
