Six eCommerce Platforms to Use for Your Small Business eCommerce Store
The eCommerce industry has seen an explosion in revenue over the last few years, and it’s not hard to see why. The use of smartphones and tablets have grown exponentially, which makes the ease of online shopping even easier. And for a potential small business owner, the eCommerce industry has quite a few advantages as well. The cost of buying/renting/building a brick-and-mortar store is entirely out the window, as well as the cost of furnishing it, providing utilities for the space, and making sure that it is fully staffed for the hours that it’s open. With an eCommerce store for a small business, the production cost dramatically reduces, it’s possible to maintain and operate the business with a smaller staff, and you can continue to make money even when you’re asleep! But creating an eCommerce store for a small business isn’t necessarily a breeze, but choosing the right eCommerce platform for your small business can certainly help. When choosing an eCommerce platform, remember that there isn’t one perfect platform, and also that a platform that worked well for somebody else might not necessarily work as well for your eCommerce store. The most important thing to keep in mind is what your small business priorities are, and what your eCommerce store truly needs, and then find the eCommerce platform that matches up the best. Here are six of the top performing eCommerce platforms to use in order to create your eCommerce store for your small business:
WooCommerce
This open source eCommerce solution is free and is available as a plugin for WordPress 
websites, and it has been named the best WordPress plugin. It can’t handle quite as much traffic as other eCommerce platforms, and it doesn’t have as many add-ons available. But, if you are more comfortable with WordPress as a website for an eCommerce store for your small business, you want an open source eCommerce solution, and your eCommerce isn’t your primary motivation, then WooCommerce is the one for you.
Magento
Magento is one of the eCommerce platforms that is more robust than something like WooCommerce. It has found to be one of the most flexible eCommerce platforms as well as the one with the most features. It can work right away (with minor customizations for your business), and it can fit a variety of different business levels needs. The admin is found to be very intuitive and easy-to-use, so you can generally make customizations on your own throughout the software. However, the use of a web developer who is comfortable with Magento can go in and make more specific customizations through code.
3dCart
This eCommerce platform is perfect for an eCommerce store for small business because it makes it so easy for you to get your business up and running. That’s because it’s a fully hosted eCommerce shopping cart, and it comes with an almost infinite amount of features that you can enhance and customize for however, you want your eCommerce store to look like. Another advantage of 3dCart over other hosted platforms is that it provides its users with FTP access. FTP is file transfer protocol, which allows you to transfer files between computers on any given network. What this means for your eCommerce store, is that it makes it easier to work with a variety of design files and generally increase ease-of-use.
BigCommerce, Shopify, and Volusion
These three fall into the same category because of their similarities, mainly that when you use one of these three eCommerce platforms for your small business, you build your online store out of one of their pre-made templates. You can go in and change things within the template in order to customize it for your own needs and preferences, but the basic foundation and structure is already there. There isn’t necessarily a right or a wrong when it comes to choosing between BigCommerce, Shopify, and Volusion. However, each one has variations on its pricing model, as well as features available and it’s user interface, so the best choice is to determine what is most important to your small business and choose depending on what’s available.
There are other things to keep in mind when running an eCommerce store for small business beyond just the best platform to choose. With the changing technology landscape, it’s important that small businesses try to keep up in order to not fall behind to competitors who are taking advantage of updates in technology. One of the most important technological advancements that small businesses can stay on top of, is the advancements in smartphones and mobile devices. Several of the eCommerce platforms listed have abilities for mobile sites, and it’s apparent that the only way to stay ompetitive with your eCommerce store, is to make sure you invest in mobile devices.
Where else should small business stay at the forefront of? Social advertising. Beyond just posting pictures and content about products or services of your business, take advantage of the new trend and opportunity that advertisements on Facebook and Twitter can bring your small business. With the right eCommerce platform for your small business, and by staying at the front of technology trends, your eCommerce store will be well on its way to small business success. If you’re looking for a professional agency to help develop your eCommerce online store, email info@geniusecommerce.com for a recommendation.
