The ecommerce industry is huge and it’s only going to keep getting bigger as more and more companies move their businesses online.
And as a startup or small business, if you are not selling products online you’re missing out on a huge opportunity. Thanks to the dead-simple ecommerce platforms that are around these days, you’ll wonder why you didn’t start doing it earlier.
Now, there are aspects of ecommerce that can be complex, but fortunately, setting up an ecommerce website doesn’t have to be — if you have the right tools.
So, where do you start?
Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.
Here are 8 of the best ecommerce site builders for startups, mom-and-pops, and small business owners, or anyone who doesn’t want to deal with a complicated setup. No massive budgets or technical know-how required.
The Best Ecommerce Website Builders For Easy-Set-Up At A Low Price In 2020:
1. 3dcart
3dcart is a super simple website builder that is easy to use and packed with features.
3dcart sites also have a solid track record for growing small business sales. The platform has been designed with SEO in mind, so it is set up to give you your best chance of ranking on Google and driving more traffic to your store.
Plans are low-priced and very straight-forward which makes them easy to understand, though some businesses will find the single-price packages limiting.
Pricing starts at $9.95/month
2. BigCommerce
BigCommerce is another one of those all-round great ecommerce platforms, and in particular gets points for being easy to use, even for people with limited technical knowledge or skills. The platform is very user-friendly, making it easy to put together a site, and if you do come into any difficulties, the company has really good customer support.
This platform comes with a number of built-in features such as pamphlets, coupons, shipping, and analytics. There is a secure payment system, and BigCommerce sites are super-fast which is great for user experience and CRO. It is also set up to easily integrate with social media and other platforms such as eBay and Google shopping.
Pricing varies, with some themes being free (and the free options are limited), while the others involve a fee. However, a great plus of BigCommerce is that there are no transaction fees involved.
This platform isn’t really designed for big operations such as multi-vendor stores, however, it is a great option for startups looking to sell products online.
Pricing starts at $29.95/month
3. Shopify
Shopify is undoubtedly one of the best platforms for building an ecommerce website. They’ve been one of the biggest names in the industry since it was launched in 2004, and has stayed that way ever since. And for good reason: it is simple, user-friendly, and includes pretty much everything you need to sell your products online.
One of the big pluses of Shopify is that your customers can shop directly from social media, being able to make their purchase without ever leaving their social media page. This is ideal in an age where consumers are living on social media and helps greatly to reduce cart abandonment.
Shopify’s platform is sleek, with plenty of themes to choose between, as well as modules and accessories allowing you to customize your site. It is also hyper mobile-friendly, including a very mobile-friendly shopping cart, something that is super important given that more customers shop on their smartphones than on laptops or desktop PCs.
Shopify starts at extremely affordable subscription rates for its Lite plan, though premium plans, necessary for certain features such as full reporting, can get quite expensive.
Pricing starts at $29/month
4. WooCommerce
WooCommerce is WordPress’ ecommerce platform, being a free plugin attached to WordPress. With an additional plugin, you can even use it to create a multi-vendor online store.
WooCommerce is the obvious choice for anyone looking to sell products through their WordPress site, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a good option in its own right. It has a very user-friendly admin panel that you can use to create and monitor listings, a secure payment gateway, and a simple yet effective shopping cart.
One of the great advantages of WooCommerce is that if you’ve already mastered WordPress, adding and using this plugin is super easy. And having your online store run through WordPress is great for SEO, driving more traffic to your products.
As mentioned, it is a free module, but it should be noted that integrating the shopping cart into your system involves fees. As you add more products and clients, you may find WooCommerce becomes unwieldy, but for most startup product stores, this won’t be an issue.
Pricing starts at FREE*
*WooCommerce itself is free but it requires you to buy a domain name (about $15/year) and hosting service (about $25 monthly) from a third-party provider.
5. TemplateToaster
TemplateToaster lets you create your own custom website without any coding and use it with the content management system (CMS) of your choice. It’s a cheaper alternative than going with a subscription service.
The tradeoff is it’s not completely turnkey. You have to find a hosting service but it’s easier than you think and TemplateToaster’s support can walk you through the process.
How does it work?
Simply download and install TemplateToaster on your computer. Then create your website from scratch or you can modify one of TemplateToaster’s stunning pre-designed templates to suit your needs.
When your done designing your site, simply export your template and upload it to a hosting service of your choice.
If you decide to go with WooCommerce you can use TemplateToaster to design a beautiful custom ecommerce site with the features and functionality you need.
Pricing starts at just a one-time fee of $49
6. Wix Stores
Wix is one of the most popular (and best) website builders on the market today, so it’s not surprising they have developed their own ecommerce version: Wix Stores.
Wix Stores is great for beginners, having a very intuitive, user-friendly interface with a large number of responsive themes that will allow you to build a professional-looking online store. The company also offers some of the best customers service and live support in the business.
It does, however, lack some of the features you really need on an ecommerce site, such as abandoned cart recovery.
Wix is a great, user-friendly option for a simple online store. However, for more extensive ecommerce ventures, other options are better.
Pricing starts at $23/month
7. Squarespace
If you’re a startup looking to create a beautiful website with an elegant shopping experience, Squarespace blows the competition away.
Backed by award-winning 24/7 customer support, Squarespace offers an intuitive website builder with all the features and functionality you need to get started selling online. It truly is a turn-key solution with built-in design and marketing tools anyone use.
It’s a responsive platform so your customers will be able to use purchase products from your store on any device. You can even manage your Squarespace website from your smartphone using either their Android or IoS mobile app.
Pricing starts at $26/month
8. Volusion
Volusion is an ecommerce platform with a great track record. It’s easy to use. Everything simple drag & drop. You can choose from a few free themes, or pay extra for a premium theme, in order to easily create your website.
This platform is designed to help beginners build their own store, with loads of user support and learning materials, including training in building your business.
This is a great option for selling physical products but doesn’t accommodate digital products, with prices starting at a reasonably low rate, though it should be noted that the lower-priced plans allow for a limited number of products only.
Pricing starts at $26/month
Editor’s Note: This article is part of the blog series Run Your Business brought to you by the marketing team at UniTel Voice, the virtual phone system priced and designed for startups and small business owners.
