Best eCommerce solution?

There are basically three ways of starting eCommerce. You want to sell only, and retail is your basic activity? Then fixed-store platforms will be a solution ideal for you. The real problems begin if you want to build a brand and grow as your business develops. Let’s have a look on some solutions and see, which of them will suit you best.

• Shopify / BigCommerce

Getting bored in fall made you crochet. It’s worse than the DYI video showed it would be, but you want to sell it anyway. In large numbers.

The first rule of getting started with professional eCommerce is… TRIAL. There is a large range of platforms that offer a ready online store builders and management systems for a monthly payment, but you have to see for yourself which platform suites your business best. I’ve chosen Shopify and BigCommerce, two largest platforms. Support wise, Shopify is the one and only place to start — they have a lot of blog news, videos and support system on literally everything concerning your actions. Moreover, Shopify has their own payment platform for managing your money easier. The advantages of BigCommerce is located in plugins and tools that might be more customed when it comes to your business. But remember, those are online store platforms only, if you want to integrate them with your personal website with tips on crocheting or a gallery, better look below.

• ECWID / WooCommerce

You’ve been just posting random creepy pictures on your www, but since you just got the role of a Vampire in famous movie series, everybody want’s to buy your merch.

There are two easy to implement plugins, that will add eCommerce to your site. The first and easiest is one is ECWID — it has a free version up to 10 items, but to get serious with payment, shipping or promotions you can choose a paid plan. ECWID is responsive with any CMS where as WooCommerce is integrated only with WordPress. WooCommerce has a huge benefit of being an open-source solution, but, be prepared to pay for extensions (ex. shipping options, coupons, newsletters). You can play around with both versions — firstly ECWID is ideal for beginners, as you can have only Facebook page to sell & add products. WooCommerce has a large range of options, you can create an interesting shop with it, but it’s available only on WordPress.

• Hosting with eCommerce

You would buy time in gallons. That’s probably why you either don’t want to get your hands dirty with IT or you are hands deep in it. One provider, one hosting and one eCommerce is a thing for you.

To save time and money, choose a hoster, that offers e-commerce as one of their features. Pages such as GoDaddy, Wix, Home.pl have their own eCommerce offer, that is either created by them or bought as an SaaS solution (ePages, DreamCommerce). Always trial the version (watch out for GoDaddy’s credit card obligatory entrance!) and choose the best plan for you. eCommerce build-ins seem to be easy and up for heavy competition with places like Shopify.

• Magento / PrestaShop

Neo from Matrix was your teenage idol. You’ve managed to program, speak in different “languages” and your friends are sometimes in .jpg, but you still want to sell something more real.

Both solutions are open-source shops, that you can implement and develop yourself. The only issue here is that you still need a hosting service and… some abilities in coding! Here, everything is customised. PrestaShop is a bit easier to install, but Magento has a wide community of supporters and forum tutorials. Also, when using Magento you’ll find more payment and shipping options. Moreover, Magento has partnered with eBay, and even if both open-source solutions have plugins for eBay, Magento handles it better.