Exploring the 10 Best eCommerce Platforms for Small Businesses

The Best eCommerce Platforms for Small Businesses in 2024

best ecommerce platforms for small businesses

Selecting the best eCommerce platform makes it easy to create and run your online store. An appropriate platform provides all the tools you need to build a great-looking and fully functional store without any hassle. However, the abundance of platforms (each with its unique features, uses, purposes, and target audiences) can pose a challenge for beginners trying to find the best eCommerce platforms for small businesses.

Luckily, we are here to help. This blog will introduce you to the 10 best eCommerce platforms designed specifically for small businesses. For each, we will discuss features, pricing, scalability, and more. 

Don’t wait any longer; let’s scroll down to view the details of this list.

Exploring the 10 Best eCommerce Platforms for Small Businesses

Below are the 10 best eCommerce platforms for small businesses, featuring key aspects like pricing, free trial length, themes and templates, integrations, POS, and G2 rating (a score of user satisfaction and feedback for a particular software or service).

Shopify - The Best eCommerce Platform for Small Businesses in 2024

Shopify is widely recognized as a top-notch eCommerce platform for small businesses. This all-inclusive eCommerce website builder offers a range of free tools and features that enable you to effortlessly sell your products online through social commerce, third-party marketplaces, and dropshippers.

With Shopify, you have the freedom to design your store using over 170 paid or free themes without requiring any coding expertise.

The image screenshot of admin.Shopify.com
Shopify is one of the leading eCommerce platforms for small businesses.

Overview of Shopify

Free trial length: 3 days

Pricing

  • Basic Shopify plan: $25 per month
  • Shopify plan: $65 per month
  • Advanced Shopify plan: $399 per month

Themes and templates: 174 themes with 12 free themes and 162 premium themes

Integrations: Shopify supports integration with popular platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Google, Walmart Marketplace, eBay, and Amazon.

Point-of-sale (POS): Yes

G2 rating: 4.4/5

Pros and Cons of Shopify

Pros:

  • Easy-to-use website configuration
  • Over 8,000 app integrations available
  • 24/7 customer support
  • Recover abandoned shopping carts

Cons:

  • When using Shopify Payments, transaction costs are incurred
  • Only a few free themes

BigCommerce - The Best eCommerce Platform for Small Businesses in 2024

BigCommerce serves as one of the best eCommerce platforms for small businesses. This complete solution equips you with all the necessary tools to establish an online store easily and professionally.

One of the standout features of BigCommerce is its ability to create multiple storefronts and effectively manage multiple brands simultaneously. In addition, the platform facilitates seamless integration with popular marketplaces and social channels, enabling you to expand your reach and connect with a wider audience.

BigCommerce is one of the best eCommerce platforms for small businesses with a friendly interface.

Overview of BigCommerce

Free trial length: 15 days

Pricing

  • Standard plan: $29 per month
  • Plus plan: $79 per month
  • Pro plan: $299 per month when paid annually

For the Enterprise plan, the pricing is customized based on specific requirements.

Themes and templates: More than 200 themes to cater to all niches

Integrations: Online platforms such as Google Shopping, Facebook, price comparison engines, eBay, Amazon, Walmart, Etsy, and Instagram

Point-of-sale (POS): Yes

G2 rating: 4.2/5 

Pros and Cons of BigCommerce

Pros

  • All-inclusive entry-level package
  • Intuitive website builder with drag-and-drop feature
  • A vast array of product options at your disposal
  • Includes tools for blogging and SEO optimization
  • Powerful reporting functionalit

Cons

  • The standard plan does not include an abandoned cart feature
  • There is a limited selection of free themes available
  • Additional payment is required to access more customization options for content

Squarespace - The Best eCommerce Platform for Small Businesses in 2024

Squarespace offers a user-friendly interface, making it a viable choice for small businesses. With its templates, drag-and-drop tools, and dependable functionality, you can effortlessly establish an online store. 

Although Squarespace initially focused on website building rather than eCommerce, it has now incorporated features to cater to online sellers. While many Squarespace users primarily sell services, it is still suitable for businesses that offer products.

Overview of Squarespace

Squarespace offers a user-friendly interface, making it a viable choice for small businesses. With its templates, drag-and-drop tools, and dependable functionality, you can effortlessly establish an online store. 

Although Squarespace initially focused on website building rather than eCommerce, it has now incorporated features to cater to online sellers. While many Squarespace users primarily sell services, it is still suitable for businesses that offer products.

The image screenshot of account.squarespace.com
Squarespace is a popular website builder and content management system (CMS).

Overview of Squarespace

Free trial length: 14 days

Pricing: 

  • Personal plan: $16 per month
  • Business plan: $23 per month
  • Commerce Basic plan: $27 per month
  • Commerce Advanced plan: $49 per month

Themes and templates: More than 160 templates for all topics

Integrations: Shopping Feed extension to sell on Amazon, eBay, Etsy, and Google Actions

Point-of-sale (POS): Available via mobile app

G2 rating: 4.4/5 

Pros and Cons of Squarespace

Pros

  • Even with no technical and creative knowledge, you may still create an exquisite website of professional quality
  • Unlimited bandwidth and storage
  • Most plans have fully integrated eCommerce

Cons

  • Phone assistance is unavailable
  • There is no complimentary plan accessible

Weebly - The Best eCommerce Platform for Small Businesses in 2024

Weebly is an exceptional eCommerce platform designed specifically for small businesses seeking a straightforward online store that prioritizes basic functionality. Moreover, this platform proves to be particularly beneficial for businesses offering customized products, especially those operating on a tight budget and not yet capable enough to invest in other premium eCommerce solutions.
The image screenshot of weebly.com
Weebly stands out in terms of both design and user-friendliness.

Overview of Weebly

Free trial length: Free and paid plans start at $10 per month

Pricing: 

  • Free plan
  • Personal plan: $10 per month
  • Professional plan: $12 per month 
  • Performance plan: $26 per month

Themes and templates: Fully responsive themes for websites, online stores, business, portfolio, personal, event, and blog

Integrations: N/A

Point-of-sale (POS): Integrated Square POS

G2 rating: 4.2/5 

Pros and Cons of Weebly

Pros

  • Forever free plan
  • Premium plans at competitive prices
  • User-friendly interface
  • No coding expertise needed
  • Complimentary SSL security
  • Includes eCommerce functionalities

Cons

  • Few options for modification
  • Phone assistance is provided only with Professional plans and higher

WooCommerce - The Best eCommerce Platform for Small Businesses in 2024

WooCommerce serves as WordPress’s solution for online selling. Originally designed for blogging websites, it has transformed into a website builder that offers the option of incorporating WooCommerce for online sales functionality.

Being open source, WooCommerce allows for customization if you possess the necessary technical expertise in website design and coding. While the WooCommerce plug-in itself is free, additional integrations and plug-ins may require payment for premium tools.

Woo is a free plugin for WordPress that allows you to sell anything, anywhere.

Overview of WooCommerce

Free trial length: Try selected WooCommerce extensions for free for 30 days using a personal test site.

Pricing: 

  • Hosting expenses: Around $120 per year
  • Domain registration: Around $15, but it can be considerably more expensive depending on your own needs.

Themes and templates: More than 84 themes are found in WooCommerce

Integrations: Google Shopping, Etsy, eBay, Facebook, Amazon, Pinterest, and Walmart

Point-of-sale (POS): Native POS available

G2 rating: 4.4/5 

Pros and Cons of WooCommerce

Pros:

  • Free
  • Highly customizable
  • Excellent SEO
  • Offer services, digital downloads, and physical products.
  • Contracts are not required

Cons:

  • Works exclusively with WordPress websites
  • Paid WordPress hosting is mandatory
  • Phone support is not provided

Square Online - The Best eCommerce Platform for Small Businesses in 2024

When it comes to which eCommerce platform is best for small businesses, Square Online is a great option; it is specifically designed for eCommerce. Square Online facilitates seamless payment processing. The inventory synchronization feature guarantees that your online store stays consistently up-to-date.

While there is a free plan available, the paid plans offer a wide array of additional features to enhance the selling capabilities of your small business.

The image screenshot of squareup.com
Square Online is the next name in the 10 best eCommerce platforms for small businesses.

Overview of Square Online

Pricing: 

  • Free plan: 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction
  • Plus plan: $29 per month (2.9% + 30¢ per transaction)
  • Premium plan: $79 per month (2.6% + 30¢ per transaction)

Themes and templates: 25+ customizable themes are included in the $29 per month Plus plan

Integrations: Google Shopping, Instagram, and Facebook

Point-of-sale (POS): Integrated Square POS

G2 rating: 4.3/5 

Pros and Cons of Square Online

Pros

  • Available at no cost
  • Reasonably priced paid plans
  • Sell as many products as you like on your website, Facebook, and Instagram.
  • Integrated inventory control
  • Free domain with a premium plan
  • On premium plans, a feature for recovering abandoned carts
  • In-depth analyses of premium plans
  • Reduced processing fee for the Premium plan

Cons

  • Problems with customer service, restricted days and hours
  • High-volume sellers may incur significant transaction fees
  • There are few customizing choices

PrestaShop - The Best eCommerce Platform for Small Businesses in 2024

PrestaShop serves as an open-source eCommerce platform, functioning as a shopping cart solution. PrestaShop extends its services to customers in 190 countries worldwide. The comprehensive, adaptable, expandable, and reliable solutions are designed to empower every entrepreneur to take complete ownership, control, and expansion of their online store.
The image screenshot of prestashop.com
Over 300,000 merchants have already joined PrestaShop's platform.

Overview of PrestaShop

Free trial length: 14 days

Pricing: PrestaShop has not disclosed the pricing details for the particular product or service

Themes and templates: More than 1500 templates for various industries, colors, styles, and structures

Integrations: PrestaShop boasts an extensive range of over 4,000 third-party applications and integrations in PrestaShop’s Official Add-ons Marketplace

Point-of-sale (POS): Yes

G2 rating: 4.3/5 

Pros and Cons of PrestaShop

Pros

  • Easy to install 
  • Open-source platform 
  • Easy to use and maintain 
  • User-friendly interface 
  • Demographic assistance 
  • Minimal system requirements 
  • Secure payment 

Cons

  • Modules can be expensive 
  • Not easy to modify if you don’t know how Smarty templates work 
  • Community support is okay 
  • Not a complete eCommerce solution 

Wix - The Best eCommerce Platform for Small Businesses in 2024

If you’re searching for a cost-effective solution for your small store, Wix is the ideal eCommerce platform for you. It is highly suitable for small brands, particularly print-on-demand businesses. 

The Wix website builder provides a well-rounded solution that encompasses enterprise-grade infrastructure, business features, advanced SEO, and marketing tools. This allows individuals to effortlessly create and expand their online presence. With Wix, you have the advantage of immense design flexibility, allowing you to create a visually captivating website without the need for coding or web design expertise.

Create a website with a complete suite of advanced features through the Wix platform.

Overview of Wix

Free trial length: 14 days

Pricing

  • Light plan: $16 per month
  • Core plan: $27 per month
  • Business plan: $32 per month
  • Business Elite plan: $159 per month 

Custom pricing is available for businesses that want to meet their specific requirements

Themes and templates: More than 800 website templates

Integrations: Facebook and Instagram require third-party app Ecwid

Point-of-sale (POS): Yes

G2 rating: 4.2/5

Pros and Cons of Wix

Pros

  • User-friendly drag-and-drop interface
  • Incorporated SEO capabilities

Cons

  • All plans have storage limits
  • Once your website becomes live, you cannot alter the template

Shift4 Shop - The Best eCommerce Platform for Small Businesses in 2024

Shift4 Shop is an all-inclusive eCommerce platform that equips customers with all the necessary tools to successfully run an online store. With a plethora of features readily available and flexible pricing plans, Shift4 Shop is an ideal choice for small business owners who are on a tight budget but still want to expand their online presence. Additionally, it serves as an excellent option for business owners who prefer not to be affected by technical intricacies.
The PrestaShop platform facilitates creating a website and expanding your business.

Overview of Shift4 Shop

Free trial length: 15 days

Pricing

  • Enterprise-grade plan: Free, with a minimum requirement of processing $500 per month. 
  • PayPal’s plan: starting at $29 per month.

Themes and templates: More than 100 design templates

Integrations: MailChimp, AWeber, Google, Facebook, Houzz, and more

Point-of-sale (POS): Yes

G2 rating: 3.9/5 

Pros and Cons of Shift4 Shop

Pros

  • Access a premium plan absolutely free of charge
  • Take advantage of upsell and cross-sell opportunities
  • Benefit from the convenience of a built-in CRM

Cons

  • Restricted customization options
  • Paid plans have sales limitations
  • Auto-ship capability is only accessible with End-to-End and Pro plans

Volusion - The Best eCommerce Platform for Small Businesses in 2024

Volusion, a hosted eCommerce platform, is a favored and cost-effective choice for small businesses seeking to establish their online stores. Volusion serves as a user-friendly eCommerce website builder that takes care of all the hosting requirements. With Volusion, you can effortlessly design your store, upload your products, and leave the rest to the platform.
The image screenshot of volusion.com
Volusion has a large selection of both free and premium themes.

Overview of Volusion

Free trial length: 14 days

Pricing

  • Personal plan: $35 per month
  • Professional plan: $79 per month
  • Business plan: $299 per month
  • Prime plan: based on GMV

Themes and templates: Volusion’s themes are completely adaptable to each business’s specific preferences and are provided to Volusion merchants at no additional cost

Integrations: There are many payment gateways, including PayPal, Stripe, and more

Point-of-sale (POS): Yes

G2 rating: 3.2/5 

Pros and Cons of Volusion

Pros

  • Offer a wide range of integrated marketing tools, such as SEO capabilities
  • Provide access to CSS for customizations
  • Automatically calculate taxes and shipping costs for seamless transactions
  • Deliver thorough reporting for detailed insights and analysis

Cons

  • There are no integrated blogging tools available
  • The lower tier plans have a restricted number of products available
  • There is a limited selection of free themes to choose from
  • Only stores based in the U.S. can utilize Volusion Payments

Guides to Select the Best eCommerce Platform for Small Business

There is no eCommerce platform that is identical to another, and each platform is designed with different purposes in mind. Some are tailored for startups and small businesses, while others are specifically built for enterprise-level businesses. When selecting the appropriate eCommerce platform for selling online, it is crucial to take these factors into consideration:

  • Size of your business: The size of each business can be defined through different criteria, including the number of staff members, yearly earnings, market share, and more.
  • Platform costs: The costs of running an online platform can vary greatly depending on the complexity of your website, the platform you choose, and the features you need. Costs can include website design, hosting, maintenance, security, and marketing.
  • Define the types of businesses (new or established): If you’re a new business, you might face challenges like building brand awareness and gaining customer trust. In contrast, if you’ve been operating in your niche for some time and have a solid customer base, you might focus on expanding your product line or entering new markets.
  • Types of products you sell: The products you sell impact your business conversion strategies and operations. Physical goods require inventory and shipping management, while digital products demand good download speeds and customer service. Understanding your product types aids in making informed business decisions.
  • Target market: Define your target market, the group that most likely to purchase your products or services. Identifying their demographics, psychographics, and buying behavior helps you tailor your products, services, and marketing to meet their needs easily.
  • Budget for sales and marketing: Your sales and marketing budget is the amount of money allocated for promoting your products or services, which includes costs for various marketing channels, like advertising and digital marketing. 
  • The level of technical management desired: The level of technical management desired depends on your preference for direct control over your online business. If you prefer focusing on your core business, a fully managed platform might be suitable. If you want more control and can handle technical aspects, a self-hosted platform could be a better choice.
  • Mobile app for business management: Mobile app can enhance online business management, enabling on-the-go monitoring of sales, inventory, and customer interactions.
  • Control over the website: Having complete control over your website allows for customization, scalability, and enhanced security. However, it requires technical knowledge and can be time-consuming. You need to consider these factors when deciding on your website’s control level.

You can make a comprehensive list of essential features that your eCommerce platform must possess. Additionally, compile a supplementary list of desirable features that are not mandatory. As you review the available options for eCommerce solutions, you can gradually customize and consider your choices based on the above lists.

Wrapping Up

In the list of the best eCommerce platforms for small businesses, each has its strengths. Shopify is renowned for its robust features and ease of use, making it a great choice for beginners. Squarespace shines with its superior design templates, ideal for businesses that value aesthetics. WooCommerce, an open-source plugin for WordPress, offers flexibility and control, perfect for businesses with specific needs. Therefore, the choice between these platforms should be guided by the unique requirements and capabilities of your business. 

About GemPages Academy

GemPages Academy is a knowledge hub for storefront optimization and achieving overall eCommerce success. In collaboration with industry experts and leveraging cutting-edge Shopify applications, GemPages Academy offers a diverse array of content in various formats, including insightful blogs, intuitive tutorials, comprehensive webinars, and educational courses.

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