This is what every person wanting to have/ having their own online store wants! So, we put it all together for you. No, we’re not biased and do not advocate any store, but we will certainly help you get some perspective on the type of online store you want to build. Read on.
The most important parameters used to verify if a particular platform suits your requirements are:-
- Functionality / Features
- Ease of Usage
- Price
- Inventory Management
- Payment Support
- Security
- Customer Service and
- Design
We also picked up three of the most popularly used Ecommerce platforms and have explained the top 3 criteria so as to get you started on the comparison. And the three are: Shopify, BigCommerce and Magento.
Features:
- Magento provides features based on the plan that users opt for. The most basic plan is a bare ecommerce skeleton version. Some of its advanced plans include features like promotional pricing for catalogs, advanced insights from abandoned shopping carts, SEO support, Flexible integration with a third party application with support for Web Services and support for customization.
- BigCommerce’s popular features include wishlists, support for Facebook marketplace, availability of options of selling on eBay, RSS feeds for newly available products, thumbnail photos created automatically, super zoom features etc.
- Shopify, on the other hand, demystifies the whole process of features additions, by allowing users to add functionality, by way of plug-ins available in a comprehensive Shopify App store! Some apps, are not free (at around $1-$5 per month).
Ease of Use :
- BigCommerce provides fairly easy to use drag and drop options for store design. Though the setup could be slightly confusing for novice users, addition of products, shipping, taxes etc., are not difficult.
- Shopify, on the other hand, boasts of a simplified how –to wizard which takes the user step by step through the setup phase and provides correct instructions at the right step. It moreover is a hosted solution, needing no downloads or configurations.
- Magento provides average usability features with heavy dependence on coding styles, technical documentation, hands-on experience on technologies such as PHP, SML, MYSQL etc.
Price
- Magento though slightly more expensive, offers a “community plan” for free and other high end Enterprise versions, for around $14,420 per year.
- BigCommerce plans come with no setup fee and offer five different plans ranging from $24.95 to $299.95 per month. Added advantages are the Google AdWords credits on signup and the 15 day free trial without a credit card.
- Shopify offers 4 plans ranging from $29 to $179 per month with no setup fees, unlimited bandwidth and provide a sweet 30 day free trial without a credit card. With transparent pricing and without hidden fees, every plan comes with a $100 Google Adwords and $100 Amazon Ad Credit, unlimited web hosting and a PCI compliant shopping cart as well!
Need more information? Need assistance in building an online store? Looking for the right platform to fuel your B2C site? DO not hesitate to contact Suyati Technologies