Top 6 E-commerce Platforms For Startups

In this post, we’ll delve into the world of e-commerce, exploring the best ecommerce platform for startups with our top 6 recommendations, paving the way for your online business success.

Key Takeaways

• When choosing the best ecommerce platform for startups, consider top options like Shopify, Wix, BigCommerce, Squarespace, Square Online, WooCommerce, and more. Each platform offers unique features and pricing structures, allowing startups to select the one that aligns with their business goals and budget. 
• Among the leading ecommerce platforms, Shopify is a versatile and user-friendly choice for startups. With its intuitive interface, customizable templates, and robust ecommerce features, Shopify empowers startups to create, manage, and scale their online stores effectively. Indeed, many individuals and experts consider Shopify to be a standout choice as the best ecommerce platform for startups.

6 Best Ecommerce Platforms For Startups

In this guide, we’ll explore the 6 best ecommerce platforms tailor-made for your budding business.

Shopify

Shopify is the ultimate solution for startups looking to establish a strong online presence and thrive in e-commerce. With its user-friendly website-building tools, versatile customization options, and a vast collection of professionally designed themes, Shopify empowers entrepreneurs to effortlessly create unique, branded, and visually appealing online stores. Shopify is often considered the best ecommerce platform for startups due to several compelling reasons

Pros

• All-in-one e-commerce solution
• User-friendly drag-and-drop interface for easy customization
• More than 150 ready-made themes for web design
• Unlimited bandwidth, products, and storage space
• Built-in payment gateways and over 100 third-party providers
• Shopify POS for every plan
• Unlimited dropship products
• Over 8,000 apps on the Shopify app store for functionality enhancement
• Cart abandonment recovery
• Free 10,000 email marketing/month
• SEO optimization and blog pages
• 24/7 phone support, live chat, and email support

Cons

• No free plan
• Transaction fees if not using Shopify’s built-in payment gateway – Shopify Payments
• Premium themes come with an additional cost

Pricing

Shopify provides a selection of subscription plans tailored to ecommerce store creation, spanning from $39 to $2000+ monthly. You can save 25% on upfront fees by choosing an annual subscription. These prices are applicable in the US, and regional fees may vary.

To begin, Shopify offers a three-day free trial and an exclusive offer of only $1 per month for the initial three months. This enables you to thoroughly explore and test Shopify’s features at a minimal cost during your startup phase.

Best features 

Shopify is a user-friendly platform perfect for startups. Its drag-and-drop feature lets anyone design an online store with no coding required. The platform provides 135 templates, including 12 free ones, and premium themes are available for a one-time fee, offering both looks and functionality.

Storage isn’t an issue with Shopify. Startups can upload countless products, photos, and videos. They can also manage everything from a single dashboard, from products to customer data. This centralized control, paired with inventory tools, aids in building customer relationships.

Moreover, Shopify integrates with over 8,000 apps to boost store capabilities, covering areas like marketing, analytics, and shipping. Their POS system also makes offline sales management straightforward.

One notable feature is the Abandoned Cart Recovery, which nudges customers to complete their purchases. Plus, Shopify’s built-in SEO tools help drive more online traffic. With 10,000 free monthly email sends, startups can easily engage customers with campaigns.  Therefore, a significant number of individuals and experts regard Shopify as a top-tier option when it comes to selecting the best ecommerce platform for startups

Additionally, selling directly on platforms like Facebook and Instagram is possible with Shopify. And if you don’t want to handle inventory, Shopify supports dropshipping, simplifying product sourcing.

Which type of ecommerce business should use Shopify

Shopify is suitable for various types of startup ecommerce businesses, including:

• Businesses selling physical products, whether fashion, electronics, home goods or niche items.
• Artists and crafters to showcase and sell their handmade products.
• Startups offering subscription-based services or curated box deliveries.
• Dropshipping businesses.
• Fashion and apparel brands.
• Startups selling digital goods like ebooks, software, or online courses.
• Businesses selling gourmet foods, beverages, or specialty products.
• Startups selling tech gadgets, accessories, or electronics.

Wix Ecommerce

Wix is a versatile platform that offers invaluable support to startups looking to establish a robust online presence.

Pros

• Affordable plans
• User-friendly drag-and-drop interface
• 900s template for web design
• Unlimited bandwidth
• Over 70 other payment gateways
• Flexibility in automatic tracking of stock levels
• Manual inventory status setting for specific products
• Free 200 emails per month
• Abandoned cart recovery
• SEO optimization and blog pages
• Phone support, live chat, and email support

Cons

• Storage limitations for some plans
• Unoptimized responsive
• POS’s limited payment acceptance in the US and Canada
• Limited dropship products
• Need to edit the site from scratch when switching templates
• Advanced features are only available in a higher-priced plan

Pricing

Wix provides five subscription plans, with pricing ranging from as low as $16 per month to custom rates, depending on the chosen plan’s specific features. 

Furthermore, for those interested in exploring risk-free e-commerce capabilities, Wix presents a 14-day free trial, allowing you to experience their online selling features at no cost. 

Best features 

Wix offers a suite of features that are exceptionally beneficial for startup businesses. Their website features include a built-in membership area, enabling startups to offer exclusive content to members, potentially creating a recurring revenue stream. The intuitive drag-and-drop interface makes website creation accessible to users without coding knowledge, allowing startups to establish their online presence effortlessly. 

Wix excels in customization, providing tools to personalize website appearance and design, aligning it perfectly with the brand identity. Additionally, startups can use Wix’s vast collection of over 900 professionally designed templates, simplifying the website creation process and saving valuable time.

About ecommerce, Wix shines with features such as using custom domains to enhance brand credibility and recognition. Startups can list and sell up to 50,000 products, catering to businesses of all sizes. Advanced shipping capabilities allow customization of shipping methods and rates, ensuring a seamless and reliable customer experience. 

Wix supports multiple payment gateways and currencies, facilitating smooth and secure transactions for global customers. Their sales and marketing tools include abandoned cart recovery, multi-channel selling, user-friendly shopping buttons, and dropshipping integration, empowering startups to expand their reach and boost conversions.

Which type of ecommerce business should use Wix

Wix is suitable for various types of startup ecommerce businesses, including:

• Startups offering premium content or restricted access to members.
• Boutiques or small-scale retailers with up to 50,000 products.
• Businesses targeting international customers with multiple payment options and currencies.
• Startups looking to expand their product offerings without inventory.
• Businesses sell across their websites and various online platforms.
• Startups aiming to recover abandoned carts and increase sales conversions.

BigCommerce

BigCommerce is the ultimate solution for startups and businesses of all sizes, whether you’re a B2B or B2C merchant. It’s designed to empower your online presence by offering a range of benefits, such as robust SEO capabilities, transparent subscription pricing, and zero transaction fees. 

Pros

• Streamlined selling in multiple currencies.
• Third-party real-time shipping calculations.
• No transaction fees, even with third-party payment providers.
• Easy creation of custom fields.
• Built-in product review functionality.
• Drag-and-drop page builder functionality.
• Strong SEO features.
• Unlimited staff accounts on any plan.
• Built-in blog (sans RSS feed).
• Built-in GDPR-compliant cookie consent feature.

Cons

• Annual online sales limits
• Free themes’ similarity
• Limited typefaces in free themes
• Free template editing difficulty
• Smart product rule setting restriction
• Expensive e-commerce insights
• RSS feed absence in built-in blog

Pricing

BigCommerce provides three monthly pricing plans ranging from $39 to $399. For enterprise-level solutions, you have to contact their sales team for pricing. By opting for an annual subscription, you can enjoy savings of up to 25% annually. Additionally, BigCommerce offers a 15-day trial period to explore its features.

Best features 

BigCommerce is a top ecommerce solution for startups, eliminating the need for extra apps and costs. You can skip the stress and cost of third-party apps, simplifying your startup’s online journey.

It’s especially handy for businesses with varied products, like clothing. BigCommerce creates SKUs for product variations, saving time and letting you focus on growth.

Additionally, it integrates easily with big platforms like Facebook and Amazon. This ensures consistent listings and wider reach without added manual effort.

One of its standout features is the abandoned cart recovery. It sends personalized emails to bring back potential buyers, recovering 12-15% of them. It’s best to consider the Plus plan for startups wanting this perk.

BigCommerce also syncs online and offline payments, centralizing your operations. This and its built-in features lessen the need for third-party apps and streamline business tasks.

On the shipping front, BigCommerce offers real-time quotes and discounted rates through its Shipping app. With over 100 design themes, startups can find the perfect look to make their store unique.

Which type of ecommerce business should use BigCommerce

BigCommerce is suitable for a wide range of ecommerce startup businesses, including:

• Startups that offer a variety of physical, digital, and service-based products.
• Fashion and apparel brands that sell multiple product variants.
• Startups aim to sell across different platforms, such as Facebook, Amazon, eBay, and Instagram.
• Businesses looking to leverage email marketing and abandoned cart recovery as a key strategy to re-engage customers.
• Brick-and-mortar businesses want to expand their business online.
• Mobile-first startups

Square Online

With a suite of powerful features tailored for emerging entrepreneurs, Square Online makes it effortless for startups to establish a robust online presence, efficiently manage their e-commerce operations, and drive growth through effective sales and marketing strategies. 

Pros

• Reasonable price
• Free plan available
• Easy-to-use dashboard
• Product sales and customer journey tracking
• Abandoned cart recovery
• Inbuilt marketing features supporting email marketing and paid advertisements.
• Built-in payment gateway
• Built-in marketing features
• Seamlessly sync with Square POS

Cons

• Limited scope for customization
• Small learning curve for platform beginners

Pricing

Square Online distinguishes itself as an excellent value-for-money website builder, providing a range of plan options. These include a free plan and two paid plans: Plus, priced at $29 per month, and Premium, at $79 per month. 

Best features 

Square Online is an ideal platform for startups wanting a strong online footprint. Its paid plans offer custom domains, letting businesses craft a unique web address in line with their brand. Moreover, these plans ensure detailed site customization, allowing startups full control over design and guaranteeing a smooth user experience that echoes their brand.

The platform excels in e-commerce, offering easy inventory management and order-handling tools. Startups can trust it for secure transactions, as it supports multiple payment methods like credit cards and Apple Pay.

Square Online also lets startups handle multiple sites from one dashboard and boasts an unlimited product capacity. This ensures a broad showcase of products, and its multi-currency support broadens global reach. High shipping volumes benefit from the platform’s shipping discounts. Plus, there’s the option for in-house deliveries for more delivery control.

Sales and marketing get a boost too. Startups can sell across different channels, reaching more customers. And if a customer leaves items in their cart, the Abandoned Cart Recovery sends them reminders, enhancing sales chances.

Integration with a strong POS system ensures seamless inventory and sales tracking. Startups can also offer promotions using the Coupon Creation feature, driving sales and fostering customer loyalty.

Which type of ecommerce business should use SquareOnline

• Retail startups looking to manage and sell their products online efficiently.
• Startups transitioning from physical stores to online operations.
• Startups with a global customer base.
• Startups focused on offering subscription-based services or products.
• Startups aiming to sell across various platforms and marketplaces.
• Businesses rely on promotions and special offers to attract and retain customers.
• Businesses with limited budgets

Squarespace

Squarespace is the go-to platform for startups seeking a streamlined and creative approach to establishing a professional and visually appealing online presence.

Pros

• Affordable plans
• Free transaction fees for some plans
• User-friendly experience drag-and-drop interface
• Over 100 professionally-designed templates to choose from
• Unlimited bandwidth
• 30 minutes of video storage
• SEO optimization and blog pages
• Chat and email support

Cons

• No inhouse payment gateways and under 10 third-party payment providers
• POS’s limited payment acceptance in the US
• Only two options for dropshipping
• Limited inventory management functions
• Only 32 extensions

Pricing

Squarespace offers 4 plans, 2 of which are tailored to business and e-commerce requirements, with prices ranging from $23 to $65 per month. The platform’s flexibility varies depending on the chosen plan. The “Commerce Basic” and “Commerce Advanced” plans do not impose transaction fees, making them an attractive choice for e-commerce-focused businesses.

Squarespace stands behind its product, providing users a standard 14-day trial period to explore and test their platform. Extensions are available for those who need more time to build their websites. Additionally, users can enjoy substantial savings of 24% to 30% by opting for annual subscription payments, enhancing the overall value of Squarespace’s pricing structure.

Best features 

Squarespace is a top choice for startups, making website creation easy and coding-free. Its drag-and-drop design allows even tech novices to build and tailor their online space. Its adaptive themes ensure a smooth experience on any device.

Startups aiming for steady income will appreciate Squarespace’s memberships and subscription tools. They can set up exclusive content areas and subscription models, leading to reliable revenue.

E-commerce benefits include free custom domains and enhancing brand value. With Squarespace’s advanced analytics, startups get deep insights into customer actions, optimizing sales and marketing strategies. Those with extensive product ranges can benefit from unlimited product listings on premium plans.

Additional features like abandoned cart reminders, SEO tools, tailored marketing, and a point-of-sale system further make Squarespace a comprehensive solution for growing businesses. However, its POS is currently available for US merchants only.

Which type of ecommerce business should use Squarespace

• Small Boutiques and artisanal shops.
• Startups offering recurring delivery services.
• Content creators and bloggers
• Fashion and apparel brands
• Online art galleries and creative ventures.
• Startups with specific or niche products.
• Startups with physical stores aiming to establish a unified online and offline presence.

WooCommerce

WooCommerce is the go-to platform for startups establishing and expanding their online businesses. Its cost-effective approach allows startups to build a solid ecommerce foundation and grow at their own pace.

Pros

• Open-source nature allowing code alteration
• Ease of navigation for WordPress users
• 100% customization capacity
• Unique customization options setting Woocommerce apart
• Abundance of available themes for tailored designs
• Flexibility to adapt quickly to different market niches
• Optimal security ensured by regular software updates
• Capability to easily add secure socket layer (SSL) certificates or backup tools
• Secure payment options, including credit cards, PayPal, and Stripe

Cons

• Potential hindrance due to excessive plugins and extensions.
• Decreased performance caused by memory consumption and slow download speeds.
• Recommended use of CSS, HTML, or jQuery for added functions.
• Performance optimization by limiting plugin usage.
• Specific extensions demanding immediate payment or monthly plan purchase.

Pricing

WooCommerce offers a flexible pricing model as an open-source software, allowing for a free installation. 

However, operational costs should be considered. These costs include hosting, which ranges from $3.95 to $5000 per month, optional themes at $0 to $100 per year, security expenses ranging from $0 to $365 annually, domain registration costing $10 to $20 per year, and extension fees varying from $0 to $100 per month.

Best features 

WooCommerce is a startup-friendly platform that offers mobile-optimized themes like the versatile Storefront. Its minimalist approach emphasizes crucial details, such as product info, ensuring a user-friendly experience even for those without coding skills. Customizing your store to stand out is straightforward.

With over 100 payment gateways and no transaction fees for third-party integrations, WooCommerce is perfect for startups desiring multiple payment options. And while linking to Amazon, eBay, Instagram, and Etsy carries a $79 fee, Facebook integration is free. This accessibility is a boon for startups aiming to broaden their market reach.

The platform excels in product flexibility, supporting unlimited items and intricate product variants. A notable add-on is the “Recover Abandoned Cart” plugin, which lets businesses personalize their outreach to shoppers who’ve left items behind.

Integrated with WordPress, WooCommerce is primed for SEO. Its partnership with renowned plugins, like Yoast, can help startups boost their online footprint. Its open-source nature allows for over 58,000 plugins, ensuring each online store can grow and adapt to individual business needs. Whether you’re into dropshipping or looking for upselling tactics, WooCommerce has you covered without imposing extra fees.

Which type of ecommerce business should use WooCommerce

WooCommerce’s features make it suitable for various types of startup ecommerce businesses, including:

• Startups in the fashion and apparel industry.
• Retailers looking to sell across different platforms.
• Businesses offer products with numerous variations or customization options.
• Startups sell internationally.
• Stores that prioritize content marketing and SEO.
• Startup offers niche or unique products.
• Dropshipping businesses.

Considerations When Choosing A Platform

Choosing the right platform is a crucial decision that can significantly impact the success of your business or project. To make an informed choice, it’s essential to consider several key factors.

Budget

First and foremost, your budget is a paramount consideration. You need to determine your financial constraints and assess the total cost of ownership, including the initial purchase or subscription fees and ongoing expenses such as maintenance, licensing, and support. A clear understanding of your budget will help you narrow your options and prevent unexpected financial burdens.

Ease of use

Ease of use is another critical factor to evaluate the best ecommerce platform for startups. A platform should be intuitive and user-friendly for your team. Consider the learning curve required for your team members to become proficient with the platform. A more accessible platform can increase productivity and reduce training time, which is especially important if you need to onboard new staff quickly.

Scalability

Scalability is essential, especially if you anticipate growth in your business or project. You want a platform that can adapt to your changing needs. Assess whether the platform offers scalability options, such as adding more users, resources, or features as your requirements evolve. Scalability ensures that your platform investment remains relevant as your business expands.

Availability of integrations

In today’s interconnected digital landscape, the availability of integrations is crucial. Check whether the platform seamlessly integrates with other tools and software you currently use or plan to use in the future. Effective integration can streamline workflows, enhance data sharing, and improve efficiency. Compatibility with your existing tech stack is a significant advantage.

Security and data privacy

Security and data privacy should never be overlooked when selecting the best ecommerce platform for startups. Ensure that the platform meets your security requirements and complies with relevant regulations, mainly if you handle sensitive or personal data. A breach or data loss can have severe consequences, so prioritize platforms that prioritize security.

Long-term viability of the platform

Lastly, consider the long-term viability of the platform. Does the provider have a track record of continuous updates, improvements, and support? Read reviews and seek recommendations to gauge the platform’s reputation for reliability and customer satisfaction.

Final Thought

In conclusion, there are many ecommerce platforms to consider for your business. but Shopify consistently emerges as the best ecommerce platform for startups. Its user-friendly interface, extensive features, and scalability make it a top choice for entrepreneurs looking to establish and grow their online businesses. By selecting Shopify, startups can confidently embark on their ecommerce journey, knowing they have a reliable and versatile platform.