A business that sells something online is the most profitable way to earn money, but only when everything is set up perfectly. With specialized e-commerce platforms, you can make your journey much easier and avoid popular entrepreneurs' mistakes. Read on to find out what e-commerce is and how exactly it can be helpful for you.
What is E-Commerce?
All websites and services that accept payments online are part of e-commerce. The most popular example of e-commerce is online shopping. There, you can buy items online and pay for them right on the store's website. In actuality, e-commerce encompasses not only commercial or financial transactions carried out across networks but also a network of international business procedures related to such transactions. The modern definition of e-commerce encompasses all of the following: the electronic purchase or sale of goods via online services or the Internet; mobile commerce; electronic funds transfers; supply chain management; internet marketing; online transaction processing; electronic data interchange (EDI); inventory management systems; and automated data collection systems.
What Is an E-Commerce Platform?
Of course, making an online store or other e-commerce projects from scratch is not easy, especially when you have just started your journey. Moreover, it takes a bunch of time and requires a lot of money. In situations like this, people often use e-commerce platforms. These are special services that allow you to start an e-commerce business using templates and turnkey solutions. Even professional web development companies use e-commerce platforms to create websites for clients.
E-commerce platforms can help you grow your business in B2C or B2B markets without much effort. They provide all the essential tools that can be used for free. Of course, when you need more professional options, you can opt for a monthly or yearly plan. It turns out that it is quite cheaper in comparison when you decide to run your e-commerce from scratch.
Benefits of Using E-Commerce Platforms
Well, e-commerce platforms in general are very beneficial. Here are the most obvious reasons why you should choose it:
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It saves you money. Moreover, some popular platforms can be used even for free, so you needn't pay much money. It is a fact that using an e-commerce platform is much cheaper than running a business on your own.
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It saves you time. You don't have to know how to code just to make an online store. With an e-commerce platform, the visual editor is available. Also, the entire interface is easy to use.
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It has all the essential tools. Payment gates, SEO, marketing, security, targeting, and other options are always ready to use. With an e-commerce platform, the settings are very easy.
Top 3 Popular E-Commerce Platforms
There are many popular e-commerce platforms. Each has its own advantages and nuances, so to make a proper decision, we recommend you test every platform to decide which one is more right for you. Let us tell you about the most famous and best website platforms for small businesses.
Shopify
Shopify is the most popular e-commerce platform on the planet. This all-in-one e-commerce software has 1 million merchants and generated $155 billion in sales, which is pretty impressive.
Shopify's pros include custom themes, abandoned cart recovery, 100+ payment gateways, an easy-to-use storefront, SKUs and inventory management, built-in SEO, marketing, analytics, and reporting, flexible shipping rates, and automatic taxes. Excellent customer support, self-help documentation, and communities selling through multiple channels, both digital and physical products (built-in POS).
There are four Shopify plans: Shopify Basic costs $29/month, Shopify Main costs $79/month, and Shopify Advanced costs $299/month. There is also a Shopify Lite plan that costs $9 per month. Finally, there's Shopify Plus (enterprise e-commerce that starts at $2,000 per month).
Wix
Wix is a fairly well-known company that allows you to create professional websites without programming knowledge. So, you can also create an online store. Accessing everything from e-commerce functionality to unique templates is easy with Wix, and you can even do unique things to serve your customers, like customizing booking widgets or distributing music over the web.
Wix benefits include features such as 500+ templates, complete design freedom with drag and drop, mobile-friendly designs, advanced design options, SEO features, SLL protection, and free analytics.
Weebly
Weebly offers perhaps the easiest way to launch an online store in less than an hour. It is also one of the most recognizable brands in this competitive space, yet it continues to attract new customers every day. The features for Weebly users are varied and rewarding. They include your own domain name, multiple levels of navigation, widgets, SEO capabilities, monetization, e-commerce, blog, visitor statistics, contact form, password protection, a handy newsletter tool, the ability to add HTML code, ample storage space, restore and backup capabilities, and reliable support.
Final word
We hope that now it is clearer what the best e-commerce platform for small businesses is and why you should use it if you are an entrepreneur. Use our advice properly, and you will definitely achieve what you want.
Company: Raheel Ahmad Developer INC
Company Address: 350 mercey loop unit 2 NJ, USA
Company Contact No.: +19738347536
Company Email: [email protected]
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