Best e-commerce website builder: the overall storecraft

The 6 best e-commerce website builders

• Shopify enables users to start their business quickly

• The Square service platform enables physical and virtual sales 

• Ecwid by Lightspeed provides users with a free plan for beginning their online presence before expanding their store options

• BigCommerce for large-volume sellers

• A WordPress site can gain a shopping cart feature by using WooCommerce.

• Wix provides features to develop an entire website from scratch.

Which criteria define the top eCommerce website builder?

How do we evaluate and test apps?

The software recommendations we publish stem from authors who distinctly focus on software applications testing since they began their professional careers as product evaluators. The research and testing period stretches for about 40 hours unless we specify otherwise. During these hours, we operate every app as the developer meant to be used and conduct our checks against the category standards we established. 

We never receive payment for placing any app in our articles or for adding links to specific websites because we only strive to provide honest evaluations of our category reviews to our readers. A detailed breakdown explaining our feature selection process exists in the full article about Zapier blog applications.

I determined five critical platform features that standard small to medium enterprises need when they want to establish online physical or hybrid product stores. Other good platforms exist, but they were eliminated from consideration because they only provide limited features which commonly required by most businesses.

User-level proficiency should enable the creation of an attractive professional online store that functions well when using available tools and templates while requiring no formal qualifications beyond basic computer competence.

 An average computer user who creates iPhone email accounts possesses the capability to utilize these recommended choices. The website builders required a capacity to let users incorporate their existing brand elements in their online presence. The requirement for easy website creation disqualified many platforms because they offered uninteresting yet similar templates, which forced users to have advanced technical skills.

Selling anything at any location through your preferred method constitutes the definition of the role. The system needed capabilities to deal with physical and digital products together while also delivering solutions for tax management and international shipping requirements. Small organizations must prioritize tax compliance because physical locations or worldwide sales require the obligation to collect and manage different varieties of taxes.

I limited my investigation to e-commerce platforms that directly handle the entire service process. Your eCommerce store needs a platform that allows sales through a customer-facing site and supports full business management activities that follow order processing through shipping and inventory management beyond spreadsheet use or alternative services.

The chosen platform must work harmoniously with every other business application or service you use in operation. My selection criteria for the apps required them to have multiple integration options, which included built-in features, plug-ins, extensions, and attachable services to Zapier. Your business should accept direct order requests from the accounting software platform.

The solution needed to provide every necessary feature at a transparent monthly payment plan. The use of hidden fees under any circumstances was strictly forbidden to me, while solutions requiring thousands of dollars per month were outside the budget and capacity of typical small businesses.

How to choose the right e-commerce website building platform for your online stores

New users pursuing eCommerce platforms will probably encounter overwhelming challenges. Your choice should include attention to three essential factors:

Budget

Choose small solutions at first, then increase capability whenever necessary. Since robust free options are challenging to find, you can evaluate platform features on their entry-level plans to determine a high-end option without excessive cost. Your next step should be to choose plans that will meet future requirements.

Features

Your available budget essentially determines which features will be available within your selection. Begin your decision process from what stands as your essential requirement, such as brick-and-mortar sales, or move backward towards an evaluation of other features.

Your familiarity with website builders

The apps have simpler interfaces that make them suitable for new users. Since your time is important to you, pick tools that match your level of technical expertise or verify that you can handle their interface without problems.

Support

You will need to place support features at the front of your consideration list if your answer is no.

Analytics

Choose a platform that enables strong analytical reporting because growing businesses need that data combined with understanding abilities to make decisions.

The most pressing factor you should consider is selling your product regardless of which platform you choose. Pay attention to essential business matters instead of spending excessive time on insignificant online store optimizations.

How much does an e-commerce website cost? E-commerce software fee

The cost for e-commerce website development varies based on the expenses of the e-commerce platform software.

The format of e-commerce platform pricing remains apart from other services since e-commerce platforms have their unique payment structures. Every e-commerce website builder charges its clients three distinct types of payment fees.

Monthly fee 

The platform imposes costs between gratis and 100 dollars as the monthly payment. Most e-commerce services charge approximately $30 to $40 until you reach their basic plan.

Payment gateway fees

The fees you will incur come from processing credit card transactions. Service fees with standard payment processing include a 2.9% charge alongside a $0.30 fee, although costs decrease when volume rises or when the vendor makes upfront payments. The payment gateway options on Wix and Shopify enable users to select a built-in payment processor, while most platforms use Stripe and PayPal, and similar payment systems.

Transaction fees

The gateway fees constitute an extra percentage expense in addition to payment costs. The majority of e-commerce websites advertise zero transaction fees, yet this only means they avoid additional costs. If you decide to process payments without their gateway system, then these services impose either a 1% or 2% fee as their transaction cost

The variety of options, along with your business practices, determines the costs you will pay each month. Running simple mathematical logic will help you choose the right plan and gateway so you can find what suits your business needs. I have avoided choosing online store websites with extreme fees or unreasonable transaction costs because I checked their financial viability.

What about an e-commerce website builder for creators and makers?

Full-service e-commerce platforms provide excellent solutions for businesses selling at least hundreds of dollars each month in products and for new companies expecting similar revenue growth. 

The majority of well-established small enterprises would probably find these fees acceptable, while small makers and creative artists, together with independent producers, face enormous cost challenges that reduce their potential profits. The two alternative plans exist.

The initial option for selling products is using Etsy alongside EnvatoMarket or suitable marketplaces for your specific industry. Your profit sharing with the platform will be reduced when you choose this payment model because sales success triggers product-based payment charges that reach up to 10% in total. 

Each item listed on Etsy costs $0.20, which amounts to 6.5% transaction fees and 3% + $0.25 processing fees per sale.   The cost difference between Shopify and Etsy appears when you sell at least 50 T-shirts per month however, Etsy still provides a built-in customer base to your store.

Businesses using smaller-focused tools should consider developing their store as a second option. Gumroad, E-junkie, and SendOwl present viable alternatives to major platforms because they offer costs that fit lower item sales volumes consistently.

All these options remain independent from each other. Conduct your business on Etsy first and then relocate it to Shopify or establish listings in both systems. 

Establishing a full e-commerce solution for money-making from your hobby or side income does not usually represent your initial most effective choice.