If you have a business that sells goods or services and customers visit your physical store, you should seriously consid
Posted: Tue Dec 03, 2024 9:34 am
If you have a business that sells goods or services and customers visit your physical store, you should seriously consider creating and operating an online store in addition to your physical one. An online store will allow you to reach many more potential customers (even those living abroad), make sales with products delivered by shipping, offer your services from afar – the possibilities for growth are truly astounding.
Online store owners can focus on sales rather than investing time and money into fostering a brick-and-mortar store. After all, you can settle for a simple warehouse rather than a fancy, well-designed, and expensive-to-build-and-maintain brick-and-mortar store. An online store will even allow you to earn commissions for selling other people's products.
Many times an online store will have a positive influence on business conducted through its brick-and-mortar counterpart. In fact, most businesses make a profit by creating and running an online store; building one is a small investment that can yield big returns.
Anyone thinking of oman phone number library creating an online store must first decide whether to use a ready-made platform or create one from scratch. As a rule, it is always advisable to opt for ready-made platforms, only those with specific needs will have to develop a system of their own. Another way to go is to use an open source system such as the popular WordPress eCommerce plugin – Wocommerce, the Opencart plugin for Joomla sites, and create your online store using Magento or Prestastore (both CMS designed especially for eCommerce).
This post is intended for those who want to learn more about online stores, how to create one, and the pros and cons of each option.
e-commerce
Closed vs. Open E-Commerce Platforms
Very early on in your quest to create an online store, you will hear about some that are built using a closed platform and others that are built on open platforms.
A closed platform online store is one built using a business system developed and owned by others. The main advantage of closed platform online stores is simplicity, you can create your own store fairly quickly. There is no need to provide a domain, hosting, credit card charging (with all the data security implications), etc.
The main disadvantage of closed platform online stores is that as the owners of such stores, you will always have to pay a monthly user fee to the platform owners and the store will never be completely yours, if you decide to cut ties with the platform you are using. Nothing will be left of your store and you will have to create a new one from scratch.
An open platform online store is one that is built using an open source CMS that is used to create websites. The most popular of these platforms are WordPress, Joomla, and Magento. Owners of such stores need to provide a domain name, proper storage, backups, services of a web developer, and sometimes graphic design work as well (if a ready-made template is not enough). The main advantage of an open platform online store is that it is truly wholly owned by its owners, the owners of such stores are free to do with it whatever they want and do not need to pay monthly fees to anyone.
10 Leading E-Commerce Platforms
1. Shopify – one of the most popular closed platforms for creating and managing online stores. This platform evolved from an online store created over a decade ago for a single snowboard shop.
As of the end of 2016, about 500,000 businesses run online stores based on Shopify.
Anyone can easily create an online store using the Shopify platform, no prior web development knowledge is required. Getting to know the Shopify user interface is easily achieved through trial and error. Shopify offers a 14-day free trial, a basic package (up to 2 staff accounts) costs $29 per month, the most advanced package (up to 15 staff accounts) costs $299 per month.
2. WordPress WooCommerce – The WordPress CMS was launched in 2003 as one intended to run blogs and text-rich websites. Today, it is considered by many to be the best open source CMS available. Woocommerce is a WordPress plugin developed to allow WordPress site owners to create and manage online stores. It is important to understand that in order to build an online store based on WooCommerce, you first need to have a WordPress-based website. Creating a WordPress website (including using the WooCommerce plugin) requires knowledge and experience that only experienced WordPress developers have. The good thing is that there is no shortage of such professionals.
3. Magento – An open source platform created (in 2007) especially for creating and managing online stores. It was acquired by Ebay and is considered one of the best platforms for creating and managing online stores of any size. Magento offers features like a shopper-friendly user interface, recently added item display, comparison options, a super-friendly shopping cart, smart product catalogs, and much more. Magento, unlike WordPress for example, is specifically meant for e-commerce, it is a platform that offers great features but is relatively complicated to use. That is why many small business owners opt for woocommerce stores over wordpress. Still, there is no shortage of Magento-savvy developers and many small and medium-sized businesses own Magento-based online stores, so it is certainly an option for businesses of all sizes.
4. BigCommerce – Considered by many to be the best closed platform for online stores. You can choose one of the three available packages and pay the monthly fees accordingly. The most basic online store package costs $30 per month and the most advanced one costs $80 per month.
5. Wix – A popular closed platform for creating all kinds of websites, including online stores.
Creating an online store based on Wix is easy, anyone with a basic ability to learn how to use different interfaces can do it. Wix offers the possibility to choose from many ready-made templates and several packages with different traffic and hosting limits. The most basic Wix Ecommerce package costs only $9 per month and a VIP package will set you back $26 per month.
6. Volusion – A popular closed-source platform aimed specifically at e-commerce. This platform offers all the features needed to run a successful online store, it’s easy to use, changes to designs are easy to make, and a Volusion-based store can be used alongside an existing WordPress website. There’s a basic package that costs $15 and a VIP package for $26 per month.
7. Squarespace – A closed platform for creating websites that include online stores. There are plenty of attractive templates to choose from, but creating a SquareSpace-based store is a bit complicated and should be left to developers with relevant experience. There are several packages to choose from, with the most basic costing just $8 per month (making it one of the cheapest eCommerce packages you can find), but it is quite limited in terms of traffic and total number of products the store can have. The business package costs $24 per month and allows for creating an unlimited number of pages, uploading any number of products, and bandwidth to support any amount of traffic.
8. 3Dcart – A closed platform intended, as the name suggests, especially for e-commerce purposes. An online store based on 3Dcart is extremely easy to create; owners of such stores enjoy using many features to which new ones are added regularly.
The 3Dcart team proclaims that they do not charge any commissions for purchases, so the costs of running the store amount only to monthly user fees – $20 per month for the basic package (up to 100 products and 4,000 monthly visitors). The most advanced package will cost you $100 per month.
Online store owners can focus on sales rather than investing time and money into fostering a brick-and-mortar store. After all, you can settle for a simple warehouse rather than a fancy, well-designed, and expensive-to-build-and-maintain brick-and-mortar store. An online store will even allow you to earn commissions for selling other people's products.
Many times an online store will have a positive influence on business conducted through its brick-and-mortar counterpart. In fact, most businesses make a profit by creating and running an online store; building one is a small investment that can yield big returns.
Anyone thinking of oman phone number library creating an online store must first decide whether to use a ready-made platform or create one from scratch. As a rule, it is always advisable to opt for ready-made platforms, only those with specific needs will have to develop a system of their own. Another way to go is to use an open source system such as the popular WordPress eCommerce plugin – Wocommerce, the Opencart plugin for Joomla sites, and create your online store using Magento or Prestastore (both CMS designed especially for eCommerce).
This post is intended for those who want to learn more about online stores, how to create one, and the pros and cons of each option.
e-commerce
Closed vs. Open E-Commerce Platforms
Very early on in your quest to create an online store, you will hear about some that are built using a closed platform and others that are built on open platforms.
A closed platform online store is one built using a business system developed and owned by others. The main advantage of closed platform online stores is simplicity, you can create your own store fairly quickly. There is no need to provide a domain, hosting, credit card charging (with all the data security implications), etc.
The main disadvantage of closed platform online stores is that as the owners of such stores, you will always have to pay a monthly user fee to the platform owners and the store will never be completely yours, if you decide to cut ties with the platform you are using. Nothing will be left of your store and you will have to create a new one from scratch.
An open platform online store is one that is built using an open source CMS that is used to create websites. The most popular of these platforms are WordPress, Joomla, and Magento. Owners of such stores need to provide a domain name, proper storage, backups, services of a web developer, and sometimes graphic design work as well (if a ready-made template is not enough). The main advantage of an open platform online store is that it is truly wholly owned by its owners, the owners of such stores are free to do with it whatever they want and do not need to pay monthly fees to anyone.
10 Leading E-Commerce Platforms
1. Shopify – one of the most popular closed platforms for creating and managing online stores. This platform evolved from an online store created over a decade ago for a single snowboard shop.
As of the end of 2016, about 500,000 businesses run online stores based on Shopify.
Anyone can easily create an online store using the Shopify platform, no prior web development knowledge is required. Getting to know the Shopify user interface is easily achieved through trial and error. Shopify offers a 14-day free trial, a basic package (up to 2 staff accounts) costs $29 per month, the most advanced package (up to 15 staff accounts) costs $299 per month.
2. WordPress WooCommerce – The WordPress CMS was launched in 2003 as one intended to run blogs and text-rich websites. Today, it is considered by many to be the best open source CMS available. Woocommerce is a WordPress plugin developed to allow WordPress site owners to create and manage online stores. It is important to understand that in order to build an online store based on WooCommerce, you first need to have a WordPress-based website. Creating a WordPress website (including using the WooCommerce plugin) requires knowledge and experience that only experienced WordPress developers have. The good thing is that there is no shortage of such professionals.
3. Magento – An open source platform created (in 2007) especially for creating and managing online stores. It was acquired by Ebay and is considered one of the best platforms for creating and managing online stores of any size. Magento offers features like a shopper-friendly user interface, recently added item display, comparison options, a super-friendly shopping cart, smart product catalogs, and much more. Magento, unlike WordPress for example, is specifically meant for e-commerce, it is a platform that offers great features but is relatively complicated to use. That is why many small business owners opt for woocommerce stores over wordpress. Still, there is no shortage of Magento-savvy developers and many small and medium-sized businesses own Magento-based online stores, so it is certainly an option for businesses of all sizes.
4. BigCommerce – Considered by many to be the best closed platform for online stores. You can choose one of the three available packages and pay the monthly fees accordingly. The most basic online store package costs $30 per month and the most advanced one costs $80 per month.
5. Wix – A popular closed platform for creating all kinds of websites, including online stores.
Creating an online store based on Wix is easy, anyone with a basic ability to learn how to use different interfaces can do it. Wix offers the possibility to choose from many ready-made templates and several packages with different traffic and hosting limits. The most basic Wix Ecommerce package costs only $9 per month and a VIP package will set you back $26 per month.
6. Volusion – A popular closed-source platform aimed specifically at e-commerce. This platform offers all the features needed to run a successful online store, it’s easy to use, changes to designs are easy to make, and a Volusion-based store can be used alongside an existing WordPress website. There’s a basic package that costs $15 and a VIP package for $26 per month.
7. Squarespace – A closed platform for creating websites that include online stores. There are plenty of attractive templates to choose from, but creating a SquareSpace-based store is a bit complicated and should be left to developers with relevant experience. There are several packages to choose from, with the most basic costing just $8 per month (making it one of the cheapest eCommerce packages you can find), but it is quite limited in terms of traffic and total number of products the store can have. The business package costs $24 per month and allows for creating an unlimited number of pages, uploading any number of products, and bandwidth to support any amount of traffic.
8. 3Dcart – A closed platform intended, as the name suggests, especially for e-commerce purposes. An online store based on 3Dcart is extremely easy to create; owners of such stores enjoy using many features to which new ones are added regularly.
The 3Dcart team proclaims that they do not charge any commissions for purchases, so the costs of running the store amount only to monthly user fees – $20 per month for the basic package (up to 100 products and 4,000 monthly visitors). The most advanced package will cost you $100 per month.