A lot of people don’t know that e-commerce platforms and online marketplaces are not the same. Yes, both of them are used for online business purposes, but there are distinctive reasons why they are different. Online marketplaces are websites or online platforms where the owner allows third-party sellers to sell on his platform. Examples of this are Amazon, Ebay, and Alibaba. An e-commerce platform, on the other hand, is a single brand or multi-brand online store where a specific company sells its own goods on its own website. Think of it this way, an online marketplace is like the mall– it offers different kinds of products from multiple sources. While e-commerce platform is your own store where everything inside is your own brand only.
E-Commerce Platforms
Many entrepreneurs prefer online marketplace as it generates more audiences and potential customers. However, that doesn’t mean that it beats the e-commerce platform already. In the online marketplaces, the audience is not yet your customer because your product still needs to compete with others. Whilst in e-commerce platform, your audience is already your customers or you have a better chance of turning them into one. So, if you want to try going solo for an online business, here are the Top 5 E-Commerce Platform you may want to use:
- Shopify – If you are to look it up on many websites, Shopify always gets the top spot from other e-commerce platforms. They call it a robust all-in-one e-commerce platform. It is extremely easy to use and set up even for those who don’t have a lot of technical knowledge. In fact, more than one million e-commerce businesses are powered by Shopify including Kylie Cosmetics by Kylie Jenner. Another reason to choose this platform is its award-winning 24/7 support that you can access even if you haven’t signed up for a plan.
- BigCommerce – This is another powerful all-in-one e-commerce platform that provides everything you need for online selling. BigCommerce has been in the field of e-commerce for a decade and they’ve processed more than $17 billion in merchant sales. It is also easy to use but for beginners– there are extra features in here that they may find a bit overwhelming. However, once learned, these features can be handy and it is good to know that there’s no need to pay extra to use it.
- WooCommerce – This one is a bit different from other platforms. WooCommerce is actually a plugin made for WordPress. However, with nearly 80 million downloads, 30% of all online stores across the globe is powered by this platform. Any websites running through WordPress can be turned into an e-commerce store with this platform for free. And if you know how to use WordPress– you already know that your online stores can have virtually limitless customization and capabilities.
- Wix ECommerce – Probably the easiest to use platform for e-commerce. Wix is best known for its user-friendly drag and drop website building and that functionality can be used in Wix ECommerce too. In fact, it has more than 500 e-commerce templates that you can choose from for your online store. Also, unlike other platforms, Wix doesn’t take any transaction commissions, you only have to pay for the e-commerce platform plans.
- Volusion – a pioneer in the e-commerce industry, Volusion powered over 180,000 online selling websites for the last 20+ years. This platform is also an easy-to-use all-in-one e-commerce platform made only for stores selling physical products. The best thing about this platform is that there aren’t quantity restrictions for products that you sell.
