A Quick and Simple Guide to Choosing the Right E-Commerce Platform for Your Business in 2023

In the online world, customer experience is everything. 73% of people say their website experience is essential to their purchasing decision.

You can’t just create an online website, add your products to it, sit back, and wait for leads to come pouring in.

You need to create a frictionless, personalized online shopping experience for users. It includes adding the right payment gateways, creating the perfect navigation menu, adding pricing options, maintaining the website, reducing website loading speed, and so much more.

And this all comes down to choosing the right e-commerce platform for your business.

What is an e-commerce platform and how should you choose one for your business? Let’s find out.

How do you choose the right platform for your online store?

An e-commerce platform is a software that helps you create an online store and sell to customers.

Every e-commerce platform offers different features and benefits. While one can easily be set up without any technical knowledge, another may require extensive technical knowledge. Similarly, while one may offer complete control over your website, another may offer only limited customization. Prices of all e-commerce platforms also vary.

The right e-commerce platform,

• Turns window shoppers into loyal customers,

• Increases your ROAS and ROI,

• Manage your business operations efficiently.

So how do you choose a platform for your online store that optimizes your online presence? By keeping the following factors in mind.

Understanding Your Business Needs

You have an e-commerce website, but the website isn’t performing as well as you’d like it to. Or you’ve just decided to build an online presence for your business and you’re on the hunt for the right e-commerce platform for your needs.

What’s the first thing you need to do?
Assess your business needs and goals.

Your budget

An e-commerce platform can cost anywhere from $1000 to $10,000+. Determine what is the maximum you can afford to pay for an e-commerce platform.

Design and development, hosting, 3rd party integrations, and monthly website maintenance are all costs you must consider when making a budget.

Your business type and target audience

Are you selling products or services? Are you selling to customers (B2C) or to businesses (B2B)?

Do you cater to customers globally? If so, you’ll need to work on your website’s internationalization.

Do you have a brick-and-mortar store, or do you only sell online? If you only sell online, you’ll need a comprehensive inventory management system to integrate with your online store.

Depending on the type of your business and your target audience, the features you need in an e-commerce platform will differ.

Your product range

Are you an e-commerce marketplace hosting different sellers? Or are you simply selling your own products/services?

Do you have a huge list of different products that fall into different categories? Or do you only have a few products? Do you plan to scale your business and add more products in the future?

Look for e-commerce platforms that support your product ranges and will help in scaling your business.

Prioritize ease of use and user experience

In a brick-and-mortar store, a customer walks in and strolls through the many aisles. They choose a product and ask the salesperson about their exchange and refund option. Satisfied, they purchase the product.

Smooth, frictionless experience.

This is what you need to emulate on your e-commerce platform. Give priority to an intuitive and user-friendly interface. To provide a seamless customer experience, look for the following features,

• Mobile compatibility

• Responsive design

• Fast website loading speed

• Simple product categorization

• Customization options

And lastly, ask yourself, how well can your customers interact with your website?

As David Truog, VP, Principal Analyst, aptly says, “Excellent interaction design is how you enable people at home to purchase using your website or app. Are your workflows, forms, controls, and responses well designed?”

Review features and functionality

Next, make a list of all the features and functions you require from your e-commerce platform.

• Have a strong brand presence on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok? You’ll likely want these social platforms integrated with your website.

• Want to scale your business and sell on Amazon, Etsy, and other similar e-commerce marketplaces? Look for a platform that offers integrations with all of them.

• Selling products? You need an inventory management feature and shipping integrations.

• Catering to a global customer base? You need the right payment gateways to make it easier for customers to purchase from you.

• Want to drive traffic from Google search? Check if that platform has SEO and marketing tools and offers in-depth analytics.

Remember, an e-commerce platform isn’t just a place to host your products and sell them. The right e-commerce platform gives you control over your entire business and helps you scale it with ease.

Don’t skip technical requirements and support

One of the biggest factors to consider when choosing your e-commerce platform is hosting.

What do you want? Self-hosting or cloud hosting?
While self-hosting gives you a lot of control over website customizations, integrations, and the likes - it’s also quite technical. You’re responsible for timely software updates, maintenance of the website, and all potential integrations you might want in the future.

Cloud hosting is where your provider takes care of all these technical details - website maintenance, software updates, etc. This comes at a cost; you have very little control over website features and functionalities.

Once you’ve decided on hosting, check the security and technical support provided by the platform.

• Does it offer the certifications and encryptions you need for your website?

• Is it not only mobile responsive, but also optimized for mobile shopping?

• Does it allow customers to directly contact you on WhatsApp or visit your physical store?

• Does it support Live Chat and Chatbots?

Involve your entire team in outlining the technical support you need from your platform.

Understand pricing

Different e-commerce platforms offer different pricing models. While some e-commerce platforms like Shopify and BigCommerce offer monthly subscriptions, others offer tiered plans for businesses.

Then there are also transaction costs. Shopify charges 2.6% + $0.30 per transaction for the Shopify account. And if you use a 3rd party payment gateway integration, there’s an additional 1% fee per transaction. So look for an e-commerce platform that falls within your budget.

Consider for future growth and scalability

You probably have a long list of long-term goals; expanding your product line, increasing traffic, establishing your brand presence on more social platforms, and growing your customer base from local to global.

Look for an e-commerce platform that supports your long-term business goals and accommodates future expansion.

• Can it handle heavy volumes of traffic?

• Does it support e-commerce localization and internalization for a global audience?

• Can you implement automation on it?

• Does it offer multi-channel integration?

Choose a platform that grows with your business.

Take a good look at user reviews and recommendations

You’ve shortlisted a few e-commerce platforms. They have similar features and functionalities and they fall within your budget.

Now what? Get real insight from people using those platforms.

Scour through social media, Reddit, and Quora and read the experiences of people. Go through case studies to gain insight from real users.

Search on websites like Capterra to see what users are saying about your shortlisted platforms. After evaluating user feedback, make an informed decision and choose the platform that has the most satisfied users.

Comparing e-commerce platforms

If you’ve been hunting for an e-commerce platform, you might have come across a few popular ones like Shopify, Magento, and Big Commerce. Which of these is best suited to your needs?

Let's find out.

Shopify

No technical skills, no problem! With a user-friendly interface and a tiny learning curve, Shopify makes it easy for beginners to set up their online store.

• Custom themes, apps, and plugins for a seamless shopping experience for your customers? Check.

• Reliable hosting and security? Check.

• Customer Support? A+

However, all this comes at a cost. As your small online store grows, so do Shopify fees. Most business owners outgrow the basic plan at $29/month very quickly. The higher plan is $79 per month with better features, and $299/month offers the most features for businesses. You also need to pay a service charge every time you make a sale on Shopify.

Magento

• Looking for multi-language and multi-currency support? Check.

• Opening up an online store with multiple vendors? Check.

• Hunting for platforms that offer internationalization? Check.

• Want extensive data and analytics? Check.

Enter Magento.

If you have a large business, akin to Nike, Burger King, and ASUS, and you have grand plans to scale your business, Magento is the best e-commerce solution for you.

It is highly customizable, offers optimal scalability (offering 500k plus products? No problem), and total control over your online store.

Biggest disadvantage?
Very high learning curve and requires strong technical skills.

Big Commerce

From omni-channel selling to a rich feature set, BigCommerce is a great option for businesses looking to grow their business.

• It supports high volumes of traffic, larger product catalogs, and offers a robust list of in-house tools and apps.

• But if you’re looking for an easy or cheap solution, BigCommerce isn’t it.

• It's priced similar to Shopify with the beginner plan at $29 and the advanced plan at $299. There are also transaction fees and cost of add-ons.

Choosing an e-commerce platform is akin to choosing the right location for your physical store. Your e-commerce platform should not only be within your budget, provide a flawless experience for your customers, and offer all the tools and features you need, but it should also be able to grow with your business.

This is why it is essential to align your business needs with the e-commerce platform you choose. Every business has certain unique requirements; while you may be thinking of offering your products to a global audience, another business may be thinking of turning their store into a marketplace and hosting multiple vendors.

So make an informed decision based on your unique requirements.