Consumer shopping habits are changing rapidly, with more and more purchases being made online. Online shopping is successful primarily because of the benefits it brings to customers. Instead of crowds in stores and waiting in line at the checkout, consumers prefer to make their purchases from the comfort of their own home.
Online shopping also allows for greater choice and price comparison. Of course, this shopping trend is what is driving the growth of e-commerce. By using these solutions, you can easily and relatively cheaply or even free of charge make it easier for users to purchase a product or service.
Image: Weekly online activities
If creating a website is a project that you have just started and you would like to check the responsiveness of the market and target groups of desired customers, it makes sense to choose a platform that is free or offers a monthly subscription.
You have three options:
OPTION 1: USE FREE PLATFORMS
You can sell your products or services on these platforms at no cost, but they have strict restrictions and/or charge commissions.
1. Square Online
Quick setup
Easy to use
Not very scalable
It is available for free.
Paid upgrade available from $12 to $72 per month
It’s incredibly easy to use. Square’s online templates aren’t super customizable—in fact, there are only two template options available—but that means you can quickly create a template that’s sure to look good. Plus, Square Online offers an incredible amount of features in its free plan. I recommend Square Online if you want to see if your products or services are interesting to customers before you even start paying for an online store.
Rated properties:
• Ease of use: 3.9/5
• Design: 2.7/5
• Sales features: 3.5/5
2. Big Cartel
For independent creators
Relatively inexpensive compared to other e-commerce platforms
One of the more creative and inspiring
Transparent business practices
Suitable for small groups of sellers
Monthly subscription: $9.99 to $19.99 per month
Big Cartel is home to nearly a million clothing designers, bands, labels, jewelry makers, artisans, and other artists. The most appealing feature for independent creators is the low price – no commissions. All you pay is a monthly 1000 mobile number list free pdf subscription, and there’s even a free account that includes most of the features anyway.
Rated properties:
Ease of use: 3.7/5
Design: 2.2/5
Sales features: 2.3/5
OPTION 2: PLATFORMS THAT OFFER A FREE TRIAL
The free trial usually lasts about two weeks, so these platforms are ideal for you to try them out and then decide if it's worth paying a monthly subscription.
Wix is such a website building tool. It is convenient and suitable for all those who want to create a website themselves, but do not have the necessary technical knowledge.
1. Wix – Best for Small Online Stores
• Allows for a lot of freedom in design
• Provides powerful features
• It is easy to use
• Free trial available
• Monthly subscription: $16 to $59
Wix is a fast-growing platform with a built-in website builder that allows users to upgrade to full e-commerce functionality for $20 per month. They boast hundreds of design templates, promotions and gift cards, beautiful product galleries, and easy order management and shipping.
They automatically optimize your online store on mobile devices, including iPhones and Android devices (Apple and Google). You can also customize the look of your mobile e-commerce site with their online store builder.
They also have a great product layout that allows you to place your products in a beautiful (and conversion-optimized) way.
These product galleries also look great on mobile and adapt to the screen on smaller devices. Wix is also known as one of the easiest website building tools and for the e-commerce space.
Rated properties:
• Ease of use: 4/5
• Design: 4/5
• Sales features: 4.4/5
I use Wix myself and I'm very satisfied.
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2. Shopify – Best for larger businesses
Suitable for larger online stores
Large range of add-ons and modules, wide selection of themes to use
Users recommend it
Free trial available
Easy page optimization
Monthly subscription: $29 to $299
Shopify is a service designed to provide everything you need to set up, manage, and promote an online store.
Shopify includes a website, web hosting with unlimited bandwidth, a shopping cart, the ability to take payments either through Shopify's services or external payment processing options, the ability to manage inventory, and a fully responsive mobile version of your website for users using smartphones or tablets.
Rated properties:
• Ease of use: 3.5/5
• Design: 3.9/5
• Sales features: 4.5/5
3. Squarespace
Offers the best price-quality ratio
Excellent management features
Best designed templates
Free trial available
Monthly subscription: from $16 - $49 per month
Squarespace is a popular website building platform. It’s not as powerful as BigCommerce, but it has the best-designed templates on the market and offers great features at a low price. It also lets you connect a website you build on the platform to your own domain.
Ease of use: 4.2/5
Design: 4/5
Sales features: 3.4/5
4. BigCommerce
• Large range of add-ons and modules, wide selection of themes to use
• Does not depend on applications
• Helps businesses grow
• Free trial available
• Monthly subscription: $29.95 to $299.95 per month
BigCommerce is most similar to Shopify in terms of providing everything in one place, the ability to add features from their app stores, being fairly user-friendly with 24/7 support, and the like.
8 recommended platforms for your online store
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