11 Best Ecommerce Platforms to Set Up an Online Store in 2023

Ecommerce is booming, but finding the best ecommerce platform to build your online store is challenging. The choices are mind-boggling.

Ecommerce sales are expected to hit $4.9 trillion, according to Statista. In addition, there are nearly two to three million ecommerce companies in the world. With such a huge market and competition, you need to be at the top of your game to make a mark. However, it can be quite a task to set up your ecommerce store.

To make this task simpler, you can use some of the best ecommerce platforms out there. These platforms make it easy for you to create and manage your very own ecommerce store without much technical knowledge.

Let’s take a look at some of the best ecommerce platforms that you can use to set up your online business.

11 Best E-commerce Platforms to Manage Your Online Business

The best ecommerce platforms can not only reduce the need for technical knowledge, but also help you manage your store with a smaller team.

Here are the ones you should look out for:

1. Amazon Seller Central

Amazon Seller Central gives you access to millions of online customers, and this makes it one of the best ecommerce platforms. You can easily reach people in over 180 countries through the Amazon Global Selling feature.

The best part about this platform is that it takes care of everything you need for your online business. Set up your store with ease and choose shipping fulfilled by Amazon. You won't even have to worry about delivering your products.

Image via Amazon Seller Central

Pricing

Amazon Seller Central is free for individuals who want to sell less than 40 products per month. Beyond that, they charge $39.99 per month. Selling fees and Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) fees are additional.

2. Nexternal

Nexternal is one of the best ecommerce platforms for those who want to manage all of their orders in one place. You can handle all of your B2B, B2C, and Amazon orders through Nexternal.

You can easily develop professional looking stores using this platform. Their customer relationship management tools (CRM) can also help you efficiently manage your customer communications.

Image via Nexternal

Pricing

As Nexternal provides a plethora of options, they offer customized quotes based on your individual requirements. Pricing options start at $300 per month.

3. Selz

Selz lets you start and scale your online business using their simple platform. What makes it one of the best ecommerce platforms that you can use to sell your products on multiple channels.

In addition, they offer built-in promotion tools that can help you create effective advertising campaigns for Facebook and Google. They also give you access to detailed analytics about your store so that you can optimize it. You can easily connect Selz with Shopify too.

Image via Selz

Pricing

Their Basic plan costs $26 per month while their Standard plan costs $53 per month. Their Advanced plan comes with a lot of amazing features, and it costs $179 per month.

4. X-Cart

X-Cart lets you design your ecommerce store with their easy-to-use website builder. They also offer a variety of customizable templates to help you.

Be it hosting, inventory management, or marketing your store, this platform excels at it all. It is one of the best ecommerce platforms because it makes it simpler for you to handle taxation. More than that, you can use X-Cart to open multiple storefronts and accept payments via 120 payment providers.

Image via X-Cart

Pricing

X-Cart gives lifetime licenses to all stores. For small businesses, it’s free. If you’re a mid-sized business, it costs $495. In addition, if you want a multi-vendor solution, the lifetime license will cost $1,495. Lastly, their Ultimate package costs $5,995.

5. Miva

Miva is one of the best ecommerce platforms with open-source possibilities. You can seamlessly manage large stock-keeping units (SKUs) and process high order volumes.

Their cloud-based hosting environment ensures that your store will have very low downtime. Be it tax calculation, inventory management, or alternative payment options, this ecommerce platform has got it all for you.

Image via Miva

Pricing

Miva costs $79.95 per month, if you choose their Starter plan. Their Business plan, on the other hand, costs $249.95 per month. Their Professional Plan is priced at $749.95 per month while their Enterprise plan costs $1495 per month.

6. SamCart

If you have a single-product business, then SamCart is one of the best ecommerce platforms for you. It allows you to set up single page ecommerce stores, and you can display your products and accept orders through the same page.

In addition, they offer a built-in A/B testing tool to help you optimize your store to generate more sales. You can also integrate over 750 tools, including Shopify, to add more functionality to your ecommerce store.

Image via SamCart

Pricing

The cheapest and most popular plan they offer, the Pro plan, costs $99 per month. On the other hand, their Premium plan will cost you $199 per month. The pocket-friendly prices make SamCart one of the best ecommerce platforms for small businesses.

7. CS-Cart

Whether you want to create a multi-vendor marketplace or want to launch a single-seller store, CS-Cart is a great option for you.

They’ve got everything you need to set up an online store, including built-in designing tools, regular updates, and thousands of add-ons. What makes it one of the best ecommerce platforms is that their source code is fully-customizable.

Image via CS-Cart

Pricing

For single-seller ecommerce stores, they’ve got two plans. CS-Cart costs $385 while CS-Cart Ultimate costs $865.

If you want to create a multi-vendor marketplace, their basic plan, Multi-Vendor, costs $1,450. Their Multi-Vendor Plus plan costs $3,500. Lastly, their Multi-Vendor Ultimate plan costs $7,500.

8. PinnacleCart

PinnacleCart is one of the best ecommerce platforms for those who have little technical knowledge. With their point-and-click website builder, you can easily build your dream ecommerce store without any coding knowledge.

Their advanced store management helps you stay focused on your business and manage all of your sales with ease. Lastly, their omnichannel approach enables you to syndicate your products to sites like Amazon and Google Shopping to increase your reach.

Image via PinnacleCart

Pricing

Their basic Start Up package costs $44.95 per month. On the other hand, their Standard plan will cost you $94.95 per month. Lastly, their Advanced package costs $199.95 per month.

If you want to go for their Enterprise package, you’ll need to get customized quotes from them.

9. OroCommerce

OroCommerce makes it easy for all businesses to launch and manage their ecommerce stores. It’s one of the best ecommerce platforms out there because their Community Edition is completely free and open-source. It can help small businesses make a mark online and increase their sales.

On the other hand, they also have the Enterprise Edition that can help you grow your business online.

Image via OroCommerce

Pricing

The OroCommerce Community Edition comes for free. However, the OroCommerce Enterprise Edition is a paid plan and can be customized based on your requirements. You can contact them for custom pricing.

10. UltraCart

With UltraCart, a mobile-friendly, fast website is only a few clicks away. You can easily design your store with their fully-customizable themes without any additional requirements. It’s also possible to present your store to your customers in their native languages through translation. UltraCart’s user-friendly interface makes it one of the best ecommerce platforms available.

You can also operate multiple storefronts and manage them through a single UltraCart account. Lastly, their dashboard gives you access to in-depth analytics that can help you grow your business.

Image via UltraCart

Pricing

UltraCart’s Small package costs $49.95 per month. If you opt for their Medium package, it’ll cost you $79.95 per month. On the other hand, their Large package costs $229.95 per month, and the highest package, Enterprise package, costs $499.95 per month.

11. StoreHippo

StoreHippo lets you build single brand portals, multi-seller marketplaces, multi-store portals, and more. It’s one of the best ecommerce platforms because you can do everything on it, right from product management to handling logistics.

The websites that you build using StoreHippo are SEO-friendly. This ensures that you can start ranking higher in search results with ease.

Image via StoreHippo

Pricing

Their basic plan, called the Professional plan, costs $45 per month while their Premium plan costs $89 per month and it can handle up to 10,000 products. Their Business plan, on the other hand, costs $179 per month. Lastly, their Enterprise plan costs $359+ per month.

FAQs

Q1. Which is the best ecommerce platform?

A. Some of the best ecommerce platforms include:

• Amazon Seller Central
• Nexternal
• X-Cart
• Miva
• CS-Cart

Q2. Which ecommerce platform is best for small businesses?

A. Small businesses can use the following ecommerce platforms to stand out:

• OroCommerce
• X-Cart
• SamCart
• CS-Cart
• Amazon Seller Central

Q3. What is the cheapest platform to sell online?

A. Some of the cheapest platforms you can use to sell online are:

• Amazon
• Etsy
• Bonanza
• Craigslist
• eBid

Q4. How do I choose an ecommerce platform?

A. Consider these factors before deciding on an ecommerce platform:

• Price
• Vendor expertise and experience
• 24/7 support
• Scalability
• Mobile-friendliness
• SEO friendliness
• Security
• Robust catalogs
• Personalization features
• Flexible pricing
• Analytics
• Social media integrations
• Multiple payment gateways
• Headless commerce
• Google Merchant integration
• Automatic tax calculation
• Flexible shipping options
• Customer review system
• Single customer view

Q5. Which is the best free ecommerce platform?

A. Some of the best free ecommerce platforms include:

• • • X-Cart
    • Big Cartel
    • Square Online
    • Weebly

Q6. What is the best ecommerce platform to use for dropshipping brands?

A. The following are the best ecommerce platforms dropshipping brands can use:

• • • Magento
    • WooCommerce
    • Shopify
    • OpenCart
    • BigCommerce

Q7. Is Magento the best ecommerce platform?

A. It depends.

It may have great features like a great community, flexibility on design, and better payment processor options. But it’s not great for ecommerce beginners and can seem complicated for small stores. It also requires technical knowledge, a problem you can escape with other, more lightweight platforms.

However, it’s a great platform for those with an established ecommerce model, significant funding, and time to mold the platform to suit their needs.

Q8. Is Shopify free to use?

A. No. But the platform has a 14-day free trial.

Q9. Is Shopify better than Etsy?

A. It depends on what you need from your storefront, but these pros and cons can make it easy to decide:

Etsy Pros

• • • Excellent exposure to an established customer base
    • Ease of use
    • Low cost

Etsy Cons

• • • Product restrictions
    • Transaction fees that can affect your profits
    • No creative control

Shopify pros

• • • Powerful ecommerce tool
    • Scalable
    • Sell unlimited products

Shopify Cons

• • • Apps and plugins needed can increase the cost
    • Doesn’t help with exposure – you need an established customer base to get your first traffic

Are You Ready to Leverage the Best Ecommerce Platforms?

If you want to set up an ecommerce store, you should consider using the best ecommerce platforms. By using them, you’ll be able to create user-friendly ecommerce stores and manage them effectively.

With advanced analytics, you’ll also be able to optimize your stores to generate more conversions and sales. This will help you scale the growth of your ecommerce business.

Which is the best ecommerce platform in your opinion? Let me know in the comments