3 Best E-commerce Website Builders for Beginners

Whether you’re brand new to e-commerce or you’ve been doing it for a while, you need to create your online store. Check out our picks of the 3 best e-Commerce website builders for beginners and beyond.

The idea of opening an online shop can be a little scary. The good news is it’s easier than you think, even if you don’t have a lot of computer experience. Whether you’re starting an online store or another business, we’ll show you how easy it is and point you in the right direction to start your online boutique.

Or if you are a person who wants to grow your business, then reach a wider audience through the world of the Internet! A physical store can only get you so much, but an online store can help you reach farther parts of the globe. Check out some of the suggestions below to get you started.

Shopify

Shopify is an all-in-one platform that provides everything you need to start your online selling business. It is one of the leading e-commerce platforms out in the market today. It powers more than 500,000 stores. It has a wide array of themes and tools to customize your site. Should you need help, they offer a 24/7 customer support.

Pros:

• Offers over 100 themes
• Unlimited bandwidth
• Fast and secure
• Plenty of add-ons available on App store
• 24/7 customer support
• Sell products through different channels

Cons:

• Extensive customization requires knowledge of “Liquid”
• Transaction fee for every sale
• Multiple apps add extra cost

Shopify provides you with more than 100 elegant templates to beautify your store. Some are free while some are premium that reaches about $180. You can customize your store with the given tools.

“Liquid” is Shopify‘s own coding language. It gives lets you customize your store more extensively. If you do not have the patience to learn it on your own, you can hire experts from Shopify. They cost more than normal programmers will, but they will get the job done.

Shopify has an abandoned checkout recovery function. You can remind the people who did not push through with the purchase. This will help you gain more profits instead of losing the potential ones.

To add more functions to your store you can browse through their app store. You can add extra tools for managing your inventory. You can also add customer support for your own store so you can assist your customers.

Your customers can also shop online via their mobile phones or tablets. Shopify provides free built-in mobile features. You can also manage your store on the go through your mobile devices.

For Shopify Basic, you can start at $29 per month. Shopify Plan is at $79 per month. Advanced Shopify is at $299 per month. You can get 10% or 20% savings if you get the 1-year or 2-year plans. All these plans allow you to sell through social media like Facebook and Pinterest.

Shopify is one of the best website builders you can try. It offers lots of functionalities and a wide selling platform. You can try it out yourself if you follow this link for a free 14 day trial.

Wix

Wix is a drag-and-drop website that newcomers in the online selling world will not be too overwhelmed. Since 2006, the brand had really grown. Right now, they are powering millions of websites. Wix provides everything you need to start your online selling business.

Pros:

• Has more than 510 designer templates
• Drag-and-drop editor
• Many features you can add
• Helpful support team
• Includes a mobile platform

Cons:

• Templates cannot be changed
• Mobile design is not automatic

Wix is very newcomer-friendly. Aside from being a drag-and-drop website builder, it also has Artificial Design Intelligence. The ADI automatically builds your site according to what you want. You can still make basic edits to tweak your site if you want.

You can choose from over 510 templates for your site. There are many different themes to get you started. If you want, you can also design your own. Wix has a blank template so you can make your site highly customized. One thing to remember though, choose your template carefully. You will not be able to change it again. You will have to start from scratch if you want a new one.

A mobile-friendly version of your site is automatically created. You can edit it separately, to make it more suited for mobile viewing. The app market offers many tools you can choose from. Some are free so that you can add more features to your site.

Wix’ e-commerce pricing plan is at $17 per month. You can also try the Unlimited and VIP plans that cost $14 and $25 a month respectively. The longer plan you choose, the more money you can save.

Though the free plan is not suitable for online sellers, the e-commerce plan is very affordable. Newcomers in the online business can easily build their site with Wix.

Weebly

Weebly is the easiest platform to build your site on. It is one of the widely used website building platforms. Currently, it is powering about 40 million websites. This is an all-in-one platform, perfect for your online business.

Pros:

• Has 40 pre-designed layouts
• Very easy to use
• Has customizable templates
• Mobile-responsive designs
• Fast loading time

Cons:

• Limited customizing for drag-and-drop option
• Not much updates and upgrades

For small starting out businesses, Weebly is a safe choice. The drag-and-drop builder is easy enough to use although customization options are limited. If you know a little about coding, you can tweak it more to design it the way you intend to.

Weebly has a collection of professional-looking themes for you. It also offers preset layouts so you can easily start your store without fussing on designing it. The latest designs have automatic mobile versions. Weebly automatically makes your page mobile-responsive, so it fits your customer’s mobile screens.

Payment processing options available in Weebly are PayPal, Stripe, Square, and Authorize.net. Other features include Inventory Tracking & Management, Flexible Shipping orders, and Coupon and Gift Card Builder.

Weebly can be used for free but with super limited features. The pricing plans it offers are Starter for $8, Pro for $12, Business for $25, and Performance for $38. All these are monthly fees. You can save more if you go for long-term.

Weebly is another easy-to-use website builder. This is more suited for those who do not want more customization work for their sites. If you want a quick and easy way to start selling, then try Weebly.

Factors to Consider When Choosing an E-commerce Website

 Affordable Price

Since you are starting an online business to earn money, you have to consider the payment plans of the sites. Make sure that you can afford to pay the monthly fees. Moreover, most importantly make sure that you get good value for what you pay for.

Can Be Upgraded

For startups, you do not need more complicated and advanced tools. However, as your online business starts to grow, so should your site. A successful business means more store visitors and more sales. Your site should be able to handle this and must respond smoothly to the growing demands.

Good Design Templates

How your site looks, is just as crucial as the products you are selling. People have short attention spans, so your site layout should attract visitors, so they are encouraged to browse through. For a great site layout, the plan you pay for should have the necessary tools for customization.

Consider Your Customers

The online store you build should not just look great for you, but for your potential customers too. Put yourself in their shoes and think about what they might want to see in an online store. Most of the time, the simpler your site is, the happier and more satisfied the customers are.

Appropriate for Your Needs

 There are e-commerce website builders that are easy to setup, and there are complicated ones. Make sure that the one you choose matches your website building knowledge. No use for extensive customization tools if you have no idea how to use them.

Conclusion

Starting your own online business can be a tedious job. It can get confusing especially if you have no idea how to set it up. There are many options out there, but the any of the three above is a good start.

They all have good pricing plans for startups and offer more options as your business grows. They have beautiful and mobile-friendly templates, so you have site viewership even through phones and tablets.

You can now reach customers globally by selling your products online. Try out the platforms with their free trials and see which one best suits your target market.