Introduction
An e-commerce platform is essentially a pre-configured system that simplifies the process of creating a website for online sales without needing the merchant to repeat all of the steps from the beginning.
However, since there are so many various types, it’s vital to understand the top e-commerce platforms and choose the one that best matches your company’s requirements.
Do you know which e-commerce platforms work best and how to pick one to launch or grow a business? It’s okay if you still don’t know because that is what we are going to discuss in this article.
If you are reading this article right now, there is a good chance that you currently run an online business, have an online store, or are considering investing in an e-commerce website. This is already a fantastic move; after all, the growth of e-commerce is nothing new.
However, the e-commerce store needs to have a solid structure and rely on functionalities necessary in each situation for even small business owners to succeed in such a fiercely competitive industry.
Whether you want to start an online store or you want to boost your e-commerce, there are a number of platforms available today to suit your needs. Therefore, it’s critical to understand the top e-commerce platforms and determine which one is best for your company.
Some offer easier-to-use, more widely available, and occasionally free functionality. Others are more expensive and offer more durable features. Regardless of your company’s profile or stage, having a high-quality tool in your arsenal is important.
What is an E-commerce Platform?
An e-commerce platform is a complete, pre-configured system that simplifies building an e-commerce website or online store. This option is provided because the platform provides a framework for the merchant to build his online store without needing to start from scratch with all the settings.
In other words, it is possible to create a website for a virtual store without using an e-commerce platform, but it is a much more difficult task that requires a lot more time and resources because it requires the use of specialized professionals.
Various E-commerce Platform Types
Open source (free software) and SaaS platforms are the two main categories of platforms (software as a service). And even though both pieces of software are available for purchase and use by anyone, they differ significantly from one another.
In the first instance, access to the basic configurations of the structure is typically accomplished through downloading, but website customization, application integration, and upkeep require technical programming knowledge.
Naturally, this gives you much more freedom to design the store in a manner that is uniquely yours, but it also comes at a higher cost and with more work.
A SaaS-like platform does not require downloading because cloud computing makes it accessible online. This is the most useful model because it enables the user, regardless of programming knowledge or experience, to configure and personalize the store in accordance with his or her needs.
Additionally, anyone can launch their store quickly using the SaaS e-commerce platform by quickly registering, followed by the first setup steps of selecting a template, adding products, and configuring connectors. For those starting a business in this market who lack technical IT knowledge, this is the most advised option.
The management of a virtual business must be aware of the important commemorative dates, holidays, and industry events in addition to having a good e-commerce platform.
How Do I Pick the Finest Online Shopping Platform?
To choose the ideal e-commerce platform for your business, you must be aware of several fundamental characteristics and be familiar with the market’s primary options. Check out the essential components of your e-commerce platform for success.
- Security and Protection
- Excellent usability and experience
- SEO-related resources
- Google Analytics integration
- Social network and other app integration
- Infrastructure to support various payment methods
- Feature customization
- Reliable assistance and service
Security and protection
Before doing anything further, it’s important to be sure that the platform you’ve chosen appreciates the security of your and your customer’s personal information.
Although the Internet is fantastic because it manages such a vast amount of sensitive data, it can also be extremely harmful.
As a result, it is crucial that the platform has anti-fraud solutions integrated into it or that it offers them, guaranteeing the privacy and security of any transactions between your online store and customers.
Good usability and experience
Offering a strong user experience, with a focus on the website’s usability, is another fundamental factor that makes a platform one of the finest e-commerce platforms.
This includes, among other things, offering easy in-store navigation, facilitating simple online buying, ensuring transactional speed, responsiveness, and website performance optimization (WPO).
SEO-related resources
The acronym for “search engine optimization” is what is referred to as “SEO.” This is merely configuring your online store to appear in the top search results for us on websites like Google, Bing, and Yahoo.
Undoubtedly, resources for basic and complex SEO improvements on product pages and across your e-commerce platform are essential. After all, having an online business is pointless if no one can find it.
Google Analytics integration
An effective e-commerce platform must have Google Analytics integration, which simply must not be missing. After all, it is hardware-free and is perfect for analyzing user behavior on your website.
With it, you can thoroughly understand your target audience, conduct segmented activities, and even determine whether these and other online sales methods, such as SEO strategies, are actually working. This is an essential marketing tool for your site.
Social network and other app integration
Since social networks are one of the primary channels for public communication today, particularly in e-commerce. As a result, the finest e-commerce systems offer integration with them for both paid and organic content creation.
However, it’s also important to consider all aspects of the purchasing journey, from start to finish, when engaging in online retail. As a result, even though the e-commerce platform is comprehensive, it is also crucial that it integrates with other programs such as T of attendance, ERP, search, customization, and product recommendations, as well as payment methods, cart recovery, logistics, exchange and return, and marketplace hub, among others.
Infrastructure to support various payment methods
The e-commerce platform must also include an infrastructure that can manage a variety of digital payment methods and/or enable simple integration with services designed for this purpose.
Customers have varied requirements and needs; therefore, this is crucial. Some like to pay in cash using a debit card or boleto, a credit card, a PIX, or even online services like PayPal and Google Pay.
Feature customization
It’s also crucial to note that the ability to modify resources contributes to the personality and individuality of your store. Check to ensure that you have your own domain, a variety of templates, simple-to-climb banners and films, and other components that will assist in creating the online identity of your brand.
Reliable assistance and service
Last but not least, the top e-commerce platforms need to offer first-rate customer service and support so you can deal with issues immediately and firmly.
Knowing the essential hiring criteria has left you with the task of understanding your industry and selecting the most viable candidate.
Which 11 eCommerce Platforms are the Best for 2024?
The 11 best e-commerce platforms to use in 2024 are detailed below. Now that you understand what an e-commerce platform is, the distinction between e-commerce and an online shop, and how to choose a platform, read on for more information.
AdobeCommerce
An e-commerce platform that is open-source and is for B2B and B2C industry brands, AdobeCommerce, formerly known as Magento, leads the way in innovation and customizable freedom.
As a result of the company’s 2018 acquisition by Adobe, which included all cloud marketing technologies and artificial intelligence, it became the most comprehensive solution on the digital market.
In addition, it features a wide range of omnichannel technologies that enable businesses to combine online and offline shopping successfully. A vast network of developers and partners from around the world provides support for the business by advertising their products on the largest download extension marketplace.
Dooca Commerce
For managing online stores, Dooca Commerce provides a comprehensive solution that is also user-friendly for sellers. The SaaS platform offers an intuitive and simple-to-configure panel to reduce the time it takes to set up a virtual store on the platform.
Dooca also provides free, editable templates with a professional look, as well as native tools, over 80 connectors for shipping and payment methods, and a free trial for anyone interested in trying out the platform.
JET
The e-commerce technology expert JET provides high-performance solutions. Long tail, middle market, and complex custom project requirements are met by over 20 years of market experience.
The solutions are centered on increasing revenue and providing the greatest EXPERIENCE for the customer. The largest e-commerce operation in Brazil is ZapCommerce, which allows for sales over WhatsApp, and the JET NEO omnichannel platform, which has a 99% SLA and invests heavily in technology.
A focus on providing individualized service and a determination to aid in the expansion of the company’s clientele helped the company gain market dominance.
JET also provides targeted platforms for several market segments, like fashion, pharmaceuticals, and beverages, among others.
Loja Integrada
The most popular e-commerce site in Brazil is Loja Integrada, with more than 1.5 million stores. This is the only system that enables anyone to begin and continue at any time without ever having to pay anything. It takes one or two business days to deliver to Italy, and no commission is ever charged on goods sales.
It provides each retailer with a simple and extremely humane experience. This explains why they claim that working with her to build a store is quicker than cooking noodles.
In addition to technology, it offers a full support network, including a public forum where shop owners can share their knowledge and ask questions, a trusted agencies directory, an application store, supplementary services, and custom themes.
Together, these factors give each person the ability to grow and improve their business independently. It is a sure bet for everyone who wants to make that business concept happen or expand, with total retail revenue of more than 1 billion reais. It is, therefore, unquestionably one of the top e-commerce platforms.
Magazord
Magazord is simply a platform that provides full functionality by providing tools for managing an online store, an integrated ERP, as well as integrations with numerous marketplaces and carriers available.
The platform’s in-house payment solution enhances security while selling products and also enables quicker receipt configuration.
Magazord provides solutions for inventory management, logistics, and a host of other features, together with free updates and professional support, to build online shops that provide a simple and effective shopping experience.
Cloudshop
The top e-commerce platform was chosen by the Brazilian Electronic Commerce Association (ABComm) in 2020, as well as in 2017 and 2019. With way over 70 thousand operational stores, Cloudshop is the market leader for digital e-commerce in Latin America.
The availability of contemporary layouts, the mobile app, the integration with the biggest players on the market in the logistic and payment categories, and the affiliation with additional sales channels like Instagram Shopping and Facebook Store are just a few of the features provided.
In order to assist you in beginning your journey, Cloudshop also provides free e-commerce training.
Cloudshop Next
Cloudshop Next is a service offered by Cloudshop for expanding businesses. For companies that already make over R$70 per month, the platform offers a professional e-commerce manager, a network of branches, and integrations with varying rates.
Along with providing customized resources for more complicated virtual businesses, Cloudshop Next also provides preferred support and a group of professional services.
Oracle Commerce
Oracle Commerce consistently ranked first in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Digital Commerce for 11 consecutive quarters. It is renowned for streamlining complicated systems, fusing back-office data, procedures, and regulations with the online marketplace experience, personalizing the shopping experience for each consumer, and effectively delivering the appropriate content and goods utilizing customer data.
It is also a flexible and open platform that puts API integration first.
Opencart
Contrary to the other platforms mentioned above, OpenCart is not a website builder. It is an open-source platform that gives already-existing websites eCommerce capabilities. OpenCart is now used by more than 342,000 websites to conduct online goods sales.
The OpenCart online store is this platform’s key component. You have access to more than 13,000 modules and themes, and you may link with a wide range of payment and shipping methods.
More than 110,000 registered users have contributed well over 550,000 posts to the OpenCart community help forum. By making a one-time payment or a continuing monthly subscription, you can also gain access to their support team.
Although the download and installation of OpenCart are free, the integrations and extensions are not.
Shopify
Since its inception in Canada in 2004, the SaaS platform known as Shopify has been transforming the world of online retail. More than a million businesses across 175 nations chose Shopify because of its simple solutions, open APIs on a global scale, and robust App Store with more than 5500 apps.
Shopify offers a diverse clientele that ranges from tiny businesses to major corporations, like GE, Decathlon, SpaceX, Nestlé, and Staples, among others. Numerous additional Brazilian firms, including Grupo Arezzo, Zee.Dog, La Bella Mafia, Grand Cru, Pampili, Sallve, and Cia Martima, also rely on Shopify to build high-performing local or global stores.
Keep in mind that Shopify was created with the intention of democratizing e-commerce or turning what appears sophisticated into something simple. It offers a lot of helpful material for this as well as local and community support.
Tray Commerce
With Tray Commerce, which has been on the market for more than 18 years, a store owner may create a virtual store with a full ecosystem and integration with more than 20 marketplaces from a single dashboard. Additionally, the platform offers more than 300 tools for online sales, customer acquisition, and retention through a variety of channels.
It integrates with social networks like WhatsApp and includes a number of adjustable themes. It also includes free and premium layouts, an open front-end, and even certified partners if the consumer so chooses. Additionally, it offers freight, payment choices, cart recovery, and 100% platform-native marketing.
VTEX
Since it is the first and the only worldwide solution that is fully integrated with the marketplace and WHO side by side, it is also one of the top e-commerce platforms. It helps organizations in retail, manufacturing, wholesale, groceries, consumer products, and other industries to sell more, function more efficiently, and grow without limitations by focusing completely on the demands of the customer.
VTEX can safeguard the future of your customers’ businesses and free them from software updates thanks to its microservices-based structure and potent business and engineering tools.
Sony, Nestle, Walmart, Coca-Cola, Whirlpool, Stanley Black & Decker, Carrefour, and more than three online retailers in 45 countries are just a few of the companies that use this platform as a service.
The company was ranked as a “Visionary” in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Digital Commerce in 2020 and was recognized as Leader in Digital Commerce Platforms by IDC MarketScape Worldwide B2C’s 2020.
Conclusion
We have assembled the finest e-commerce platforms and related information here with the intention of assisting you so that you will be well-equipped to make the best decision.
As you can see, there are alternatives available for the widest range of goals and characteristics. Therefore, carefully consider your market to determine which alternative best suits your demands.
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