Are you looking for the best ecommerce website builder for small business?
Follow this guide to find the best options for your online store.
To build your online store, e-commerce website builders might be the best option. But choosing the right website builder can be a hard task. Therefore, you need to learn about the existing best ecommerce website builder for your small business.
There is a lot to consider before moving towards building your ecommerce website. Since small businesses have little resources along with a small budget, building an ecommerce gets difficult. An online shop comes with a lot of features including interactive product pages, cart management, payment methods, etc.
Small business owners are fortunate enough because e-commerce website builders are an easy, fast, and budget-friendly option for creating an online store. As a matter of fact, you are just one step away to establish your e-commerce website. Just follow this guide and choose the best website builder for an online store.
Why Should you choose ecommerce website builders?
This is a common question everyone asks before they choose to move with ecommerce website builders instead of hiring agencies or professionals.
Choosing ecommerce website builders over professional developers became a trend among small businesses. Though there are some negative aspects, yet it is the most convenient option to build your websites on a budget. Even there are many platforms that allow users to create a website for free, obviously with limited features.
This list of best website builder for online store is the most convenient because they are budget-friendly, easy to use drag and drops features comes with enough resources to create a better functioning ecommerce website for small businesses.
Important Considerations for E-Commerce Website Builders
To choose the best online store builder for small business, there are few points to consider. The below-listed factors are to consider for ultimate success in creating a better ecommerce website, particularly for small businesses.
Budget: Budget is one of the most important factors to consider before you decide to make your website especially when you are a small ecommerce business startup. In most cases small businesses always juggle with the budget, therefore you need to think about how much does a website builder cost per month.
Flexibility: Do not make up your mind too early, always check the flexibility of the platform so that you can make a great ecommerce website and get good features that will be changeable in anytime.
Backend tools: User-friendliness is another important point that should be considered properly. The backed tools define the level of user-friendliness and depending on this, you will be able to build your website.
Speed and performance: Speed is the major indicator of the website builder is good enough. Therefore, when you are choosing your ultimate ecommerce website builder, make sure your site loads faster than your competitors.
Customizability: ecommerce website builders often fall short in customizability and this is where you need to focus. First, prioritize your need and according to that streamline if the platform you are choosing to build your website withstand your demand.
User experience: give importance to your users and do market research if the website builder platform provides a good user experience. This depends on the features that the platform provides including interface, performance, and security.
Best Ecommerce website builders for Small Businesses
According to our research, the following are the best website builders for online stores.
Shopify – Overall Best Ecommerce Website Builder for Small Business
Behind more than one million online stores, Shopify is the engine fueling development for the ecommerce sector. Because of its user-friendliness and easy to use tools, many businesses use this to build their e-commerce website.
This platform is unique to build ecommerce websites only and does not follow other website creation procedures. As a matter of fact, when you are thinking about making your ecommerce website with this, this is a great choice because they are focused on one single thing that you are moving for.
It has great potentiality and features that will be better for your ecommerce website. But we cannot say that it does not have any downside, it has some cons that also should be considered.
Pros and Cons of Shopify
| Pros | Cons |
| Comes with built-in marketing and SEO tools | Little bit expensive than other builders in the list |
| Has a good customer analytics | Uploading photos may give you trouble sometimes if not formatted properly |
| Easy and interactive drag and drop site builder | Free templates are very limited |
| Expected customization features | Reporting functionality is limited to expensive plans |
| All features in one place |
Shopify comes with a very promising price point which is often loved by small businesses.
- Shopify Lite — $9
- Basic Shopify — $29
- Shopify — $79
- Advanced Shopify — $299
- Shopify Plus — custom pricing
Wix – Affordable Ecommerce Builder with Lot of Templates
According to our research, the second-best ecommerce website builder for small business is Wix. Wix has created a better reputation in the market with its easy build a drag and drops functionality that excels in making ecommerce websites.
We can also consider Wix as the best free ecommerce website builder for small business if you are just intending to start free and without any domain.
For beginners, Wix might be the best option and this is where small businesses get to use this platform. Though they have several options along with pre-built themes, it is very flexible because of its drag and drops features so that you can easily customize your website with this builder.
It has many features that will help you grow your business along with all the SEO friendly features that help you grow your business quickly.
Like all others, Wix also comes with great features yet having some problems that should not be avoided.
Wix Pros and Cons
| Pros | Cons |
| Wide range of templates | Issues with loading speed |
| Great Flexibility comes with affordable cost | Templates customization is very limited |
| Wix artificial design intelligence available | Free plan shows Wix branding |
| Default automatic site backup | Site is not transferable |
| Intuitive drag and drop interface | Only one site in one plan |
| Features can be extended with Wix app market | You cannot bulk upload products |
| Built in Wix SEO Wiz |
The price range of Wix is like that of Shopify but in comparison to space and features, Wix is proving more affordable options for small businesses to build ecommerce websites.
- Wix Business Basics: $17
- Business Unlimited: $25
- Business VIP: $35
Squarespace – Best Ecommerce Builder with Free Stock Images
Squarespace is one of the major players in the market as an ecommerce website platform and it has one million customers and websites parked in its service.
One of the most important factors is its built-in features that come with specific plans and you do not have to struggle for choosing their plans.
It does not matter whether you are a pro or a beginner, you can always build your ecommerce website with its award-winning designs. With Squarespace, it is just a matter of time to turn your idea into reality even without any coding skills.
There are tons of elements and tools for making your ecommerce store which make this platform the best ecommerce website builder for small business.
Pros and Cons of Squarespace as website builder for online store
| Pros | Cons |
| Get free stock images along with a great image management tool | GDPR compliance is very poor in compare to other platforms |
| A range of content importing tools to import from other platforms | Payment gateway has limited options |
| Payment gateways provide 0% transaction fee | No autosave options for pages and posts |
| Build in email marketing tool | Multi-currency functionality is not available |
| Wide range of themes and templates with great designs | App store is not enriched like other platforms |
| Zapier integration is available |
Squarespace has a lot of features including greatly designed themes and templates.
- Personal — $16 per month
- Business — $26 per month
- Basic Commerce — $30 per month
- Advanced Commerce — $46 per month
Big Commerce – Best Ecommerce Website Builder for Multichannel Selling
Like the name, like the work. Big Commerce is a big name in the ecommerce platform, and it claims to have over 90k ecommerce websites.
Big Commerce is a versatile website builder and can be considered as the 4th best ecommerce website builder for small business.
This platform is best for multichannel selling and you can sell on all other social media platforms controlled by one ecommerce website.
Like all other website builders, Big Commerce has a very promising drag and drop feature that comes with all plans.
If we see from the perspective of ecommerce, Big Commerce comes with a lot of features with a small budget like no others. But these extra features are sometimes scary for beginners because they made things a little bit complex. But you must understand that the best features come with a little complexity.
Pros and Cons of Big Commerce
| Pros | Cons |
| A lot of features for ecommerce website | Price is higher than some platforms |
| Integrated with B2B sales tools | Very limited free templets |
| Multichannel selling system | It might not be the best platform for small businesses |
| Full content management facility | Payment is auto upgraded depending on sales volume |
| SEO friendly features |
Big Commerce Pricing:
- Standard: $29.95 per month
- Plus: $79.95 per month
- Pro: $299.95 per month
- Enterprise: pricing varies, depending on your business requirements
Weebly – Easiest Ecommerce Builder with A Lot of Features
Weebly is one of the best website builders for creating a professional and scalable ecommerce website builder that comes with a lot of features for beginners.
The Weebly website builder is easy and provides excellent features for ecommerce and multipurpose websites without making anything complicated.
As Weebly claims, more than 30 million websites are built by using its builder and a significant number of those websites are ecommerce created by small businesses.
You can build your ecommerce website with an easy drag and drop builder and most of the templates are highly mobile responsive.
It is satisfying that in Weebly’s business plans you can run membership sites. Depending on different plans, you can have site analytics, HD Audio and Video.
Business plans dedicatedly designed for the best website builder for small online store stores have several benefits including built-in shipping functionality, coupon, and gift cards.
Pros and Cons of Weebly
| Pros | Cons |
| Ideal for small businesses | Customization options are limited |
| Very beginner friendly | It lacks multichannel features |
| Very affordable for small businesses | You cannot work when you are uploading photo |
| Integrated SEO features | Customer support is as fast as top platforms |
| Autosave feature is available |
Weebly is affordable and it is one of the best ecommerce website builders for small business.
- Professional: $12/month, billed annually
- Performance: $25/month, billed annually
- Business Plus: $38/ month, billed annually
WordPress – Best Free Ecommerce Website Builder
There is literally nothing to say about WordPress. And we cannot say that one platform is best for everyone. It all depends on your necessity and this is where WordPress excels in every way.
As we all know that WordPress powers 40% of the entire internet world and if we think about CMS built platforms, more than 64% of websites in the world are built with WordPress.
When it comes to ecommerce, WordPress powers millions of ecommerce websites because of its performance and user-friendly and versatile interface.
It is better to know that WordPress has two different versions. One is self-hosted WordPress.org and another wordpress.com. Self-hosted WordPress is substantially the best website builder in the world because of its versatile and flexible development interface and this is also good for small businesses.
For all those small businesses looking for a viable solution for their ecommerce site, WordPress can be the best ecommerce website builder for small businesses.
Pros and Cons of WordPress
| Pros | Cons |
| Most versatile and flexible website builder | It needs a different web hosting service |
| A completely free Open-source builder | No customer support |
| The largest inventory of pre-designed and built themes | Scalability becomes an issue for nontechie people |
| Many different SEO tools | Limited functionalities for big ecommerce |
| Easy to use plugins mostly free | Security issues if not used |
| Supports multiple payment gateway | |
| Easy way to manage product inventory |
When it comes to pricing, it depends on your purpose. WordPress is completely free for all types of website building despite being one of the best content management system and builder. But unlike other store builders, you need to use a different web hosting and for better functionality, you must buy the theme.
3DCart – Best Platform for Many Payment Methods
3DCart is a powerful and secure e-commerce software that serves more than 22,000 companies online in 20 years of service. The company is dedicated to helping merchants build high-rated online stores.
The platform has more than 200 integrated features, 50 free themes, offers SEO options, and supports more than 100 payment processors, more than any other platform on the Internet.
3dcart is good for small business owners and individual entrepreneurs who are just starting their business. It works well for small but ambitious online sellers looking for powerful management tools. If the price is your constraint, this platform will be a good option for you.
It also offers intuitive features, mobile-ready themes, and marketing tools to increase conversion rates.
In addition, 3DCart offers expert e-commerce support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Pros and Cons of 3DCart
| Pros | Cons |
| Users can change the themes of their online store at any time | Relatively more expensive for the resources it provides. |
| 3dcart has more than 160 forms and payment methods | You do not have a mobile app for sales outside your home office. |
| Comprehensive SEO services are available | Customization is very limited |
| Product upload is very easy | Have issues with POS systems |
| Easy to implement membership rewards |
3DCart Pricing:
- Startup Store- $ 19 Per Month
- Basic Store- $ 29 Per Month
- Plus Store- $ 79 Per Month
- Pro Store- $ 229 Per Month
Magento – Best Open-Source Ecommerce Store Builder for Techy
Magento is one of the most special e-commerce platforms because it is open source. This means that it is free for use in the public domain by anyone with knowledge of coding.
This also makes it a kind of platform for professionals only unless you decide to hire a coder or yourself.
Magento is also very flexible, you can add any type of resource to create your website and that is the reason why it provides about 20% of online stores.
Magento provides everything you need to build the most spectacular online store. The platform provides features such as marketing and customer segmentation.
Other resources come with open-source Magento, so you can work on your SEO with the necessary tools for Google’s sitemaps, Google’s content APIs, and search engine friendly URLs.
The tools marketing and conversion in Magento consist of coupon codes, customer groups, product bundling, and management reports.
Pro and Cons of Magento
| Pros | Cons |
| A large community and all major web hosts support Magento right away | Magento requires some level of technical skills to get started. |
| Integrated marketing and promotional tools | Requires a lot of initial development |
| SEO optimization features | Scalability comes with experience and technical knowledge |
| Integrated payment gateways | The bank’s end user interface is a bit clunky, but usable |
| Detailed real-time analysis and sales and tax reports | |
| Progressive Web application support | |
| Supports mobile platforms |
Pricing here with Magento greatly differs depending on what you want to do. This makes Magento the best website builder for small business ecommerce with the vision of growth. Like WordPress, the Magento community is free and if you have a little bit of knowledge, you can build your website for free. But do not forget about the additional hosting, domains, and security cost. On the other hand, if you want a lot of features for your website, an ecommerce website may cost according to your need.
Volusion – Best Online Store Builder for Data Reporting
Volusion provides no illusions when it comes to data reporting. Everything you need to track your website’s performance and progress in one place, so it is a data lover’s dream.
This makes it ideal for expanding your business at a pace that suits you. Volusion’s data tools allow you to measure the success of your pages, so you can easily adjust your website to improve your sales.
In our survey, Volusion scored low for the site’s features. The main problem is that Volusion does not offer any blogging tools. Blogs can play an important role in the growth of small businesses, so this is a major disadvantage.
Where Volusion scored well on its sales resources. In fact, we can compare this with BigCommerce. That said, for most small businesses, many of these features will be overkill.
However, if you want to expand your business, Volusion is a decent place to start.
Pros and Cons of Volusion
| Pros | Cons |
| Supports multiple payment gateways | Very difficult to use |
| Detailed data reports – easily track your site’s performance. | No real niche offer |
| A company with great sales force | Reporting tools nonexistent |
| Informative user interface | Not as customizable as other website builders |
| Pre-built templates for good end user experience | Not many integration options |
Volusion Pricing:
- Personal- $29
- Professional – $79
- Business – $299
- Prime – Based on GMV
Zyro – Best Startup Ecommerce Website Builder
The Zyro allows you to create a virtual store – and you still get a free domain for a year to sign the Premium package or higher.
It has an easy-to-use page builder that offers everything you need to create your website. With that, you can effortlessly put your website online.
If you experience any problems, you can count on 24/7 customer support. There are dozens of templates to choose from, including an entire section for online stores.
Pros and Cons of Zyro eCommerce Website Builder
| Pros | Cons |
| Simple and easy to use website creator | Limited customizability |
| 24/7 support team | Little bit buggy |
| Dozens of templates available for your website | The domain handling is very complex |
| Money back guarantee within 30 days | |
| It is very affordable |
Zyro Pricing:
- Unleashed – $15.99
- Ecommerce – $24.99
- eCommerce Plus – $29.99
To conclude, these are just the 10 best ecommerce website builders for small businesses but there are many other website builders you can choose to build your website. Most of these platforms offer free plans without a custom domain. Every platform has specific features intending for your need. So, now you know what you know and what these platforms offer, choose the best ecommerce website builder.
