Find Your Online Store Builder: Our Side-by-Side Comparison

281 comments

• Misha 1 year ago

  So nice to see an article written by knowledgeable humans and not parroting AIs who don't actually know anything. Thank you!
  I am launching an online store to sell holistic healing and wellness services - massage, meditation, coaching. Perhaps some products down the line as well, but initially the inventory would be scheduled services. Which platform would you recommend, given that scheduling is a core need for me? I also don't see Square listed here - are they not in the running in your view?
  Lastly, would it make any sense to design the site in one platform (e.g. Wix) and use another to manage payments (e.g. square) ?

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Holly Choules 1 year ago

    Hi Misha,

    Thanks so much for your comment. I'm glad you've found the content useful.

    Since you're offering services, I'd recommend Squarespace because it has a reliable scheduling tool, Acuity Scheduling that's also very easy to use and set up with.

    Square isn't featured on this page, since we use our hands-on testing to determine the top online store builders that make the cut. The options on this page are the very best we've come across!

    For your last question, I'd say that it's much easier to stick to one platform and manage your payments from there. That way you're not jumping between different sites. For instance, if you use Wix, you can accept different types of payments from your dashboard, like credit or debit cards and digital wallets. It also keeps everything organized for you in the long run.

    I hope my answers have been helpful! Wishing you the best of luck with your holistic healing and wellness services.
    Holly.

    Reply

• john 2 years ago

  Choosing the right online store builder is crucial for your e-commerce success. From user-friendly interfaces to robust features, the options vary. Shopify excels with its versatility and ease, while BigCommerce offers scalability and advanced tools. WooCommerce integrates seamlessly with WordPress, ideal for content-driven sites. Each has strengths; pick wisely!

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Emma Ryan 2 years ago

    Hi John,

    Thanks for commenting - these are great insights into some of the top online store builders! We hope our comparison table and pages can help others make the right choice for their business too.

    Very best,
    Emma

    Reply

• Angie 3 years ago

  Hi There: I am a math teacher looking for a website platform to support a non-profit I volunteer for that hosts math competitions for kids. We need a website that can post info and make sales which everything you list does. More importantly we need a platform that can send info to an excel spreadsheet that we use during the competition. We would also like it to generate email addresses from those that sign up, keep track of number of sign ups since space is limited, close registration at deadlines, etc...
  What would you recommend?

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jacqueline Renouard 3 years ago

    Hi Angie,
    Thank you for your fantastic question. For your website needs I would recommend Wix, as it can integrate with Zapier which lets you send information between Wix Automations and Microsoft Excel automatically. It also has the best marketing, where you can use email marketing integrations like Mailchimp, and you're able to create sign up forms. You might need a paid plan, but we recommend looking at our Wix Pricing review to see which features you might need and if it fits your non-profit.
    Warmly,
    Jacqueline

    Reply

• Sujan Bhuiyan 3 years ago

  This blog post comparing different ecommerce website builders is a valuable resource for anyone looking to create an online store. The author provides a thorough analysis of each platform, highlighting their strengths and weaknesses and comparing features such as pricing, ease of use, and design options.

  One of the strengths of this post is the level of detail provided for each platform. The author not only explains the features of each builder, but also provides screenshots and examples to give readers a better sense of what the platform is capable of. Additionally, the comparison table at the end of the post is a useful tool for readers looking to quickly compare the different builders side by side.

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Lucy Carney 3 years ago

    Hi Sujan,
    Thank you for your lovely comment, I'm so pleased that you find the post helpful! We always aim to provide the most useful information we can for our readers so I'm really glad you enjoyed it and found it valuable. I hope you continue to enjoy our content!
    Have a great day, Lucy

    Reply

• Ian 4 years ago

  Hi thanks for the article - really helpful. Any plans to add WordPress / WooCommerce to the comparisons?

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jacqueline Renouard 4 years ago

    Hi Ian,
    Thanks for your comment! We've done comparisons that include WordPress and WooCommerce, but we found in our research that these were the top choices for an online store builder. If you want more information on those two, here is our WordPress review and our WooCommerce review to get you started. Hope that helps!
    Warmly,
    Jacqueline

    Reply

• John 5 years ago

  great article

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jordan Glover 5 years ago

    Hi John,
    We're glad you found it helpful!
    All the best,
    Jordan

    Reply

• Sindhu Cubestech 6 years ago

  Great research done on comparing the ecommerce website builders, thanks!

  Reply

• Zehreen 8 years ago

  Hi ! I'm in my final year of university and for my dissertation I'm doing just this! So this is very helpful.
  Just wanted to ask - if I wanted to open an online micro-business providing memberships (login and sign up pages) for two types of customers (buyer and seller) which would be the best website to do so, Wix or Shopify?
  Also, what is the greatest thing that e-commerce in today's society lack altogether in your opinion?

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Lucy Carney 7 years ago

    Hi Zehreen,
    So glad you found the article useful! You can create a members-only store in Shopify, but it does require coding, so unless you want to use apps, I'd recommend Wix instead. You can create Members Only Pages as well as Member Roles to manage users' access (I've included links to Wix's help pages so you can see if that's the sort of thing you'd be after).
    We had a lot of fun discussion over your question - the biggest answer would be security, although steps are constantly being taken to improve this which is great to see! Other improvements we'd love to see are better personalization and more accurate recommendations for shoppers.
    I hope that's helped - best of luck with your dissertation!
    Lucy

    Reply

• Mike 8 years ago

  Hi there,

  Thanks for your efforts but just wondering if you can do one more? Appreciate your thoughts on GrooveKart as that is getting pushed as a great alternative without all the fees which is one of my biggest gripes with Shopify, etc. Good for everyone who signs up through links of course but it is an expensive game. Cheers!

  Mike

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Lucy Carney 8 years ago

    Hi Mike,
    Thanks for your question, I'm happy to help! GrooveKart is a very new platform, and we haven't put it through the testing that we have for Shopify and the other ecommerce platforms reviewed on Website Builder Expert. It is certainly promoting a lot of discounts and shiny new features! But, I would recommend holding off on signing up to this platform just yet - a lot of its features are "coming soon" and with the company being in such early stages it might be sensible to wait for any teething issues to be ironed out first. For example there are broken links on GrooveKart's homepage and very urgent drives to sign up to a plan before the page redirects.
    Of course, these things may be nothing, but I would still suggest waiting to see how this company develops over the coming months. I know it's been in development for 2 years, and has had good reports as you say, so I'm sure there'd be no harm in reaching out to them for more information. All I would say is, with Shopify you do get what you pay for, and it's always worth being careful of prices that seem too good to be true! I hope that's helped, and best of luck with your decision - do let us know how you get on!
    We will certainly be following GrooveKart's progress with interest - thanks for your comment,
    Lucy

    Reply

• Marie 8 years ago

  WOW!
  This is just what I was looking for.
  Thanks a million!

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Charlie Carmichael 8 years ago

    Hi Marie,

    Thanks for your comment. We're glad you found our comparison chart so useful! Hopefully we've helped you make the right decision.

    Charlie

    Reply

• Cindy 8 years ago

  I have been selling on eBay for some time now. Economy has gone up some, but my sales are down. Had an actual store front for a while, but could not afford that. Used GoDaddy for a short period. Did not care for it. These look very interesting, and the quiz prompted me to Shopify. I have handmade items from jewelry I create with Swarovski Crystals, crocheted items ( doilies, hats, gloves, scarves,etc.). I also have leftover items from a store where I carried handmade Peruvian jewelry. I am 60 years old, and don't want to start a "full time" job again. Any suggestions?

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Lucy Carney 8 years ago

    Hi Cindy,
    Thanks so much for commenting! I'm sorry to hear eBay and GoDaddy didn't work out. Shopify is the best all-round ecommerce platform on the market - it has lots of sales tools, and is great for running a business. Its price plans start at $29 per month (billed annually). You get what you pay for, and it'll be cheaper in the long-term than a builder where you have to buy lots of apps to add functions to your site.
    Shopify would definitely be able to make the most out of your wonderful business. Once you've set it up, it should make selling online really easy because it can automate a lot of the processes that take up time.
    If you don't fancy Shopify, you could consider Wix eCommerce - it's our next-rated builder and would give you lots of creative control over your store's design.
    Definitely take a look at Shopify, and see what you think - please do let us know what you decide!
    I hope that's helped,
    Lucy

    Reply

• Donna Koik 8 years ago

  Hi, a lot of work put into these articles and a big Well Done! My question is to create a website that I can promote 'online learning English' with payments made via PayPal and nice to have whiteboard software. I'm really confused on all these sites and don't want to be chopping and changing once I get started. I also want to attract an audience from China but I am aware that they have government blocks on their servers etc. Can you recommend which web builder would be beneficial for me to kick start my online learning?

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Charlie Carmichael 8 years ago

    Hi Donna,

    Thanks for your comment. Wix offers a variety of templates purpose built for education and also accept payments via PayPal so it's worth having a look at. They also have a free plan, so you can try out the website builder before you invest in it as we appreciate it can be difficult to switch platforms once you're financially committed. Read more about Wix in our dedicated review here.

    Hope that helps and best of luck creating your site!

    Charlie

    Reply

• Brian odong 8 years ago

  Hello Jeremy
  I'm from Uganda and am trying to build a store. I need help with the best options for my African apparent and my main concert is out local payment options or gateways because they ones available will not favour us so much . I was preferring shopify or wix which is cheaper for the start
  Can you guide me. Thanka

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Natasha Willett 8 years ago

    Hi Brian,

    Thank you for the comment, pleased you found the article useful. I agree for what you are looking for both Shopify and Wix are likely to be your best solution. With Shopify however, you may get all the extra business / sales management tools you will require to really help you reach a wider audience base, and for this reason I would personally look to this website builder. Check out this article by shopify for more information over the payment gateways they support.

    I would also have a look at our Shopify vs Wix article as this may help you understand the differences between these two builders.
    Enjoy,
    Natasha.

    Reply

• Hafi 8 years ago

  Your post is very informative and interesting. Thank you for such a helpful post.

  Reply

• 

  Fred Isaac 8 years ago

  Hi Amanda, Shopify powers some of the USA's biggest stores (Budweiser, for example), so there really is no store too big to work on it!

  Reply

• Amanda Hoven 8 years ago

  Hi! Thank's for this clear overview!
  I have been reading a lot about wix and weebly being better for small businesses and Shopify for the larger ones.
  The case is that I need to transfer our current professionally programmed webshop to a website builder, to make sure it's always up to date and the maintenance is our own hands.
  Looking at shopify, Thresholds make that we can only go for the biggest and considerably more expansive package.
  If we could manage on wix or weebly, it would make all the difference. However, I just wish to make sure we are not 'too big' for these platforms.
  What is a smaller vs. larger business..

  Reply

• Tim Lorenz 8 years ago

  I tried to do a Wix
  The automated builder they had was super limited and when I tried to even add ONE item in my store there was a price there (from a sample). I could up load a photo but not change the price. The sample price just sat there and there was no way to edit the price

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Fred Isaac 8 years ago

    Hi Tim, which builder did you end up going with?

    Reply

• LeAllyson Meyer 8 years ago

  Super helpful chart and info. Thank you.

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Fred Isaac 8 years ago

    Thanks LeAllyson! Hope you found the right builder for you.

    Reply

• George 8 years ago

  Hi,

  I'm not a tech expert but thinking of starting an e-commerce website that sells the home page through a bidding process.

  So, in essence, the product is just 1 ( home page) but people should be able to bid on a daily basis ( like eBay with a cut off date and time) and upload their product in a predesigned template. I'm also looking for automation here as the templates require to be changed every 24 hours /365 days a day.

  Which site would you recommend?

  Thanks
  SG

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Fred Isaac 8 years ago

    Hi George,

    Interesting question!

    I know Shopify has some pretty handy integration with Product Auction apps that allow you to keep track of bids and automatically email auction winners, so to start with it's probably worth checking them out.

    Hope that helps!

    Reply

• rajvishah 8 years ago

  Shopify and BigCommerce are pure e-commerce store builders and as such, they have a very comprehensive set of tools. Wix, Weebly & Squarespace are also broadly used by non-e-commerce users. So the available store tools are not as comprehensive as Shopify or BigCommerce.also i recommend buildbazaar. also a wonderful platform for e-commerce website.

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Fred Isaac 8 years ago

    Hi Rajvishah,

    Yes, we agree that Shopify and BigCommerce are market leaders for ecommerce because they really are geared around selling products and making money.

    That's not to say you can't create a great store using Squarespace Business, though!

    Thank you for the comment!

    Reply

• Karl Pitwon 8 years ago

  Glad I came across this interesting review .

  What I would like to know is what would be the best website for me an Artist wanting to sell his work on line. Showing examples of the work you do and mainly featuring a shop that you would be able to manage yourself, that is adding and deleting images for sale.

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Fred Isaac 8 years ago

    Hi Karl,

    I've got just the thing you need, our comparison chart specifically for artists!

    Check it out here - https://www.websitebuilderexpert.com/website-builders/portfolio/

    When you've picked one you're happy with, you might find our guide on how to sell art online useful - https://www.websitebuilderexpert.com/how-to-sell-art-online/

    Good luck selling your art online!

    Fred

    Reply

    2 replies

    • Anthony 8 years ago

      what about artists who want to sell printed items such as cell phone cases, bags, shoes, canvas prints etc?

      Reply

      1 reply

      • 

        Charlie Carmichael 8 years ago

        Hi Anthony,

        Thanks for your comment. The amount you want to sell will have an impact on what the best choice is for you. For selling a few products, something like Squarespace is a great choice given its design lends itself to creative/artistic industries. If you're looking to sell lots of products in bulk however, you'll want a more powerful product like Shopify. You can read our Squarespace review here and our Shopify review here. We'd recommend taking a look at both before making up your mind. Hope that helps!

        Thanks,

        Charlie

        Reply

    • Karl Pitwon 8 years ago

      Hi Fred .
      Thank you very much for your excellent replies , just one thing , is it possible to give me a break down on what I would realistically be paying for a website as I described. I would like to know the rough price of paying for the WIX site you recommend , what other costs are incurred like Domain name etc.

      Karl

      Reply

• Drea 8 years ago

  Hi, Wondering which builder can be Intergrated wi th offline stores that use Android Pays?

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    charlie Carmichael 8 years ago

    Hi Drea,

    Thanks for your comment,

    Many builders offer offline payment but I'd personally recommend Wix. If you want to learn more about setting up these payments, you can read more here.
    Hope that helps,

    Charlie

    Reply

• Tony Adolphus 8 years ago

  I am so pleased and it's been a non stop read of all the pros and cons of e commerce web sites. You guys have done an amazing job on fact finding in making me choose like having a drink of water.

  Much appreciated

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Fred Isaac 8 years ago

    Great to hear Tony - hope you enjoy your first sip (when you sign up for a builder).

    Let us know how you get on.

    Fred

    Reply

• Anne 8 years ago

  Great information. I'm just setting up a new business selling greeting cards with my photographic designs. I have a lot of initial interest, but not sure how successful I'll be at this point so not wanting to invest too much into it initially. At this stage I'll be selling one product (cards) with numerous designs, and possibly offering a discount for bulk puchases. I'll also need to be able to calculate shipping. I also plan to approach shops about selling my cards and would like this site to be appropriate for them to view my designs although I may invoice them outside of the site. Which site would you recommend? Thankyou!

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Natasha Willett 8 years ago

    Hi Anne,
    Thank you for your comment.

    I think your decision will come down to the scale of your business and expected future growth. For smaller shops with limited products, it’s worth looking at Wix ecommerce – here’s our review. https://www.websitebuilderexpert.com/ecommerce-website-builders/wix-ecommerce-review/

    If you feel like your site could grow quickly or you want to start stocking lots of products, check out BigCommerce or Shopify.
    https://www.websitebuilderexpert.com/ecommerce-website-builders/shopify-review/ https://www.websitebuilderexpert.com/ecommerce-website-builders/bigcommerce-review/
    (https://www.websitebuilderexpert.com/ecommerce-website-builders/comparisons/bigcommerce-vs-shopify/)

    Wix Ecommerce is the cheapest option at this stage, especially compared to BigComerce and Shopify, but as such it’s also more stripped back with less selling features. BigCommerce for example off bulk discounts where Wix dose not.

    Hope this helps.
    Natasha.

    Reply

• Marlene Niemeier 9 years ago

  Excellent article. The information is well researched and on point. The chart is excellent and made more powerful by the concise additional info and links in the narrative. I have been doing my own research of programs and reviews. This article is the best by far has enabled me to make a decision and get on with it. Thank you !

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Tom Watts 8 years ago

    Hi Marleene,

    Thanks for you comment, it's great to know our information is of real value to our readers.

    Best of luck with your ecommerce store,

    - Tom

    Reply

• Smith Roy 9 years ago

  This is very important blog for every Website owner they can understand that things easy to there, you are writing there very informative blog it is very helpful for us and website owner's.

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Tom Watts 9 years ago

    Hi Smith Roy,

    Glad to hear you found the discussion helpful - after all that's what we're here for!

    Best of luck with your ecommerce store,
    - Tom

    Reply

• Pooja joshi 9 years ago

  Thanks for sharing useful information about key features and prices of top online store builders.

  Reply

• Marc Spencer 9 years ago

  Hi, good article. I'm looking to build a website where i can show my products and take orders but not payments. i will be sending an "old fashioned paper invoice" with the goods. Which site would you recommend?

  Thanks

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Tom Watts 9 years ago

    Hi Marc,

    If you intend on sending a paper invoice, then I think your major requirement is a contact form so that people can communicate their orders to you?

    If so, most major platforms will be suitable for your website.

    I'd recommend having a look at Wix, which is super easy to use, allows you add contact forms with just a few clicks and offers a huge choice of eye-catching templates to catch the eye of any visitors.

    I've linked to our review, which will give you more detailed information.

    Thanks for reading,
    - Tom

    Reply

• Paul Henry 9 years ago

  Excellent article to read. From this article i am able to clear my doubts regarding these ecommerce online store builders.

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Tom Watts 9 years ago

    Hi Paul,

    Thanks for your kind feedback, it really is important to us that our discussions are useful for our readers.

    Best of luck with your store building,

    - Tom

    Reply

• Vicki 9 years ago

  Great post. Nice to see a chart! Artist seeking platform easy and elegant. Love sq space and started... demand for
  Inventory high and switched To Weebly (domain) Fun drop and drag, no complaints but would like to hire a pro
  To assemble what I want. It's outlined already! Cannot find a soul in USA and a phone number.

  I'm trying to work in studio and suppliers. Write content etc. suggestion? One firm came back at 18k locally.
  And they use Shopify. I do have friends using all platforms. I will get or pay for project and hand off time.
  Provide images and text. The apps, SEO and ecommerce I want professional. I work across the country and occasionally UK Canada. Suggestions Jeremy???

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Tom Watts 9 years ago

    Hi Vicki,

    BigCommerce and Shopify are both dedicated ecommerce website builders that should be able to cope with the demands you have for them.

    Depending on the complexity of your needs and how you see your site, you should be able to cope just by tweaking one of the default templates. However there are also plenty of plugins to add additional functionality if you need it.

    Both offer a lot of apps, absolute professionalism on an ecommerce front ,and good SEO to help you rank too.

    Squarespace is a good choice for portfolio sites, but their ecomemrce offering isn't as high-end as Shopify or Bigcommerce. Likewise for Weebly.

    I would say it's worth considering what you want your website to be - whether it is a portfolio for your artwork or a place to sell your work to consumers. I know they are similar, but depending on the priority this will indicate which builder to opt for.

    Hope that helps,
    - Tom

    Reply

• Beverley Heyworth 9 years ago

  I have just read your comparison report and it makes interesting reading as I have never heard of most of these sites. I am looking to set up a site for a personalised chocolate product would shopify still be the best store builder for this?

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Tom Watts 9 years ago

    Hi Beverly,

    The best ecommerce builder for you will really depend on what you see as your businesses key aims.

    Both Shopify and BigCommerce are powerful ecommerce website builders that both offer in-depth reporting and a whole load of options and plugins for you to make the most of your store with.

    You could also consider Wix eCommerce, which offers a more basic and stripped back ecommerce experience that is ideal for small businesses and solo traders.

    I've linked to our in-depth reviews for each platform and would definitely advise that it's worth reading as much as you can before committing to a platform!

    Hope that helps,
    - Tom

    Reply

• grocery store lucknow 9 years ago

  Your post is very nice thanks for sharing this post..

  Reply

• Peter Ward 9 years ago

  Hi Jeremy, from Peter in the UK!
  I am trying to find out what you think about Americommerce as an ECommerce platform? We have been using their software for about 2 years, but is seems to have become more clumsy and less personal since the take-over by Capital One bank. From a technical point of view, what is your opinion please? I need to grow a website that can handle a catalogue of 1000+ items that might grow to more if it can handle it. I don't mind paying the cost if the website can deliver! I value your time and opinion - many thanks! Peter

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Tom Watts 9 years ago

    Hi Peter,

    Unfortunately I'm not too familiar with Americommerce, but a decline in quality from any brand after a previously fruitful relationship is never a good sign.

    If you're looking for a robust platform for a 1,000+ products, then I would suggest looking into Shopify or BigCommerce, both of whom are professional-level ecommerce platforms that can support growth from start-up to large scale enterprise. Both offer in-depth reporting and an intuitive back-end, so hopefully not so technical that it is off putting!

    I won't go into the details here, but I've linked to our reviews above, and would also recommend having a look at our ecommerce comparison chart.

    Hope that helps,
    - Tom

    Reply

• Nishtha jain 9 years ago

  The comparison is done on relevant criteria that give a lot of insights about the listed software

  Reply

• thea thomas 9 years ago

  Excellent article to read.

  Reply

• Mohak 9 years ago

  Hi Jeremy! Loved the article. Very Insightful.
  I plan to start an e-commerce website to sell pet food and are trying to lock down on one of Shopify, Wix and BigCommerce. Two questions:
  1. Do any of these give us an option to buy domains?
  2. Does any of these enable us to take donations from customers on the website?
  3. Which one would you recommend for our starting business ?

  Mohak.

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Tom Watts 9 years ago

    Hi Mohak,

    You can buy a domain through any of the three platforms.

    You can also accept donations through various app and 3rd party integrations too.

    Which would I choose out of Shopify, Wix and BigCommerce? I think it comes down to the sort of business you want to run, the size of your business and expected future growth.

    More importantly it comes down to the features and functions you want and need on your site. It would be worth thinking about what you want to achieve and what you want to offer your customers, then check out the capabilities of each platform and see which is the best fit.

    I'll also direct you to the following articles:

    "How to choose a domain" - in which we discuss whether to purchase a domain name through the website builder or purchase it separately via a domain registrar. We look at the pros and cons to each and will help you make a more informed decision.

    "Shopify vs BigCommerce" comparison - this should also help give you some more contextual information.

    Hope that helps,
    - Tom

    Reply

• Richard Ngari 9 years ago

  Thanks

  Reply

• 

  Jeremy 9 years ago

  I just did a quick search. I believe Weebly's App Center offers an app called Gallery Filter ($9.99 per month) where they allow you to sort images. What you can do is upload images of each of your product, then hyperlink the images to their respective product pages. So your shoppers can filter through what they want, then click through to the product page.

  I honestly haven't used that app before so you should probably investigate it further to see if it will actually cater to what you need.

  Jeremy

  Reply

• Katie 9 years ago

  I have learned so much from your site.Thank you! I know you have recommended Shopify for those wishing to have a subscription box business but do all 5 that you mentioned have the ability to work with subscriptions or are Shopify and BigCommerce the only options? Also, are you able to compare Shopify to the platforms that claim to be for subscription services such as CloudCart and CrateJoy? Thank you in advance! (I apologize if this is a duplicate - it did not show up when I thought I submitted)

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 9 years ago

    Hi Katie,

    Glad you're finding our website helpful!

    We haven't used subscription services such as CrateJoy before so can't make a helpful direct comparison. From high level basis, Shopify and BigCommerce are the best "pure" hosted ecommerce builders out there (in our view anyway). "Hosted" means they provide hosting services, full time support, etc so you don't have to manage all the technical moving pieces yourself.

    Having said that, even though you can find apps to bolt on to stores built with Shopify and BigCommerce to enable subscription services, these two platforms are not built purely for subscription based businesses. It seems like CrateJoy is.

    But I wouldn't discount platforms like Shopify. They're great and have a very strong reputation and excellent support. If you subscribe to Shopify and then add a premium subscription app to your store, that's an extra cost you'd have to consider. But in return, you get a really solid platform to build your business.

    So there are some pros and cons consider.

    Jeremy

    Reply

• Terry 9 years ago

  I want to build a website that aggregates information from numerous producers of services/products and then sends the customer to the companies to purchase the actual product or service. I want to build one that pays me for click-throughs to the companies, and/or pays me by charging the companies to be included in my directory. How does the payment work for clicks?

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 9 years ago

    Hey Terry,

    One very simple idea is to use Google Analytics to track how many clicks you get on a specific link. That way, perhaps once per month you can check how many times the links were clicked and charge your clients accordingly. Google Analytics can show you which links were clicked with their "Events" feature. Just Google this and you'll find some tutorials.

    Jeremy

    Reply

• Lynne mitchell 9 years ago

  Between Shopify and big commerce which offer assistance in helping to promote the site and drive traffic to it?

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 9 years ago

    Hey Lynne,

    I know Shopify does have "Shopify Experts" for hire to help you market your online store. Take a look at our discussion page here to see how these "Experts" work.

    Jeremy

    Reply

• Teoh 9 years ago

  Hi Jeremy. Thanks for the great information on website building. I want to set up an ecommerce store for pet food and I have purchased a domain name with Namecheap. Your short quiz recommends Shopify to me. I am a total newbie in this area and I have a few questions:

  1) Does Shopify allow me to set up and launch my e-store in stages, for example launch other content first (such as Home page, FAQ, About Me, etc) and launch my e-store at a later time, until my pics and products are ready;

  2) My target audience are Chinese speaking people but I don't want to build my website in Chinese language entirely. I don't want to build a bilingual site either. What I have in mind is to have the English words and Chinese characters co-exist on the same page, say for my product names and descriptions. Or some pages written in English, while others may be written in Chinese characters (blog, FAQ, etc). Is it possible?

  Thanks!

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 9 years ago

    Hello Teoh,

    1) Yes you can publish your ecommerce website whenever you want to. So if you only have your home page set up, but not your product pages yet, you can still publish your website. You can hide certain pages that you are working on so the public can't see them yet.

    2) You can certainly have both Chinese and English on your pages. But I'm not entirely sure if you can do that for your product pages as some of the layout configurations are pre-set. So for instance, the field where people to pick how many units they want to add to the shopping cart, I'm not sure if you can insert both English and Chinese there. Perhaps it's possible if you modified the codes to the theme. This is achievable as Shopify allow you full access to the theme codes. If you're not code savvy, Shopify offers you the ability to hire Shopify Experts who can customize your online store for you.

    Jeremy

    Reply

    1 reply

    • Teoh 9 years ago

      Hi Jeremy. Thanks so much for the response! Appreciate it greatly. I will contact Shopify if I need help :)

      Reply

• Rochelle Walker 10 years ago

  Thanks for the information in a short and comprehensive way. I was actually looking for information for my grand daughter who thinks I know how to do everything (Lol). However, I do know about business issues which is why she called. I learned something that I can pass on to her and help her get started quicker than I would if I hadn't read your information.

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 10 years ago

    Thanks for your feedback, Rochelle. You're such a kind and awesome grandmother! Your grand daughter is very lucky.

    Jeremy

    Reply

• Juan 10 years ago

  Hello. This is useful. Quick question. Do you know whether any of these providers would have or otherwise allow to easily set up and run optimization experiments? (e.g. Optimizely, Tasty, Optimize, Maxymizer, Optimize, etc? Thanks!

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 10 years ago

    Hey Juan,

    I know Optimizely has an app in BigCommerce's app store. Optimizely also works with Shopify and you'll just have to paste a snippet of code into your Shopify theme.

    In general, I think both BigCommerce and Shopify (the two leading hosted ecommerce builders) will work with most AB testing software. Most of the time, you just have to copy and paste a snippet of code into your theme.

    Jeremy

    Reply

• Lauren 10 years ago

  Thanks for a great article Jeremy! This is very helpful for someone just starting out. Can you tell me which of these e-commerce sites are responsive? Thanks!

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 10 years ago

    Hey Lauren,

    All of the online store builders above are mobile responsive, except for Wix. Wix has its own mobile editor and there are pros and cons to this. We have a discussion about that here.

    Hope this helps!

    Jeremy

    Reply

• Lani 10 years ago

  Abandoned Cart Recovery is a tick for squarespace, but that section doesn't mention that it's functioning. May you please advise whether it's available for squarespace or not?

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 10 years ago

    Lani - Squarespace does have the Abandoned Cart Recovery feature, but only for their Online Store Advanced plan.

    If you visit their pricing page you'll see it.

    Jeremy

    Reply

• Chyra 10 years ago

  This was great information and simple to follow!!

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 10 years ago

    Thanks for letting us know, Chyra! Glad you found our comparison chart helpful to you.

    Jeremy

    Reply

• LA 10 years ago

  Great info Jeremy, thanks so much! I have been tasked with adding a small online store to the existing website of our private university. We probably wouldn't have more than 25 logo items for sale at any one time. Any thoughts on ways to accomplish this?

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 10 years ago

    Thanks, LA.

    The simplest platforms to use for this will be Wix, Squarespace or Weebly. But you should also consider Shopify as even though they are more comprehensive, they also work great for smaller stores such as yours!

    Jeremy

    Reply

    1 reply

    • LA 10 years ago

      Thank you for narrowing down my options to research. Much appreciated!

      Reply

• Kris 10 years ago

  Jeremy,

  Great article. I have found that I like Wix because of its drag and drop abilities for me to customize my page layout more but they don't seem to integrate with any fulfillment vendors. Any thoughts on who has both abilities?

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 10 years ago

    Hello Kris,

    Have you checked out Wix's App Market? They might have a fulfillment app there.

    Jeremy

    Reply

• Karen Peterson 10 years ago

  I loved this comparison chart. It was very helpful.

  Do you know of a website that will let you do e-commerce where you can sell and buy from others?

  Thank you.

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 10 years ago

    Hey Karen,

    Do mean creating some sort of marketplace where people can buy and sell from each other, like eBay?

    If that was the case, you'd need something different from the platforms we suggested above. If you Google search for "marketplace builder" or something along that line, you'll find a few options.

    Jeremy

    Reply

• Nikki Nichols 10 years ago

  Great article and very useful advice! Thank you so much for writing this! It can get overwhelming trying to decide the best direction to take your business when you're just getting started.

  I'm not sure if Square just recently (as in, before this article was written) started having POS devices but I just received mine in the mail for free last week. I'm still very new to e-commerce and trying to set up shop so I use a combination of Shopify, Square, Wix and Weebly along with FB, Pinterest and Instagram. I have an Esty account but rarely use it because it seems 'over crowded'.

  Again, thank you for your time, wisdom and effort you put in to helping all of us 'newbies'.

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 10 years ago

    Thanks for your comment, Nikki. Glad our website is helping you move forward with your business!

    Jeremy

    Reply

• RM 10 years ago

  Great info, thank you Jeremy!

  I'm working on a comparison for another purpose and like the way you've laid out the grid. Do you have something like this (or the same info that I could look at) for the following:

  - Shopify
  - Volusion
  - GoDaddy
  - Aabaco

  Thanks in advance.

  RM

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 10 years ago

    Hey RM,

    Thanks for your feedback! Glad you found at least some part of the info helpful.

    We don't have the builders you highlighted in a chart form, but will consider putting that together if we get more requests.

    At the mean time, we have a discussion that compares Shopify and Volusion here.

    Thanks,

    Jeremy

    Reply

• Trinity 10 years ago

  Which Store Builder has the ability to create an online store front for customer sales, as well as a Distributor log in area where Distributors can view wholesale prices and purchase their stock?

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 10 years ago

    Hey Trinity,

    Shopify does offer some options to set up wholesale capability. Take a look at them here.

    Good luck!

    Jeremy

    Reply

• burak yavuz 10 years ago

  i want to set up a e commerce website and i am looking for a website builder that offer e mail address, online shopping, and easy to use. Which website hosting is best for my business?

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 10 years ago

    Hello Burak,

    Most ecommerce builders nowadays don't offer users free email accounts. The majority of them integrate well with Google Business Apps, which uses the same interface as Gmail, but with your custom email address. It's about $4 per month, and works really well.

    If you want a website builder to provide you the ability to set up your own custom email addresses as part of their monthly package, take a look at Jimdo. They do have ecommerce tools, but are not as comprehensive as advanced ecommerce providers such as Shopify or BigCommerce.

    Jeremy

    Reply

• Debbie 10 years ago

  I've been a happy customer of Big Commerce for a number of years. However they just restructured their pricing plan and have priced me out. I have always had the ability to group my customers into both retail and wholesale for the under $30 a month plan....now I have to jump to the $79 a month plan when that is the only feature of the new plan that I need. Any suggestions as to which others have that option at a decent price?

  Thanks so much!

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 10 years ago

    Hi Debbie,

    Shopify is another great ecommerce website builder. Since you're familiar with BigCommerce already, take a look at our comparison discussion between BigCommerce and Shopify. Specifically, take a look at the pricing discussion. You might find it insightful!

    Jeremy

    Reply

• khalid 10 years ago

  hello

  Thank you very much Jeremy for this research ..
  I'm an online seller on Etsy .. I sell traditional Handmade items I'm looking for an professional and perfect website so please which plateforme is better for me

  Thank you a lot

  khalid
  MarrakechLifeStyle

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 10 years ago

    Hey Khalid,

    Take a look at our discussion about Etsy and building your own ecommerce store here. I think you'll find it informative and may answer what you are looking for.

    Jeremy

    Reply

    1 reply

    • khalid 10 years ago

      THANK YOU VERY MUCH Jeremy YOU ARE VERY HELPFUL .

      I have one more question please .. why we need website builder to build our website or online store if we have to pay a lot of money? isn't better to create our own website by a web developer and manage it freely without monthly commission ...? please let us know the advantages of this website builder and why we need to choose it as a online business solution ??

      thanks a lot

      khalid

      Reply

      1 reply

      • 

        Jeremy 10 years ago

        Hey Khalid,

        Hiring a web developer to build you a website / ecommerce store can be very expensive! It can be as cheap as $2000 - $3000 for a good online store, and can go up significantly depending on the caliber of the developer that you hire.

        Also, you probably have to rely on them to make a lot of changes for you going forward, which will cost you money, and also you'll have to wait for them to implement the changes since you won't be doing it yourself. It's fine for more advanced updates, but if you just want to make simple changes, and if you have to rely on them, it can be a bit frustrating in some situations.

        Take a look at our cost guides here and here. We share our own experiences there, and we've outlined what we think is a fairly reasonable pricing guide.

        Jeremy

        Reply

• LV 10 years ago

  Hi Jeremy,

  I really find all your answers here very helpful especially for starters like me. I wanted to consult you as I am planning to start an online shop. Honestly I have no idea on what and how I should start my business (I guess because I have no so much capital and I am not techie-savy). I wanted to try less expensive/free website builder like Weebly or Wix but I am not sure if they have the feature I am looking for. I wanted to have a bid option for my buyers, do you know if Weebly or Wix have this feature? If not, can you recommend other e-commerce online store builders please? Thank you in advance for your answer and for any help you can extend to me.

  WR,
  LV

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 10 years ago

    Hey LV,

    Wix and Weebly don't have auction tools where users can place bids. That sounds like something that might require you to hire a custom developer to specifically build that for you. I haven't seen any "out of the box" auction tools available, though to be perfectly honest I haven't searched since we've never had a need for it.

    Have you tried Googling for it?

    Jeremy

    Reply

• Doreen Neilley 10 years ago

  Jeremy, I tried your Recommendation Quiz, but I wanted to click too many options! lol. So I'm still not sure which way to look at first.

  What I am looking at:

  An E-Commerce store; I make jewelry, paintings, and sculptures, so I need to be able to make Tabs or segregate it somehow. I need to be able to take payment somehow, probably Paypal?

  I'd like to be able to keep a portfolio of my pieces on the site, even after items are sold. I'd like to be able to include information about the pieces, such as how they were made, my inspiration, etc.

  I want to be able to blog. Is there some way to connect a blog to my Facebook pages (I have 3 - my personal page, my creative page for my art, and our business page for our bison farming and oilpatch business).

  I want to be able to include information about myself, my creative endeavours, and the small business that my husband and I have.

  I don't know anything about HTML code, but I am willing to buy a book or learn online, to some extent. I am a very busy person, so I can't spend hours and hours learning, but I do learn fairly easily, but I think the host needs to be fairly easy to drag and drop, etc.

  I need to be able to make corrections if I mess something up; something I saw about Weebly made it sound as though it wasn't very friendly about making corrections.

  I want to be able to produce a good looking, easy to navigate site. But I need to keep my expenses down, so I need to do it myself.

  It should be able to grow as my business expands, or I get better at producing the site.

  Can you give me some advice as to which host might be the best for me to investigate first?

  Thanks so much for your extensive information.

  Reply

  2 replies

  • Tim Houston 10 years ago

    Hi, Doreen,

    I'm a web designer who tries to specialize in artists. I'm also a Weebly fanatic. All of my sites but one, including my portfolio site as well as my own art site are made with Weebly.

    Wix is good, but more complicated and my biggest complaint is that you cannot change themes 'on the fly' with Wix. Sometimes I need to try different themes as I flesh out a site and Weebly can do that.

    Weebly is very easy to use and their support is top notch. Their eCommerce solutions are easy as well. I've been using Weebly now for over 5 years and always try to stick with it for all of my clients unless they have a massive store with constantly revolving products. For that, I'm learning Shopify.

    Weebly is perfect for do-it-yourselfers! One of my client options is to teach them to do it themselves, but once inside Weebly, most people don't even need that.

    You can also make your site and post it for FREE as long as you don't mind Weebly in your url, i.e. artworks.weebly.com. This is a great way to get started without paying anything and there is no time limit. However, when it comes time to actually sell your work, I believe you have to commit to a plan, but then Weebly is no longer in your url. I only use the Starter plan, I've never found the need for the other two.

    Oh, yes, and you can buy your domain name and host all with Weebly. Very convenient. (Please avoid GoDaddy and Wordpress)

    I'm not trying to drum up business here. I just love all things Weebly and try to encourage people as best I can because I love Weebly and want everyone to have a website!

    You can see my portfolio at 'www.timhoustondesign.com and my personal 'art' site at 'www.plausiblefictions.weebly.com.

    Feel free to contact me through my contact page if you have any other questions : )

    Reply

    1 reply

    • 

      Jeremy 10 years ago

      Hey Tim,

      Thanks for taking the time to share your experiences with us. We've used Weebly ourselves for many years as well, and while it's dead simple to use, we find that Wix has a lot more advance, design-oriented and business-oriented tools.

      For instance, with Wix, you can create parallax 1-pager designs with ease, add various distinct sections to your pages, add background videos, etc. You can see some of them here.

      They also have industry specific tools for musicians, hotels, restaurant deliveries, businesses that need online scheduling & payments integration (such as consultants, classes), etc. You can see a comprehensive list of their tool / feature additions here. It will give you a sense of how progressive they are in terms of continuously adding more "goodies" to their features list.

      So Wix is a much more well-rounded solution for business owners and those who want an easy (non-code) way of keeping up with the latest design trends.

      But I do agree with you, Weebly has more flexibility in terms of switching templates, or even if one wants to access the HTML / CSS codes to make design customizations.

      I always thought of Weebly as a minimalistic website builder. They give you all the tools to build a good, standard website. But if you want to move beyond that and have more tools, Wix is a much stronger candidate.

      Thanks for adding to this discussion!

      Jeremy

      Reply

  • 

    Jeremy 10 years ago

    Hi Doreen,

    If it's ease of use that you are after, then take a look at either Wix or Weebly. Both don't require you to edit any codes at all, and you can incorporate all the other items that you highlighted in your comment.

    With Weebly, if you make a mistake such as changing a sentence or deleted an image on your page, there isn't a way to undo this change. However, bigger errors such as accidentally deleting a webpage or your entire website, you can just email them to undo that mistake.

    With Wix, you can undo even minor errors, just as long as you don't publish your site yet. Once you publish your site, all updates are "permanent".

    Generally speaking, both website builders are good starter platforms for ecommerce sites. If you don't need any advanced marketing / online store related features, they're great. If you need much more flexibility and tools, then consider having a look at Shopify or Bigcommerce.

    But at the end of the day, do test out a few different platforms before deciding. It's well worth the investment of your time. That's the only way you can be sure that you enjoy working with the website builder!

    Jeremy

    Reply

    1 reply

    • Tim Houston 10 years ago

      Your right, Jeremy, there isn't a way to 'undo' a mistake on Weebly such as deleting an image. But you can just do it again : ) I've stumbled on this infinite times and just do the work again.

      However I do agree that Wix' 'history' function is convenient, but does not outweigh the other advantages of Weebly.

      Sincerly,

      Tim Houston

      PS the captcha time limit is too short. It timed me out just for this short note.

      Reply

• Geoff 10 years ago

  Hello. I am brand new to e-commerce and have learned a lot from your website. One question that I cannot seem to find the answer to is regarding Instagram integration. As I am selling fashion products, pictures are paramount to my store's success and I need a way to attract my website visitors to my Instagram page (which I haven't yet created).

  Also, scalablility is my biggest concern. I expect that when my pre-orders begin coming in, they're going to come in like a storm and my bandwith usage is going to go off the charts. My biggest fear is my website crashing upon receiving 10s of millions of visitors in my first day. This would obviously be a huge issue.

  Last but not least, I need a way to integrate affiliates, lots and lots of affiliates (think thousands). However due to the fact that i'm going to be paying my affiliates on a % profit basis, it's not really feasible for me to have it set up to send those affiliates a fixed amount (for instance $5 or 5% of their sales)

  By biggest needs are the affiliate program and being able to be scalable, with Instagram integration being the least concern.

  Thoughts?
  Thanks in advance!

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 10 years ago

    Hi Geoff,

    If you're going to be receiving millions and millions of visitors all at one time - congrats! In that case, I'd suggest you take a look at Shopify Plus, which is created to cater to high revenue generators such as yourself. This specific plan is geared towards major scalability and flexibility.

    They also have a lot of Apps in their App Market that can help you manage your affiliate program. Just search for "affiliate" in their App Market page.

    There's also an Instagram integration app called "Instagration" - you can also find this in the App Market as well.

    Jeremy

    Reply

• Craig 10 years ago

  Hi Jeremy,

  I have been trying to create an ecommerce platform using shopify for the past couple of days. I have specific needs for customization options on certain products but do not see how to add them (if it is even possible). Is there some way i could find/hire help at getting the ground works of the my shopify site done and then only manage product additions and changes after that point? Thanks!

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 10 years ago

    Hello Craig,

    Shopify has "Shopify Experts" whom don't work for Shopify, but they are very skilled with the platform.

    They can certainly help you do a lot of the heavy lifting, make customizations and also advise you various relevant topics.

    Take a look at our discussion post here.

    Jeremy

    Reply

• Patrina 10 years ago

  Hi can you have a Facebook store with wix or is it only a standalone store? Also I searched and searched their site for an email but any questions are directed to the general questions site - is this the only support they offer?
  Thanks

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 10 years ago

    Hi Patrina,

    You can't build a Facebook store with Wix yet, but you can definitely do so with Shopify (see this discussion here)

    As for contacting Wix's support team you can either submit a question here (but you have to be logged into your account first) or you can call them.

    Jeremy

    Reply

• Shirish 10 years ago

  Wonderful analysis and insight
  -Shirish

  Reply

• Hass 11 years ago

  So plan to create an online store to sell goods, but I don't want a household or even warehouse full of packages and products that need to be shipped out, so I was wondering: Would it be possible to use what's known as *drop-shipping*, such as *doba*, on all or either one of those site-builders?

  Thanks in advance for you answer/s.

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 11 years ago

    Hey Hass,

    Yes you can do that. The way dropshipping works is that once you've secured a sale, you'll have to notify your wholesaler / supplier to ship the product from their warehouse directly to your customers, so you don't have to touch any inventory.

    So you can definitely use any one of the builders above to do that. Once you get notified of a sale, perhaps once per day, email your supplier with the details and get those products shipped.

    Here is a good guide from Shopify on dropshipping. It includes a lot of the basics and tips as well.

    Jeremy

    Reply

• RAVI AVADHANI 11 years ago

  Sir,
  Thanks for your helping hand. I have no products to sell my own. I use my website to allow to others to sell their products and i get commission.

  Reply

  2 replies

  • URUG 9 years ago

    Prestashop can help you since it has Amazon integration with the website

    Reply

  • 

    Jeremy 11 years ago

    Hello Ravi,

    I think you're talking about some sort of marketplace (like Amazon), where people can list items to sell? If so, none of the online store builders above can accomplish that. it sounds like you'll need a custom platform built, which can be very expensive.

    Jeremy

    Reply

• X-MAN 11 years ago

  how about for an online grocery store with access to 3 restaurant menus with cart, takeout and delivery

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 11 years ago

    Take a look at Wix, especially their App Market. They have an App called "Orders by Wix Restaurants" where you can create an online ordering system for your website.

    They also have another app called "Menus by Wix Restaurants" that you might find helpful.

    Find out more about Wix's ecommerce capabilities in this our discussion here.

    Good luck!

    Jeremy

    Reply

• Ron 11 years ago

  Why is Magento not on this chart? Isn't it one of the most popular eCommerce platforms?

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 11 years ago

    Hi Ron,

    Magento is not compared here as it is a self-hosting ecommerce platform. So a user will have to setup their own hosting and manage all the technical aspects of running an online store (pretty much playing the IT manager, as well as business owner, unless you hire a developer to help).

    Also, the ecommerce builders above are considered "services", where they provide hosting, technical support, and customer support across all matters of their platforms. Magento is an "open source" platform and so while it's free to use, you won't be able to pick up the phone and call for support. You'll have to figure things out on your own, or hire a capable developer for help.

    Magento is also not built for "mass users" as well, as it is quite technically challenging for the normal person to pick up and build an online store within a few days.

    So in a sense, it's a completely different animal as the ones we benchmark here. Magento is a really good online store builder, but it is beyond the technical scope for an average person to use.

    Great question though. Hope this makes sense!

    Jeremy

    Reply

• alain sassonte 11 years ago

  G'DAY JEREMY......Terrific comparative site.....QUESTION: Some couple of years back I had customer effect a fraudulent chargeback through our, then, paypal account. Paypal asked for 'our side of the dispute' which we duly spelled out with documentary evidence to paypal. Long & short: PP SIDED WITH THE CUSTOMER!. We closed the ecommerce site after PP paid the customer the claimed amount, sued us for the rebated money (!) which resulted in a collection @ the credit bureaus.

  We now want to start another ecommerce site (a totally different biz). Will we be 'blackballed' with all of the 'other PP alternatives' now available to people like us who have had this 'experience' with PP in years past?

  Many thanks for your assistance, Good Sir

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 11 years ago

    Hi Alain,

    PayPal is definitely more protective of consumers for sure. We've had our fair share of fraudulent chargebacks in the past and it is really unfair and frustrating. On top of that, if PayPal ruled in favor of the buyer, you get charged with a $10 chargeback fee as well. I've researched this extensively back then and it looks like a lot of other people had similar challenges.

    At the end of the day, it's just all part of doing business (I know, it's not a great reason, but it's true). People do it in physical purchases as well - go buy something in the shopping center and file a chargeback against the merchant claiming someone copied their card, or something along that line.

    For us, we faced fraudulent chargebacks maybe once every 100 transactions or so. But even though it is only roughly 1% of our transactions, it was a real pain the butt to deal with it as it takes up so much time to provide information to PayPal for assessment.

    In any case, to answer your question, other payment processors will also have channels for shoppers to dispute. So it's just part of doing business online and offline. It's not pleasant for honest merchants, but all part of the world of business I suppose.

    Jeremy

    Reply

    1 reply

    • Ron 11 years ago

      Good reply!

      Reply

• Joe 11 years ago

  Hi Jeremy,
  Great site, thanks for all the info!
  I'm building an online store to sell a children's book. I want visitors to be able to read the book online before they buy, so one feature I need is a "Read-A-Book" Widget or Plug In, or at least a Slideshow feature that will let visitors click through the pages. (I've seen "Read-It" type features online, where the edges of the "pages" animate, and it looks like they're turning. This would be ideal, but not essential. A good slide show feature would do the trick, too.)
  I've mainly been looking at Wix and Shopify. Any idea if either of those have the Read-It App I'm looking for.
  And any extra advice on which of the two you'd recommend?
  Thanks so much!

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 11 years ago

    Hi Joe,

    I'm not too familiar with the sort of widget you are describing, but I think I've seen it before (or some form of it).

    If you can't find the exact widget that works for you, consider taking screenshots of your book and link up the images in a slideshow. This way, your visitors can scroll through the slideshow as if they're reading a chapter of your book.

    Another alternative is to extract certain pages of your book, and just let people download these pages as a PDF format on your webpage. It's a few more clicks, but I really think that people nowadays don't mind a few more seconds to get their hands on sample pages to help decide whether or not they'd like to invest in the book.

    Jeremy

    Reply

• John Bechtel 11 years ago

  Thanks, Jeremy. I tried it again with Chrome browser but still didn't work. I copied link to IE and it worked fine. Looks the problem is with my Chrome browser. Sorry about that.

  Thanks for your help!

  john

  BTW - You blow all the other online store builder sites away. Really amazing!

  Reply

• Saadia Gaon 11 years ago

  Hi Jeremy, excellent article, thanks. We are considering launching a house-swapping site - individuals list their homes and will look for other listings on the site with which they want to swap for a holiday etc. Initially each listing will be free but we want to start to charge a small subscription at some point in the process. Which of the website builders would most suit us?
  Yours, midly confused
  Saadia

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 11 years ago

    Hi Saadia,

    I think what you in mind, sort of like Airbnb or VRBO, will require you to hire someone to custom build the website for you. The online store builders listed above won't give you the proper tools for people to list their homes, and to facilitate renters to rent the units from the listing members.

    Unless you want to build a straight forward site where listers can just pay you, and you put up a listings with images and text descriptions, I think you'll have to hire someone very capable to set up this website / engine for you.

    Jeremy

    Reply

• Sophie Barnard 11 years ago

  Hi Jeremy,
  Really pleased to find this site! I already have a website using html and I'd like to add e-commerce to it. Can I add Shopify or any of the others to my existing site? I'm not confident with code and I suppose I would still pay the full fee as well as my original hosting fee. Should I just give up my original site and start again? It needs a lot of work anyway.

  Thanks
  Sophie

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 11 years ago

    Hi Sophie,

    Shopify does offer a widget where you can add to most website builders to add ecommerce features to the website. So the widget will power the shopping part of your website.

    Take a look at this discussion where we talked about adding the Shopify widget to Squarespace website builder. Even though you might not be using Squarespace, but the discussion will be helpful in pointing you in the right direction.

    Jeremy

    Reply

• Linda Eick 11 years ago

  Hi Jeremy
  I love your site! I am currently with 1&1 and have been for the past 4 years with a 1&1 Professional eShop ($29.99/mo). I am barely getting any traffic to my web store. I now want to sell personalized/customized products from drop shippers and 1&1 told me that that feature is not available in my Professional eShop and that I can upgrade my package to "Online Store Plus" ($49.99/mo), but I will have to rebuild my entire store. My data & customer info will be saved, but that's about it. I'm rethinking 1&1 as my web host and switching to another. I want to sell personalized/customized products such as etched & engraved with names & dates, but I just don't know my best options are. I can't afford these high priced packages in order to sell these special products. Do you have any recommendations of host companies that would be the best and affordable fit for selling customized/personalized gifts? Thank you!

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 11 years ago

    Hi Linda,

    We haven't built a drop ship business before, so I can't give you much advice on how best to build one, or what tools you'll need.

    But if you're looking for a good ecommerce setup, that's flexible and has good support, take a look at Shopify. It might be worthwhile for you to approach some of their freelance experts to see if they have any ideas, and they are available to help you make customizations on Shopify to tailor to your specific requirements.

    Good luck!

    Jeremy

    Reply

    1 reply

    • Linda 11 years ago

      Thank you very much for your advice Jeremy! I am interested in Shopify, but just not sure how difficult it would be to transfer my webstore. There is not much out there as far as discussions (good or bad) involving 1&1, any thoughts or comments about 1&1?

      Reply

      1 reply

      • 

        Jeremy 11 years ago

        Hi Linda,

        I personally haven't used the services of 1&1 before, so I can't give you constructive comments about them. Sorry about that!

        But if you want someone to help you set up your store with Shopify, you can check out some of their experts, which can help you get things going.

        Jeremy

        Reply

• Cathy 11 years ago

  Hi Jeremy

  Your site is fantastic and I have been studying the comparison of the website builders for a while. I have a merchant account set up with Quickbooks (Intuit). Do any of these website builders accept this type of payment service or do I have to use theirs? I ask this because I have a really good rate with Intuit.

  Another question: I will be selling maybe a max of 25 products but each product can have a size option of maybe 12 choices. Will any of these site builders be a problem for needing a long list of size choices when the customer selects the product?

  Thank you!!

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 11 years ago

    Hi Cathy,

    Take a look at Shopify or Bigcommerce. Both have Apps where you can integrate Quickbooks with ecommerce sites built with either one of the platforms.

    These ecommerce builders will also allow you to create product variations as well!

    Jeremy

    Reply

• Anouar 11 years ago

  Dear Jeremy,

  First of all what a great comparison ! its refreshing to see this quality of articles and the depth of the analysis as well.

  My project is a C2C ,I will provide the platform for customers to sell to other customers and I'll get the commission on every transaction.

  I'm not sure but I think that the above e-commerce website builders do only cover the B2C business, not sure if teh apps will help.
  Could you please confirm whether my understanding is correct ?hoping that i'm wrong : )

  Thanks in advance,

  Anouar

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 11 years ago

    Hi Anouar,

    I think what you're trying to build is a marketplace, where people can buy and sell products on your platform, just like ebay?

    If so, you'll need a much more customized solution and I'm afraid the ecommerce software highlighted above won't have the capability to help you create what you want.

    I'd imagine building a marketplace is going to require a very high commitment in terms of time and money, hiring very capable developers on a full time basis.

    I'm not aware of any "out of the box" solutions for building online marketplaces, so if anyone else has seen one, please do share.

    Jeremy

    Reply

    1 reply

    • Anouar 11 years ago

      Hi Jeremy,

      Thanks a lot for your feedback and yes i'm looking for a solution for marketplace business, maybe in the future this will be possible :).

      I've got this feedback through Qura:

      1) Advanced Marketplace - PrestaShop Addons
      2) JA Marketplace - PrestaShop Addons

      I need to explore further on this but let me know if you know anything on the above ...

      Thanks for your help

      Anouar

      Reply

• Dann 11 years ago

  Hi Jeremy,

  I have a small physical store and quite an active Facebook Store. I am looking to build an online store but I am having a bit of trouble deciding as I am quite new to all this. All the research and reviews I've looked at talk about how great the Store builders are and the number of templates, the payment gateways, etc but there is very little about the backend and customer tools.

  I have over 1,000 products and the customer is my number one priority, so my question really is which of the e-commerce online store builder best allows me to track inventory, customer orders, customer details and tools to interact with my customer (e.g. sms update on order status or promotional / special offers)

  Thanks for your help!

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 11 years ago

    Hi Dann,

    Yeah it's challenging to sort out what is the absolute best solution for you, and it does take time to investigate whether an ecommerce software works for you.

    I think you should have a look at Shopify, as they can integrate with your Facebook store. They also partnered up with Facebook in allowing you to display a "Buy Now" button directly in Facebook, making it easier for your prospective customers to purchase directly from on you Facebook, in the Facebook feeds. So from that perspective, it sounds like something that may be helpful to you.

    They also have the scalability for you to list over 1,000 products, and have over 1,100 apps to help you manage your store and integrate with a lot of different sales & marketing tools. We have a more in-depth discussion about Shopify here.

    So definitely check them out!

    Jeremy

    Reply

• Larry B. 11 years ago

  I was looking at the ECWID shopping cart system paired with a WIX website but I do not even see ECWID listed. Is there any reason why?

  My shopping cart needs to be able for the customer to choose multiple options when making a purchase like R or L; color; size; with or without; etc.

  What will work best?

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 11 years ago

    Hi Larry,

    Ecwid, as far as we know, is a pretty good ecommerce "add on", and is compatible with a variety of different website builders.

    Our ecommerce comparison chart here focuses on platforms that have ecommerce tools "built in", so that's why we didn't include Ecwid.

    But overall, I heard that Ecwid works quite well. The only thing you may want to think about is that using a website builder (such as Wix) then adding Ecwid to it, is integrating two different platforms. Generally, I'd recommend using tools that are "native" to each platform (such as using Wix's own ecommerce store tools).

    If you don't think Wix has enough flexibility, I'd suggest you take a look at Shopify or Bigcommerce, as both have much more advanced ecommerce tools as both are pure online store builders.

    Jeremy

    Reply

• Johan Watson 11 years ago

  Hi,

  To be honest with you Bigcommerce is not worth it at all. I have been with them since the Interspire days and I have endless troubles! If you want to sell chickens in Zimbabwe or a kangaroo in Aussie land then you go for Bigcommerce.

  Bigcommerce templates always gives problems. Last year I bought the Darkroom Template and I have had endless problems and on the end of the day Bigcommerce refunded me on the template as they could also not sort out the problems.

  Looking at their product options it is a nightmare if you want to sit for ours and battle then go for Bigcommerce. Like said if you are selling chickens in Zimbabwe and you have only a male and female and two colours the product option set will work for you!

  Getting to the so called 24/7 support from Bigcommerce this is another case. Most of the times they don't know what they talk about and when they refer you to second tier be assure that if you get an answer within 3 months you will be lucky. Bigcommerce support is not in existence.

  Payment Gateways also a nightmare. If you from the USA or Aussie land yes then it is okay, but for me who is from South Africa it is a nightmare. Like their support said to me and this was his words "We do not actually cater for other countries as we concentrate more on the US market and the Australian market."

  So think twice if you want to go with Bigcommerce as this system is limited when you want to do certain things. Templates is limited, Product Options is limited and Payment Gateways is also a problem if you are from South Africa!

  I have experienced great service so far with Shopify with one of my shops. Payment Gateways is great, I could even link Sage Pay from South Africa and the have a great product option builder in Shopify.

  Comparing Shopify with Bigcommerce is like comparing a Ferrari with a Fiat Uno.....Not in the same league at all.

  I will be moving my Bigcommerce store to Shopify soon!

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 11 years ago

    Hi Johan,

    Thanks for sharing your experiences with Bigcommerce and Shopify, and I'm sorry to hear about your experiences with Bigcommerce. As we're located in North America, we can't say we have first hand experiences using their services in another part of the world. So this piece of feedback is helpful.

    One thing about Bigcommerce, when compared to Shopify, is that Shopify's theme store and their base of experts are much more mature than Bigcommerce. Shopify has a lot more independent developers working to build themes and apps for them, than Bigcommerce. I suspect this is because Shopify started building an "ecosystem" of experts much sooner than Bigcommerce. I only started seeing Bigcommerce grow that part of their business last year, so it's still early in the game for them and I'm hopeful that it will continue to improve in time.

    We do have a good comparison table benchmarking Shopify and Bigcommerce here. Hopefully others will find it helpful as well!

    Thanks again for sharing and adding to this discussion.

    Jeremy

    Reply

• Happy Hari Incense 11 years ago

  Hi,

  Do you know which, if any, of these ecommerce websites is able to set up something like a sliding scale discount so if for instance someone spends say $12 in total, the cart reduces it to $10 and a $25 sale down to $20 and a $50 sale down to $35 etc

  And do any of them have a way to set a minimum order value?

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 11 years ago

    Hi there,

    Take a look at Bigcommerce. Go to their Support page and type in "Discount Rules" and I think you'll find what you're looking for there. It's sort of like, if this happens, then that discount gets applied, type of logic.

    Hope this is helpful!

    Jeremy

    Reply

• Steve 11 years ago

  Hey Jeremy,

  Which of the ecommerce websites is best used for selling information products only (ebooks, coaching, memberships, etc...)?

  Thanks

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 11 years ago

    Hi Steve,

    All of them allow you to have the ability to sell information products (digital based products). So it really comes down to which one you prefer using, and has other tools that meet your needs.

    Shopify and Bigcommerce are pretty advanced ecommerce store builders, so if you need a lot more advanced features you might be able to find them there. But if you are just thinking of building a pretty basic site that sells digital products, then Wix, Weebly or Squarespace can do the job just fine.

    Jeremy

    Reply

• Steve 11 years ago

  Hi Jeremy,

  Which of the ecommerce websites can be integrated best using ebay and pay pal?

  And then eventually to be integrated with a retail store?

  Thanks

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 11 years ago

    Hi Steve,

    I'd suggest taking a look at Bigcommerce as they integrate social stores very well. Shopify also has some apps in their app store that will also help you integrate them as well.

    But ecommerce store builders will be able to enable you to accept payments using PayPal.

    Jeremy

    Reply

• Peony 11 years ago

  Hi Jeremy,

  Your information are really great and really helpful for narrowing down my choice into weebly and shopify.!!

  I am planning to sell phone case and some sort of digital items for both Hong knog and international market , i would like to ask for your professional opinion and suggestion : P

  Actually, I had tried the business plan in weekly for a month ( but they charged me for 8 month because of auto renew without notifying me:( until I check my statement ) after trying, the fonts and set up on "store" page very limited and they only accept PayPal , but not many Hong kong people with PayPal accoung as , they mostly using visa and master . So do u think I should invest on shopify which sound pretty strong on payment processor ? Does it include the direct processing by visa or master card? Also, I just worry about if shopify is as user friendly as weebly, the drag and drop box?
  Thank you very much ! : )
  Peony

  Reply

  2 replies

  • Heather 11 years ago

    Dont waste your time with weebly! Its a complete nightmare and theres absolutly no support on building it, no phone numbers, nothing. Easy to use, but i was beyond unhappy when i started building my shopping cart! No options for cart, like color or size options, only until you waste your time logging in descriptions, only to retype it all again in paypal to get paypal code. Then cut and paste code, waste of time!

    Reply

    1 reply

    • 

      Jeremy 11 years ago

      Hey Heather,

      Yeah the customization aspect of Weebly's shopping cart page is a bit limited at the moment, but the cart itself works pretty well if you don't have specific customization / design schemes.

      If you need more options for your cart page, have a look at Shopify, Bigcommerce and even Wix. Those will give you more design flexibility.

      Jeremy

      Reply

  • 

    Jeremy 11 years ago

    Hi Peony,

    Thanks for your comment. In general, for any website builder that you use (or any online services), make sure you are aware that the services will assume that you are going to keep using / paying them, until you tell them not to charge you again (basically stop using their services). It's not a bad thing, as the last thing some customers want is for the service to stop all of a sudden as the service provider assumed you didn't want to use them any more!

    As for your question, even with PayPal, you can process Visa and Mastercard credit cards. PayPal offers that option, so even if your customers are not using PayPal, they can pay with their credit cards. You should look into this a bit more to see if you can activate that option (although I think it's a very basic option as I've never had problems that that before).

    In general, Shopify is a much more powerful and advanced ecommerce website builder, when compared to Weebly. But their tools are not entirely drag and drop, but it's still easy to learn (though not as simple as Weebly). But if you don't mind using Shopify, they really are a very good ecommerce builder. Of course, one thing for you to consider is if you want to invest the time to build your online store again over at Shopify.

    Jeremy

    Reply

• Isabella 11 years ago

  Great comparison. Shopify and BigCommerce are really big name in ecommerce industry. I like to work with shopify because of its more advance features.

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 11 years ago

    Thanks for your comment Isabella. Both Shopify and Bigcommerce are indeed leaders in this space. I think Shopify has the edge (at the time of this comment anyway). But both are extremely capable ecommerce builders.

    Here's our comparison between Shopify & Bigcommerce, if you haven't seen it yet.

    Thanks again for your comment.

    Jeremy

    Reply

    1 reply

    • Isabella 11 years ago

      Thanks Jeremy for sharing your reviews too. I would definitely check this article.

      Reply

• nancy 11 years ago

  Hello. I have researched and more confused than ever. I want a store selling vintage, graphics, and handmade. I have squarespace as a trial but I am so confused. I have some experience. Shopify and e-commerce too expensive. Suggestions?

  Nancy

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 11 years ago

    Hi Nancy,

    Shopify has starter plan of $14 per month, which in my view is a very good investment considering they give you very focused ecommerce tools so you can grow your business, hopefully to earn hundreds or thousands of dollars in income!

    Other website builders to consider are Wix and Weebly. I think both are really easy to use (easier than Squarespace in general). So give them a try if you want to test a couple more ecommerce builders out here! Both are free to sign up to.

    Jeremy

    Reply

• Ann Johnson 11 years ago

  Hi,

  I read through your review and I think I have narrowed it down to either Big Commerce or Shopify but I think I read somewhere that Shopify stores appear very slow for the customers. I contacted them before I read this and the support was great and very informative and I was set on using them until I went on a Shopify store and yes it was very slow indeed.

  I am based in Spain and will be selling my products all over Europe and there are obviously different tax rates for different countries but I think both of the above can handle that without a problem. One thing is that their monthly charges are in USD and I find it quite strange that they can't charge you in Euros. Any info regarding this? I would also like my site to be available in at least Spanish and English but might want to add more languages later. Can either of the above handle spanish and english? I am english speaking so prefer the "back office" in english but my partner is spanish and would like the "back office" to in spanish. Is that possible?

  I am currently trying the Big Commerce for the 15 day free trial period but I find it a bit difficult and not so straight forward and maybe a bit too advanced for me for now. But at the same time I am planning on growing my business and don't want to change later...

  Which e-commerce builder would be better for me?

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 11 years ago

    Hi Ann,

    Interesting observation. When I load up a Shopify store, they load pretty quick so I haven't had any issues at all (I'm based on the west coast in North America). Does any one else have similar experiences?

    I think they charge in US$ because Shopify is still a bit more US focused - they probably view the US market as their largest base of potential customers (even though Shopify is a Canadian company). Also, I'm guessing that charging in US$ allows Shopify to manage their foreign currency exposure a bit better.

    For instance, the Euros have weakened quite a bit against the US$ (as of today). So charging their global customer base in US$ allows them to not worry too much about global currency exchanges. But I'm just guessing and I'm sure there is a much more sophisticated answer out there!

    I think the best way forward is for you to sign up to Shopify's 14 day free trial as well, so you can compare your experiences with Shopify with your experiences with Bigcommerce. That is the best way to see which ecommerce platform is better suited for your unique needs!

    Jeremy

    Reply

• patrice 11 years ago

  hi jeremy,

  your reviews have been immensely helpful.....so helpful that i've been able to narrow down the website builders i'm interested in to two: weebly and squarespace. i'm completely new to website speak....but i'm learning as i read your reviews (again, immensely helpful. many thanks. : )

  i'm developing a service based business where i give talks, do private sessions with people, and teach groups. if i could put weebly and squarespace together i'd have the perfect website for my practice! since that combo doesn't exist, i have some questions about the various features i'm looking for and how i might go about including the missing ones in each website (to help me figure out which one is ultimately going to best meet my needs.)

  1) i want to be able to offer courses online. weebly allows for that, but squarespace doesn't.
  is there anyway to add that feature to squarespace?
  am i able to link those courses to the payment processor on weebly?

  2) i want to be able to offer private sessions and courses to people who can't afford to pay, but still need to make enough money to live on myself. the
  donation feature on squarespace allows for other people to act as sponsors in that way, which helps address that issue for me.
  is there a way to create a donation type service on weebly, simply using the payment processor (ie, having a page donated to explaining the need
  for sponsors and people being able to meet that need by making a payment thru the payment processor?)

  i know i have other questions but none are coming to mind right now. knowing the type site i'm trying to create, if any other thoughts come to mind for you that might help me decide which site would work better for me, i'd love to hear them! : )

  much appreciation,
  patrice

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 11 years ago

    Hi Patrice,

    For Squarespace, they don't have a built in membership feature. So take a look at Sentry Login which is a membership widget, and I believe it is compatible with Squarespace (and Weebly as well). So that might be helpful to you. But at the end of the day, it's preferable to use a feature that is "native" to the website builder, as with "external" widgets, there is always a chance that it won't work perfectly with the website builder.

    As for donations, you can try inserting a PayPal widget into your Weebly site so that people can make donations to your PayPal account (or if you don't have one you can set one up pretty easily). I think you can insert the PayPal donation button using Weebly's "embed code" element into almost anywhere you want on your site.

    Hope this helps!

    Jeremy

    Reply

    1 reply

    • patrice 11 years ago

      hey jeremy,

      yes that helped a lot. thank you! needing a bit more clarification re:donations and payments for services. i'll be making online payments available for people to pay for trauma healing sessions and/or classes. i'd like people to be able to make donations as well (to sponsor people who can't afford to pay but need help resolving past trauma - so i can afford to help as many people as possible regardless of income).
      so......my question is.....am i able to set up those different payment options with paypal - payment for services and donations both?

      thanks,
      patrice

      Reply

      1 reply

      • 

        Jeremy 11 years ago

        Hey Patrice,

        I think PayPal has different buttons that you can get. So you can choose to have the donation button or a "add to cart" type of button for products / services related payments. So I'm guessing you just have to choose which one you want to use for each of your specific page, and embed the PayPal code on to the page.

        So yes I "think" you can have both.

        Jeremy

        Reply

        1 reply

        • patrice 11 years ago

          ok.....thanks so much jeremy. i really appreciate your help. : ) best of wishes to you!

          Reply

• margaret 11 years ago

  Hi Jeremy, I across your site here and am really glad.. thank you. I’m wondering if you have the time to assist me a little because I have no clue about those things.
  I am a designer and I would like o sell my product online. I would like to have easy ,convinion online shop, some random visitors coming to my web and some help with exposure .
  I m loooking at shopify, bigcommerce and volusion .
  VOLUSION is having those options bellow for 75$ and I'm not sure if it's important to have those options ? It's a little expensive so I'm thinking if is worth it to spend or just go for 35$ . Not sure if I understand amazon and ebay integration? Did shopify offer something similar? Not sure if I explain clear enough.?
  Priority Support
  Amazon Integration
  eBay Integration

  Thank a lot.. margaret
  API Access
  CRM

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 11 years ago

    Hi Margaret,

    If you just want a functional ecommerce store, you can create one using the 3 online store builders that you mentioned, well below $75 per month!

    You'll find all the tools you mentioned (Amazon / eBay) with Bigcommerce and also with Shopify (in their App Store).

    Hope this helps!

    Jeremy

    Reply

• Alex 11 years ago

  Hi Jeremy,

  All your reviews and comparison tables are so useful and easy to understand! Thanks so much for all this!

  I am looking to setup a Fashion Studio based in Shanghai, China. There are three things that I really want for the e-commerce site:

  1. For the customer to change the currency displayed on the page. Therefore the builder to have some sort of functionality that converts currencies.
  2. The E-Commerce site to be linked to a Chinese Bank account (ie Squarespace would not be possible, unless I use the external Ecwid app, right?)
  3. To be able to do some minor coding modifications. Does Squarespace have this functionality?

  I was thinking Shopify, but it seems like they are more complex than I need and they are quite expensive.

  So I was thinking if you could share your experience and suggestion?

  Thanks so much again!
  Alex

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 11 years ago

    Hi Alex,

    Thanks for your comment!

    I don't think Squarespace, Wix or Weebly will be the right solution for you as what you're looking is a bit more advanced than what these web builders offer.

    I would have suggested Shopify as they allow you to customize your site, and there are Shopify Experts readily available if you want to take customization to the next level. So I'm sure there is a way to enable the currency conversion, even if it takes a bit more customization.

    They also integrate with over 70 payment processors. While I'm not 100% sure if it includes a Chinese bank account or AliPay (a bit more regulatory hurdles when it comes to Chinese banking systems I would think), I think Shopify is probably your best bet.

    Squarespace does allow you to make some customization edits in CSS. But overall it's not as flexible when it comes to code modifications. Unless you sign up to use their developers platform.

    Shopify does offer a $14 per month plan, and perhaps you can consider starting off with that plan? As your business grow, you can then justify investing a bit more to migrate to a higher plan. But what you'll find is that as your business grows, investing in a higher plan to get the tools you need can be very beneficial to your business.

    They also offer a 14 day trial so you can play around with their platform before deciding whether they are right for you or not.

    Jeremy

    Reply

• Melissa 11 years ago

  Hi Jen & Jeremy,

  Thank you SO much for all of this awesome information. I can't wait share your links when I have my website up : )

  I am interested in using Megaphone and Weebly. As I am not a website guru, I am still a little confused as to whether or not I can actually integrate a Megaphone page onto my website (so it looks like just another page). I know I can change the url on Megaphone, but that doesn't necessarily means it is integrated to my site, does it?

  I would like the marketing aspects of Megaphone, and I want to use Stripe - so I want the sales trx to through Weebly.

  I am also interested in using KajabiNext. Do you know of any other viable alternatives to them? I do not believe that they integrate to my own website in any fashion (other than I will link to it) - so I am looking for options before I build anything.

  I am very grateful I found your website - and will be sharing this info. I also appreciate your level of customer care. Nice.
  Regards,
  Melissa

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 11 years ago

    Hi Melissa,

    Glad our discussions here have been helpful.

    As for Megaphone, I don't think it's straightforward to create a page with them, them importing it into your Weebly site. I think Megaphone also host the marketing pages that you create for you, so perhaps you can just use that option. You can always link from your marketing landing pages to your Weebly site.

    Jeremy

    Reply

• Jen 11 years ago

  Hi Jeremy, I've stumbled across your site here and am really grateful thank you.

  I'm wondering if you have the time to assist me further?

  I am a member of Perth Playback Theatre - Playback Theatre is a form of improvisational theatre where moments, experiences and stories from audience members are played back live to the gathering. We often do performances for community groups. We also host workshops.

  Our website is shocking (!!!) and I am going to update it - but I cannot work out if Wix or Weebly will be better! Eek.

  I think your review has me leaning toward Weebly because of it's simplicity and ability to change template, as well as most of our members are not web literate so I need to make something for all of us to use.

  BUT we also want to be able to sell tickets to our shows and/or workshops - and I can't work out which "commerce" option is better (Wix/Weebly) because it's not really a store.

  Does that make sense?

  Any advice is greatly appreciated.

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 11 years ago

    Hi Jen,

    Thanks for your comment and glad our discussions have been helpful to you!

    My gut feel is that you should pick the website builder that you enjoy working with the most, and one that is suitable for your needs. Wix is pretty easy to use, but I think that Weebly is a bit easier. Plus, as you pointed out, Weebly allows you to change templates.

    As for ticket sales, both Wix and Weebly allow you to sell digital or physical tickets. I think from a functionality perspective, both are almost the same when it comes to setting up something simple to sell directly to your visitors. So based on what you've described, I think you should choose the website builder that gives you the best user experience, and you should be able to set up the ecommerce side of things with either web builder without too much hassle.

    What you can also consider doing, is sign up for free accounts with both builders, and just invest a few hours to test them out. This will give you a good handle on which one you prefer to work with!

    Hope this helps!

    Jeremy

    Reply

• Breezie 11 years ago

  Hi Jeremy,

  Great information, thank you.
  I am looking for a solution for a new client that needs to sell retail as well as easily extport data to their resellers.
  Any suggestions?

  Best,
  Breezie

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 11 years ago

    Hi Breezie,

    Your best bet is probably Shopify or Bigcommerce. Both are advanced online store builders and they will have export functions for you to extract data.

    Jeremy

    Reply

• Pancho Marana 11 years ago

  I tried Bonanza and the store looked impressive but pretty much no support whatsoever and very pricey. No traffic. Then I tried WIX, one of the worst supports. You need to make an appointment for phone support and if you miss the call, you have to make another appointment. Terrible wix. I dabbled with sitey.com but never really explored it. So, I have no opinion of them. I find shopify have the very best support for people like me who knows nothing about building a site.

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 11 years ago

    Hi Pancho,

    Thanks for your feedback. It sounds like you've had really great experience with Shopify which is awesome!

    As for Wix, it can be frustrating if you missed your phone appointment. I'm guessing that they have an overwhelming volume of phone appointments so it's challenging to keep following up with phone calls given they do power millions of websites. I guess the tip here is to make sure one sits by the phone when the scheduled call is approaching!

    Thanks for sharing your experiences with us!

    Jeremy

    Reply

• FRANK 11 years ago

  Hi Jeremy,

  I am going to sell my products to my Chinese customers.

  1. Which builder has Chinese characters available? Can the products in the store be searched by Chinese character?

  2. Which builder has Chinese popular payment method? Such as alipay.com?

  Thanks,

  Frank

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 11 years ago

    hi Frank,

    I'm not entirely sure to be honest, especially with Alipay. I would assume that larger ecommerce builders such as Shopify or Bigcommerce should be able to address this, since they integrate with over 70 payment processors.

    I know that Bigcommerce has some partnership with Alibaba, so I won't be surprised if they have something that will work with Alipay. Perhaps you can email their support team to confirm?

    Alternatively, I know that Jimdo has an office in Shanghai and that you can definitely create a Chinese website with them. But I'm not entirely sure if they integrate with Alipay yet (last time I checked they haven't).

    Jeremy

    Reply

• Dan Teuscher 11 years ago

  Jeremy,
  I have built a Wix site to sell 1 product. The problem is the payment system seems cumbersome. My customers have to go through PayPal and have a PayPal account. Is there a better, "cleaner" way to collect credit card payments?
  I want them to be able to pay on the website or on PayPal without having to log into their own PayPal account. It looks like there may be apps that I can install through Wix, but that seems redundant. Any advice?

  Thanks.
  Dan

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 11 years ago

    Hi Dan,

    With PayPal, your customers can choose to pay with their credit card (Amex, Mastercard, Visa, Discovery) or with their PayPal account (if they have one).

    So your customers don't always need to have a PayPal account, and can choose to use their credit card to pay once they land on PayPal's secure payment page.

    Jeremy

    Reply

• Martin 11 years ago

  Hello again
  I wish ask one more question
  I was about to get for now starter plan in shopify, but I saw some reviews that they got some problems with payments if shop is localized in Philippines, I was try ask more but so far no good answer from them,
  My question is do shopify is good choice for shop based only for Philippinos?
  Thank u

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 11 years ago

    That's a good question Martin, and I'm afraid I'm not really sure. Shopify offers 70 or so payment processors so I would imagine that at least one of them will work well in the Philippines. At least PayPal is an option that I know will work with merchants based in the Philippines.

    If you have specific questions about some payment processors, perhaps try reaching out to their support team to see if they have any more insights why certain payment processors might not work?

    Jeremy

    Reply

• Ian 11 years ago

  Hi Jeremy,

  Starting a small brand and am trying to determine which would be the best site builder you think...
  1. Some say you can keep up to 20 products.. that might be good for first couple runs but I (hopefully) will need more than that soon.
  2. Mobile app would be nice but not necessarily needed.
  3. Pricing since just starting out and low on capital would be preferably low but I can swing $20-30 range if options would be better for me.
  4. Payment and shipping tools would be a plus but not quite sure which would be my best option, and I would like to have features such as promotional codes and the ability for users to have accounts to save their information for future orders.

  Over trial and error I'm sure I can find one to work but due to your experience and expertise I would love to hear your input on what you think would be best. Thank you!

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 11 years ago

    Hi Ian,

    Take a look at Shopify as I think they'll be a good platform for you to test out. They have a trial period and if you like their user interface and tools, you can always start with their lowest plan ("Starter Plan") and move up when you are ready.

    They're a "pure" online store builder and as such as flexible tools to grow with your business as you need more advanced features!

    Here's our discussion about them just in case you haven't seen it yet.

    Jeremy

    Reply

• Martin 11 years ago

  Hello
  Want make online shop for my small business ( near 50 products based in Philippines) all I need is
  1. template with let me change background image, cover colors etc etc just to make my own look
  2. With I will be able easy update from mobile phone ( like add products or delete them)
  3. Have desktop view on mobile phone
  4. Monthly cost 10-15 $ for that builder ( with cart)
  5. Customers can pay from pay pal

  Is there any online shop builder who include al. That 5 points ?
  thank u for help

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 11 years ago

    Hi Martin,

    I don't think you'll be able to find good / capable ecommerce store builders with that monthly budget. The online store builder that best matches your needs would be Weebly as you can edit their templates, they have an app that allows you to edit your site (but with an iPad though), you can switch to desktop view, is integrated with PayPal.

    But if you want up to 50 products, you will need to subscribe to their Business plan which can be as low as $19.54 per month if you sign up to 2 years.

    Another alternative is to sign up with a lower plan (such as their Starter), and use Ecwid (which is an independent ecommerce widget) in your Weebly website. Their monthly fee can be as low as $12.50 (annual plan) and gives you up to 100 products.

    Jeremy

    Reply

• ketti 11 years ago

  Hi Jeremy,

  I have been pouring over your reviews for website builders and they seem very objective and informative. I currently have a website that was built by my husband and designed by me. It did not come from a template and I was able to incorporate some design motifs which a template would not permit. We originally had no intention of going into e-commerce, however we will go down with our ship eventually if we do not develop into an e-commerce/brick and mortar company. My husband does not do mobile specific or e-commerce, two areas we need to grow, so NOW I must do a website builder in order to do all we need to do in the future. Knowing I am a control freak, our specialty is designing jewelry and I need the above criteria, is there a website builder which would allow me to drag and drop original artwork as backgrounds on a template? Any advice you can provide would be greatly appreciated!

  Ketti

  One more thing, I would like to be able to use the same Merchant Account I currently use for Brick and Mortar and it is not Stripe or Paypal

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 11 years ago

    Hi Ketti,

    I think your best best is to check out Shopify and Bigcommerce. I think Shopify has a better / easier user interface so that makes setting up a bit easier.

    Also, Shopify has some really great looking design templates but I can't tell you which template allows you to insert your own image as a background. But if you check out some of their descriptions you should be able to find out after digging around. Further, Shopify has experts who can help you out a great deal in getting things set up if you want to hire someone.

    Lastly, Shopify and Bigcommerce are compatible with a lot of different payment processors. While I'm not sure if they have what you are using, your best best is to check out these two online store builders.

    Hope this helps!

    Jeremy

    Reply

• RMJ 12 years ago

  Hi Jeremy....thank you for ALL this wonderful information. Very helpful for trying to compare the different options available. You've put a lot of time into this!

  I have client that wants to build a site for a nonprofit they're creating. They will want to accept donations with PayPal as their fiscal agent. I'm trying to decide which builder (Wix, Weebly or Squarespace) would be best for this, since technically we probably won't have "store" but I need to link buttons to PayPal. Is one of these sites better than the other for this type of integration? Thanks for your (additional!) help....

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 11 years ago

    Hi RMJ,

    I think PayPal will work just fine with all the website builders you listed. So I think at the end of the day it's figuring out which platform you like using the best (all of them have different user interfaces), and which template you prefer to use.

    Squarespace has visually rich templates and they are all mobile responsive. Wix has a very large selection of templates for different industries so it's worth checking out as well. Weebly is the easiest website builder to use, but their template selection in my view isn't as good as Squarsepace or Wix. So pros and cons!

    Jeremy

    Reply

    1 reply

    • RMJ 11 years ago

      Thanks Jeremy; that's the conclusion I've come to (mostly after reading all your reviews and using your handy comparison chart!). I appreciate all your help and your quick response. Good weekend to you....

      Reply

• Ekaterina 12 years ago

  Jeremy hi!

  Thank you for the huge work you have done here, it is really very helpful!
  But I would very thankful for the personal suggestion. I want to build e-commerce store for jewelry we produce. We have about 200+ products and locate in Turkey, but planning to sell mostly for USA market. For a while I do not need very advanced tools, except very clear and fully automatised payment and shipping tools.

  Thanks!

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 12 years ago

    Hi Ekaterina,

    You should check out Shopify and Bigcommerce, as both are very focused ecommerce store builders and gives you the tools to help you manage a large number of products. They also have automation tools to help you manage payments, invoicing and you can also integrate shipping tools with them!

    Jeremy

    Reply

• ff 12 years ago

  Hi,
  i read the Top 8 Tools Guide regard free email but i found Outlook.com no longer offers support for custom domain management. Do you suggest another way to get customized email. thanks

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 12 years ago

    Hey there - yes, unfortunately Outlook no longer offers users the ability to create custom domain email addresses for free (sad face).

    Aside from Google Business Apps' email services, you can try other larger service providers such as GoDaddy. But in my opinion, I think Google's Gmail interface provides the best user experience and stability. We use their services and it's rock solid!

    Jeremy

    Reply

• Dan 12 years ago

  I need to build an ecommerce website myself.
  I will be selling 1 product mainly in the US.
  Pretty simple.
  I want it to be relatively easy. It is not clear from your article what the best site is for CC transaction fees; as I feel that will be the determining factor since most of the additional features I will not use.

  Thanks.

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 12 years ago

    Hi Dan,

    Credit card transaction / payment processing fees are pretty much the same across the board (marginal difference though, but that may potentially become a factor if you are selling at very high volumes).

    So if you are using PayPal, Stripe or other reputable transaction processors, all their fees are relatively similar (very generally speaking). PayPal and Stripe don't charge you for set up fees, but some other payment processors may - so that's also a consideration.

    Out of the web builders we've outlined above, I'd suggest checking out Wix or Squarespace, since both don't have any website builder transaction fees that the website builders charge you when you make a sale. The other platforms do take a very small percentage of each of your sale (this is in addition to your credit card fees), but that goes away if you upgrade to their higher plans.

    With Wix and Squarespace, there is no web builder transaction fee whatsoever. But you will have to pay a payment processing fee (credit card fee) each time you make a sale.

    Hope this makes sense!

    Jeremy

    Reply

• Matthew 12 years ago

  Hi Jeremy, really enjoyed the article well done and thanks. I was wondering if you might be able to recommend a provider to begin with as I am a little in the dark with everything. I am selling products online to Ireland only and am based in Ireland. My domain name is registered with an Irish provider as per law. I've been told that if I don't host my website in Ireland then Google won't optimise it - is this true? We are a small business and just need a storefront online with maybe one or two email addresses. Like everyone, we're trying to keep our costs down. Any tips? Cheers, Matthew

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 12 years ago

    Hi Matthew,

    I'm not a specialist in building sites in Ireland, but I haven't heard of Google discriminating against where sites are built. Also, I'm not aware that Google will not crawl and index a certain site because where the site is hosted is not in accordance with local regulations?

    Further, hosting is a services provided on a global basis. So I'm based in Canada and my host is headquartered in the US. But that doesn't materially impact someone from Germany or Japan who is visiting my website (unless the country itself has banned certain sites from being visited).

    So from my (limited) understanding, it shouldn't matter where you find your hosting services. Perhaps it's the domain name part that's important to your local laws.

    But you may want to consult a lawyer or someone that is familiar with building sites in Ireland for further clarifications! Just to be on the safer side, of course.

    Jeremy

    Reply

    1 reply

    • Matthew 12 years ago

      Hi Jeremy

      Thank you for your message, makes more sense! I think maybe expensive local providers are scaremongering people :)

      Have a great week

      Matthew

      Reply

• Kim 12 years ago

  Hi Jeremy thanks for all the great information. I tried to find somewhere in the discussions you have with other potential users something in shopify that they will sell digital products. The product I intend to sell is essentially a PDF, or some type of other digital information document. In the video review for shopify, before I saw you go to the category tab for the templates and I didn't see anything regarding a digital product, can you comment on this please? Or year or so ago when I was previously looking there was only one or two of these website builders that offered to sell a digital product, but according to your chart, now it looks they all do.
  Based on your comparison chart I was leaning towards shopify before, but if you have a recommendation for a website builder that will sell a digital product, and at the moment I just have one, which would you recommend?

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 12 years ago

    Hi Kim,

    Yes Shopify does allow you to sell digital products (such as PDF documents). A lot of other drag and drop website builders all have this function built in as well over the past 1 or 2 years.

    As for recommendations, it all depends on how comprehensive you want your online store to be. If it's just a very basic store front and selling a handful of products, then a less advanced builder such as Wix, Weebly or Squarespace will get the job done pretty quickly and easily.

    But if you need more advanced tools, Shopify and Bigcommerce cater cater to that (they both have App Stores where you can add on even more advanced commerce tools).

    I'd start with asking yourself that question first, then invest some time and test out which ones work the best for you.

    Jeremy

    Reply

• Alvin 12 years ago

  Hi Jeremy,
  thanks for this wonderful article!! it has been a great help!

  I have a question and i am hoping that you can give me your 2 cents.

  I am starting a monthly subscription boxes (similar to birchbox) for pets.

  So basically, potential customers will come to my site, choose the monthly plan and complete the cart transaction.

  My question is, which of website builder do u highly recommend?

  my primary concern is that customers can complete the transaction smoothly.

  appreciate your kind response.

  thanks,
  Alvin

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 12 years ago

    Hi Alvin,

    I'd suggest you take a look at Shopify. They do have the ability for you to charge your customers on a recurring subscription basis. You just need to add an App to your Shopify store website.

    We go over a bit more about what is Shopify's App Store in our detailed discussion here.

    Just visit their App Store and search for "recurring payments" and you'll see some services that enable you to do that in your store.

    Hope this helps!

    Jeremy

    Reply

• darcy 12 years ago

  Hi Jeremy,

  First of all thank you for all the information you have given in regards to what website/ecommerce builder a person should use. Your answers have been very informative and quite simple to understand for a computer luddite like myself.

  My question, I want to create an attractive & professional looking website for an artist where I am able to inform people of his work, sell his artwork and eventually create "how to" videos to sell. As well, I have multiple existing domain names that I would like to use to direct to the one site ( if that even possible.) Could you please advise me as to which builder would work best for me.

  Thanks very much!
  D

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 12 years ago

    Hi Darcy,

    I think the best platforms for you to consider is Wix, Weebly or Squarespace. All are very easy to use website builders and also give you the ability to sell products, and to also insert video players.

    Given that they can all "get the job done", the best way forward is to just sign up for their free accounts and invest some time in getting to know how they work. That's when you'll find out which website builder works best for you!

    Jeremy

    Reply

    1 reply

    • Darcy 12 years ago

      Thanks Jeremy!! I appreciate you getting back to me so quickly.

      Reply

• John 12 years ago

  Hi Jeremy,

  As other people commented, one of the best ecommerce online store comparisons.

  Thanks for that and please continue posting. Will highly recommend to others/
  Have a question for you.

  I want to start up a store for Clothing (Mens and Womens Suits/Jackets and Sweaters/Jumpers). I am New Zealand based which means things are quite different than US/UK and other parts of the World.

  1. Currently I want to start only with displaying products and see the response. (to help SEO from marketing purposes, buil up the brand, strategic vision and many more objectives)

  2. After a couple of weeks and seeing customer response (from website page reporting) then I want to start up online store (eCommerce).

  Can you please suggest your approach how you would have start up if you had to...

  Thanks in advance,
  J

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 12 years ago

    Hey John,

    Thanks for your compliments and for recommending our discussions to others! You've asked a great question and I bet a lot of others have a similar question in mind.

    I think it's definitely a wise approach to validate a business idea before jumping full speed into building it. You can pretty much do what you want to do with any of the online store builders discussed above. Since you are just gauging basic response and analyzing traffic data (using tools such as Google Analytics). So you're not at a stage you have to worry about all the technical features.

    But it's always good to get familiar with each platform's features as you might as well set up a basic site with the right choice, even though you're not building out a full store yet.

    Since you are in NZ, Shopify and Bigcommerce will have a number of payment gateway options for you to use. Weebly also integrates PayPal into its ecommerce tools, so it should work well for you as well.

    If you need a lot of tools such as email marketing, cross selling, integration with shippers, shipping cost estimations, then Shopify and Bigcommerce has a lot more of these tool integrations on their platform in their App stores (for instance, see our discussion on Shopify's App Market under the "Shopify App Store" discussion here).

    Weebly is a more basic online store builder. Don't get me wrong, their tools will equip you to build a functional store, but they won't have all the bells and whistles to bolt on to its store.

    So if you want to keep things simple, Weebly is a good option. If you want a lot more tools, Shopify and Bigcommerce can be helpful.

    Hope this points you in the right direction!

    - Jeremy

    Reply

• Valerie 12 years ago

  Hi Jeremy,

  This is a great comparison chart, but I still need some help please. My sister and I are staring a homemade candle business and we are looking for an online store were we can sell our candles. We are newbies and I want to make sure we use the best builder for our small online store. We would like to offer a shopping cart and also be able to give discount coupons for first time buyers to drive them to our site. What would be your recommendations for us? We are just staring out and do not want to break the bank to start out.

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 12 years ago

    Hi Valerie,

    I think something like Weebly or Squarespace will work well for you. Both are very capable online store builders, gives you all the tools to be able to sell physical products such as candles. Both will enable your customers to use discount codes, and are both relatively less expensive than larger, full featured online store builders such as Shopify or Bigcommerce.

    Obviously, with a lower monthly fee, you get less tools. But Weebly and Squarespace can provide you with the tools to build a good ecommerce store.

    - Jeremy

    Reply

• celeste 12 years ago

  Hi Jeremy,
  Your site has been very helpful as I'm looking to start an online store but don't feel quite as in the dark as I did yesterday. Here's my question: I just recently put alot of time into setting up my business website thru Micosoft Office 365. I'm wondering if there are any online stores that I can integrate into my website as I really like the look of it.

  I'm presently a services provider. Ideally if I could add pages to it for selling product that would be great. My worst fear is that I have to start all over again and recreate the services portion of my website as part of an online store platform. Your thoughts please.

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 12 years ago

    Hi Celeste,

    I'm not very familiar with Microsoft's website builder (I think it's called WebMatrix?), but I suspect you won't be able to transfer your existing content into any of the online store builders discussed above as cross platform migration is always tricky as all the builders have their own set ups and are usually not compatible with their competitors.

    I think in general you should be able to export your product details into a CSV file (looks similar as an Excel spreadsheet) and import it into more advanced ecommerce builders such as Shopify or Bigcommerce. At least this gives you a bit of a head start in inserting your products.

    - Jeremy

    Reply

• sujie 12 years ago

  Hi Jeremy,

  I’m really glad that I found your site. Great Comparisons!

  I would like to start my online jewellery store (3-4 different products) based in CANADA. I can do all the front-end editing but I am little bit scared about the payment tools- how it works and what should I need for this. Should I need a regular bank account or anything else.

  When it comes to payment mode, which one of the above including WIX can be a good option for online jewellery store? In addition, which one of these provide tax calculations and different delivery modes based on CANADA? I need full support regarding this so that I can track my orders, delivery, etc

  Please suggest.

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 12 years ago

    Hi Sujie,

    I think the most popular payment transaction service provider is PayPal. It's relatively quick and simple to sign up, and is great when you are just starting up. Some of the larger merchant services get really confusing, and that's probably the last thing you want to figure out at the moment!

    All of the online store builders we've discussed above works with PayPal, and all of them allow you to configure taxes and shipping costs so you can set whatever rate you need for your jurisdiction.

    I know that Shopify has a free App that you can to your store that allows you to provide real-time carrier cost estimates for Canada Post. So this actually might work well for you!

    - Jeremy

    Reply

• Andrea 12 years ago

  Hi Jeremy,

  Great comparisons. I think I've read too many of them, compared too many sites and am still stuck.

  I currently sell on Etsy, a little on eBay and want to create my own e-commerce store. My main reason for my own store it to have my own brand identity. I am growing and want a good website name and e-commerce store when I go into a brewery to do sales, not a store within a larger e-commerce store.

  My second biggest reason to create my own site is due to shipping. This is where I can't decide on an appropriate e-commerce builder to meet my needs. I need a e-commerce builder with a Real-time Shipping Calculator. However, I need one that uses FedEx and USPS. I need both because if a customer buys an item that weighs 4lbs and they live in 30 out of 50 US states I'll ship the item with USPS. However, with those other 20 states it is about 20% less to ship with FedEx. So, I ship with FedEx. However, if the package is 6+lbs, I will ship with FedEx 90% of the time. I use FedEx because the rates are 30-60% less than shipping with USPS. For me, less shipping many times converts to more sales.

  As I've reviewed these e-commerce builders, I noticed multiple indicate a "Real-time shipping calculator". However, I also noticed that some only offer it for USPS. I can't have only USPS. I was wondering which builder you would suggest? I also can't afford a $100+/month plan. I'm selling a good amount, but not enough to be able to afford a very expensive plan. I do 40-200 sales/month with 30-80 products. Packages range from 2lbs to 60lbs up to 48"x24"x24".

  So, what e-commerce builder would you suggest. I'm tech savy, but this exact issue seems to be somewhat avoided on some of the e-builder sites.

  Thank you!
  Andrea

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 12 years ago

    Hey Andrea,

    For real time calculators, I'd suggest checking out Shopify or Bigcommerce (check their App Stores) as they would have more options since you need both USPS and Fedex. However, as you pointed out, they may not come cheap especially if you want advanced solutions. This then comes down to tweaking your business model. Is your profit margin high enough to absorb higher operational costs? If not, and yet you want to deliver premium experience (such as real time calculations), are your prices high enough to justify such experience?

    So aside from picking the right platform to help sell your products, the economics of selling each line of product has to make financial sense, leaving you sufficient profit margins to operate the business.

    Of course I don't know anything about your business, and I'm over simplifying matters, but just a few thoughts to consider.

    - Jeremy

    Reply

• Michele Paris 12 years ago

  Hi there. I'm in the process of setting up my website and was going to use Shopify because I want to sell online however I'm based in NZ and currently only have one product and it looks like they are for bigger businesses.

  I do plan to add a couple more over time but probably not any more than that.

  My friend advised me to build it myself with Wix as it is quite easy (and free) but I was concerned with getting the right host that has good security if payments through credit cards and PayPal are being made. I also wanted a shipping cost option if I received orders from overseas.

  I thought Squarespace looked good from your reviews but maybe not if I'm based in NZ.

  Sorry but I'm definitely feeling my way in the dark a bit here
  Thanks
  Michele

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 12 years ago

    Hi Michele,

    Thanks for your question. Yes it sounds like Shopify is a bit too advanced for your needs at the moment (given that you only have 1 product right now). Squarespace might not work well for you as they only have Stripe as their payment processor, and Stripe isn't readily available in New Zealand right now.

    I"d suggest taking a look at Weebly, as they do integrate with PayPal as well and so I'm sure it works just fine with NZ merchants such as yourself. Weebly is quite easy to use and their ecommerce tools are actually quite decent. Here is a more in-depth discussion about Weebly's online store builder.

    Good luck!

    - Jeremy

    Reply

    1 reply

    • Michele Paris 12 years ago

      Thanks a lot Jeremy, helpful advice and much appreciated
      Michele

      Reply

• Tabitha 12 years ago

  Hi Jeremy,

  I found your site by accident. I'm really glad that I did because you share a ton of great information. I'm trying to decide on who to go with for my online store. I'm starting a shore store for women and I'm really confused. My plan is to start out with about 10 designs and work my way up. The look of the website is very important to me. Needs to look professional and very chic. GoDaddy was recommended to me however they don't give you a preview of their templates. It also needs to be user friendly because I'm not tech savy with codes and such.

  Thanks

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 12 years ago

    Hi Tabitha,

    Glad our discussions on our website has been helpful!

    If you are looking to create an online store, I'd definitely suggest checking out / testing the website builders we've discussed above.

    If you are planning on a more advanced ecommerce store, I'd suggest signing up for a free trial with Shopify (see our review) and Bigcommerce (see our review) as they have a lot of tools to help their users run very sophisticated stores.

    But if you are planning on starting off with just a more straightforward, simpler store, then I'd suggest Weebly (see our review) or Squarespace (see our review) . Both have pretty good ecommerce tools. Weebly's templates are pretty good as they've released some new ones lately, but between the two Squarespace have better designs at this moment.

    Hope this points you in the right direction!

    - Jeremy

    Reply

• Tabitha 12 years ago

  Hi Jeremy,

  I stumbled upon your site a few days ago. Tons of information here. I'm getting ready to start an online shoe store. I'm having a hard time trying to decide which web builder to go with. I plan to start out with maybe about 10 different designs and work my way up. I want something that's pretty user friendly because I'm not that tech savy.

  Can you recommend one that have pretty chic templates for women shoes?

  Thanks

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 12 years ago

    Hi Tabitha,

    Shopify usually has some really attractive design templates. We discuss more about their templates here.

    - Jeremy

    Reply

• Danielle 12 years ago

  Hi Jeremy!
  I stumbled upon your site today. So much information! It's great and I appreciate it.
  I'm wondering if you could give me advice, I currently have a site through other peoples pixels to showcase my fine art portoflio but they dont have e commerce capabilites and you cannot upload your own logo.
  I have been considering a site like virb to showcase my portfolio primarily and other tabs, stockists, contact, about etc. one of which would be SHOP to purchase my jewelry. I was considering using big cartel. I see they arent in this article to compare to.

  I am not html savy but it would be great to have one site where I can incorporate my portfolio as well as an e commerce site and be able to customize with my own logo etc. can you tell me which e commerce site is capable of having a portfolio?
  is shopify capable? it doesnt appear that big cartel is.
  I hate to have to pay for two sites and domain annual fees if i dont have to. I want everything to appear cohesive and clean. User friendly as well while keeping my monthly dues not to high.

  Look forward to your response!
  Best!
  Danielle

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 12 years ago

    Hi Danielle,

    I think Squarespace will work well for your needs. Their design templates are gorgeous and are well suited for setting up a portfolio website. Of course, with their drag and drop tools, you can insert your own logo to brand your own website for sure.

    Their ecommerce tools are fully capable to help you sell your products online. If you end up subscribing to their plans, you get a free domain as well so that can help you manage your expenses.

    Best way forward is to sign up for their free trial and play around with it to see if their tools fit your needs!

    - Jeremy

    Reply

• Maddy 12 years ago

  I have been busy reading your comparisons and you give such brilliant advice. Thank you.
  I also read the Etsy advice where I have a vintage shop. That was also useful. I am comfortable with Etsy but you are correct
  I have been thinking of building a website and the choice is between Yola, weebly, Jimdo and Wix. ( it is like a sweetie shop)
  I basically just wanted a simple / effective website and send potential customers to Etsy to pay. My understanding is that you think this is not a good idea.
  Is that right and is it really a turn off for customers?

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 12 years ago

    Hi Maddy,

    I don't think it is a turn off for customers at all! To the contrary, I think it helps your shoppers as they can identify you as a "real" person or business, and not just another merchant in Etsy.

    Creating your own website (whether you decide to sell on Etsy exclusively or also on your own website), allows you to showcase your creativity away from Etsy's cookie cutter layout, add more images / product details beyond the allocated space given by Etsy, engage with your shoppers through blogging, discussions, etc.

    All these are effectively differentiating yourself from the crowded marketplace in Etsy! Sure it takes more effort, but after all, it's an investment of your time and will pay dividends over the long run.

    Shoppers buy from people they know and like. So that's essentially what you are doing if you engage your shoppers with your own website outside of Etsy!

    (If others reading this and have an Etsy store, we have a discussion article here about the benefits of setting up your own website in addition to using Etsy)

    - Jeremy

    Reply

    1 reply

    • Maggie Vidal 12 years ago

      Jeremy,
      Thank you so very much for all your advice. You are right about Etsy. I have tried to locate an actual website from some favorite Etsy merchants and so far none of those had a website. It would be nice to have some of them have one. It will give them more flexibility in design. It will help buyers navigate easier.

      Thanks,

      Maggie :)

      Reply

• Natascha 12 years ago

  Hi Jeremy

  Since first reading and commenting on this article I've been comparing the here suggested solutions but as well self-hosted solutions. I thought I would give a quick feedback on how I've decided in the mean time.
  I have decided to use, for my two domains, a self hosted solution and went for WP. On one domain I use WP with the woo commerce plugin and on the other I use the ecwid plugin.

  In my opinion Woocommerce is great for mid to big sized shops and ecwid for a small business wanting to sell a few goods.

  As a complete beginner to WP and self hosting I came fairly far in realising both websites. So I do think that self hosted is the most economic way to realise a webshop in a mid term perspective (2 years+), if one has some time (3days), stamina and the ability to understand technical stuff, it's absolutely doable. Additionally one should also carefully select a theme. I think here lies the main key on how successful you are with your page. Getting to know all the technical terms and making up your mind what you need is a very crucial step.

  Best Natascha

  Reply

• anthony 12 years ago

  I have a client who is a commercial printer. Which of these commerce options have add-on that are customizable and often best way to build a site for her? She is using a commerce site now that's way too expensive in monthly costs.

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 12 years ago

    Hi Anthony,

    That's a pretty broad question, as it really depends on what exactly you need for your client to run her business.

    I'd suggest signing up and testing both Shopify and Bigcommerce (both have 2 weeks of free trial period) and explore their basic features, as well as their App Store to see if you can find some apps that can help her.

    Also, both platforms do have flexibility to be customized, and there are a lot of Shopify Experts and Bigcommerce Experts readily available for hire to help her customize certain features / functions.

    - Jeremy

    Reply

• Susan 12 years ago

  Hi Jeremy,

  I was looking to do a website where customers could put their own product on the site. Like an Ebay or Esty or Threadflip. What would be the best choice for me to go with. I have to watch my funds as well.

  Thank you! Susan

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 12 years ago

    Hi Susan,

    It sounds like you need a builder that allows you to build your own marketplace. I haven't seen any builders that will allow you to create marketplaces and the ones you've mentioned are all custom developed.

    You can try to find freelancers / developers to see if they are able to custom build something for you. You can find some good developers for hire on either oDesk or Elance. Good luck!

    - Jeremy

    Reply

• RM 12 years ago

  Hi

  I am looking for a company to develop my website for online education.
  Any suggestions pls.

  Rgds
  RM

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 12 years ago

    Hi RM,

    The easiest way to access a pool of freelancers / developers to help you build or modify a website is at oDesk and Elance.

    For others who are reading this comment - if you need anything modified for your website that is above and beyond what a website builder is capable of doing, it's always good to check with a freelancer / developer to see if it is actually possible through some code tweaks!

    - Jeremy

    Reply

• Van 12 years ago

  Hi, any suggestion for an easy e-commerce builder for a trial out? As I might need a huge amount of storage for my product in the future. So which, website builder should I go for? and I needed one that can do an offline payment methods, preferably non charges for each transaction. I was quite familiar with Wix, do you think it is good to start off with it 1st as shopify and bigcommerce is quite pricey? before changing it to another e-commerce builder with better functions?

  Next, I know all these e-commerce builder like shopify, bigcommerce, wix, jimdo required you to sign up plan. If in the near future, i would like to create and host my own e-commerce will I be able to re-use the domain that I used in those website builder?

  Lastly, do any of this website builder provide a e-commerce function, whereby there is no need a price tag to each product? As in, consumer could order the product, without placing any price on the items, some sort of pre-order thingy.

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 12 years ago

    Hi Van,

    I don't think Wix has an option for you to process offline payments, but Shopify and Bigcommerce should be able to help you do that as each of them has over 60 payment processors that you can connect to your online store.

    Shopify has a Starter Plan which is only $14 per month, and you can always upgrade down the road if you feel more comfortable. Remember that Shopify has a 14 day free trial, and Bigcommerce has a 15 day free trial. So you can test them out before committing to their monthly plans.

    If you connect our own domain name to any one of the ecommerce online store builders, you still own the domain names (as long as you pay the annual registration fee with your domain name registrar). So down the road, if you decide to switch websites, your domain name is portable and can be brought over to a new website if you want to.

    I'm not sure if Shopify or Bigcommerce has the ability to automatically "not" show a price for each product. But both website builders have independent experts that you can consult with and have them customize the platform for you. We have an article about Shopify experts here.

    - Jeremy

    Reply

    1 reply

    • Van 12 years ago

      Thanks for the reply,

      Actually, Wix do have such option and regarding the shopify starter plan. It only provides 1 GB file storage capacity with 150 products. Thus that mean, I can upload too much photos? because actually, I have plenty of photos for each product. Roughly I have 100+ products and each of the products there are 3 - 5 photos, editted into web-friendly jpeg and I believe it will be more than the given storage capacity. On a few week basis I will be adding more products into database. So I doubt it will be enough 1 GB. Any other suggestion of which e-commerce builder that is suitable ?

      Regards,
      Van

      Reply

      1 reply

      • 

        Jeremy 12 years ago

        Hey Van,

        If you have that many products, I'd suggest that you take a serious look at Shopify or Bigcommerce, as these are dedicated ecommerce builders and will give you a lot of tools that you just won't get from other website builders.

        Another alternative is to check out Jimdo (our review here) as I don't think they have any limits for their Business plan.

        - Jeremy

        Reply

• Michelle 12 years ago

  Squarespace sounds like a great solution for our needs, but bulk uploading is a key component when making a final decision. Which ones have bulk uploading functionality? Also, was ease of use for editing/sizing images taken into consdideration?

  Thanks!

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 12 years ago

    Hi Michelle,

    Both Shopify and Bigcommerce allow you to bulk import products and images. Both platforms will also allow you to quickly edit your image sizes as well.

    For Squarespace, I don't think they have a bulk import function for product and images at the moment, but if you have an existing website on Tumblr, Big Cartel, Etsy or Blogger, they allow you to import your existing content into Squarespace in just a few clicks.

    Hope this is helpful!

    - Jeremy

    Reply

• caralyn 12 years ago

  I would like to know need an ecommerce site and would appreciate your thoughts on GoDaddys, Volusion and Shopify

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy 12 years ago

    Hi Caralyn,

    We haven't used Volusion before so we don't have any comments about them. We know they've been around and is a well established ecommerce website builder.

    We have used GoDaddy's latest website builder but the website builder that we used doesn't have an ecommerce function. I think I read somewhere that they will be integrating those tools into their latest builder soon. Here is our review on their general website builder.

    As for Shopify - we really like them and they are one of the best online store builders available today. Not only do they allow you to build a comprehensive online store, they also have tools for you to sell products offline and integrating all your offline activities with the online store. You can see more of our discussions about the pros and cons of Shopify here.

    - Jeremy

    Reply

• Jamie 12 years ago

  Hi there,

  Fantastic guides, you guys really know your stuff. Very unbiased.

  Quick question, at the moment guys I sell only on eBay & want to (like many others) open a ecoomerce website.

  I've been looking into Magento Go for a while with that, especially so becasue its an ebay company & integration would be seamless. Magento Go they have 200mb storage & 4GB banwidth. - I'm a complete newbie with this & wanted to know your thoughts with regard to Magento Go in general, (& what the 200mb/4GB mean).
  Ah, & also guys something Magento have are extensions, I think it's sort of like an 'app' were you pay for additions to your website as you grow, & a couple really stood out.

  One extension/connection that seemed to good to be true is called "ebay priduct grabber" were it says, "Import your products from eBay to your (new) Magento Store. Stuff your Magento Store with your eBay products".

  -Guys would this really take all the hassle out of building a website if it's just gonna take all my products from eBay & place them categorise them as I have in eBay into a new website ?

  Before I forget, the reason I & probably a million others have started lookin into this is because there was a message in our ebay inbox. - ebay have linked up with something called Understandinge.com & they also have a great extension m2e, all free to help ebayers , or knowing ebay make a buck if people like me pay for Magento etc ;)

  Any guidance, advice from your expertise would be so very, very grateful.

  Many Thanks

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy & Connie 12 years ago

    Hi Jamie,

    I haven't used MagentoGo myself so don't really have experiences to share. But Magento is a very reputable e-commerce online store builder overall, so I'm sure they have very strong e-commerce related tools as well.

    In terms of storage and bandwidth, I think you will only run into issues for storage if you have a lot of products and you have to upload a lot of images. For bandwidth, you would only run into issues if you have a lot of visitors visiting your store. It's really difficult to say when you would hit those limits and I haven't really seen any averages. But from a bandwidth perspective, let's just say that if you exceed 4GB it's a good thing as it usually means you're getting a lot of visitors!

    As for grabbing products from eBay, I know that both Shopify and Bigcommerce also allow you to do that. With Shopify, you can use a free App to do that. For Bigcommerce, here is a tutorial on how to do that.

    Hope this is somewhat helpful!

    - Jeremy

    Reply

• L Howard 12 years ago

  First of all, great site- as I have been reading it for days trying to figure out which website builder fits my needs...
  I need to create a site to run a literary contest- so it needs to have the ability for visitors to fill out a submission form, upload a file, and make a payment for that file to be sent to a folder for storage for consideration. This is not a very popular website need, so I'm having a hard time figuring out which site builders would be more appropriate for this type of non-standard commerce?

  Any thoughts?

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy & Connie 12 years ago

    Hey L,

    I haven't seen anything like that, but perhaps you can search around in Shopify's App Store or Bigcommerce's App Store to see if you can find some sort of application that you can bold on to your website (assuming if you use Shopify or Bigcommerce).

    One thing to keep in mind is that if you are running some sort of competition and taking money for applications, you might want to be aware of regulations / laws for your jurisdiction. I'm not a lawyer so it's best you do some research into this, as I've seen some Facebook competition has all sorts of disclaimers, something along the lines of being similar to a lottery... and hence perhaps some sort of government regulations around that.

    - Jeremy

    Reply

• Sharon 12 years ago

  Have found a lot of great information on your site.

  Reply

• jill 12 years ago

  Hi Guys,
  Thanks for your response.
  Jill

  Reply

• jill 12 years ago

  Hi Guys,
  I had a simple website done for me to market a little book I had written. A friend helped me with it and talked me through how to change things and I think it was done with WordPress? Problem is someone hacked into it and I lost the whole site (goodness knows what the hackers have done to it). I am considering doing my own website with one of the builders like those you review however how do I make sure my website is totally secure especially if people are paying me for stuff with it???
  I have now republished the book directly on Amazon, I'm no techie so forgive the daft question but is there any way to expand marketing it directly via Amazon or do I need a fresh website to link people to buy on amazon???
  Thanks,
  Jilly

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy & Connie 12 years ago

    Hey Jill,

    Sorry to hear that you site go hacked. I think in general, all sites are vulnerable to a certain extent, and one of the best things you can do is to use a very strong alphanumeric password with a mix of upper and lower cases (capitals and small letters) that doesn't have anything to do with you or your interests ,etc. Also rotate your password once in a while.

    The website builders that we've reviewed certainly keep their servers updated and secured, but I've read that a lot of times, users actually don't use very strong passwords which leaves your account vulnerable.

    In terms of marketing with Amazon, I'm not an expert in that but I'm sure there are a lot of helpful resources available for that. Building a website to promote your Amazon items can be a very powerful strategy if used appropriately if you can get interested shoppers to visit your website where you can tell them more about how your product can help them.

    - Jeremy

    Reply

• Mark 12 years ago

  I looking for a simple website builder that will allow 3 Paypal buttons (to pay one of 3 different amounts), and that's it. Is there a $4 or $8/month website builder that will do that without charging any additional transaction fee?

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy & Connie 12 years ago

    Hi Mark,

    I think Squarespace, Weebly, Wix and a few other drag and drop website builders can do this. These website builders have a tool where you can insert a custom script of code into the body / content area of your website. What PayPal does, after you set up your own payment buttons, is provide you with a snippet of code so you can insert into your site.

    So once you get the 3 payment buttons set up with PayPal, just take those 3 separate set of codes, and insert them into the website builder's code tool.

    For instance with Weebly, this tool is called the "embed code" element. Just paste the PayPal code into this element and your custom button will show up.

    For Squarespace, they call their tool "Code Block". Just paste the PayPal code into the code block.

    - Jeremy

    Reply

• Natascha 12 years ago

  Hi Jeremy, are you familiar with woocommerce? I like it because of its look and that it comes from WordPress.
  As I can see now, it's difficult to find out more about it's funcionalities, as I would need to install it before testing.

  Thank you for your reply

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy & Connie 12 years ago

    Hi Natascha,

    Yes we've definitely heard of WooCommerce as it is one of the faster growing e-Commerce extensions that people are using on WordPress. WooThemes is a very reputable theme provider for WordPress and so even though we haven't tried WooCommerce, I'm confident that they will be pretty solid.

    However, our comparison chart is focused on hosted drag and drop e-commerce builders and so we haven't included WordPress related sites in our comparision.

    - Jeremy

    Reply

    1 reply

    • Natascha 12 years ago

      many thanks Jeremy!
      Are you planning an article on comparing self-hosted providers? I feel that this still a jungle for me... :-)
      I have a comparision in mind that focuses on a technical comparison, availability of themes and/or flexibility of adapting themes, and of course ease of use, but not ease of use for the set-up.

      Reply

      1 reply

      • 

        Jeremy & Connie 12 years ago

        Hi Natascha,

        It's something we've considered but very generally speaking, you're right, self-hosted services are a lot more technical than the hosted services. So I've been a bit resistant in diving into a ton of technicalities as that stuff bores me quite a bit as well! We're not coders or technical people by trait, but learned it out of necessity.

        But if we hear from more people who are interested in understanding and learning more about self-hosted services, we may consider this route as well!

        - Jeremy

        Reply

• antar 12 years ago

  hi jeremy,
  Ive been trying for some time to understand which website builder to chose for my new online store.
  i took the 14 days free trial on bigcommerce and play with it a bit, i insert some products and got friendly with it, the problem is that to make changes on the functionality of it one needs to know html+css..so i figure i take a freelancer and pay him to make for me the necessary changes, now the indian freelancer im in touch with suggested to do it on magento, i check a bit about magento and every one not recommend it for small business..i like the magento option cause my freelancer told me it will be for free, unlike big commerce that is $24 per month..but im confuse on what will be the most cheap efficient solution for me..
  i also see so many different websitebuilders and really my needs are basic(at list for the beginning), i want to pick a nice looking friendly theme and make some basic changes in the functionality..i will appreciate some advise here..tanx

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy & Connie 12 years ago

    Hi Antar,

    Thanks for your comment. I haven't tested or used Magento before so I can't quite comment about them. But for sure, they are a big e-commerce website builder for sure.

    Have you explored using Bigcommerce experts to help solve your problem? Bigcommerce has an marketplace where they list out qualified, BIgcommerce experts / freelancers that are very familiar with how to use the platform properly. I would approach them and inquire about whether the changes you want are possible and ask them to quote you.

    One of the challenges of hiring "random" freelancers (versus targeted freelancers available in Bigcommerce's market) is that the freelancers may be biased to suggest you to use something they are familiar with themselves. So it's definitely challenging to understand what works best for you for sure.

    I know for Magento they have a hosted version which you do have to pay a monthly fee (just like Shopify or Bigcommerce), and I "think" they have a non-hosted one, but you will have to get your own hosting services and will have to configure a lot of things manually.

    In any case, I'd suggest you consult some of the Bigcommerce experts and see what they say before changing platforms!

    - Jeremy

    Reply

• Cathy 12 years ago

  I'm in the food business and need an online ordering system but can't afford to pay for a new ecommerce site. I do have some web design experience but my fear is that once I start with shopify or Squarespace, I'll need to pay for too many added features. I played around with Shopify trying to modify their templates and it's not easy. My competitors sites look like modified templates. Is it best to have a designed site on paper to give to the Shopify or Squarespace designers for help?

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy & Connie 12 years ago

    Hi Cathy,

    I think when it comes to modifying templates or designs in the codes, it's never too simple as you're dealing with codes! Have you checked out some Shopify Experts in their marketplace (see our discussion here)?

    What you can do is just reach out to a few of them and perhaps show them some of your competitors' websites and see if they can help modify your Shopify site to incorporate some similar features, and how much it might cost.

    But as with any customized designs / websites, you will have to invest some time and money into it. It's always the chicken and the egg debate... invest to increase sales? Or wait until sales come then invest?

    Personally I'm more of a invest now and work on growing sales - but of course in a balanced way.

    - Jeremy

    Reply

• Ernest 13 years ago

  I would consider joining Shopify so that I can build an e-commerce website. But, I am concerned about being charged monthly and that I may lose my whole website if I decide to stop paying.

  Reply

  1 reply

  • 

    Jeremy & Connie 13 years ago

    Hello Ernest,

    For Shopify, Bigcommerce and Squarespace, as they don't have a free program (aside from their trial periods), once you stop paying for their services you won't be able to access your website. But if you use Weebly or Jimdo, they do have a free program for you to use. However, just know that if you don't upgrade to their paid plans, you will not have full access to all their e-commerce tools, as well as connecting your own domain name to the website store.

    No such thing as "free lunch" right? :)

    - Jeremy

    Reply

    1 reply

    • Ernest 13 years ago

      Thanks for that info.

      I would have to carefully choose which e-commerce website builder is better for me.

      Reply

      1 reply

      • divp 10 years ago

        Great site, thanks for all the info!

        Reply