The Top 9 Benefits of a Great Ecommerce Platform for Your Business

The choice of ecommerce platform is critical to the success of your business. An optimal platform can bring numerous advantages, such as: heightened profits, improved customer satisfaction and loyalty, reduced expenses, greater operational efficiency, elevated search engine ranking, exceptional customer support, seamless integration with apps and plugins, expanded scalability, and reinforced security.

Here, we delve into each of these nine benefits of selecting a top-notch ecommerce platform:

1. Increased revenue

Shopify

Boosted revenue The most evident advantage of a premier ecommerce platform is increased revenue. But why is that so? Of course, your sales are largely dependent on factors such as product offerings and marketing strategies. But what do you require to create your product pages, checkout pages, and abandoned cart reminders? The answer is a fantastic ecommerce platform! A platform with a user-friendly interface and efficient design makes it easy for customers to find the products they want and complete their purchases. Furthermore, features such as abandoned cart reminders and customer reviews can enhance conversion rates.

2. Improved customer satisfaction and retention

Elevated customer satisfaction and retention A fantastic ecommerce platform can lead to improved customer satisfaction, which in turn results in increased customer retention. A platform that is effortless to use creates a delightful shopping experience for your customers. This is particularly true if the platform provides live chat options for customer support. Features such as loyalty programs and personalised customer profiles can also contribute to a personalised experience that will keep customers coming back.

3. Reduced costs

Reduced costs Another benefit of a top-notch ecommerce platform is reduced costs. This can be accomplished through selecting a platform with low monthly fees, such as ShopBase’s Basic plan, which starts at $19 per month and includes a wealth of essential features. Additionally, a platform that offers features that save time, such as automated order fulfilment and inventory management, can reduce the costs associated with these tasks.

4. Increased efficiency

Improved efficiency The next benefit of a great ecommerce platform is increased efficiency, which is desirable in many aspects of life. Automated tasks, such as order fulfilment and inventory management, free up time for you to focus on other critical elements of your business. Real-time reporting and analytics can also contribute to more informed and efficient decision-making. Shopify’s conversion funnel analytics, for instance, provide insight into how to optimise your ecommerce purchase funnel.

5. Better search engine ranking

Enhanced search engine ranking An SEO-friendly ecommerce platform can help improve your search engine results pages (SERPs) ranking. Such a platform is optimised to meet the requirements of search engines, making it easier for them to index and understand your site, which can increase its visibility on search engines like Google. An example of a platform that excels in SEO performance is WooCommerce. WooCommerce is open-source software and a plugin for WordPress, giving you complete control over your store and allowing you to optimise its SEO.

6. Great customer support

Exceptional customer support Running an ecommerce store requires excellent customer support not only for your customers but for yourself as well. An outstanding ecommerce platform will provide exceptional customer support. Shopify, for example, has an excellent support team that provides 24/7 support through various channels, including phone, chat, email, or Twitter.

The Shopify community forum is also a great resource where you can connect with other merchants to learn and receive support.

7. Integration with apps and plugins

Seamless integration with apps and plugins An excellent ecommerce platform allows for easy integration with various apps and plugins, providing you with more flexibility and customisation options. This can help to streamline your operations and provide a better experience for your customers.

8. Greater scalability

Improved Scalability An exceptional ecommerce platform can enhance scalability by making it easy to expand your store by adding new products, categories, and features as you grow. In addition, the platform must be able to handle increased traffic and sales, especially if you operate a high-volume ecommerce store. For instance, Gymshark experienced a significant setback in 2015, when their website (built on Magento) crashed during Black Friday, resulting in an estimated loss of $143k in sales and damaging customer trust.

However, after migrating to Shopify Plus, Gymshark has never faced any scalability issues and has since become a $1.2+ billion company with 900 employees.

9. Enhanced security

Improved Safety Measures In this digital era, ensuring the safety of sensitive information is of utmost importance. With a multitude of data passing through your store, it’s crucial to have a secure and dependable platform. Strong security not only safeguards your customers’ personal data, but also helps you evade costly data breaches and the negative publicity that follows. An exceptional e-commerce platform will offer various security measures, including SSL encryption and fraud detection, and will be hosted on a secure server to secure your customers’ information from potential breaches. For instance, all stores powered by Shopify are compliant with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), providing you with the peace of mind that your customers’ payment information and business data are safe.

Looking to choose a top-notch ecommerce platform for your store in 2023?

That’s fantastic! The next step is finding the right platform that fits your needs. To help you out, we’ve put together a list of the top five ecommerce platforms to consider. If you want to learn more about each platform in depth, we highly suggest checking out the linked article.

1. Shopify

Shopify is a standout choice for ecommerce platforms, and it’s easy to see why. Its aim is to provide an accessible and cost-effective solution for beginner entrepreneurs to enter the thriving ecommerce market. Here are the reasons why Shopify is a top choice:

1. User-friendly for beginners: Shopify makes it simple for new entrepreneurs to start their ecommerce store.
2. Affordable and scalable: Shopify provides excellent value and allows for growth as your business expands.
3. Exceptional customer support: Shopify offers world-class support to help you with any issues or questions.
4. Speed and security: Shopify prioritizes speed and security to keep your store and customer data protected.
5. Marketing and SEO tools: Shopify provides tools to improve your marketing efforts and increase your visibility on search engines.
6. Mobile-friendly design: Shopify offers mobile-optimized themes to ensure a seamless shopping experience for customers on mobile devices.
7. Dropshipping resources: Shopify has a variety of resources and apps specifically designed for dropshipping stores. Additionally, Shopify provides access to 70+ professional themes, 100+ payment gateways, and much more!

Pricing

Shopify’s pricing plans range from $29 to $299 per month:

The good news is, the Basic Shopify plan, the most affordable option, is more than adequate for the majority of ecommerce store owners. Although $29 a month may seem steep to some, it includes a great deal of value, such as hosting at no additional cost. For a more detailed understanding of Shopify’s pricing options, refer to our comprehensive article!

Tip: Did you create your Shopify account already? If not, sign up by clicking this link here to get a free 3-day trial + pay $1/month for the first 3 months!

2. WooCommerce

WooCommerce has come a long way since its beginnings as a theme creation business, WooThemes, in 2008. Today, it has established itself as one of the leading ecommerce platforms, with a user base of over 5 million websites, accounting for roughly 30% of the ecommerce market.

One key difference between WooCommerce and Shopify is that Shopify is more geared towards beginners and provides hosting services, whereas WooCommerce requires you to manage your own website hosting.

Pricing

WooCommerce is a cost-effective option as it’s offered for free.

The reason behind this is that WooCommerce is an open-source software and a plugin for WordPress.

However, it’s important to note that while the platform itself is free, you’ll need to arrange for your own web hosting, as it only covers the ecommerce aspect of your site.

Therefore, while the platform is “free,” it’s crucial to factor in the cost of hosting, which can range from $20 to $30 for a Virtual Private Server (VPS) or lower for a shared hosting solution.

3. BigCommerce

BigCommerce is a well-established ecommerce platform like Shopify, founded in 2009 and serving 60,000+ merchants in over 150 countries. It offers a complete and fully hosted solution, suitable for both beginner entrepreneurs and tech-savvy individuals who prefer to customize the HTML and CSS of their stores. Compared to Shopify, BigCommerce boasts improved SEO performance, a wealth of built-in features, greater support for product options and variants, and a singular focus on its core ecommerce platform.

Meanwhile, Shopify offers many third-party plugins (although sometimes at a cost), is easier to use, and has world-class support.

Pricing

BigCommerce offers three main pricing plans (which are almost equal to Shopify), ranging from $29.95 to $299.95 per month:

The Standard plan of BigCommerce, priced at $29.95 per month, offers a comprehensive set of features that should cater to the needs of most ecommerce stores.

It boasts a range of sales channels, such as point-of-sale, single-page checkout, real-time shipping quotes, and professional reporting tools, providing ample power at a reasonable cost.

If you’re interested in giving BigCommerce a go, take advantage of the free 15-day trial by clicking the link here!

4. ShopBase

ShopBase may not be a well-known name when it comes to starting an ecommerce store, but it offers a budget-friendly and efficient solution for those interested in dropshipping.

As an ecommerce platform specifically designed for dropshippers, each pricing plan includes features that cater to the needs of this business model. These features include:

• A streamlined store builder for a hassle-free setup
• A seamless connection to AliExpress
• Profitability-boosting tools like upselling and cross-selling
• A monthly list of top-performing dropshipping products to sell.

Pricing

The pricing makes ShopBase an excellent choice for a beginner on a tight budget.

With a 14-day free trial and a starter package at $19 per month, what’s not to like? All of ShopBase’s plans are about 30% lower than Shopify’s, which will be the deciding factor for some.

5. Shift4Shop

Let’s end the list with Shift4Shop, an ecommerce platform that currently has over 200k customers and processes approximately $200 billion per year.

You can check out all of Shift4Shop’s features here!

Pricing

The pricing is the part where Shift4Shop steals the show.

The platform has an ecommerce plan that is entirely free!

The downside?

Well, if you have a sharp eye, you have already seen it in the small letters at the bottom of the pricing page.

The free plan is only available for US customers!

So, if you don’t qualify for the free plan, you may end up paying a monthly fee similar to Shopify:

Again, if you’re new to dropshipping, the Basic Store plan is a good place to start at $29/month. It offers everything you need to get started

In Summary

This article highlights the importance of choosing the right ecommerce platform for your business and outlines five top options for 2023: Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, ShopBase, and Shift4Shop. Each platform offers unique benefits such as increased revenue, better SEO, top-notch customer support, scalability, security, and efficiency. For more comprehensive information, be sure to check out the full article.