4 Tips to Build Professional Online Store – Part 2

Shopify (500,000+ Active Online Stores)

One of the best professional online store builders available today is Shopify. It is incredibly user friendly and has over 100 templates available so you can choose a look that suites your online image and brand.

They also provide 24/7 support, so you’ll never be left waiting to get help with any problems you encounter along the way. They also have over 780 experts available for hire to help with store setup, design, customization and troubleshooting.

One of their best features is the App Store. It boasts hundreds of tools that can be utilized by your store, which is particularly useful as a business begins to grow. Some of the essential necessities are included as part of the basic platform. But the additional Apps allow far more customization and flexibility. Keep in mind though, that unlike plugins on Magento or WooCommerce most of the Apps require a monthly fee payment rather than an initial one off charge. There are a few tools available for free, but selection is very limited. However, many shop operators find that the fee is minimal when you consider the value. Many of these Apps prove to be priceless when it comes to automating operations like inventory management, shipping, marketing, bookkeeping, social media and more.

With over upwards of 70 payment gateways you can process sales in whatever way suits your store and clientele. You are sure to be satisfied with the platform and services on Shopify when building your professional online store.

BigCommerce (95,000+ Active Professional Online Store )

BigCommerce is another worthwhile option when considering the right platform for building your professional online store. One of Shopify’s main competitors, they provide more tools designed for ecommerce. They are known for the widespread array of tools available so if you are looking for a specific feature that you can’t find on Shopify, BigCommerce would be the best place to look.

They offer templates with chic and professional designs to help you display a modern and sophisticated storefront and have an App store with additional tools to customize store functions. They also have qualified staff available for hire that can help with basic set up or even help you a personalized design.

BigCommerce offers flexibility in the design that allows you to change and update features after you’re up and running. You can do this on your own, or hire one of their experts to make changes on your behalf. With over 60 payment gateways available on the platform, you are sure to find one that is right for your business.

Woocomerce – the powerful online store platform

WooCommerce provides an incredibly powerful platform, but it’s much more challenging to use, especially for a first time store developer. The many tools and options provide the most customization and choice, but this may be overwhelming for a beginner. All in all, WooCommerce is a top quality platform, but we only recommend it for those with more advanced technical knowledge.

That being said, if you are a technically savvy, fast learner who is up for a challenge, WooCommerce may be a viable option. They provide video tutorials with clear explanations and how-to information. But, they don’t have a lot available in the area of customer support. If you run into a problem, you have only the community forum to rely on and response time can be unreliable. In fact, when we tested the forum it took over 48 hours to get a response, certainly not ideal when you have a business to run.

One of the cons of WooCommerce is the hidden costs that come with features. Shopify and BigCommerce include several similar features as part of the platform. So the initial system may be free, but the add-ons can become pretty pricey. But a pro is the vast array of themes to choose from, for example, Themeforest features more than 2,700 WooCommerce-compatible themes.

Our Recommendation for professional online store platform:

With the various builders available, there is no clear front-runner. Each builder has it’s own features and capabilities so it’s just a matter of which builder is best for your needs. Before making a choice, it’s a good idea to do a little of your own research to determine which platform will work for you. We recommend signing up for one or two and playing with them a bit to see which one you like using before actually setting up shop.

In general, for larger businesses with tech staff or professional developers available, we recommend Magento and WooCommerce. But for smaller or midsize stores, WooCommerce and Shopify are the better options.

Don’t worry about whether each builder can do all 2,000 things you have in mind, especially with Shopify and BigCommerce. You can almost always find workarounds for them as both are very flexible platforms, and they have experts for hire to help you if you want to pursue that route.

At 2Easy, you can find the quality companies to build your professional corporate level online store.

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