Running an e-commerce site is a decent way to earn extra income on top of your full-time job.
However, this industry has experienced a resurgence in such a short time that it is fast becoming a good way to make a living.
According to Column Five Media, e-commerce is growing four times faster than the rate of retail while the industry is experiencing a 51% growth in China.
Also considering the 40% of all online users who have purchased from an e-commerce website, according to Statista, and you have a recipe for a more efficient business powered online.
For those considering of running an online shop, make sure that you refer to the best online platforms today. While these will cost you money to use, consider this as an investment to the profit you will earn from using the tool.
Below are e-commerce platforms you should consider using for running your online shop.
Shopify
Shopify is popular among small e-commerce businesses looking for a quick and painless way to sell their products to their target market. Its success lies in the app that can be embedded and featured on your website or Facebook Page. For $29 a month, you can upload up to 100 products with unlimited bandwidth and 1GB storage.
Arguably one the most impressive features of Shopify is the wide selection of beautiful themes to choose from for your shop. Shopify themes can be customized using HTML and CSS, so they match your brand.
For busier online stores, Shopify offers an Enterprise Ecommerce Solutions so they can focus on what they know best, which is marketing and promotions. Shopify will handle the technical solutions such as hosting, bandwidth, and transactional fees to make running an e-commerce site a breeze.
Bigcommerce
Originally starting out as a software installed on your site, Bigcommerce became a stand-alone platform that sellers can use to host their online shop.
Small and medium- sized businesses can choose from different pricing options Bigcommerce has to offer. However, they cannot go wrong with the Gold plan ($79.95). It includes gift cards, 24/7 customer support and abandoned cart recovery. These go on top of the unlimited products for upload and bandwidth, making for a robust online shop for your business.
The platform also offers a bevy of beautiful themes and designs that rival Shopify's.
Big Cartel
For creative people who want to have an e-commerce site with a distinct indie feel, Big Cartel is for you. This platform boasts a clean, minimalist look for its online shop, something that will appeal to bands, jewelry makers, clothing designers, and other artists.
You can register for a free account with up to five products for upload, one display image each. If you like its straightforward interface, you can upgrade to a paid account so you can feature more items for sale and display images for each.
Storenvy
If you want a fast and affordable way of setting up an online shop, then Storenvy is your platform. For only $5 a month with an unlimited number of products for upload (five feature images for each product), you can already run your online business. Aside from your Storenvy site, the Storenvy MarketPlace will also feature your products, increasing your reach to other people.
The only caveat with this platform is the branding. All checkout pages have the Storenvy branding on it, and there's no way to edit them out. If you are sensitive to your branding, then it will be difficult for you to create a store from this site.
IndieMade
Whether or not there's a thing as "indie entrepreneurs," IndieMade strives to be the e-commerce platform of choice for this market.
Photographers, artists, and DIYers looking to work within a limited budget will benefit from the low monthly fee of this platform (starting at $4.95/month for ten products, two images each). You can try out the site for a 30-day free trial and see if you are comfortable selling your products from this platform.
Just like Big Cartel, IndieMade aims for simplicity and functional online shop, something that crafters looking for a clean and distinct look for their site will appreciate.
Final thoughts
Launching an e-commerce site starts with choosing the platform that you feel most comfortable using. To ensure that you will run a successful online store, try out each of the platforms featured above so you can have a better idea how each works to your advantage.