Are you thinking about launching an eCommerce store? Then, you need a website builder to create one seamlessly! Basically, they’re tools with features required to operate an online store.
Using some of the best website builders, you can easily sell offline and online services, ship goods and digital products through downloads, and a lot more.
Some website builders and tools suit certain businesses and budgets better than others. This guide will help you choose the best ones for your online stores and highlight their costs, features, and types.
7 Website Builders For Online Stores
Believe it or not, an eCommerce website builder is one of the easiest and fastest ways to start selling on the digital grid. They support inventory, shipping, payments, and other things you require to run a successful eCommerce website on one platform.
Whether you want to set up a new startup or grow your land-based business online, website builders can help you achieve this.
Here are the seven best site builders for your online store that helps you stand out from others:
1. Shopify
Feature-packed, user-friendly, and affordable, Shopify is arguably the most popular website builder for small businesses and new online startups, aiming to run and grow quickly.
Don’t believe us, believe the stats:
- More than 1.6 Million sellers use the Shopify platform
- Shopify processed over $5B+ sales in 2020 alone
- It’s one of the leading eCommerce platforms with a 20% market share
It seamlessly links all various sales channels like website, Amazon, in-person sales, eBay, and social channels within one useful system.
In addition, this increasingly-popular website builder is also a major platform for drop-shipping sales. Not to mention, all Shopify users can easily access Oberlo – its free embedded supplier platform.
Fast Facts
- Price: Starts from $29/month
- Payments: Built-in through connecting your payment processor or “Shopify Payments”
- Shipping: Embedded USPS, DHL, and UPS label print with reduced charges or connect “Shipstation” or other delivery solutions
- In-Person Sales: Embedded retail POS and card readers with “Shopify Payments”
- Design Options: It offers ten free shop themes or utilizes paid store themes starting at $135 or above
Who Should Utilize Shopify?
Shopify is geared primarily toward sellers shipping physical stuff to consumers or needing to tie in-store or online sales within a single system. This website builder makes tracking inventory, shipping, customer orders, or even publishing products across channels convenient and straightforward.
In addition, it’s perfect for print-on-demand and dropshipping businesses and provides various plug-and-play integrations. You can also manage entire operations on the move through the app.
2. BigCommerce
BigCommerce is one of the most effective multichannel-focused online website builders that seamlessly incorporate eBay, Meta (formerly Facebook), Amazon, Google Shopping, Instagram, Pinterest, and other marketing channels.
The platform is increasingly user-friendly and provides a range of ready-to-go designs to help you launch a store within hours. It has more than 145 stores worldwide and some 60,000-active users.
What distinguishes BigCommerce from other all-in-one online platforms is its integration with the leading content management system, WordPress. Small and medium-sized businesses can pair WordPress’s virtually limitless features and qualities with BigCommerce’s multichannel sales facilities.
Fast Facts
- Price: Starts from $29.95/month
- Payments: Built-in through connecting your payment processor or Square or PayPal backed by Braintree
- Shipping: Embedded USPS, DHL, and FedEx label print with reduced charges or weld other delivery solutions
- In-Person Sales: Incorporate with “Square POS” or other third party POS systems
- Design Options: It offers twelve free shop themes or utilizes paid store themes starting at $170 or above
Who Should Utilize BigCommerce?
If you’re a small business or a relatively new startup looking for a complete eCommerce multichannel marketing platform, then BigCommerce is an intelligent choice.
Furthermore, it’s a perfect platform for dealers looking to pair content-focused WordPress websites with a multichannel sales tool.
3. WooCommerce
WooCommerce is undoubtedly one of the most reliable website builders out there. The fact that 22% of the world’s leading 1M eCommerce websites use Woocommerce is a testament to that.
Unlike other store builders on the list, WooCommerce isn’t a standalone platform; it needs WordPress to run efficiently and effectively.
However, connecting the powerful all-in-one WordPress with WooCommerce online plugin allows you to create an eCommerce store of choice at an affordable cost.
Fast Facts
- Price: Starts from $2.95/month on BlueHost (you’ll require WordPress hosting)
- Payments: Connect Stripe, PayPal, Square, or any other online credit-card processors
- Shipping: Embedded USPS label print with reduced charges or connect third party delivery solutions for FedEx, UPS, and other shippers
- In-Person Sales: Integrate with various third party POS systems
- Design Options: You can customize your theme or choose from millions of available ones
Who Should Utilize WooCommerce?
WooCommerce allows sellers to sell almost anything using a WordPress website. It’s a famous website builder that powers more than 28% of online stores.
With this website builder, physical stuff that ships, service bookings, digital downloads, donations, online lessons, and subscription sales are all easy and fair game.
The free account supports digital and physical goods; however, you might need ‘paid’ add-ons or extensions for other sales types.
4. Square Online
It’s one of the few website builders in the market that offer a slew of eCommerce features and smooth incorporation with Square. After acquiring the eCommerce platform “Weebly,” the company created this one-of-a-kind site builder.
It’s a perfect online website builder for sellers seeking to merge online stores with their POS, especially if they are Square users.
Fast Facts
- Price: You can use the free or paid versions, which start from $12 per month
- Payments: Built-in Square
- Shipping: Embedded shipping options that range from connections to USPS, UPS, and FedEx to on-demand couriers and more
- In-Person Sales: Integrate with Square POS
- Design Options: it allows you to choose from several customizable themes
Who Should Utilize Square Online?
If you’re using Square and planning to expand, consider Square Online as it’s arguably the best site builder for eCommerce stores.
It seamlessly incorporates free “Square POS” software and allows you to connect all or some of the Square inventory to online stores within a few minutes.
In addition, the platform provides a mobile application to manage marketing, sales, and various other business information from anywhere.
However, it doesn’t provide the powerful multichannel sales qualities that users get with BigCommerce or Shopify or match the blogging capacities of “WooCommerce For WordPress.”
Nevertheless, Square users could benefit from effortless incorporation with “Square POS” systems and other Square-related services.
5. Wix
Wix is a relatively user-friendly online website builder that provides a plethora of modern and attractive site designs and sales capabilities compared to various other platforms. It’s not a multichannel store builder.
Instead, the platform offers various eCommerce options exceeding its sales features. With Wix, you can smoothly sell services, subscriptions, event tickets, take orders, and even accept online bookings.
Fast Facts
- Price: starting from $23/month
- Payments: Utilize Square, PayPal, Wix Payments, or other credit-card processors
- Shipping: Label print isn’t built-in; however, it’s available through Shippo and various third-party services
- In-Person Sales: Integrate with “Square POS” if you’re using “Square Payments”
- Design Options: it enables you to choose from various modern, beautiful online store themes
Who Should Utilize Wix?
Believe it or not, Wix is an effective online store website builder for event promoters, services businesses, and restaurants selling locally. They can benefit from online ordering, ticket sales, booking features, pickup and delivery tools, etc., to sell and market to local groups.
In addition, it’s an excellent platform for companies selling subscription plans for music, video, and photography products and digital goods. Wix even provides users with the easiest way of selling physical goods.
However, it doesn’t meet the multichannel marketing and sales feature of various other platforms. You won’t be able to connect Wix products to eBay, Etsy, or Amazon or even sell with Instagram and Meta posts.
6. Ecwid
Ecwid is one of the most economical multichannel store builders supporting sales on the website, Meta, Instagram, Amazon, and other channels.
This platform has all the crucial features of BigCommerce and Shopify. In addition to that, users can even integrate their online stores with Square Online, Squarespace, Joomla, WordPress, Wix, and other platforms.
If your site builder’s embedded eCommerce features aren’t performing well, choose Ecwid!
Fast Facts
- Price: It’s free for approximately ten items; however, it will cost you about $15/month for added features or items
- Payments: Utilize Square, PayPal, Stripe, or other credit-card processors
- Shipping: Ecwid integrates directly with delivery (shipping) accounts and online delivery solutions such as ShippingEasy
- In-Person Sales: Integrate with various POS software systems, including Clover, Vend, and Square
- Design Options: This platform includes various themes to provide a seamless feel and look; you can even create an easy standalone store
Who Should Utilize Ecwid?
Ecwid is perfect for businesses and startups who plan to add full-featured online stores to their existing websites on WordPress, Square Online, Wix, or other CMS platforms.
In many cases, the platform provides more and better multichannel sales qualities that exceed the features offered by other website builders.
Users can even add Ecwid online stores to more than one website. In addition, if you plan to sell less than ten products, you can use the platform for free.
7. Zaapi
Looking for a website builder that is free, effective, and multichannel? If so, choose Zaapi! Though a relatively new eCommerce marketing and sales platform compared to others, it’s increasingly popular among eCommerce shop owners, especially in SouthEast Asia.
Zaapi is a free-to-use mobile app allowing sellers to form eCommerce stores and sell online in seconds.
With this platform, you can create online stores and expand your business effortlessly. You don’t have to spend time responding to customer inquiries, describing and sharing products, or manually processing orders, shipping, and payments.
Fast Facts
- Price: Free for retail shops, restaurants, and others; however, it will cost a bit for added features
- Payments: Make payments with a debit card, credit card, Bill Payment, PromptPay, Rabbit-Line Pay, TrueMoney Wallet, and more
- Shipping: Zaapi integrates three various delivery settings, i.e., shipping worldwide, local pickup, and local delivery
- In-Person Sales: Integrates with different POS systems
- Design Options: personalize your theme or choose one from the available ones
Who Should Utilize Zaapi?
SMEs are growing exponentially worldwide and in SouthEast Asia; so are website builders.
If you’re a new startup or a small business in SouthEast Asia looking for an effective and easy-to-use e-commerce website builder to create a store and sell online, look no further than Zaapi!
This unique website builder allows merchants to form stores and sell within seconds using a mobile-first app customized to their requirements.
One of the best features Zaapi offers is “FnB Businesses.” It provides store owners to place their delivery distances and opening hours. In addition, it doesn’t charge a commission fee.
Create a free online site, add products, share, and start selling big – it’s that simple and easy!
Takeaway
Ecommerce is rising exponentially, and so is the competition among sellers in Southeast Asia, especially Thailand.
If you want to launch and boost your eCommerce store sales drastically, remember the best website builder is one that meets your unique business model and selling needs.
Before deciding which website builder is best for you, consider what’s best for your business goals and needs. Nevertheless, we recommend Zaapi for Southeast Asian users.
