Taking your small business to higher levels has become easier in today’s digital era. With so many ecommerce platforms readily accessible for your business, you can make sales convenient and get payments even faster. Let’s tell you more about the best and latest free ecommerce platforms for your small business.
Three Kinds of Ecommerce Platforms
There are three different ways to start an online store for free. Think carefully about your own business needs and then decide on one of the following:
Free Ecommerce Platforms
These platforms let you sell with no costs at all. However, the catch here is that they do have restrictions while charging a percentage from your acquired sales. These platforms are mostly suggested if you are selling items as a second income.
Ecommerce Platforms with Free Trials
A few Ecommerce platforms typically offer more advanced paid or premium versions. The rule generally is that you can try it for free for a certain period of time, and then upgrade to an advanced version. Some of these trials typically last between two weeks and a month. This should give you enough time to test out a plan and determine if it’s worth spending the money.
Free Ecommerce Software
Software tools differ from website builders. These tend to be more advanced and complex platforms that you can install for free. The most popular free ecommerce software at the moment is WooCommerce. But, a new contender, SureCart, is set to make waves come 2023.
Our Recommended Ecommerce Platforms
The following free Ecommerce platforms allow you to start your online store with no extra cost. Be wary that, there will be some limits as far as customizing your store and selling products are concerned. If you play your cards right and focus more on your sales, then a free platform will be all you need to succeed.
Big Cartel
When pitted against a host of other free Ecommerce platforms, Big Cartel is an outstanding choice for any small business. This platform’s claim to fame is its ability to keep things convenient and economically viable. With over 70 000 businesses choosing Big Cartel especially artists and retailers, it would be worth looking into.
Ecommerce newbies will be fascinated by Big Cartel’s free plan. This platform can provide you with an overabundance of benefits and crucial elements.
One of its most useful elements is the use of product option grouping. Here you will be able to create groupings such as size and colour. You will be able to provide selections such as small, medium, red or blue. Every option group will be shown in a different list in your shopfront. Through this simplified procedure, your customers will have a convenient way to find their preferred groupings.
Also, Big Cartel spoils its online traders with as many as 18 complimentary creative, appealing, and hypnotic themes.
Lastly, through its ability to add a personalised domain on free Ecommerce websites, Big Cartel is unique from the diverse range of free Ecommerce platforms. Thus, in case you currently have a registered domain on another platform, you can throw it over to Big Cartel. If you are not sure how it’s done, they have a handy guide to help you through the process.
WooCommerce
WooCommerce is one of the most popular, if not the most popular, ecommerce platforms. and implausible to be overthrown soon. Seeing that it is an exclusive WordPress platform, it is free to download and use.
We can really ramble on about how great WooCommerce is, but we have jotted down its most impressive features below:
- Speedy set-up from the WooCommerce wizard and you don’t have to know anything about HTML and CSS usually most of the time.
- You will have access to a jam packed content management system.
- WooCommerce hosts an almost endless assortment of plugins and themes. Some are freely accessible while others you need to spend some money on.
- WooCommerce has its own economy, which has developed next to WordPress. As a result, this gigantic ecommerce platform has room for further expansion.
- You can also interact with the global WooCommerce community with certain ideas and problems you might experience.
With ease of use, its own economy system and a growing community, there is absolutely no reason why you shouldn’t consider using WooCommerce.
Shopify
Shopify is a rapidly expanding ecommerce platform that takes care of your online business. This all-in-one solution will save you from many headaches and is simple to use when you’re not so clued up on the technical jargon.
That’s right with Shopify you can rest easy as the technical characteristics of an ecommerce store are all taken care of. This includes setting up the SSL, fitting your website in with different payment gateways and shipping.
This simplistic platform is dual purpose as it lets you sell both physical and digital goods. Here you can sell just about anything from music to clothing.
You will also be able to keep track of your goods by using the handy inventory editor. This can be combined with the bulk importer and order tracker for further recording purposes.
Paying and shipping is simplified as can accept credit cards both online and in the flesh.
Shopify is a prevailing ecommerce platform that makes online selling quick and convenient with any technical glitches.
SureCart
Our last ecommerce feature is one we are very excited to see grow. SureCart is the latest offering when it comes to selling conveniently on WordPress.
You could compare SureCart to ecommerce tools such as ThriveCart and SendOwl. It is nothing similar to the likes of WooCommerce as SureCart and WooCommerce work on different levels. You can check out our SureCart Vs WooCommere comparison here. (SureCart vs WooCommerce a WooCommerce alternative)
In the digital realm, SureCart is what is known as a headless platform. This means that the ecommerce engine used to keep SureCart running is accommodated on their servers. It just connected to the frontend WordPress plugin. This also avoids slowing down the functionality of your website.
We are all for new inventions that will help expand your business tenfold to what it is now. One of the most appealing features of SureCart, is its ability to sell products and collect payments on your website. This it does through the use of tailormade order forms that you can adjust to your liking.
You will have the freedom to manage your order forms, customers and subscriptions from the WordPress admin as usual. The bulk of work, however, is done by SureCart’s well-organized servers.
This will leave you with a few benefits such as:
- A faster website experience
- Increased security
- An automatically enhanced database
SureCart is more geared towards the selling of non-physical goods. These include online courses, memberships, subscriptions and receiving donations. Currently in its Beta phase, SureCart will challenge most recommended ecommerce platforms with its premium version by 2023.
Conclusion
If you want to start selling without signing up for a premium plan, these free ecommerce platforms are highly recommended for you. They let you sell an infinite number of products. Your customers will be able to make quick purchases with their shopping cart functionalities and spread the word of your business with social media integrations.
When your small business grows you have the option of upgrading to a rock-solid ecommerce experience.
