Choices, choices, choices



When it comes to selling products online there are many platforms from which to do so each offering their own USP as to why you should use them. There are monthly paid services such as bigcommerce & shopify and then there are free open-source services such as Magento & Hikashop, each providing a great platform to start selling from.



With the paid services you do not have to worry about hosting the site yourself but may be limited in the amount of control you have over your website, especially in terms of design and customisation. Whereas with the free open-source platforms you have full control but have to arrange your own hosting and know quite a lot of technical knowledge to get them working the way you want to.


 


How do you know which will be the best choice for your business?


Let’s have a look at some of the most popular platforms and their pro’s and cons.


 



Paid services





Pros



  • Easy to set-up a shop with store builder templates

  • No transaction fees

  • Good analytics tools


Cons



  • Limits are placed on annual online sales depending upon pricing plan

  • Higher pricing than most paid services

  • Advanced styling and product management not available






Pros



  • One of the cheaper paid services for selling

  • Good option for dropshipping

  • Easy to use


Cons



  • Limited to 3 options for each product

  • Cheapest plan doesn't permit you to create a full featured online store

  • You can’t avoid transaction fees if you use a third-party payment gateway.

  • Again, advanced styling and product management not available






Free services





Pros 



  • User friendly

  • Good option for larger stores

  • Extensive range of extensions available

  • Fully customisable


Cons



  • Steep technical and user learning curve

  • Have to pay for support, development, backend tools

  • Needs extensions to get the best out of it






Pros



  • Lightweight

  • Easy to use

  • Highly customisable

  • A lot of features that work quickly


Cons



  • Have to arrange own hosting

  • It will require technical skills to adapt and customise






Pros



  • Integrates easily into wordpress

  • Professional and customisable

  • Many features that work out the box


Cons



  • Frequent updates required

  • Requires technical skills to get the best out of it






Having seen the main pros and cons for each of the major platforms, are you still undecided on which platform would work well with your business?


We have extensive experience working with each, so feel free to contact us and discuss on: 01473 807014