Ecommerce Software
Choosing eCommerce Software for Your Business
Good eCommerce software is critical for the success of estores. We've compared the most popular ecommerce shopping cart software below.
| Service | BigCommerce | Yahoo Merchant | CoreCommerce | ProStores | Volusion |
| Screenshot |
|
|
|
|
|
| Summary | Top Pick | Most Popular | Many Features | Cheap Plan | Unlimited Plan |
| Plan Reviewed | Gold | Merchant Starter | Standard | Professional | Silver |
| # of Products | 1,000 | 50,000 | 1,500 | 5,000 | 1,000 |
| Templates | Yes | 300+ | Yes | 150+ | Yes |
| Advanced Editing | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Our Analysis |
Best SEO. Allows for maximum search engine traffic and conversion rates. More expensive than other services, however it also has more features. Full Review |
Yahoo! offers powerful tools as well as 24/7 support for their services. Their products have top security features, and they make it easy for beginners. Full Review |
One of the most feature packed ecommerce systems on the market. Expect regular improvements and feature additions. Full Review |
Popular ecommerce software. Prostores is owned by eBay and has excellent tools for managing, tracking, and building your online shop. Full Review |
Hosting over 100,000 ecommerce websites. Volusion has high rankings and is recommended by PC magazine. Full Review |
| Price / Month | $79.95 | $25.97 | $79.99 | $29.95 | $59.99 |
| Setup Fees | $49.95 | None | Waived for July | None | $49 |
| View Offer |
|
|
|
|
|
The Perfect Online Shop Software
Setting up an online business can be a rewarding and potentially profitable move, but there are wide variety of different electronic commerce services (known as eCommerce) and online business software packages currently available, and it can be difficult navigating your way through this field to try and narrow down those services that would best suit your individual business needs.
eCommerce store software can be split into three main groups:
1) licensed/freeware eCommerce software
2) eCommerce software toolkits
3) eCommerce web hosts
Each provide their own advantages and disadvantages, so the first step is to research these main groups and understand how then could benefit you.
Licensed and Freeware eCommerce Software - Shopping Carts
Shopping carts are online ecommerce shopping software applications, which provide tools to allow you to set up order processing and payment facilities on your website and can be purchased as third party suites that integrate with your existing website.
Shopping carts can be written in a number of different computer programming languages, and many offer full access to the ‘source code’ which allows professional web designers and experienced computer users to make modifications to the software to customize it to suit their business needs. Other shopping carts can be used ‘straight out of the box’ and you can integrate them onto your website easily by using FTP software. Shopping carts include access to a database such as MySQL, which will enable you to store all of the details about your online store including product information, customer data and order tracking, and will also provide a storefront to allow your customers to view goods and select the items they wish to purchase. An administration area will also be provided which allows the website owner to make changes, process orders and manage the online store. Because each shopping cart works from the database, even if you have 10,000 items in your store they will not actually be stored on your web server, but will simply be retrieved from the database as and when they are needed, which is a much more efficient use of your resources.
There are a wide number of shopping carts to choose from, some which are licensed (paid for) and others which are freeware or ‘open license’ and therefore cost little or nothing to download and modify, and these can offer different benefits so you should take the time to look over product reviews and learn more about the features and tools offered. CubeCart for example is quite simple to download and offers a number of useful eCommerce features, but it will require you to have a good understanding of certain scripting and database functions, and is not so suitable for beginners as it can be very difficult to configure for those not familiar with MySQL, GD and PHP.
eCommerce Software Toolkits
If you are experienced in website design and programming then you may prefer to build your own business ecommerce store from scratch using one of the eCommerce toolkits provided by companies such as Microsoft and Adobe. This will enable you to customize every aspect of your website in order to ensure the very best SEO and site performance and this will also allow you to add the features you want in terms of inventory, accounting and security. Toolkits provide the basic software features which you will need to run your online store including programming languages and hooks that link the front store to the back end order completion, payment and shipping systems. It can be time consuming building your own eCommerce website from scratch, so this is not a option for those vendors who want to get started quickly, and it can also be very expensive, costing a minimum of around $10,000 to build and maintain, but if you are looking for a completely individual and unique site that caters specifically to your business needs then eCommerce software toolkits could be the right choice for you.
eCommerce Web Hosts
If you are new to eCommerce and do not have a lot of experience with web design and computer programming then one of the best options for your online business is an eCommerce web host. These will not only provide you with hosting for your website, but will also give you access to all of the tools and features you need to design and set up your online store including site builder applications, pre-built templates and ecommerce cart software. Hosted eCommerce providers offer an all-in-one service that makes it very quick and easy to set up professional and functional online stores, and can provide you with inclusive high level security, 24/7 support and in many cases free software upgrades. eCommerce web hosted stores offer pre-built design templates so you will not need any previous experience in web design or scripting, and also offer simple ‘drag and drop’ functions which allow you to add and update content on your site quickly and easily. eCommerce web hosts operate on a browser basis, so you log into your account on the provider’s homepage from any Internet enabled computer, and this means you will be able to access your online store administration tools from anywhere in the world, making it much more accessible and easier to manage even when you are away from your home or work office.
eCommerce web hosting services are ideal for small to medium sized online businesses that do not have the resources to devote to running separate IT departments, as they allow you to set up and run online stores with full eCommerce capabilities which are affordable and easy to manage. eCommerce hosts also offer a number of useful online help features such as step-by-step set up wizards to guide you through the process of designing and building your store, online tutorials, FAQ pages, searchable knowledgebases and also full technical, sales and billing support in the form of telephone, live chat or email helpdesks.
Best ecommerce software for Small Businesses
The easiest and quickest way to set up and manage an online store for small businesses is to use one of the many eCommerce web hosting services available, as these will be able to provide you with all the tools you need and are also affordable and easily accessible. Some of the top services include:
• ProStores – ProStores allows you to integrate your online store with eBay, so that you can widen your target audience and list your products quickly and easily through the auction and fixed price formats. ProStores offers a choice of price plans, starting from just $29.95 per month and you will also receive up to 30% off an eBay sellers account if you are already an existing seller.
• Volusion – this is an all-in-one eCommerce service which can provide you with easy to use site building software, payment processing and shipping and order completion facilities. Price plans start from around $59.99 per month and websites are backed up by 128 but Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption, IP blocking tool and Payment Card Industry/Cardholder Information Security Program (PCI/CISP) protection.
• Yahoo Merchant - entry level eCommerce services are available from Yahoo Merchant from just $8.95 per month, and this is a cost effective and fully featured way to set up and maintain your online store. Yahoo can provide catalog options to suit any size store and will also enable you to offer your customers a good range of payment options including secure online (and offline) credit card processing, First Data and PayPal. With Yahoo Merchant you can offer both shippable and downloadable products through your store, and you can be safe in the knowledge that your website is backed up by some of the most secure data centers in the world, with full 24/7 customer support options.
• CoreCommerce – this is another great all-in-one eCommerce service which can offer powerful site building tools and shopping cart software, 7GB of bandwidth and 500MB of storage from just $69.99 per month. SEO tools are also included which can help you to increase site traffic and drive sales and a number of payment options are offered such as Google Checkout, PayPal, 2Checkout, Authorize.net and Linkpoint. Data security is backed up with 128/256-bit shared SSL encryption and you will also be able to offer a number of promotional features such as discount pricing, gift certificates, coupons and reward points.
Costs of Online eCommerce Software
One of the most affordable ways in which you can set up and run your online web store is using an eCommerce web host, as they will provide all-in-one services from as little as $8.95 per month (you may need to pay some additional set up and administration fees), but if you already have a website and want to add limited eCommerce functionality then you may be able to use one of the freeware shopping carts available. Licensed shopping cart options can offer greater flexibility and can provide a more extensive features set then freeware versions, and a standard license will cost around $600 to $800 and will provide virtually limitless sales, product and design capability, and to get a comparable service from a hosted website you would have to pay in excess of a $100 per month. When choosing an eCommerce software option you will have to balance your budget against your online business needs carefully and make sure you get the right set of features at the right price.