eCommerce Platforms

It’s estimated that eCommerce revenue will hit $1.8 trillion dollars annually by 2023 in the U.S. alone! eCommerce development is no longer a luxury, it is a necessity. It doesn’t matter if you’re a small business or a large one, a new one or an old one. If you want a slice, you’re going to need to start selling your products online. There are hundreds of eCommerce platforms to choose from. And Optimum7 has years of experience successfully integrating them into our clients’ websites.

Optimum7 is an expert eCommerce Development Company. We work with ShopifyBigcommerceMagentoVolusion, Infusionsoft, Netsuite, 3DCart, and more. Our talented team of strategists, programmers, and marketers can consult you on all the platforms that will best suit the needs of your eCommerce business.

eCommerce REVENUE MANAGED ANUALLY

1+ Billion Dollars

HAPPY CLIENTS

1000 +

B2B E-eCommerce LEADS GENERATED MONTHLY

10,000+

+10,000

Happy customers since 2007.

In the media

forbes
Mashable
Techco

What Is An eCommerce Platform?

An eCommerce Platform is a software application that enables a business to manage their online sales, operations, and website from one centralized location
 
An eCommerce platform is your online storefront. As well as managing backend functions such as shipping, order management, CMS, inventory management, and customer service.
 
Choosing the right eCommerce platform is critical to your success. Making the wrong decision on which third-party medium to build your eCommerce business is a mistake that could cost you thousands of dollars in the long run.

Best eCommerce Platforms

BigCommerce

BigCommerce has been making waves in the eCommerce community. Because its one of the most flexible, reliable, and innovative platforms available. BigCommerce has already established itself as a market leader in eCommerce software.

Shopify

Shopify has become synonymous with eCommerce, and for good reason. In the past few years, Shopify has become one of the best eCommerce platforms from small businesses to large companies.

Magento

Since it’s launch in 2008, Magento has gained traction through versatile marketing tools and focus on mobile eCommerce. This open-source platform has customizable features, optimization tools, and multi-store availability. Magento supports both OOP and MVC architecture. Which makes it easier for web developers to add…

Adobe Commerce Cloud

The Adobe Commerce Cloud product is a fully managed cloud-based version of our favorite eCommerce system. Furthermore, it is entirely integrated with the rest of Adobe’s tools. You can connect your Adobe Commerce Cloud store to Analytics, Marketing, or Advertising Clouds.

VTex

VTex is a cloud-based eCommerce platform that provides omnichannel solutions to their clients. The platform has high popularity among B2B, B2C and B2E operations due to the single code model they have adopted. This model is capable of providing innovative designs and extensions to these businesses.

3DCart

Easy setup, fast site hosting, impressive eCommerce functionality, and features like drag and drop. All makes 3DCart one of the most popular options with over 17,000 merchants served. 3DCart is also one of the most affordable options. They offer no transaction fees and unlimited product listings.

WooCommerce

WooCommerce is an industry leader in the eCommerce space. It’s designed for both small and large online stores that are using WordPress as a CMS. With 80 million downloads worldwide, WooCommerce is one of the most popular eCommerce solutions out there.

Volusion

Volusion lacks design capabilities. But it makes up for it with powerful inventory management options, unlimited product options, and checkout options. These make it one of the most popular eCommerce platforms many find enjoyable to use.

Our eCommerce Development Services

Design & Development

Need help building the website of your dreams? Optimum7’s design team has been creating custom eCommerce websites with great results. Whether you need to build your website from scratch or need to give it a modern makeover, we have the tools and experience to exceed your goals.

Custom Functionalities

Is there a certain feature, integration, or functionality your current platform doesn’t support? But your website can’t live without? We have built literally thousands of custom functionalities. These custom functionalities for eCommerce stores help make their vision come true.

Digital Marketing

With any eCommerce platform you choose, you will need to devise a digital marketing strategy to grow your intended website traffic. Optimum7 has the expertise to create a comprehensive digital marketing strategy. That will make sense for your business and budget.

Migrations

Performing an eCommerce platform migration is a complex and time-consuming task. Hiring skilled developers for migration will allow you to watch the transfer happen with peace of mind. Knowing it will be done smoothly and without data loss.

Website Support

As you add new pages and features to your site, you may experience some unforeseen errors. Bugs, broken plug-ins, and viruses on your site can end up costing you thousands in missed out revenue. At Optimum7, we have the tools and experience to address any issues your site may be experiencing

Mobile Optimization

More than 53% of online business comes from mobile. So you want to make sure your eCommerce store is optimized for mobile users. Customize your online store with mobile friendly design, widgets, and apps to take full advantage of your mobile traffic.

Frequently Asked
Questions

There is no one-size-fits-all answer to “What is the best eCommerce platform?” question simply because your business is not the same as your neighbor’s business. To make the right choice, you must do your own research on which platform works best for your business needs. Make a list of the advantages and disadvantages of working with each eCommerce platform you are thinking of using. Some of the well-known starter eCommerce platforms are:

Shopify

Shopify is a favorite for businesses selling clothing, furniture, and digital items because of it’s extensive app store. This store provides Shopify customers with customizable apps. You can add these to your website design to increase conversions and sales. Many online store owners selling clothing, digital items, etc. think that Shopify is the best eCommerce platform.

BigCommerce

As a small business owner, you most likely expect your business to expand as the years go by. With BigCommerce, you have a flexible, scalable, and easy to use platform right at your finger tips. Design your small business eCommerce store with your customers in mind. You can do this by easily adding custom functionalities to your online store website.

When determining what eCommerce platform is the right fit for your company there are a few questions you must answer: 

  1. Is it SEO friendly?
  2. Are my mobile users going to be able to navigate my site?
  3. What payment plan can I afford?
  4. How much security does the platform provide?
  5. Is this platform scalable? 
  6. Will I have 24/7 customer service?
  7. How easy is it to add customizations?
  8. Do I have unlimited bandwidth?

After you have answered these question, you will have a direct idea of what business would be like using certain eCommerce platforms. Not all eCommerce platforms are for every industry. Make sure to do you research to make sure the one you choose is the best for your company specifically.

Most eCommerce platforms are built with loads of data on the backend. When migrating it’s easy to make mistakes transferring data from one platform to another. These mistakes can cause your eCommerce website to plummet on SERPs and decrease your domain authority. At Optimum7 we have a team of highly skilled developers with over 10 years of experience migrating all major eCommerce platforms.

Professional developers can automate the migration process. And take the necessary precautions to prevent 404, 403, and 501 error pages from occurring. To migrate from one platform to another, you must transfer:
product descriptions
customer information
coupon information
product reviews
and possibly credit card information as well.

Our team of SEO experts can optimize your eCommerce store when making the migration. A well planned optimization will increase traffic, sales, and revenue.

How much your eCommerce store will cost from start-to-finish depends on a number of different variables. Some factors to consider when determining your budget: 

  • What platform and plan you choose
  • The size of your website
  • The complexity of your web design
  • Any custom functionalities or features you want built on your site
  • Changes of scope, edits, and back-and-forth
  • Web Hosting 
  • Content creation
  • Domain name
  • Online marketing

…are just a few factors to think about when developing a strategic plan for your eCommerce online store. Narrow down what is most important to you and how you plan to organize these costs. Do you want to hire a digital marketing agency to do the heavy lifting? Or, do you want to take on this project yourself and train yourself to do all the backend aspects of building a website? 

The easiest eCommerce platforms are Shopify and BigCommerce. These websites allow you to:

Easily add products
Set up your website with a theme of your choice in minutes rather than hours
market it online for free through social media channels like Twitter & Facebook ads

All while being able to track how much traffic each channel brings!

The most popular eCommerce platform options are Open-Source, SaaS (Software As Services) and Headless Commerce. 

Open-Source eCommerce Platforms

Open-source eCommerce platforms are solutions in which you can modify all aspects of the code. 

This type of platform is popular among development organizations seeking to have control over their environment for developing and running an online store, as well as IT teams who want access from anywhere with internet connection.

SaaS eCommerce Platforms

SaaS eCommerce solutions provide a simpler way to run your online business. With these platforms, you don’t have the hassle of building and developing custom software or an open-source system – they rent their functionality instead!

SaaS eCommerce solutions are a cost-effective and practical alternative to open source when you need an online store of your own. 

With SaaS platforms, it’s easy for marketers in charge of going market with the company’s products or services quickly because they can affordably set up their own software without having any development costs on top of what already comes out of its monthly fee (which is typically much lower than other options). 

Plus updates will be done regularly so there’s no worry about security holes!”

Headless Commerce Platforms

Headless commerce is a type of CaaS eCommerce in which the shopping cart isn’t connected to your content management system. 

This enables brands who use design experience platforms like Adobe Experience Manager or Bloomreach, as well as CMSs such WordPress and Drupal (or any other), plug-in decoupled carts for their online stores with these headless solutions.

SaaS technologies are often used in place of decoupled carts due to their low total cost for ownership and high API flexibility.

In the past, with on-premise hosting or proprietary platforms builds IT departments at large brands were controllers over business decisions; however as we see more SaaS companies emerge that offer cheaper alternatives.

 

 

1- Budget

The cost to host your eCommerce site can vary from $10 up to thousands. But before you decide, it’s important that the package offered by a particular host is actually worth what they’re charging for it because there are many hosts out there who offer little or no value in return as far as service goes and could even create more problems than solutions!

2- Your Products Number

The more products you offer, the better. However if your catalog is already large and growing quickly it might be worth looking into a platform with low SKU limits to take advantage of all its features without having too many different pages or sites for customers who only want one thing from each listing on their site.

3- Your Target Audience

As a business, it is crucial that you take advantage of social media’s growing popularity. In order to reach as many potential customers as possible and have an engaged audience, advertising on platforms such as Facebook or Instagram can help promote your products in people’s news feeds where they are most likely going online browsing for new content every day!

With built-in integrations between popular eCommerce platforms and these two major networks (Facebook & Instagram), there isn’t much work needed from end users when promoting their product because all ads appearing during those times will be done.

4- Customer Service Options

When you need help with an eCommerce solution, it’s good to know that there is always someone who can be reached. 

Sometimes the best option may not only rely on phone or email support and sometimes we need real-life assistance from a person in order for our problems get resolved as quickly possible so they don’t pile up too much more than necessary!

5- Room For Growth

Once you’ve chosen a web host, it’s important to think about the future. In this case, do not choose just any provider – instead opt for one who has features and capabilities that can scale up with your business as its popularity grows over time. A lot goes into choosing an online hosting service: from traffic capacity all the way down to their price point. 

Let's Talk

A digital marketing strategy is the path to profitability. Optimum7 can help you set the right goals, offer and implement creative and technical strategies, and use data and analytics to review and improve your business’s performance.