Ecommerce is crazily overpowering the pattern of business conduction. Digitalization is a bang for businesses to go online and explore business possibilities like never before. Networking is helping businesses and people everywhere across the world to connect & build long-lasting relations with each other.
For product-based businesses, showcasing the products won’t make sense because your viewers have to physically visit the store to buy products from you. The other way round, the customer may place an order on the call and make payment online to get the product delivered at the desired location. However, the customer may not directly have proof of placing an order. There can be a case of seller fraud if the customer requests for COD order and does not make payment at the time of delivery, leading to seller fraud. In either of the cases, no rules are guarding this business transaction.
What’s better than a website where viewers can place orders instantaneously and have their products delivered at their doorstep in the suggested time? That’s the utility of shopping cart software.
In a nutshell, shopping cart software is the website builder tool with all the integrated features for establishing an online shop. Shopping is nothing without the personal touch, and ecommerce shopping carts help merchants create that experience with customization. The extent of customization allowed and the count of features that the shopping cart company offers is the key differentiating factor between them.
You can convert your existing website to an ecommerce site or search for the tools and software to streamline different frontiers of your business. Still, you need to perform research for the same. Frankly speaking, there is no sense in finding solutions for those problems; we already have alternatives.
What type of Shopping cart software are you looking for?
Based on the pattern of hosting and services provided, shopping cart software is of three types:
- Open-source & Self-hosted: The shopping cart software for which the open-source code is available, and you can leverage existing code benefits to tweak and design your website. Though open-source software is free to use, you will need a web hosting platform to host your website and Web developer’s assistance to design your ecommerce store. If you have distinct planning about the ecommerce model you want for your store, open-source software can be the right choice for you.
- Cloud-hosted: The cloud-hosted or hosted shopping cart software is the Saas-based service. You can’t buy this software at once; rather, you will be paying the monthly or annual subscription charges for the services you will be using to build your store and use their features.
Top 5 ecommerce shopping cart software
Shopify
Shopify is a subscription-based shopping cart software that you can deploy to design your e-commerce store. You can add products, manage your inventory, link your sales channels, and manage order fulfillment and marketing.
To launch your Shopify store, you need to make an initial investment of $29/ month. Further, you can upgrade your store with intermediate, and advanced Shopify plans to add more features that can entice more customers to shop from your store. You can sign-up for trial and start designing your store within a 14-days free trial. Shopify charges the transaction fees on each of your orders; the fees vary from the Shopify plan you are subscribed to.
Builderfly
If you are a DIYer who is looking for an ecommerce shopping cart with which you can start your venture on your own, Builderfly is definitely the best bet for you. It has all the resources and features that a startup needs to take the first step in the ecommerce industry, and medium/ large businesses need to scale their business.
Builderfly startup plan is for everyone who is just laying the foundation of their dream business. By registering your business under this plan, you can sign up to register and choose our free plan to launch your ecommerce store. Start selling with your first ten products, earn with Builderfly, and invest that amount in upgrading your business plan. Along with the robust features, Builderfly gives you complete access to customization options with which you can add your business’s personal touch and build your brand in your way.
BigCommerce
Another SaaS-based ecommerce platform is BigCommerce, which has all the features that can shape your business. They don’t charge any transaction fees for sales via your store, but you need to choose the business plan you like to set up your store.
The basic plan with which you can start building your store will go for $29.95 +taxes. The more features you want to add in your bucket, the higher the cost of your BigCommerce plan. You can claim for BigCommerce Plus and Pro plans @$79.95/month and $299.95/month, respectively. There is no BigCommerce app or feature to design your native mobile app like that of Builderfly. If you are willing to design your web store only, you can count on BigCommerce.
WooCommerce
The open-source ecommerce shopping cart software, WooCommerce, can surely woo your customers if applied with proper planning. You can experiment with many themes and add the features of your choice by hunting the right plugin. If you own a WordPress based site or have an understanding of CMS, WooCommerce can be your amigo. The existing businesses preferably not opt for WooCommerce as the site will be bulky with a heavy user base.
Volusion
Volusion is a shopping cart software that you can use to design your online store. They don’t have any free plan to start your business; the standards pricing structure of $29/month goes for the basic Volusion plan. Further, you can upgrade your store with $79 and $299/month to claim advanced Volusion plans’ benefits. They don’t have the blog feature available. Volusion stands out with zero transaction fees, easy setup, and template variations.
Well, that’s all about the top 5 shopping software you can count on to build your ecommerce store. One of these will definitely be best for your business; however, it depends on your store builder’s requirement. If you any assistance in starting your ecommerce business, feel free to reach us.
