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Nearly every website builder offers basic e-commerce features like product page templates and the ability to list a few items and prices. But for a successful online store, you’ll need more than that.
In addition to an attractive e-commerce template that makes your products shine, you’ll need strong sales features to help you attract shoppers, keep them on your site, and prompt them to make a purchase.
You’ll also want a user-friendly platform, one that makes it easy to build your online store, add products, and manage customer accounts, inventory, pricing, shipping, and other details.
Equally essential are effective marketing and SEO tools to help you build and promote your brand online. After testing dozens of options, I know which builders will let you create a fully functional, eye-catching e-commerce store without having to pay a premium. That said, whatever type of product or service you plan to sell, my top recommendation is Shopify. As a dedicated e-commerce platform, it features the widest range of built-in sales features for every different. Its AI-powered tools make getting online quick and easy and it features a suite of robust e-commerce and business tools.
Whether you’re only selling a handful of products or handling hundreds of orders per week, you’ll find the perfect website builder for your business on this list.
What We Look For in the Best E-commerce Website Builders
Like your business, your e-commerce website needs to be able to grow and evolve, so your website builder needs to allow for that flexibility. Here’s what I focused on when compiling my list:
Good-looking and customizable e-commerce templates. All builders on this list have attractive online store designs that you can easily customize to match your style. You’ll be able to create an authentic website that reflects your brand relatively quickly.
Sales features. These builders allow you to personalize the shopping experience and encourage repeat business with convenient customer accounts and one-click checkout. Related product suggestions, wish lists, and smart tags can also increase engagement and sales. Bonus features like banners, targeted discounts, and free shipping offers can drive conversions and growth.
Intuitive product management system. These builders guide you through the process of adding products, creating variants, tracking inventory, and managing shipping and fulfillment.
Marketing and SEO tools. To get those sales, you’ll need to market your products. I looked for website builders that let you sell across multiple channels, integrate email marketing tools, and provide strong SEO features.
Fair prices (and good value). Some website builders promise you a perfect online store so they can charge a premium – but then the e-commerce features fall short of expectations. The builders on this list give you more than your money’s worth.
Shopify’s free themes are mobile-responsive and packed with sales features
Shopify is a dedicated e-commerce platform that enables you to create an attractive and user-friendly online store fast. It has around 180 high-quality themes (12 are free), which you can customize using its intuitive drag-and-drop editor. If you want more options, Shopify lets you import third-party themes, or even hire developers to create custom designs for you.
Shopify’s built-in sales features1 are a big part of the platform’s appeal. Essentials like multichannel selling, customer segmentation, one-click checkout, and multiple payment methods are just the beginning. Its Shopify Magic feature is an AI powered tool that helps you create more professional looking product images, write product descriptions, personalize live chat interaction, and time automated emails to improve conversion.
Built-in marketing tools, such as Shopify Email let you send up to 10,000 emails per month for free. And if you find that you need even more features as your store grows, Shopify has a robust app store with over 7,000 free and paid apps that can enhance your store’s functionality, including dropshipping apps that let you stock your store for free.
Shopify makes most of its features available on all its plans, so regardless of your subscription, you get access to unlimited products, multi-channel selling, abandoned cart recovery, and more. Higher-tiered plans provide more staff accounts, inventory locations, and lower transaction fees.
Multimedia product displays. In addition to high-resolution images, Shopify lets you add product videos, 3D photos, slideshows, and image zoom effects to give your customers a more interactive, in-store experience.
Shopify Payments. Apart from allowing you to integrate with over 100 payment processors, Shopify has its own payment solution, Shopify Payments, which eliminates third-party transaction fees for most payments. There’s just a small conversion fee for multi-currency selling.
One-click multi-channel marketing. You can launch one-click multichannel marketing campaigns to showcase products on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, eBay, Walmart Marketplace, and more.
Email automations. Shopify lets you create email automations to send messages at key points, such as welcoming new subscribers or sending discount codes to loyal customers.
Wix templates include interactive product pages, social media, and live chat integrations.Wix offers over 130 e-commerce templates1 that cover everything from food and electronics to fashion and pets. This gives you plenty of choice to make your online store unique, and the intuitive drag-and-drop editor makes it simple to customize virtually any part of your site. And when I say any, I mean it – Wix is easily the most customizable website builder out there.
Wix Stores, which is Wix’s native suite of e-commerce tools, is built into every online store template, offering you tons of features right off the bat. For instance, you can customize product pages, track inventory and orders, print shipping labels, and create product subscriptions, all from your Wix dashboard.
If you need even more features, Wix’s App Market offers over 250 apps for expanding your store’s functionality. You’ll find apps for everything from blogs and contact forms to dropshipping and accounting.
Nearly all of Wix’s online store features are available on the free plan, but to accept online payments, you’ll need to subscribe to one of Wix’s e-commerce plans. They offer good value with unlimited products, greater storage space, and video support – plus advanced features like abandoned cart recovery and a product review tool.
Wix SEO Checklist. This extensive SEO guide walks you through the process of optimizing your site step-by-step so that potential customers can find you easily.
Multi-channel selling. On the Business Unlimited plan and higher, you’ll be able to sell products on Facebook, Instagram, Amazon, and other marketplaces, expanding your reach to millions of customers. Wix allows you to manage all your sales channels from your dashboard.
Deferred payment options. With payment schemes like Afterpay, Clearpay, and Laybuy, you can let your customers buy now and pay later, which can help boost sales.
Wix AI. If you’re in a hurry, Wix offers an AI tool that can generate a unique e-commerce website for you within minutes – just select “online store” as one of your necessary features. Unlike many AI builders, this one delivers even more value with personalized recommendations, from product descriptions and blog content to branding tools.
BigCommerce’s templates have multiple variants and promotional hero banner carouselsBigCommerce has over 180 modern-looking store themes (12 are free) to help you get started. Its web builder includes a truly vast number of features and product display options. This gives you a lot of control over your website’s functionality, but it also means there’s a learning curve – especially if you’ve never built an online store before.
BigCommerce is ideal for large online retailers who regularly add new products to their store. For instance, you can categorize products by brand and other qualities, edit products in bulk, personalize prices based on customer segments, and add product filters for easy browsing.
You can also build multilingual sites and have separate site versions and catalogs for different regions, which makes it a great choice for international e-commerce websites.
The Standard plan will likely be enough for most online stores. This gives you unlimited products and users, multi-channel selling, reporting tools, and more. To get access to features like customer groups, product filtering, and the ability to manage multiple stores, you’ll need to upgrade. You can always use BigCommerce’s 15-day free trial1 to see if the platform is right for you.
Robust app store. BigCommerce has over 1500 free and paid apps covering everything from shipping options and order management to social media, email, and CMS tools.
Persistent cart. You can improve your customers’ experience by saving their shopping cart to their account. If they switch devices, the items in their cart are still there.
Customer segmentation. This feature allows you to sort customers into groups (i.e. for pricing, promotions, or product access) to create differentiated experiences on your site.
Multi-currency selling. With BigCommerce, you can integrate payment gateways such as Apple Pay and Google Pay, enabling you to accept payments in over 100 currencies. And BigCommerce doesn’t charge any additional transaction fees.
All Squarespace templates are automatically mobile responsiveSquarespace’s e-commerce templates dazzle are elegant and polished. You don’t get quite the same level of creative freedom you do with Wix, but you’ll still be able to put your unique stamp on your site.
Squarespace has easy-to-use merchandising tools and a strong inventory system. You can offer discounts, sell gift cards, create product waitlists for out-of-stock items, and more.
But where Squarespace truly excels is with its promotion tools. For example, you’ll be able to customize email templates to match the look of your site and make your brand more recognizable. Plus, you’ll get the option to create pop-ups that alert customers of new products and pricing deals.
Squarespace’s online store features are available with the Business plan, but to make the most of them, I recommend upgrading to the Basic Commerce plan. This will get rid of transaction fees and unlock tools like e-commerce analytics, customer accounts, and the ability to display product reviews. To try out all of these features before you commit, you can take advantage of Squarespace’s 14-day free trial1.
Attractive gallery layouts. Thanks to its eye-catching gallery layouts and the use of full-screen images, Squarespace is great for displaying and selling creative work.
Blogging platform. You can use Squarespace’s beginner-friendly blog editor to post product-related news and tips, which your customers can easily share on social media.
Free logo maker. Squarespace’s completely free logo making tool can help increase your brand’s familiarity.
Scheduling tool. If you sell services, you can use Squarespace’s scheduling tool to take appointments, manage your bookings, send automatic reminders to clients, and more.
SITE123 lets you sell any type of product or service in your online store
SITE123 stands out as a beginner-friendly platform that allows you to quickly create an e-commerce website. You’ll find 35+ suitable templates in the online store and business categories. While customization is more limited than with Wix and the templates are less varied, they’re all fully responsive and come with a clickable phone number and email to make shopping on mobile easy.
Despite its commitment to fast and simple site building, SITE123 doesn’t skimp on essential e-commerce features, providing everything you need to manage orders, process payments, and customize shipping and tax settings. As a longtime SITE123 user, I was also impressed that it continues to add new features and design options, including new layouts for product pages, testimonial sections, and customer pages.
SITE123 lets you build your site for free, but you’ll have to upgrade to a paid plan to unlock e-commerce functionalities like booking and payment tools, crucial for a thriving online store.
Features
Multi-language store. SITE123 will automatically translate your website into multiple languages, making it easier to reach a global audience without barriers.
Marketing apps and plugins. You can integrate a variety of marketing tools and plugins, empowering you to extend your site’s reach through effective campaigns and strategies.
Lead capture tools. From custom contact forms to unlimited free landing pages for marketing campaigns, SITE123 makes it easier to capture leads, enabling you to engage with visitors and grow your customer base.
Comprehensive tech support. SITE123 stands out for its round-the-clock technical support, ensuring you have the help you need whenever you encounter a challenge.
Choose one of IONOS’s pre-built templates or have AI handle your store’s design
IONOS may only offer 28 pre-built templates, but every one is mobile-responsive and can be easily customized for any online store. They’re also modern, attractive, and easy to personalize with pre-built layouts, color schemes, and sections, so you can get online quickly. Essentials like sales-focused features, integrated payment and shipping options, and site analytics are built in.
What’s more, IONOS makes up for the small template selection with its AI builder. After you supply details about your store, the AI assistant will create a fully customizable e-commerce website, filled with relevant text and images for even faster creation.
If you’re on a tight budget, IONOS’s e-commerce plans offer a lot for an affordable price. You can sell on social media and marketplaces, advertise your brand on TikTok, and track competitors’ performance with marketingRadar. You’ll also get a free custom domain for one year, professional email, and unlimited storage and bandwidth. I’d recommend testing the Plus plan risk-free with its 30-day money-back guarantee.
Features
Sales promotion. IONOS offers various tools to help you with cross-selling and upselling, from related products and abandoned cart notifications to promotions, discounts, and coupons.
Tools to build visibility. The List Local feature lets you manage your business’s online presence across multiple directories and platforms, enhancing local search visibility and attracting new customers.
Full-featured mobile app. Available for both iOS and Android, the IONOS mobile app lets you track sales, keep on top of inventory, and interact with customers on the go. This ensures you can stay connected and manage your store with ease at all times.
Free dedicated consultant. All IONOS plans include access to a dedicated consultant, who will offer personalized advice and support to help you grow your e-commerce business.
Webador will fill your template with sample content and visuals
Webador claims you can build an e-commerce website in as little as 10 minutes. While newbies may need a bit more time, I can confirm its easy-to-use interface will enable just about anyone to quickly design an online store with minimum effort. But what you’ll trade for speed and simplicity is customization and advanced features.
Webador offers a selection of widgets you can drag and drop on your store’s pages: product galleries, testimonials, social buttons, and custom forms. There’s even a widget that lets you add downloadable PDF manuals, which is ideal if you plan to sell electronic products or appliances. Another perk? You’ll never have to pay Webador a commission on sales.
Customizing your WordPress theme could be challenging if you’re a beginner
WordPress.com has 15 attractive e-commerce designs in its theme library, but there are thousands of other themes you can incorporate from third-party marketplaces like TemplateMonster and ThemeForest. However, to run a full-blown online store through WordPress.com, you’ll need to install an e-commerce plugin, such as WooCommerce or Ecwid.
WooCommerce was created specifically for WordPress and is the most popular e-commerce solution. It allows you to add a shopping cart and a checkout process, monitor inventory, accept payments, and manage other e-commerce essentials.
However, to add WooCommerce, you’ll need to subscribe to the Explorer plan. In addition to premium templates and access to 50,000+ plugins for everything from product recommendations to booking tools, you’ll also get video support, advanced SEO tools, and Google Analytics integration.
Hostinger Website Builder helps you create a logo for your store with its AI logo making tool
Hostinger’s Website Builder has mobile-friendly templates that are easily customized with drag-and-drop editing. While you won’t have the advanced e-commerce features you’d get with Wix or Shopify, Hostinger compensates for this by offering a suite of AI-powered tools, including an AI Writer for SEO-driven content and business name and slogan generating tools.
The Business plan supports up to 500 products and integrates marketing tools, blogging capabilities, inventory management, and a free business email. While there’s no free plan, a 30-day money-back guarantee lets you explore Hostinger’s e-commerce features risk free.
Choose any Square template to build a free e-commerce website quickly
What sets Square Online apart from other website builders is that you can sell online for free. Once you create your free account, you can choose and customize an e-commerce template, add your products, and choose fulfillment and payment methods. You can also integrate your Instagram account to quickly create a one page e-commerce site with a user-friendly checkout experience from Square.
The downside is you’ll have Square ads on your website and will have to pay a rather sizable transaction fee. While Square is a good option for new or small e-commerce businesses, larger firms and those focused on scaling may want to consider Wix or one of the options on my list.
Choose the Best E-Commerce Website Builder to Increase Your Sales
Every builder on this list will assist you in crafting a beautiful and easy-to-use online store, alongside offering strong product management tools to boost your sales. However, based on your business requirements, you may discover that one especially suits your business.
If you want a dedicated e-commerce platform that provides advanced store merchandising tools but is still so easy to use, Shopify is my top recommendation option1. With loads of built-in and third-party apps, and features like multi-channel selling available on all plans, Shopify will help you scale quickly. It’s the perfect option if you’re in the e-commerce business.
On the other hand, if you want creative freedom and a diverse choice of online store templates,Wix is a great choice1. It has a suite of built-in e-commerce tools to get your store up and running, and you can add even more features with Wix’s extensive app market.
For large and international e-commerce businesses, think BigCommerce1. Not only does it offer multi-language websites, but you can create multiple storefronts, create separate site variations for different geographic areas, and upload products in bulk.
If you’re still deciding which option is best for you, here’s a quick summary of the different builders I tested.
Free Plan
Best Feature
Best For
Starting Price
Shopify
✘
An impressive number of built-in and third-party apps
Stores of all sizes looking for an all-in-one solution
Every e-commerce website builder on this list will help you build your online store, even if you don’t have any technical experience. You’ll be able to easily create pages, add products, and update your site content using built-in tools.
How much does it cost to build an e-commerce website?
Wix’s free plan lets you test the majority of its e-commerce features, but you won’t be able to accept online payments. In other words, you can use the free version to learn the system and build your site, but you’ll need to upgrade to one of Wix’s well-priced e-commerce plans to unlock advanced e-commerce features.
What is the best e-commerce website builder for beginners?
Both Wix and Shopify have easy-to-use editors that will help you build a fully functional online store quickly. If you plan to sell to a global clientele, BigCommerce is a great option. Check out our list of the best website builders for 2024 for other beginner-friendly options.
Ana specializes in writing about web building platforms, project management software, and other digital tools. She has been a freelance writer for 7 years, and has published countless product reviews and comparisons in that time. Ana has a passion for language and all things tech, and she combines the two to provide accessible and insightful resources for anyone interested in building websites or managing projects.
Are there any site builders that offer built in bulk pricing features other than Bigcommerce. I need something easy to design.
James Hatchett
December 16, 2019
Reply
Reply
WebsitePlanet Team
December 16, 2019
Hey James,
Shopify also offers this feature, and is relatively easy to design. You can read more in our Shopify review: https://www.websiteplanet.com/website-builders/shopify/
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