10 Comments
Introduction
Over the past year I’ve opened online stores with all the popular ecommerce platforms. I’ve tried Shopify, Volusion, BigCommerce, Magento, 3dcart, and BigCartel all an effort to provide the best ecommerce platform reviews on the web. I painstakingly analyzed each of these shopping carts with small and medium sized businesses in mind. These reviews aren’t meant for the Wal-Marts or Best Buy’s out there… they are for everyone else.
Ecommerce Platform Review Criteria
I don’t write “ordinary” ecommerce reviews, so you may not be used to my style. I write completely unbiased, extensive reviews that present the good, bad, and ugly of each shopping cart. I also scoured the comments sections of review sites and ecommerce forums to gain valuable merchant praise and criticism. I think it’s important to go beyond the marketing section of their websites and my own opinion – so I share with you a wide variety of opinions from various sources.
I’m not trying to sell you on any one particular platform. I’ve reviewed each ecommerce platform by taking into account the most important factors to take into consideration when choosing a cart. All my star ratings are based on:
- Features
- Ease of Use
- Pricing
- Templates & Design
- SEO & Marketing
- Inventory Management
- Payments
- Security
- Customer Service
Top 6 Ecommerce Platforms
Here is a breakdown on each cart I have reviewed. Please feel free to read my full-reviews, or simply go by my star ratings and use one of their free trials. Also – please feel free to comment (I always respond), and add me to Twitter.
In order of 2012 ranking:
#1 Shopify (4.5 / 5) (Read full-review)
#2 BigCommerce (4 / 5) (Read full-review)
#3 Volusion (3 / 5) (Read full-review)
#4 BigCartel (2.5 / 5) (Read full-review)
#5 3dcart (2.5 / 5) (Read full-review)
#6 Magento (2.5 / 5) (Read full-review)
Agree that Shopify is number 1, but I dont think Magento deserves to be at the bottom.
Jessica: For small and medium sized businesses – absolutely, it should. I’ll soon be reviewing Magento Go (their SaaS solution) which I suspect is much more appropriate for the less tech-savvy entrepreneurs who don’t want to fork out thousands just to get started.
Great site – lots of good information on ecommerce in general.
Would be interested in your opinion on Shopatron, as it is the only ecommerce solution I can find that does a good job of reducing friction from the standpoint of manufacturers and their distribution channels. All these solutions are about going direct to consumer, which does not do the greatest job for companies actually expanding brands direct to consumer without retail channel conflict.
I suspect the market will shift over time to a strategy more inline with reducing the rtail channel conflict and the underlying technology itself is the best bet for doing that.
Thoughts?
Ray: What the hell? I’ve never even heard of Shopatron!!! I’m embarrassed! Sounds awesome though… I’m going to check it out soon. Thanks so much for reading, commenting & especially for your recommendation. Hope to see you back!
Yes, I’ll agree. Magento shouldn’t be the last.
Robert: Well, technically, Magento, BigCartel, and 3dcart all have the same rating (2.5 / 5) but in all honesty, I chose to put Magento at the bottom intentionally. Out of those 6 ecommerce platforms, Magento is the last I would recommend to a small/medium sized business. As I mentioned to Jessica above – I’ll soon be reviewing Magento Go, their SaaS platform, which I think will stand up better for small businesses. Thanks so much for reading and commenting Robert!
I have been using http://www.BigCommerce.com for some time now. The fact that I can update eBay and sell on facebook simultaneously really is a plus along with realtime shipping rates and mega payment gateway support.
Thanks for an interesting post. However, I would rank BigCommerce as #1 because they do not ask for any additional transaction fees as Shopify does. Additionally BigCommerce offers better Social Media tools. As Paul said it gives an opportunity to sell on FaceBook which is absolutely great. But to be honest Shopify is also a great platform. I only think that BigCommerce is little bit better at the moment.
There is some nice comparison here for those who need some extra details.
Great site James- just what I needed!
Im about to make a plunge into the world of ecommerce websites and would very much appreciate your opnion or review about EKMPOWERSHOP…I have seen so many and this one seems fit my budegt with some good reviews too – would value your opnion very much…
Thanks
I actually agree with most of your review in here, but I’m surprised that you mostly review hosted solutions and not so much the MOST used platforms like: Zen-Cart, Opencart, Tomatoecart and it’s alike.. (I left out OsCommerce on purpose, the really big one, since their development cycle is at it’s best, is just really bad. Likewise their lack of security and consistency.)
Seen from a users perspective, with setup on a point, click and drag basis – the solutions you’ve mentioned (except from Magento) may be accurate, since they can be used by almost anyone. But in respect of cost for setup, functionality, flexibility and scalability – there are actually a few more options out there as I’ve mentioned.
Why I’m I writing this? I actually mean that this is probably one of the most comprehensive reviews I’ve read, and I agree with you almost 100%, but are still left wondering why you left out some of the big ones out there
Oh, and sorry for my bad english here and there – I’m Norwegian