Anyone interested in selling products online might find the prospect of how to design a web storefront, add a shopping cart, and offer credit card processing very intimidating.But fear not, there are many great and affordable, full service ecommerce providers perfect for the small or home-based business.
Not sure what to expect from an ecommerce software provider?For the most part, providers offer shopping cart solutions for your new or existing web site, allowing you to easily build, edit, and maintain your online shop, and collect orders without any programming or HTML knowledge.
Here are the basic features you should expect from any full service shopping cart provider:
If you are a small business looking for tools to help you sell 100 products or less, here are my suggestions for ecommerce software providers best suited for the small or home-based business.
Volusion is my top recommendation, not only for the low price, but all the bells and whistles that come along with its affordability. There is ample support, fraud protection for your customers, options for credit card processing and many website templates to choose from. Basically, Volusion offers everything you could want or need to run a successful and effective ecommerce experience for your customers.The only issue I see is the possibility of needing an upgrade in storage space, which is only 500 MB.
Shopify is also another top recommendation because it is so customizable.Within the typical ecommerce solution and hosting, there is a Shopify App store (much like Apple's) which allows you to shop for and select add-on applications for your Shopify site.This makes the possibilities for your site and customers nearly endless.In addition, you get great support, fraud protection, options for credit card processing and many website templates to choose from.
Big Commerce is another well-priced and fully stocked ecommerce service provider.It offers fraud protection, varying credit card processing features and a wide selection of website design templates.It also offers a wide range of support options and the ability to show product images in varying ways.The negative I see is the very limited amount of storage space.At 200 MB, you may find you’ll need to upgrade space rather quickly.
3Dcart is an ecommerce solution targeting those who wish to sell a larger amount of products.It is a bit more per month, but offers larger storage space and product listing options.It offers less website design templates than the competing ecommerce providers.
Fortune offers unlimited storage and bandwidth options for its users, but only allows 100 product listings at its base price.In some ways, that is like offering a fully loaded chocolate buffet to a diabetic.Fortune3 is a decent offering, but there are a few things to be cautious of, like transaction fees and no social media.
Not sure what to expect from an ecommerce software provider?For the most part, providers offer shopping cart solutions for your new or existing web site, allowing you to easily build, edit, and maintain your online shop, and collect orders without any programming or HTML knowledge.
Here are the basic features you should expect from any full service shopping cart provider:
- Find and register a website domain name
- Select a website hosting company
- Design a website using templates
- Select a shopping cart provider
- Set up a payment gateway
- Arrange for credit card processing
- Open a merchant account
If you are a small business looking for tools to help you sell 100 products or less, here are my suggestions for ecommerce software providers best suited for the small or home-based business.
1. Volusion
Volusion is my top recommendation, not only for the low price, but all the bells and whistles that come along with its affordability. There is ample support, fraud protection for your customers, options for credit card processing and many website templates to choose from. Basically, Volusion offers everything you could want or need to run a successful and effective ecommerce experience for your customers.The only issue I see is the possibility of needing an upgrade in storage space, which is only 500 MB.
- $19 per mo (free 14 day trial)
- Max number of products is 100
- 120 design templates
- 500MB storage space
- 2 GB Bandwidth
- Social media connectivity
- No set-up fee
2. Shopify
Shopify is also another top recommendation because it is so customizable.Within the typical ecommerce solution and hosting, there is a Shopify App store (much like Apple's) which allows you to shop for and select add-on applications for your Shopify site.This makes the possibilities for your site and customers nearly endless.In addition, you get great support, fraud protection, options for credit card processing and many website templates to choose from.
- Starts at $26 per mo
- Max number of products is 100
- 120 design templates
- 1GB storage space
- Unlimited Bandwidth
- Social media connectivity
- No set-up fee
3. Big Commerce
Big Commerce is another well-priced and fully stocked ecommerce service provider.It offers fraud protection, varying credit card processing features and a wide selection of website design templates.It also offers a wide range of support options and the ability to show product images in varying ways.The negative I see is the very limited amount of storage space.At 200 MB, you may find you’ll need to upgrade space rather quickly.
- $29.95 per month (15 day free trial)
- 100 is max number of products
- 100 design templates
- Only 200 MB of storage space
- 2 GB Bandwidth
- Social media connectivity
- No Set-up Fee
4. 3DCart
3Dcart is an ecommerce solution targeting those who wish to sell a larger amount of products.It is a bit more per month, but offers larger storage space and product listing options.It offers less website design templates than the competing ecommerce providers.
- $35.99 per month
- 500 products
- 60 design templates
- 2 GB storage
- 4GB bandwidth
- Social media connectivity
- No Set-up Fee
5. Fortune3
Fortune offers unlimited storage and bandwidth options for its users, but only allows 100 product listings at its base price.In some ways, that is like offering a fully loaded chocolate buffet to a diabetic.Fortune3 is a decent offering, but there are a few things to be cautious of, like transaction fees and no social media.
- $29.95 per month (30-day free trial)They do offer a FREE start-up plan for 6 months with only 20 products witha 2.5% transaction fee.
- No Set-up Fee
- They charge a 1% per transaction fee
- Unlimted storage and bandwidth
- Not as easy to use
- 61 Design Templates
- 100 products
- No social media
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