The 6 best ecommerce platforms for small businesses in 2024

Our in-depth user testing shows that Wix is the best ecommerce platform for small businesses, scoring an impressive 4.8 out of 5 overall.

Wix features

• Over 70+ ecommerce templates
• Industry recommendations for your website
• Best SEO features of all platforms on this list
• Drag-and-drop functionality

The Wix ecommerce platform takes the top spot for features, design flexibility, and help and support. Although Shopify is the top choice for sheer depth of sales features, Wix gives you more value for money and a better variety of website templates to choose between.

Wix is easy to use, which is a godsend for small business owners who don’t have the time to contend with complex coding. The platform makes things truly easy when creating an online store, adding your inventory, and laying things out to your preference.

There’s a helpful overview of the Wix Ecommerce platform in the video below, from Wix itself:

The improved AI assistant lets you answer a few questions during setup, and voila! The AI tailors your dashboard and effortlessly assembles all the essential components for your online business, saving you the hassle of figuring it out yourself. It recommends items that you should put into your website based on its type, industry, and name, too. For instance, if you’re building an ecommerce site, Wix will automatically recommend you add in a chatbot. This makes the process of building a website so much quicker.

With more than 70 different ecommerce templates to choose from – each of which is highly customisable – you can create a unique online shop that’s tailored to your brand. However, you’ll need to choose your template carefully because it cannot be changed once your website is live.

Wix’s shop categories page. I was able to see advanced marketing features and edit SEO settings to ensure my store was visible to search engines. (Image: Startups)

It also boasts the most advanced SEO features of all the ecommerce platforms we tested. One unique element of Wix’s SEO offering is its exclusive partnership with Semrush, which users to access Semrush’s industry-leading SEO keyword data directly through the Wix dashboard. There’s also built-in SEO reporting via Google Search Console. These insights can help Wix users improve their website visibility for search terms relevant to their business, and increase valuable web traffic by moving up those all-important search rankings.

Here’s a full rundown of Wix Ecommerce’s features:

Sales features:

• Drag-and-drop builder: User-friendly even for beginners.
• Mobile-optimised themes: Ensure a seamless experience on all devices.
• Abandoned cart recovery: Win back almost-customers on Business Plus & VIP plans.
• Product variants: Offer different sizes, colours, etc. on all paid plans.
• Coupons & discounts: Create promotions to attract buyers on all plans.
• Multi-channel selling: Sell on Facebook, Instagram, and marketplaces like Amazon & eBay.
• Marketing tools: Email marketing, social media posting tools, and SEO features included on all plans.
• App Market: Expand functionality with apps for loyalty programs, gift cards, etc.

Design and templates:

• Over 70 ecommerce templates: Choose from industry-specific options (e.g., fashion, art, food).
• Highly customisable: Edit colours, fonts, layouts, and add custom code.
• Examples:
  • Store & Restaurant: Modern template with product grids and delivery options.
  • Minimal Portfolio: Stylish template for showcasing creative work.
  • Fashion Boutique: Chic template with product zoom and social media integration.

Data and analytics:

• Website analytics: Tracks sales, traffic, and visitor behaviour.
• Marketing reports: Available on higher-tier plans.
• SEO tools: Built-in SEO tools to improve search ranking.
• Integrations with analytics tools: Integrates with Google Analytics.

Invoicing and tax management:

• Invoice generation: Included on all plans.
• Tax calculations: Automatic tax calculations based on location.
• Accounting software integrations: Integrates with QuickBooks and other platforms.
• Multicurrency support: Available on higher-tier plans.

Wix pricing

Wix offers incredible value for money, costing just £20 per month for its Business plan which provides everything a budding small business needs to get started. The cheaper Core plan is a touch basic for our liking, and a growing ecommerce site will quickly look beyond it.

Here’s how Wix’s price plans break down:

• Wix Core plan  – £14 per month
• Wix Business plan – £20 per month
• Wix Business Elite plan – £119 per month
• Wix Enterprise plan – Bespoke quote

Transaction fees:

When selling on Wix, you’ll have to factor in “Wix Payments Service Fees.” These don’t change regardless of the Wix plan you’re on – many other ecommerce platforms, such as Shopify, shift their fees depending on the monthly pricing tier you have chosen.

• Credit/Debit Card: 2.1% of the transaction amount + 20p
• Apple Pay: 2.1% of the transaction amount + 20p
• Google Pay: 2.1% of the transaction amount + 20p
• Wix Payments Manual Card Entry: 2.5% of the transaction amount + 20p

It’s worth noting, you will have to pay these charges on top of any card processing fees from the card provider.

Additional Wix costs:

While it might not be an ecommerce-specific platform – like Shopify and BigCommerce – Wix’s extensive App Market gives it the sales functionality you’ll need, such as multiple payment options, secure checkout, and abandoned cart recovery – all of which will help you increase sales and grow your customer base.

While some apps are free to use, others may require a purchase or subscription for access to their full range of features and functionalities. The costs within Wix’s app market can vary depending on the specific app and its features. Prices generally range from a few pounds to more substantial amounts, depending on the complexity and functionality of the app. It’s advisable to review each app individually to understand its pricing structure and determine the best fit for your business needs.

Shopify is far and away one of the best online store builders you can choose. While we’d rate Wix just a touch ahead when it comes to ease of use and variety of website templates, Shopify is pretty much peerless when it comes to sales features and ability to take payments across channels. Only BigCommerce runs it close for depth of features, and that’s a platform we’d sooner recommend for very large online stores. For smaller businesses starting out, Shopify is a great choice.

If you’re a business with an offline and online presence, we’d recommend Shopify above Wix, due to its seamless integration for both offline and online selling.

If you’re building an online store for the first time, there’s no end of options with Shopify. This could work against the less technical – our researchers found that creating an online shop with other ecommerce builders could be ‘overwhelming.’ But, Shopify’s user interface was described as ‘clean and refreshingly intuitive’, making it easy to get the results you want once you’ve decided which of its many (many!) features are essential for your own online store.

Shopify provides its own help and tutorials, like the video below, to help users get up to speed on the platform, fast:

From our research, Shopify was the highest rated brand among users of the platforms we interviewed, getting an outstanding customer score of 4.7 out of 5 for likelihood to recommend.

Shopify features

• Solid affiliate program for ecommerce brands.
• Shopify excels in dropshipping, customisation, and a large app store.
• Predictive website creation, tailored for customer needs.
• Inventory-first approach.

Shopify’s scores have remained pretty steady in our latest testing. It’s held onto its position as the second-best ecommerce platform, though BigCommerce is now ahead of it for sales features. It also has a very solid affiliate program, which we’ve determined is the best for ecommerce brands.

Shopify is also a brilliant online store for dropshipping, if you’re running your sales this way. Thanks to a huge app store and plenty of integrations, Shopify is a very customisable platform.

As for Shopify’s standout features, the platform pre-empts and predicts what a merchant might need when creating a website. This kind of automation is unmatched in the ecommerce space, and means small businesses can feel confident they are setting up an online store that’s tailored to the needs of their customers.

Shopify’s products page. Unlike other builders, with Shopify, I was encouraged to add my inventory first when setting up my site. (Image: Startups)

Competitively priced, easy to use, and with a bevvy of great sales features, Shopify is an excellent option for ambitious, growing businesses.

Let’s take a look at Shopify’s features in greater depth:

Sales features:

• Drag-and-drop builder: User-friendly for both beginners and experienced users.
• Mobile-optimised themes: Ensure a great shopping experience on any device.
• Abandoned cart recovery: Recover lost sales with automated emails.
• Product variants: Offer different sizes, colours, etc. on all plans.
• Coupons & discounts: Create promotions to attract buyers on all plans.
• Multi-channel selling: Sell on Facebook, Instagram, and marketplaces like Amazon & eBay.
• App Store: Extend Shopify’s functionality with thousands of apps.
• Marketing tools: Built-in marketing tools for email, social media, and SEO.
• Dropshipping: Integrates with dropshipping suppliers like DSers to allow you to open a business without the hassle of packaging or shipping.

Design and templates:

• 10 free and over 70 premium themes: Choose from a variety of industry-specific options.
• Highly customisable: Edit themes or hire a Shopify expert for advanced customisation.
• Examples:
  • Brooklyn: Modern theme with product grids and fullscreen images.
  • Debut: Minimalist theme perfect for showcasing products.
  • Venture: Theme designed for outdoor and adventure brands.

Data and analytics:

• Comprehensive sales reports: Track sales, traffic, and customer behaviour.
• Marketing campaign reporting: Measure the effectiveness of your marketing efforts.
• Inventory reports: Stay on top of your stock levels.
• Integrations with analytics tools: Connect with Google Analytics and other platforms.

Invoicing and tax management:

• Automatic invoice generation: Create professional invoices for your customers.
• Automatic tax calculations: Based on your location and customer’s address.
• Accounting software integrations: Integrates with popular platforms like QuickBooks and Xero.
• Multicurrency support: Sell to customers around the world with automatic currency conversion.

Like Wix, Squarespace is a website builder that rivals ecommerce-specific platforms when it comes to creating a professional online store.

Squarespace features

• Direct import from Etsy, catering to established customer bases.
  Design-focused templates across various industries
• Editable checkout style, and theme flexibility.
• Great value for a design-centric platform

Squarespace is the best store builder you can choose when it comes to design. It offers a range of beautiful and stylish themed templates for numerous industries and, unlike Wix, you can change your theme whenever you want. It even has a checkout style editor, so you can make sure your checkout page matches your site’s aesthetic.

Another feature we liked from our first-hand user testing is that you can import directly from Etsy, which is handy if you already have an established customer base there.

The editing interface itself is clean and easy to navigate, and our testers praised the creative freedom allowed. However, they found that there can be a steep learning curve for absolute beginners.

Here’s an official taster video showing the Squarespace ecommerce platform in action, below:

It is also lacking in the sales features department, particularly compared to Shopify or BigCommerce. For example, you’ll need to sign up for one of its pricier plans to access features like subscriptions (Business plan + up) and abandoned cart recovery (Commerce plan + up). Dropshipping functionality is non-existent, which is a major miss compared to the likes of Wix or Shopify.

An example of a Squarespace ecommerce website (Image: Startups)

Alongside Wix, it’s now our joint second-best value ecommerce platform. You’ll struggle to find a more design-focused ecommerce solution, with a genuine focus on its users’ needs, for such a great price.

Let’s take a look at Squarespace’s features in more depth:

Sales features:

• Drag-and-drop builder: User-friendly for both beginners and experienced users.
• Mobile-optimised themes: Designed to look great on all devices.
• Abandoned cart recovery: Available on Business and higher plans.
• Product variants: Offer different sizes, colours, etc. on all paid plans.
• Coupons & discounts: Create promotions to attract buyers on all plans.
• Multi-channel selling: Sell on Instagram and integrate with platforms like Amazon & Etsy.
• Marketing tools: Built-in email marketing tools and SEO features. App integrations for additional functionality.

Design and templates:

• Over 100 beautiful templates: Choose from a variety of industry-specific options.
• Highly customisable: Edit themes, add custom code, or hire a Squarespace expert.
• Examples:
  • Supply: Modern template with product grids and large hero images.
  • Brine: Minimalist template for showcasing handcrafted products.
  • Commerce: Feature-rich template designed for high-volume stores.

Data and analytics:

• Website analytics: Track sales, traffic, and customer behaviour.
• Marketing campaign reporting: Available on Business and higher plans.
• Inventory reports: Stay on top of your stock levels on all paid plans.
• Integrations with analytics tools: Connect with Google Analytics and other platforms.

Invoicing and tax management:

• Automatic invoice generation: Included on all paid plans.
• Automatic tax calculations: Based on your location and customer’s address.
• Accounting software integrations: Integrates with popular platforms like QuickBooks and Xero.
• Multicurrency support: Sell to customers around the world with automatic currency conversion.

Square features

• No limitations on products (physical, digital, services, etc.) without requiring a premium plan
• Advanced inventory control and launch planning.
• Analytics and reporting tools, even on the free plan
• Clean, user-friendly interface for basic online store setups

Square stands out among the list of ecommerce platforms we’ve chosen, as it is the only provider that lets you create a functional, attractive online store for free.

Surely there’s a downside? Well, yes. For one thing, Square has to make its money somehow, and it does this via transaction fees of 1.4% + 25p for UK cards or 2.5% + 25p for non-UK cards, for all online transactions. That may still be pretty reasonable for small online stores starting out, but larger, scaling businesses will want more flexibility.

Still, Square is a pretty solid choice for building your ecommerce site. There is no limitation to how many products you can feature or the type of product – be it physical, digital, donation, event, service, or even to sell as a restaurant. This is great because you can sell your products and services without having to spend money on a premium ecommerce plan, some of which can cost you over £25 a month on the likes of Shopify and BigCommerce.

Here’s an overview video from Square of how the online platform works:

The other handy feature we found from our testing is the ‘hide category’ in its inventory management, allowing you to set up a new product ahead of launch day.

Stock and inventory can be configured any way you wish, and it provides the base minimum of analytics and reporting tools that you would need even on the free plan. These can help you make data-driven decisions based on your best-selling products. Square is also well-known for its in-person payments via Square Point of Sale – so this is a great platform to choose if you sell online and offline.

Square’s frontend product view editor (Image: Startups)

On the design front, Square is more of a letdown, compared to rivals. This is because there’s no choice of templates and the only changes you can only make changes to the font and colours. That said, the basic online store design it offers is very clean and follows user experience best practices. This is in stark contrast to the likes of Wix and Shopify, which offer a multitude of templates and design features for you to take advantage of.

Here’s a further look at Square’s features:

Sales features:

• Simple online store setup: Get started quickly with pre-built templates and product listings.
• Mobile-friendly checkout: Ensure a smooth buying experience on any device.
• Abandoned cart recovery: Recover lost sales with automated emails (available on paid plans).
• Product variants: Offer different sizes, colours, etc. on all plans.
• Coupons & discounts: Create promotions to attract buyers on all plans.
• Multi-channel selling: Sell on Instagram, Facebook, and integrate with marketplaces like Amazon & Etsy.
• Point-of-sale integration: Sell online and in-person with Square’s POS system.
• Marketing tools: Basic marketing features like email marketing and social media integration. App integrations for additional functionality.

Design and templates:

• Limited selection of free templates: Additional theme options available for purchase.
• Moderately customisable: Edit themes with basic tools or hire a Square designer for advanced customisation.
• Examples:
  • Classic: Simple template with product grids and clear call-to-actions.
  • Minimal: Modern template with large product images and clean layout.
  • Restaurant: Template designed specifically for food and beverage businesses.

Data and analytics:

• Basic sales reports: Track sales, traffic, and customer behaviour.
• Marketing campaign reporting: Limited reporting on email marketing campaigns.
• Inventory reports: Stay on top of your stock levels.
• Integrations with analytics tools: Connect with Google Analytics and other platforms.

Invoicing and tax management:

• Automatic invoice generation: Create invoices for customers on all plans.
• Automatic tax calculations: Based on your location and customer’s address.
• Accounting software integrations: Integrates with popular platforms like QuickBooks and Xero.
• Multicurrency support: Sell to customers around the world with automatic currency conversion.

BigCommerce offers users the most expansive range of sales features of any platform we reviewed, supporting multiple languages and currencies. This should be your go-to ecommerce platform if you’re wanting to expand your operations overseas.

BigCommerce features

• Quality features integrated within but steep learning curve
• Drag-and-drop builder for design flexibility
• Overtakes Shopify in sales functionality
• Evolving platform with growing ease of use

Unlike Shopify, most of its ecommerce features are built in (rather than from third parties), which means you can rely on them to be high quality. This is why BigCommerce has overtaken Shopify as the platform with the best sales features. However, based on our first-hand testing, we do think BigCommerce’s sales features are more advanced than Shopify, so expect to hit a steep learning curve if you’re an ecommerce beginner.

An example of a Bigcommerce website (Image: Startups)

Despite being slightly difficult for beginners, BigCommerce made some recent improvements to its ease of use. Its drag-and-drop builder offers you design flexibility, so all you have to do is select a page element you like and insert it wherever you want it to go.

Here’s BigCommerce’s own overview of the drag-and-drop tool:

We would caution that during our testing, we found that this feature wasn’t quite as intuitive as some of the equivalent drag-and-drop tools from rivals, such as Wix. It’s certainly a process you’ll be able to get your head around with a little trial and error, but we wouldn’t call it class-leading.

Here’s a more detailed look at BigCommerce’s features:

Sales features:

• Drag-and-drop builder: User-friendly, even for beginners.
• Mobile-optimised themes: Ensure a seamless experience on any device.
• Abandoned cart recovery: Recover lost sales with automated emails (included on all plans).
• Product variants: Offer unlimited product variations on all plans.
• Coupons & discounts: Create promotions to attract buyers on all plans.
• Multi-channel selling: Sell on Facebook, Instagram, Amazon, eBay, and other marketplaces.
• App Marketplace: Extend BigCommerce’s functionality with thousands of apps.
• Marketing tools: Built-in SEO tools and email marketing features. App integrations for advanced marketing.

Design and templates:

• 12 free and over 100 premium themes: Choose from a variety of industry-specific options.
• Highly customisable: Edit themes, add custom code, or hire a BigCommerce expert.
• Examples:
  • Stencil: Flexible theme framework for building custom storefronts.
  • Cornerstone Light: Modern theme with large product images and video backgrounds.
  • Storefront Pro: Feature-rich theme for high-volume stores.

Data and analytics:

• Comprehensive sales reports: Track sales, traffic, and customer behaviour in detail.
• Marketing campaign reporting: Measure the effectiveness of your marketing efforts.
• Inventory reports: Stay on top of your stock levels with advanced inventory management tools.
• Integrations with analytics tools: Connect with Google Analytics and other platforms.

Invoicing and tax management:

• Automatic invoice generation: Create professional invoices for your customers on all plans.
• Automatic tax calculations: Based on your location and customer’s address.
• Accounting software integrations: Integrates with popular platforms like QuickBooks and Xero.
• Multicurrency support: Sell to customers around the world with automatic currency conversion.

GoDaddy is an entry-level website builder that makes starting your own ecommerce site a breeze – even if you’re not technologically inclined. This is one of the easiest ways to get a store up and running.

GoDaddy features

• Artificial Design Intelligence (ADI) function for a professional look with minimal effort
• One of the cheapest ecommerce builders
• Handy ‘hide category’ feature for pre-launch product setup
• Unlimited products available for sale without premium plan constraints

Our researchers rated GoDaddy as one of the easiest ecommerce platform to use. We found it to be an accessible, helpful editor that includes an Artificial Design Intelligence (ADI) function that can save time while making your online store look slick and professional with minimal effort.

However, this very same ADI also severely limits your creative control. This isn’t a problem if you just want to get up and running with a great-looking online shop, but it’s less appealing if you want to create something unique. Once you’ve created your store using ADI, you can’t change much more about it, whereas platforms like Shopify can give you the creative freedom to make changes at any time.

GoDaddy’s website builder (Image: Startups)

The GoDaddy Online Store is easy to get to grips with, even for complete beginners. It’s also one of the cheapest ecommerce website builders, and promises real business growth (not just a pretty shop front).

However it is seriously lacking website features compared to any of the other platforms we’ve listed. You will get the bare minimum with GoDaddy which amounts to basic hosting, colour and font changes, and the SEO prompts and reporting are pretty lacklustre. Here’s a rundown of the features you do get:

Sales features:

• User-friendly website builder: Easy to use, even for beginners.
• Mobile-responsive designs: Ensure a seamless experience on any device.
• Abandoned cart recovery: Recover lost sales with automated emails (available on Business and higher plans).
• Product variants: Offer different sizes, colours, etc. on all paid plans.
• Coupons & discounts: Create promotions to attract buyers on all plans.
• Multi-channel selling: Sell on Facebook, Instagram, and integrate with marketplaces like Amazon & Etsy.
• Appointment booking: Schedule appointments directly through your online store (available on Commerce and higher plans).
• Email marketing tools: Built-in email marketing features on all paid plans. App integrations for advanced marketing.

Design and templates:

• Over 50 professionally designed templates: Choose from a variety of industry-specific options.
• Moderately customisable: Edit themes with basic tools or hire a GoDaddy designer for advanced customisation.
• Examples:
  • Apparel: Modern template with product grids and high-quality image galleries.
  • Restaurant: Template designed for showcasing menus and taking online orders.
  • Crafts & Hobbies: Template with features for displaying product details and variations.

Data and analytics:

• Basic sales reports: Track sales, traffic, and customer behaviour.
• Marketing campaign reporting: Limited reporting on email marketing campaigns.
• Inventory reports: Stay on top of your stock levels on all paid plans.
• Integrations with analytics tools: Connect with Google Analytics and other platforms.

Invoicing and tax management:

• Automatic invoice generation: Create invoices for customers on all paid plans.
• Automatic tax calculations: Based on your location and customer’s address.
• Accounting software integrations: Integrates with popular platforms like QuickBooks and Xero.
• Multicurrency support: Sell to customers around the world with automatic currency conversion.

GoDaddy is still a solid choice for small businesses that want to get up and running quickly and easily.