Even if you are new to ecommerce, you shouldn’t worry too much about which platform you are going to choose. All the top ecommerce are at least quite good choices for ecommerce beginners. Regardless, I will on this page introduce four platforms platforms that I think can be particularly good choices for ecommerce beginners.
Best ecommerce platform for beginners
In my opinion Squarespace is the best ecommerce platform for beginners. I have used Squarespace for running traditional websites and based on that I’m quite confident that Squrespace is even an extremely easy to use platform to build an online store with. When you combine that with the fact that despite of being easy to use, Squarespace makes it possible to build a professional looking website, it might be obvious why this is my number one recommendation to ecommerce beginners.
Squarespace gives new users a 14-day free trial and cheapest regular price for a plan that can be used for ecommerce costs in US dollars $33+taxes/month with a monthly subscription and $23+taxes/month with an annual subscription. All Squarespace ecommerce templates are available with no extra cost. Try Squarespace for free.
Simple ecommerce platform
As you might guess based on the service’s name, Hostinger is mainly focused on web hosting services. However, these days they also offer a website builder that can be used also for building an online store. I have used the Hostinger builder a bit and based on that I can say that it is certainly easy to use. A possible downside is that it might be bit limiting in terms of what you can do with the platform. And especially from the point of view of ecommerce beginners, a possible downside with this platform is also that it doesn’t offer a free trial. So, you have to pay to use it.
Luckily though the pricing can be quite affordable: with at least a 12 month subscription the price per month is less than $4. Like Squarespace, Hostinger also allows you to use all their ecommerce templates for no extra cost. That can be especially useful for a ecommerce beginners, as it might be initially difficult to decide what is the best template for your online store. Buy Hostinger Builder subscription.
The best ecommerce platform overall
Shopify is not quite as easy to use as Squarespace and Hostinger and it is also usually more expensive than those two. Those things mean that this is not my number one or even second recommendation for ecommerce beginners, even though this is otherwise in my opinion a great ecommerce platform. In fact, this is the best ecommerce platform in my opinion. That is for example thanks to the fact that in my opinion this platform offers a great balance of advanced features and ease of use. Additionally, there is also a huge number of ecommerce apps that you can connect with your Shopify store and that way make it even better than it would otherwise be.
If you are unsure about if your technical skills are sufficient for building a store with Shopify, it is should be nice to know that they offer first 3 days for free and after that 3 months for $1+taxes/month. So, it can be very affordable to figure out if Shopify might be the correct choice for your ecommerce business. Open Shopify account.
A reasonable choice for a small ecommerce store
If you are selling at most 5 different type of products, Ecwid can be used even for free. That can make this ecommerce platform a very good choice for some ecommerce store owners. However, while Ecwid appears to be quite easy-to-use ecommerce platform, it does not appear to be as easy-to-use as Squarespace and Hostinger. Additionally, if you would need to opt for a paid Ecwid plan to run your ecommerce store, this platform is not as affordable as Hostinger. That is as the cheapest paid Ecwid plan costs with a monthly subscription $19/month. Open Ecwid account.
Warning about changing ecommerce platform
While I do think that Squarespace is the best ecommerce platform for beginners, it is good to note that it is not necessarily easy to switch your ecommerce store from one platfrom to other. That is an argument for going with the overall top ecommerce platform even from the beginning, even if it might not be the easiest to use ecommerce platform. Meaning, that it might be a good idea to go with Shopify over Squarespace even as an ecommerce beginner. Try Shopify for free.
Easy ecommerce system – at least these things should be easy to do
- Changing online store template
- Adding products, adding product descriptions and pricing products
- Connecting payment solution
- Connecting custom domain name
- Creating shipping information
Ecommerce platforms can change, for example, their free trial offers and pricing. I recommend checking the pricing details before paying for your subscription.