Which platform should you choose to sell your products in 2022?

E-commerce platforms are the best tools for selling your products online. Beyond simply displaying your items on a website, they offer a full suite of integrated tools that let you run your store. The goal is twofold: encourage prospects to complete their checkout, and build visibility with search engines. Here’s how these sales platforms work and which ones perform best in 2022.

How does an e-commerce platform work?

An e-commerce platform lets you build your online store to showcase your products. It bundles all the tools essential to running a business: online payment, inventory management, supplier synchronization for dropshipping, marketing protocols, a blog tab, design options for presenting your products, and more.

An e-commerce platform acts as a complete command center for your business. All you need to do is connect it to your accounting software to be fully operational.

Here is our selection of e-commerce platforms for 2022.

Shopify for everyone

Shopify is a SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) e-commerce platform equipped with advanced tools and features for multichannel selling. Shopify lets you sell your products directly on your online store, on marketplaces, and on social media. This platform is specifically built for e-commerce and is aimed at everyone, including beginners, thanks to its simple and intuitive use.

Shopify offers more than 70 themes to build your store. You can choose between free or paid themes. The toolkit on offer is very comprehensive, letting you configure a wide range of automations for operations and easier control.

Shopify includes unlimited bandwidth and online storage. These are valuable assets, because as your store grows and your traffic increases, you don’t have to pay more.

Shopify’s marketing tools

Shopify provides a particularly rich library of apps to help you grow your business. The platform includes services such as SEO optimization, abandoned cart recovery, and marketing email sending.

The Shopify e-commerce platform’s mobile app

Shopify lets you run your online store from your computer, but also from its smartphone app. Both give you access to the same tools for adding products, managing inventory, fulfilling orders, and more.

This means you can start your business with a small budget and basic technical knowledge. You can even grow into an international brand without ever switching e-commerce platforms.

Shopify’s terms

• Shopify Basic: €27 per month.
• Shopify: €79 per month.
• Shopify Advanced: €289 per month.
• 10% discount on annual plans and 20% discount on biennial plans when paid upfront.
• Free trial length: 14 days.
• Support options: by email, help center, and Shopify community forum.
• Integrated sales channels: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Google, Cdiscount…
• Mobile app features: full suite of mobile tools to manage every aspect of your business.

WooCommerce for WordPress site administrators

WooCommerce is a WordPress add-on. Since WordPress is primarily a CMS (content management system), WooCommerce’s tools remain basic. You’ll need to add extensions to get the features you need.

It’s advisable to use these extensions sparingly, as overusing them can create malfunctions.

If you already have a WordPress site with an audience and want to monetize it, you can add the Shopify buy button and sell directly from your blog for €8 per month.

WooCommerce’s terms

• Monthly cost can go up to €27 per month.
• No free trial, but a guaranteed refund within 30 days.
• Support options via chat or email. No support for third-party apps and extensions.
• Integrated sales channels: Google Shopping, Etsy, eBay, Facebook, Instagram, Amazon and Pinterest, though the integrations are disjointed.
• Mobile app features: adding products, order management, and viewing statistics.

PrestaShop for seasoned users

PrestaShop is a free, open-source e-commerce platform, more suited to already experienced merchants. Indeed, there’s no customer service and integrations can sometimes be unpredictable. If you run into technical issues, you can only rely on yourself or the user community. However, a paid option is available for online support.

PrestaShop’s tools

Prestashop provides numerous tools for marketing, purchase tracking, inventory management, international sales, and analytics reports.

Extensions and external modules are available, but you’ll need a certain level of technical experience to integrate them, as well as handle their configuration and maintenance.

PrestaShop’s terms

• Since PrestaShop is free, there is no trial period.
• Support options: support is available through plans starting at €249 excl. VAT. Otherwise, you rely on online documentation and the community forum.
• Integrated sales channels: Amazon, eBay, Etsy, Facebook and Instagram.
• No mobile app.

Wix for its simplicity

Wix is a very comprehensive tool aimed at beginners. Building a showcase site or an e-commerce site is remarkably simple, thanks to the drag-and-drop editor that lets you customize your store without any technical knowledge.

Wix includes web hosting as well as domain name registration.

Wix’s tools

Wix offers the essential tools for your store. You can list your products across different sales channels, track your orders, accept online payments, and recover abandoned carts.

Wix’s limitations

Wix is well suited to small stores, as well as sites offering only a single product. Indeed, its inventory management tools lack sophistication.

Also, if you plan to sell on social media, you’ll need to go through an external application.

Wix’s terms

• Business Basic: €20.40 per month.
• Business Unlimited: €31.20 per month.
• Business VIP: €42 per month.
• No free trial, but a guaranteed refund within the first 14 days if you’re not satisfied.
• Support options: help center with FAQ and chat.
• Integrated sales channels: for Facebook and Instagram, you need to use the Online Store external app from Ecwid Inc.
• Mobile app features: website management, but no business tools such as inventory management.