Online presence is highly essential for every business, no matter the size. eCommerce sites have become effective tools for any business to open an online store, reach a wider market, and gain more sales. There are many options for such platforms, so picking the right one is a nightmare. This article discusses 12 of the best eCommerce platforms for your business in India, taking into consideration ease of use, scalability, features, pricing, and customer support.
What are the different types of Available eCommerce platforms
The different types of E-commerce platforms in India are as follows:
Open Source Platforms:
Absolutely free to download and customize-they are the most flexible in nature. Example:
- Magento: A high customizability and feature-rich platform suitable for large enterprises.
- WooCommerce (built on WordPress): Extremely popular and easy to use for small and medium-sized businesses.
- OpenCart: User-friendly, easy to use, with an enormous community of users and abundant extensions.
Hosted Platforms:
These platforms are hosted on a provider’s server, and minimum technical expertise is required. Some examples include:
- Shopify is popular and user-friendly, with many built-in features and a massive app store.
- BigCommerce: a strong solution for high-traffic business with strong advanced features.
- Squarespace: A beautiful online platform noted for its fantastic templates and elegant user interface
Enterprise Platforms:
Enterprise platforms are those that are designed for big organizations with rather complex needs and transactions. Some of the following are included:
- Salesforce Commerce Cloud: A powerful and scalable platform that comes with advanced features for omnichannel commerce.
- Oracle Commerce Cloud: a strong platform that puts a strong emphasis on B2B commerce and complicated integrations.
Quick Overview of Best eCommerce Platforms
| Platform | Rating | Best For |
| Shopify | 4.8/5 | All-in-one commerce solution for businesses of all sizes |
| WooCommerce | 4.7/5 | Users and customization lovers of WordPress |
| BigCommerce | 4.6/5 | Mid to large-sized businesses looking for scalability |
| Wix | 4.1/5 | Small businesses and creative entrepreneurs |
| Big Cartel | 4.3/5 | Artists and creative professionals |
| Magento (Adobe Commerce) | 4.7/5 | Large businesses and business-to-business e-commerce |
| PrestaShop | 4.4/5 | European merchants and international traders |
| Squarespace | 4.5/5 | Design-oriented businesses and portfolios |
| OpenCart | 4.2/5 | Budget-sensitive vendors who need flexibility |
| Square | 4.4/5 | Data-driven small and medium businesses |
| Ecwid | 4.3/5 | Multi-channel selling and integration into an existing site |
| Shift4Shop | 4.4/5 | US-based businesses looking for free enterprise features |
12 Best eCommerce Platforms for Your Business in India
Here is the list of the top 13 ECommerce solutions for your business:
1. Shopify
- Rating: 4.8/5
- Best For: All-in-one commerce solution for businesses of all sizes
Shopify is one of the leading industry eCommerce platforms. It offers a user-friendly interface that makes it easy for novices while having powerful features that experienced merchants may need. This platform is amazing in terms of providing a full ecosystem of apps, themes, and tools to help scale a business from being a small startup to an enterprise-level operation.
They are solid in terms of hosting infrastructure with a huge high-traffic capability and the shop’s payment system is in itself Shopify Payments so that the integration of third-party payment gateway becomes redundant. Multi-channel selling ability is great across social media, marketplaces, and even in-person.
Key Features:
- Drag and drop store building
- Inbuilt SEO
- Support for multi-payment gateways
- Advanced analytics and reporting
- Mobile commerce optimized
- 24/7 Customer Support
Pricing:
| Plan | Pricing |
| Basic | ₹1,499/month |
| Shopify | ₹5,599/month |
| Advanced | ₹22,680/month |
2. WooCommerce
- Rating: 4.7/5
- Best For: Users and customization lovers of WordPress
WooCommerce is a WordPress plugin, so it is very flexible, and in your eCommerce web store, you get all the control over its design and functionality. It is attractive for businesses who already use WordPress or need considerable options for changing things up. The platform is open source, which allows you to do whatever you want with your store’s code, so you don’t have to make compromises based on your business needs.
It’s also a massive community of developers who are really supportive, with quite extensive documentation as well. It means that in so many ways, one can expand and optimize the system. It also enjoys WordPress’s ability for content management, which is amazing for a content-heavy store.
Key Features:
- Unlimited Customization
- Huge Plugin Ecosystem
- Built-in Blogging Platform
- Self-hosted Solution
- Supports REST API
- Unlimited Products and Variations
Pricing:
Custom Pricing
3. BigCommerce
- Rating: 4.6/5
- Best For: Mid to large-sized businesses looking for scalability
BigCommerce markets itself as an enterprise-grade solution yet is still accessible to smaller businesses. The platform offers outstanding out-of-the-box features that would normally require additional plugins on other platforms.
Their infrastructure is built to handle high-volume sales and complex product catalogs without compromising performance. Key in the native abilities of BigCommerce- B2B capabilities that give it a plus in dealing with businesses and products that cut both ways: It can sell through both consumer-facing and business-friendly interfaces. Plus points Multi-storefront and headless capabilities lie within this.
Key Features:
- Built-in B2B abilities
- Multi currency
- Advanced tools like SEO
- Facilities of having headless-commerce
- Visual-editor Page Builder
- Abandoned-Cart Recovery
Pricing:
| Plan | Pricing |
| Standard | $39/month |
| Plus | $105/month |
| Pro | $399/month |
4. Wix
- Rating: 4.1/5
- Best For: Small businesses and creative entrepreneurs
Wix eCommerce marries the famous website builder from the platform with the powerful online store functionality. Therefore, it’s perfect for small businesses and creative entrepreneurs. Its artificial design intelligence can even design a customized store based on your preferences. It has the drag-and-drop editor for pixel-perfect customization.
Wix eCommerce boasts a huge collection of templates designed especially for different industries and business types. The platform has developed more eCommerce features within the last couple of years with aspects such as managing multichannel inventory and even automated sales tax calculations.
Key Features:
- AI-powered design assistant
- Mobile-friendly
- Customizable product pages
- Built-in email marketing
- Secure payments
- Integration with dropshipping
Pricing:
| Plan | Pricing |
| Light | $17/month |
| Core | $29/month |
| Business | $36/month |
| Business Lite | $159/month |
5. Big Cartel
- Rating: 4.3/5
- Best For: Artists and creative professionals
Big Cartel is focused specifically on artists, crafters, and other creative professionals looking for a super-simple platform through which to sell their work. Big Cartel also offers a free plan for very basic stores. Big Cartel differs from competitors because it specifically emphasizes simplicity and artistic presentation through clean, customizable themes that make creative work stand out.
They hold a very tight community feel to the platform while offering resources unique to independent artists and makers. Their pricing plan is easy; they have no transaction fees for any plan.
Key Features:
- Free plans
- Artist-focused themes
- Real-time stats
- Inventory tracking
- Custom domain support Mobile app management
Pricing:
| Plan | Pricing |
| Gold | 0 |
| Platinum | $15/month |
| Diamond | $30/month |
6. Magento (Adobe Commerce)
- Rating: 4.7/5
- Best For: Large businesses and business-to-business e-commerce
Adobe Commerce is gold standard for large enterprise eCommerce Magento is a flexible and scalable platform, robust enough to support extensive product catalogs as well as millions of transactions on a daily basis. It includes out-of-the-box features in the architecture with support for sophisticated B2B operations, multiple stores, and international commerce.
While hefty technical know-how is needed for deployment and maintenance, Magento offers unparalleled customization options and interoperability. Enterprise-grade security and performance enhancements make it excellent for high-volume use cases.
Key Features:
- Advanced B2B capabilities
- Multi-store management
- Complex product configuration
- Global selling tools
- PWA Studio support
- AI-powered merchandising
Pricing:
Custom Pricing
7. PrestaShop
- Rating: 4.4/5
- Best For: European merchants and international traders
PrestaShop has come to be one of the leading open-source CMS platforms for eCommerce. It has a huge following in Europe. Right out of the box, the platform supports multilingualism and multicurrency support, thus being ideal for businesses aimed at international markets.
Good performance is maintained for extensive customization through its modular architecture. Inventory management is very good, and there are supported tax rules and shipping options also available. A very active community contributes to a rich ecosystem of modules and themes.
Key Features:
- Multiple stores
- Multi-tax management
- Product customization
- Build-in marketplace
- Comprehensive analytics
Pricing:
| Plan | Pricing |
| Classic | Free Download |
| Hosted | €24/month |
8. Squarespace
- Rating: 4.5/5
- Best For: Design-oriented businesses and portfolios
Squarespace is an excellent combination of beautiful design and eCommerce functionality. It is great for businesses that require a visually attractive presentation. Templates are professional and contemporary, and the mobile-first approach to design is impressive. Although not as feature-rich as some dedicated eCommerce platforms, it has all the tools necessary to sell successfully online. The site stands out with good content presentation and social media platform integration, so it’s great for content commerce.
Key Features:
- Winner templates
- Integrated image editor
- Content calendar
- Built-in email marketing
- SSL
- M-commerce ready
Pricing:
| Plan | Pricing |
| Personal | $25/month |
| Business | $36/month |
| Commerce | $40/month |
9. OpenCart
- Rating: 4.2/5
- Best For: Budget-sensitive vendors who need flexibility
OpenCart is one of the open source eCommerce platforms particularly appealing to budget-sensitive vendors. The platform comes with good basic functionality out of the box and can be further extended through its marketplace of extensions. Its low resource requirements make it an economical choice for hosting while still offering essential features to sell online. The platform supports running multiple stores under one installation with good multilingual capabilities. With an active community, it frequently receives updates as well as patches for security holes.
Key Features:
- Multi-store management
- Extensive extension marketplace
- Unrestricted products supports
- Multiple currency and digital downloads support
- Integration through API.
Pricing:
Custom Pricing
10. Square
- Rating: 4.3/5
- Best For: Data-driven small and medium businesses
Square is a multifaceted eCommerce platform designed for businesses of any size. Easy to use, with robust features, Square provides you with an easy way to create and manage an online store. It easily integrates with the Square payment system, inventory management, and POS solutions, hence making it a one-stop shop for both online and offline sales.
Key Features:
- Product stocking
- Custom shipping rates
- Fast payment process
Pricing:
| Plan | Pricing |
| Free | Free |
| Plus | $29+/mo |
| Premium | Custom |
11. Ecwid
- Rating: 4.3/5
- Best For: Multi-channel selling and integration into an existing site
Ecwid also has a huge competitive advantage. This is its capability to offer perfect integration to already existing sites and social networking. The business enables merchants to include a functional store to almost any website, blog, or social network without having the need to shift their entire e-commerce platform to it. Multichannel sales from Ecwid makes it much more valuable in helping businesses go multichannel with their e-commerce. It provides the ability to synchronize the inventory and orders across all the sales channels automatically. Therefore, managing them becomes very simple.
Key Features:
- Easy integration of a website
- Multichannel selling
- Automatic calculation of taxes
- Mobile point of sale
- Instant site updates
- Automatic shipping rates
Pricing:
| Plan | Pricing |
| Free | 0 |
| Venture | ₹1200/month |
| Business | ₹2200/month |
| Unlimited | ₹5500/month |
12. Shift4Shop
- Rating: 4.4/5
- Best For: US-based businesses looking for free enterprise features
Shift4Shop, formerly 3dcart, offers something unique in its free enterprise-grade eCommerce platforms to US-based merchants. The features offered are generally found in paid enterprise solutions and include advanced SEO tools and B2B capabilities. The main strength of Shift4Shop lies in its rich feature set and flexibility, giving merchants the capability to create very customized online stores. The platform is rich in excellent developer tools and has API access, and can be adapted to standard or custom eCommerce implementation.
Key Features:
- Free enterprise plan
- Advanced SEO tools
- Built-in blog
- Unlimited products
- Real-time shipping rates
- B2B features
Pricing:
Custom Pricing
How to select the best eCommerce platform for your business
If you are confused about how to select the best ecommerce website for your business. Here is how and what you need to do:
Define Your Business Needs:
- Budget: Determine the budget for the platform itself, as well as any extension or integration.
- Scalability: Define your growth plan in the future and then choose a platform that would allow it to accommodate growing traffic and sales volume.
- Features: Determine what the key features of your business would be. For example, these could include payment gateways, shipping integrations, inventory management, marketing tools, and CRM.
Technical Expertise:
- Assessment: The technical expertise of the business should be assessed, and the right platform according to this expertise should be selected.
- Design and Customization: Design flexibility, along with the need for customization, has also to be considered.
Research and Compare:
- Read reviews and testimonials: Information about other businesses that have used the platforms would be very helpful.
- Compare pricing plans: How cost-effective the different platforms are in relation to the budget and needs of the business.
- Test free trials or demos: Use the platform’s features and interface.
Customer Support:
- Check the Quality: Check if the quality of customer support is good and if it is easily accessible. So, select the platform with great support channels that are responsive to your needs.
- Community forums and documentation: The availability of community forums and proper documentation can be really helpful.
Conclusion
Choosing the best eCommerce platforms is one of the most important decisions affecting your business to a great extent. By carefully considering your business needs, researching available options, and evaluating ease of use, scalability, features, and pricing, you will find the best platform to achieve your online sales goals.
FAQs
Which eCommerce platform is the most popular in India?
Shopify and WooCommerce are two of the most popular eCommerce platforms in India.
Which is the best E-commerce platform for small businesses in India?
Shopify, WooCommerce, and Instamojo are good for small businesses in India.
What are the key factors that need to be considered when deciding on a suitable e-commerce platform?
Budget, scalability, features, technical expertise, and design are some of the aspects to be kept in mind.
Is an ecommerce platform free?
Yes, WooCommerce is an open-source free ecommerce platform. Some platforms even provide free trials or have limited free plans.
