11 Best Website Builders for Online Stores
Do you want to start a business online, selling services or products? Regardless of already having a physical store or not, one thing is fundamental: choosing the best website builder for online stores.
With it, you can create a website that suits your business needs without having to know how to code or design. Usually, website builders for online stores already offer pre-made templates, divided into different ecommerce categories, and with a responsive design.
By choosing the right platform for your shop, you will see how having the proper tools can simplify tasks such as adding products, managing inventory, offering customer support, and creating marketing campaigns.
1. Wix
Wix offers an industry-leading website builder for online stores where you are going to count on more than 500 free templates, separated into categories, like fashion & clothing, electronics, home & decor, and much more.
If you still don't have your brand's identity well-developed, enjoy Wix Logo Maker, and Business Name Generator. To be found online easily, you can also create your own domain name.
The platform allows you to add up to 50,000 products to your online store. Wix provides features to manage your inventory and suppliers in a single platform as well.
Another advantage is that you can define custom shipping and automate your taxes for every sale. Wix also gives you the option to sell your products on multiple marketplaces, like Facebook, Instagram, eBay, and Amazon, and you can control everything in one dashboard.
To improve your ecommerce revenue, expand your number of customers and create more effective marketing campaigns, you will have an analytics dashboard to analyze important metrics and get new insights from them. With the Wix Owner app, you are going to be able to manage your business from everywhere.
Key features:
- More than 500 free online store templates
- Wix Logo Maker
- Wix Payments
- Create a domain name
- Sell products on multiple sales channels
- Inventory management
2. Bluehost
Pre-built templates, a user-friendly dashboard, and AI tools are only some of the benefits that you will have when using the Bluehost website builder to develop your ecommerce. You can customize your website as your wish and provide a great user experience so your customers can easily navigate and make purchases through your website.
You don't need to be an expert in coding or design to learn how to use the Bluehost platform since it's very intuitive. However, in case you need any assistance, they offer 24/7 customer support, and 1:1 building guidance too.
Security is another important element to build a good online store. Considering that, Bluehost provides free SSL, malware detection, automated security updates, and backup data protection.
Key features
- Free domain
- Free SSL
- Free CDN
- Pre-built templates
- Insightful analytics
- Automated security updates
- Backup data protection
- 24/7 support
- SEO tools
- Powerful plugins
3. SITE123
One of the easiest website builders for online stores, with SITE123 you can develop your ecommerce with just a few steps. Create your account, select the plan that enables ecommerce creation, then choose the template that has more to do with your store type, considering the products you are going to sell.
Its intuitive website editor facilitates customizing the sections of your website in order to align it with your brand's visual identity. Regardless of the template you select, you already are going to have a mobile-friendly online store. Create a custom domain to be found easier online, and strengthen your brand as well.
Once you have created your website, you can upload your products, set prices, payment, and delivery options. Count on SITE123 24/7 customer support to assist you in case there is any doubt.
Key features:
- Pre-built templates
- Website editor
- Mobile friendly
- Custom domains
- SEO tools
- 24/7 customer support
4. Webnode
Webnode makes the task of building an ecommerce website much simpler, starting by offering you several carefully made templates, which can be customized to suit your store specificities. You can quickly add new products, including their images, descriptions, set prices, and just click publish to start selling.
Webnode allows you to manage the sales on its dashboard, keep track of each order and send notifications to customers, so they can follow up on their order status as well. The platform also allows you to offer a wide range of local payment options, including wire transfers, credit cards, PayPal, and payment upon pick up.
Define the shipping methods that are best for your customers, your products can be delivered through DHL and FedEx, for instance, and you can offer the option to pick them up in-store too. To help boost sales, you can create discounts and promo codes on the website too.
With the store statistics feature, Webnode gives you valuable data to analyze your traffic, identify the most popular products and understand what are the weak points of your website that need to be enhanced.
Key features:
- User-friendly website builder
- Create a custom domain
- Reliable hosting
- Pre-built templates
- Add new products in minutes
- Intuitive store management
- Local payment methods
- Store statistics
- Import products in bulk
- Quick and simple checkout
5. BigCommerce
With BigCommerce website builder for online stores, you can design with freedom, operate with no worry, and enjoy its features to innovate. You will get fully customizable themes with built-in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, and be able to edit them using the drag-and-drop editor.
The platform also allows you to customize the checkout process to make it simpler for your customers, encouraging them to finalize purchases, also you can make your website mobile-friendly. To make sure all the sections are configured properly, use the Stencil CLL tool to test the website. It can be integrated with WordPress as well.
To boost sales, BigCommerce enables you to provide multiple payment methods and create more than 70 native discounts and promotions, without requiring scripting. The SEO tools, such as creating customizable URLs, enable you to optimize your online store to be found easily on search engines.
You can also make your products available on multiple sales channels, in marketplaces, and on social media. If you have a B2B company, BigCommerce has specific solutions for that too, including quote management, bulk pricing, and customer groups.
Key features:
- Page builder visual editor
- Theme customization
- Checkout customization
- Preview before publishing
- WordPress integration
- SEO tools
- B2B tools
6. WordPress Ecommerce
WordPress Ecommerce allows you to have a completely personalized online store and still offers the best management tools. You can start taking payments in seconds by enabling the PayPal button, and easily setup debit and credit card payments.
You will be able to publish content and sell products using the same platform. WordPress also provides multiple plugins to enhance user experience, increase sales, and guarantee your website is safe. You will have the option to sell not only physical products but digital items as well.
Key features:
- WordPress themes
- Different types of plugins
- Google apps
- Sell physical and digital products
- Enable subscriptions
- Customization tools
- Easy-to-use website editor
7. Ecwid
What about counting on one of the best website builders for online stores and having the option to build your ecommerce for free? Ecwid allows you to start selling for free. Use ECWID design tools to develop your website, then add your products, set payment and delivery methods, and you are ready to launch it.
You can control everything from a single platform and commercialize your products on other marketplaces, such as Instagram and Amazon, with a centralized inventory. Your customers will have the option to choose the channel they prefer to use, enhancing their experience.
If you have a physical store, you can integrate your website into it by offering the option to pay in-store, with the benefit that the inventory is going to be updated automatically. Ecwid also counts on marketing tools, you can create ads campaigns and control everything in the platform.
Key features:
- Design tools
- Centralized inventory
- Sell on social media and marketplaces
- Automate your marketing
- Sell subscriptions
- Offer promotional discounts
- More than 50 payment options
- Automated taxes
8. WooCommerce
WooCommerce is an open-source ecommerce platform built on WordPress. If you already have a website developed by WordPress, all you need to do is add the WooCommerce plugin and start setting up your online store. If you don't have a website yet, don't worry, the platform will offer you multiple tools to develop it.
With WooCommerce, you can offer multiple secure payment options, accepting major bank credit cards, bank transfers, checks, and cash on delivery. The platform enables you to integrate your online store with 140 region-specific gateways, including ApplePay, GooglePay, and Stripe, for instance.
You are going to have an intuitive dashboard built to facilitate the management of daily tasks of an ecommerce, which allows you to automate several processes such as tax calculations, and have live shipping rates. You can also manage everything from the WooCommerce mobile app for IOS or Android.
You can create different types of stores to sell from physical products and appointments to members-only digital content and improve your ecommerce performance by integrating it with hundreds of free and paid extensions.
Key features:
- Open-source ecommerce platform
- Built on WordPress
- Fully customizable
- Add hundreds of extensions
- 140 regio-specific payment gateways
- Live shipping rates
- Automated tax calculations
9. Jumpseller
Jumpseller allows you to choose from multiple responsive template options to start building your online store and use the customization features to add your brand's identity to it.
You can have your ecommerce in multiple languages, which helps to provide a better user experience for customers from different countries and reach a bigger audience.
Talking about user experience, Jumpseller offers several other features to enhance it. For example, you can let shoppers refine their searches by adding filters. Besides, you can give them the option to buy from other channels too, such as Facebook Commerce, Google Commerce, and WhatsApp.
To make sure your customers' data is secure, Jumpsellers uses firewalls, intrusion detection, and the checkout process is protected by HTTPS/TLS data encryption.
The platform supports multiple payment gateways, for example, PayPal, Stripe, and Mercado Pago. You can enable manual payments too, such as bank transfers, checks, and cash on delivery.
Key features:
- Pre-built templates
- Customizable designs
- Popular payment options
- Global shipping options
- Supports multi-language
- Refine product search
10. Strikingly
By using Strikingly, you are going to count on an easy-to-use website editor, which enables you to invest in developing a beautiful and intuitive website that is attractive to your customers. Totally optimized for selling, once you have built your website, you can configure the ecommerce.
Add products, set prices, define shipping and payment methods, and integrate with PayPal or Stripe. You can also add coupons, membership log-ins, and create your own domain. To enhance security your website will get HTTPS automatically for free.
Use the analytics built-in to analyze your online store performance, identify the main sources of traffic, how many visitors turn into customers and what is the bounce rate, for instance. Through it, you can identify the weak points of your website and create strategies to improve.
Key features:
- Easy-to-use website editor
- Optimized for selling
- Add membership log-ins
- Connect to PayPal and Stripe
- Analytics built-in
- HTTPS built-in
- 24/7 support
11. Weebly
With more than 40 million users around the world, Weebly is one of the best website builders for online stores because it provides advanced ecommerce tools.
You can create a completely customized website with the drag-and-drop editor, and then add features like a fully integrated shopping cart and a secure checkout directly on your website.
From Weebly's dashboard, you will be able to manage your inventory, track products, and automatically update shoppers when items are sold out. You also have the option to display the number of items remaining on product pages, which helps to create a sense of urgency.
To help customers to find the product they are looking for, insert the filtered product search tool, improving customer experience and increasing the chances to sell more.
Another benefit is that with Weebly you can sell not only physical items but also downloadable ones, which are automatically delivered to your customers.
Key features:
- Website editor
- Complete website builder for online store
- Fully integrated shopping cart
- Secure checkout
- Track and manage your inventory
- Filtered product search
- Free ecommerce hosting
How to Choose the Best Website Builder for Online Store
Easy-to-use Interface
One of the key factors to select the best website builder for online stores is if it provides an intuitive interface and a dashboard that centralizes the main information about your ecommerce. You and your team need to understand the platform features to create the website and manage the store.
If the platform is easy to navigate and offers simple solutions, it will save you time and optimize tasks. Many website builders for online stores provide a free trial period, enjoy it to get acquainted with the tools provided and see how you and your team adapt to it.
Customization features
Customer experience is essential when it comes to convincing someone who visits your website to make a purchase. They need to feel safe, be able to easily navigate through your pages, and the design has to be attractive too.
That's why choosing a website builder for online stores that gives you the freedom to customize your pages is so important.
It enables you to design your website considering how to offer the best user and customer experience according to your target audience. For example, by creating a simple checkout process, adding membership login, and including filtered search.
Scalability
The best website builder for online stores of your choice has to be able to adapt to your business needs. This means, as your ecommerce grows and you have to add a bigger number of products, it has to support it without affecting the website performance, such as page time load.
When you grow on the number of access, it's fundamental to count on a server that can keep stable, avoiding downtime as well.
Pricing
As you can see by browsing through the best website builders for online stores that were listed here, there is a wide range of prices and plans. To help with your choice, list the features that are essential to your ecommerce, then analyze the options according to your budget.
Technical Support
The best website builders for online stores offer 24/7 technical support, and that's something you need to pay attention to. If there is any problem with your website, this may lead to losing sales.
The company you hire has to offer effective help to act when there is an issue. Check customer reviews to know more about the website builder's reputation.
Security
Which security measures do the website builders for online stores offer? When we talk about selling online, it implies dealing with sensitive customer data, which has to be very well protected. Make sure they follow the standard security protocols, and also check if they have any extra measures.
Additional Sales Channel
When you use multiple sales channels to sell your products, you enable customers to have an even more personalized experience by choosing from what platform they prefer to buy, Amazon, Instagram, eBay, or directly on your website for instance.
Many ecommerce website builders provide the option to integrate with marketplaces and social media. This makes it easier to manage sales and marketing campaigns because you can integrate everything into one platform, and prevent errors.
Consider Customer Experience When Selecting The Best Website Builder for Online Stores
Now that you have gotten to know the best website builder for online stores, before choosing the one you prefer, always keep in mind the importance of customer experience.
Get to know your target audience, and see which ecommerce builder enables you to offer the best experience to them, encouraging them to buy and to become loyal customers.
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