5 SHOPIFY ALTERNATIVES IN 2020-21 THAT MAKE ECOMMERCE SIMPLE FOR BEGINNERS


Posted April 19, 2021 by aliceworly12

In 2004, Tobias Lutke, Daniel Weinand, and Scott Luke established an online website to sell snowboards. They tried a bunch of online store builders but were not satisfied with the status quo.

 
In 2004, Tobias Lutke, Daniel Weinand, and Scott Luke created an online website to sell snowboards. They tried many online shop builders but were not satisfied with the status quo. So they decided to build a tool that would operate their website. Soon, they realized that the tool was more powerful than the website business. And so, Shopify was born.

Finally, Shopify is becoming one of the largest eCommerce store builders in the world. In 2009, the company had $ 100 million in sales and decided to launch its own API as well as app store. More than a decade later, Shopify now supports more than 800,000 stores globally and is a $ 125 billion company.

Although the company has shown tremendous growth in its business, it doesn't hurt to say that the market needs have been met by the Shopify platform. The Shopify eCommerce platform works for many businesses, but that doesn't mean it will work for every business.
HERE WHY SHOPPING IS NOT APPROPRIATE FOR EVERY BUSINESS:
Shopify's growth over the years shows that the company has taken several steps to meet inherent market needs. However, the presence of several other companies and the problems traders still face indicate some significant gaps in Shopify's offering:

1. Setup Fee: Each price point offers a fixed set of features and functions. If you want anything more than that, you'll have to buy the next pack. For example - something as conventional as a Gift Card isn't available in the $ 29 per month package; to activate it, pay as much as $ 299 per month.
2. Operating Costs: Additional functions and features are subject to additional costs in your package. Even basic features such as transactions or credit card processing are subject to additional fees. To add it, you have to purchase an app to activate the feature from the Shopify app store. While some apps are free, the ones that offer the maximum value tend to cost $ 39.99 per month.
3. Limited and Expensive Themes: The entire Shopify store has a total of 73 themes, with prices as high as $ 180 for a single theme. This means that as a merchant, even after paying high prices, you will likely end up with an eCommerce platform that barely stands out from the crowd.

In short, while Shopify started with great intentions, the costs of using it started to outweigh the possible value it offers. This issue was highlighted even more when one started looking at Shopify alternatives.

BEST ALTERNATIVE FROM THE SHOPIFY
While Shopify caters to the needs of a specific number of merchants, here are alternatives that can be tailored for merchants looking for a more customized, affordable or customizable solution:


1. Fast eSelling

ESelling Fast is one of the most affordable and easy to implement ecommerce store builders among Shopify alternatives. It can be used in less than 10 minutes for the basic variant. The free variant has several productive features such as a native Android application, a responsive website, and a catalog that can support up to 1000 products.


The free plan requires a 5% transaction fee, which will be waived when you upgrade to a paid plan. All paid plans have a fixed monthly fee and no setup fee. The standard feature list includes a broad set of functions such as customizable web shop themes, SMS & Email marketing, comprehensive payment gateway integration, detailed analytical reports, inventory management system, social media plugins, discount coupon codes, and even live chat.

The premium plan, which costs around 50% of the $ 299 Shopify plan, comes with a dedicated account manager and enterprise-level integration.
Ideal for: Sellers looking for a solution that is affordable, easy to use, and can be implemented quickly.

2. WooCommerce

WooCommerce is popularly considered one of the most preferred alternatives to Shopify. This is quite convenient for website owners as it is a plugin for WordPress.


Unlike other tools on the list, WooCommerce is designed to make a WordPress site function as a functional eCommerce platform. And in that particular aspect, it does a great job.

However, if you are not already using an established, high-traffic WordPress site, running WooCommerce can get really expensive. On average, a website owner should spend as much as $ 1000 to set up a WooCommerce store with a moderate level of customization.

Even if you don't customize much, running a WooCommerce store can cost you as much as $ 150 a month. This will cover your hosting, themes, delivery plugins, security, and SEO. You will pay an additional 2.9% + $ 0.30 per transaction.

Ideal for: Someone who has a successful WordPress website and now wants to turn it into an eCommerce store.

3. Yo! Kart:

Yo! Kart is a popular self-hosted multi-vendor platform for building online marketplaces. Unlike Shopify, it is a standalone platform that comes with a lifetime license and rich ecommerce features. The platform is fully customizable and scalable.


Yo! Package Karts start at $ 999 and each plan comes with 1 year of free technical support, free installation, and full source code. There are no monthly or annual recurring fees.

Given that this is a comprehensive platform, you may need some technical training to understand the system.

Ideal for: Business owners looking to start an ecommerce website like Amazon or ebay where multiple sellers sell under one roof.
4. Prestashop


PrestaShop runs on the basic premise that creating an online eCommerce store should be an affordable exercise for any merchant. That is the reason why it is available free of charge and without additional monthly fees.


Its features include eCommerce functions such as CRM & Email Marketing, Inventory Management, Multi-Store Management, and SEO Management. You can run a basic eCommerce store by paying a domain registration fee and hosting fees.

While this may seem like a great alternative, given the fact that it's practically free, there is one major caveat - you can't implement or personalize your Prestashop eCommerce store unless you know how to code. The entire platform has been designed, keeping people who can code at a professional level in mind. The cost of hiring a developer who can add features to your store or modify themes can be very expensive.

In addition, some basic features such as promotion & review management, data security and mobile access are not available on the platform.

Ideal for: Merchants who have access to programming talent and don't mind a basic eCommerce store.

5. Wix

Wix became popular as an online website builder. It also offers attractive eCommerce functionality. For just $ 35 a year, you can have a Business Basic plan that comes with one year of free domain use, analytics reports, and 20 GB of storage.


If you want more control over the eCommerce platform but are not a professional programmer and are not interested in hiring one, Wix can be a great alternative. The most expensive plan costs around $ 80 a year. It comes with features like email marketing, SEO management, inventory management, data security, and promotion management.

The challenge is - most of the costs Wix marketed was very affordable for the first year of operation. After one year, many of these features, such as domains, will become payable elements. This way as soon as your first year of operation is complete, the costs of running an eCommerce platform will go up dramatically.
Ideal for: Merchants who want to have more control over their website design without the need for coding skills and those who want a largely affordable first year of operation.

Conclusion:

Shopify can work for you if you're looking for a limited set of features. However, for a lower price point, alternatives to Shopify offer great functionality. ESelling Fast is great for cost-effective, fast-to-deploy eCommerce websites that are packed with native features. WooCommerce is a viable option if you have a WordPress site and want to turn it into an eCommerce store. Yo! Kart specializes in building multi-vendor markets.

PrestaShop can be useful and very budget-friendly if you have access to coding talent. And Wix is great if you want even more control over the appearance of your shop, without getting into the programming aspect.
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Issued By Alice Worly
Country United States
Categories Accounting , Banking
Tags ecommerce , shopify alternatives
Last Updated April 19, 2021