How to choose an online store builder

Whether you’re a startup or building your 10th ecommerce store, keep these elements in mind when considering a platform:

Budget, business plans, and pricing.

How much are you willing to spend each year on your store? What are your plans for growth? Some site builders charge more as you add more products. Think about what your business needs to launch today, but also consider how many products you’ll offer down the road.

Website-building skill level.

How much technical skill do you have? Many builders use drag-and-drop technology to help you create the best ecommerce site, but you’ll still need basic skills to create product pages, add products to your store, and set up any apps or plug-ins. Consider how much experience you have working with software and back-end builders.

Customization.

Do you want a simple website to showcase your products? or do you need more advanced features like adding size charts to product pages and adding a live chat window? Think about how you want your website to look and feel and what extra features you need to make it happen. 

Support.

If you’re newer to building an ecommerce website, you’ll likely need some help. Does your desired site builder have live support and tutorials? Consider a platform that can help you solve problems quickly and easily, so you can get your store live and start selling online.

Payment gateways.

You need payment gateways to accept payments from customers securely and to make payments easy for shoppers. For example, Shop Pay’s express checkout feature can increase checkout speed by four times and help customers get what they want, faster. Shopify also offers integrations with over 100 payment gateways, so you can offer the best options for your shoppers, no matter where they are in the world.