Our take on the best e-commerce platforms in the UK (October 2022)
Our take on the best e-commerce platforms in the UK (October 2022)
The best solution for UK business owners
If you aspire to become an independent store owner in the UK, now is the time! With so many e-commerce platforms to choose from, launching your own online business has never been more accessible. These solutions simplify the entire process: from building your e-commerce website to setting up a convenient shopping cart to marketing products, many of these platforms offer it all!
Many e-commerce website builders also allow you to sell physical and digital products, subscriptions, and services online, regardless of your business type.
However, many such e-commerce platforms cater specifically to the needs of US traders. As such, not all are suitable for online sellers around the world. For example, if you’re based in the UK and want to sell to a UK audience, be prepared to take a closer look at potential platforms to make sure they support your:
- Currency
- Tax laws
- Integrates with local shipping providers
To help you with your research, we’ve listed the best e-commerce platforms in the UK. Hopefully, this will serve as inspiration to further your research and set you on the right path to finding the right solution for your business.
The Best Ecommerce Platforms for UK Shops
We’ve now covered what to know when looking for the best e-commerce platform in the UK; we can turn our attention to the top contenders in the English market.
Although these are some of the best-rated e-commerce solutions in the UK, their suitability depends entirely on your business needs.
That said, here’s a list of the platforms we’ll be exploring:
- Shopify
- BigCommerce
- Wix
- Squarespace
- KIM
- Ecwid
- WooCommerce
Whenever we think of e-commerce globally, Shopify immediately comes to mind. In short, Shopify offers one of the most comprehensive eCommerce toolkits for selling, managing, and marketing your online store, especially compared to other alternatives on this list, like Wix and Squarespace.
Notably, Shopify offers:
- A robust POS (point of sale) application
- Multi-channel selling (including Amazon and eBay)
- Discount code generation
- Advanced inventory and order management tools
- Its payment gateway (Shopify Payments) – this does not charge additional payment processing fees
… to name a few!
The platform has a state-of-the-art application and a theme market full of useful customizable plugins and templates. But, on top of that, Shopify also offers a variety of pricing plans that unlock the scalability that serious business owners need to succeed.
Although Shopify’s prices are USD, rest assured: the e-commerce platform allows you to sell and receive money in multiple currencies, GBP included. Pricing starts from $29 per month for the Basic Shopify Plan.
Advantages:
- There is a 14-day free trial available
- Shopify integrates with many payment options
- There is a vast range of store themes available
- You can sell unlimited products on all price plans
- There is an enormous choice of plugins
- Easy scalability makes Shopify fantastic for all kinds of businesses
Disadvantages:
- With premium themes and plugins, costs can add up quickly
- You’re charged additional transaction fees if you don’t use Shopify’s built-in payment processor.
BigCommerce
Scale is already implicit in BigCommerce’s name. So if you want your UK business to grow into an empire and sell across multiple platforms and channels, this could be your e-commerce tool. But while BigCommerce is excellent for growing companies, its advanced features present a steeper learning curve for new users.
BigCommerce offers a vast selection of features (one of the most comprehensive on the market), so most of the tools you’ll need are already built-in. As a result, you don’t have to rely on plugins as much as you might with platforms like Shopify or WooCommerce.
Plus, BigCommerce lets you sell on channels like Amazon, Instagram, eBay, Square, Facebook, and Pinterest, which is excellent for those who want to take omnichannel selling seriously.
Price
Again, don’t let the USD price fool you; BigCommerce is ideally suited for UK businesses. BigCommerce connects with all major UK payment providers and offers a phone number for UK-based telephone support between Monday and Friday, 9 am to 6 am. The cheapest plan starts at $29.95 per month. But, when you consider how many features you can access with this plan, it’s a great value deal!
Advantages:
- There is an integrated visual merchandising tool
- No transaction fees are charged on any plan
- Unlimited storage, bandwidth, and products on any plan
- You can use a wide selection of free apps to expand BigCommerce’s core functionality.
- It’s excellent for multi-channel selling
- You can collect customer ratings and reviews of products
- BigCommerce isn’t as easy to use as other tools
- There is only a small selection of free themes available (12)
Wix
Wix entered the market as an intuitive website builder and is still renowned for being one of the most user-friendly options. With its intuitive drag-and-drop interface and outstanding performance, this platform is excellent for beginners and non-complex professionals.
Wix gives you much creative control over your site and comes with many essential features, including hundreds of customizable templates, a dedicated app store, and mobile-optimized performance. Among your in-depth store management tools, you can create beautiful product galleries, offer a range of payment solutions with secure checkout, and calculate taxes and international shipping costs.
But where Wix falls a bit short compared to some of its competitors is its overall e-commerce functionality. Wix is ​​not entirely focused on e-commerce. Instead, it offers a solid website builder with an easily managed store. Unfortunately, that means it can’t quite compete with Shopify, BigCommerce, or WooCommerce regarding functionality and scalability.
Still, it’s an excellent option for beginners who don’t plan on building an extremely complex online store.
Price
You can start building your Wix website for free if you don’t mind displaying Wix ads on your site. However, to begin selling products, you’ll need to upgrade to Wix’s Business Basic plan (at the very least) for £13 per month.
Advantages:
- There are over 500 attractive templates to customize
- Wix seamlessly integrates with Google Analytics
- You can offer customers multiple secure payment options
- There is a vast range of apps and plugins
- You can start building your site for free
- Wix is ​​easy to use and very beginner-friendly
- There’s a mobile app that lets you manage your website while you’re on the go
- Wix’s eCommerce features are a bit limited
- You cannot export your data from Wix
- Once you choose a Wix template, you cannot change it without losing all of your website content.
Squarespace
Squarespace is one of the best website and e-commerce platforms for designers and creatives looking to showcase their visuals in the best possible light. Squarespace has powerful image editing capabilities and stunning templates, and it lets you post full-width visuals to get that wow factor.
However, compared to competitors like Wix, it’s slightly less intuitive. Instead of an entirely drag-and-drop interface, you can edit sections and layouts with less freedom using Squarespace’s sidebar editing options. However, you can modify your site’s CSS, and you are not limited to specific arrangements when choosing a theme – you have a lot of freedom in this regard.
Regarding e-commerce, Squarespace is a turnkey solution; everything you need is already included. You can sell digital and physical products, memberships, and subscriptions, take reservations, and schedule appointments. Squarespace also comes with abandoned cart recovery and built-in email marketing, and no shortage of store management features.
But the biggest downside? Squarespace doesn’t come with a lot of apps and integrations. Instead, it secures its speed and performance by altogether avoiding third-party influences. So if you want to grow your business, make sure Squarespace has everything you need right from the start; otherwise, you might find yourself a bit stuck later down the line.
Price
Squarespace comes with a fourteen-day free trial but no free plan. You can start a website from £10 a month, but you’ll need the Business plan to start receiving payments and selling products. It costs £15 per month and has a 3% transaction fee. However, you unlock more advanced e-commerce features with the Basic Commerce plan and remove those transaction fees for £20 per month.
Advantages:
- Squarespace’s themes are stunning and responsive – each one is designed to perfection by a professional.
- There are great social media integrations
- Annual plans come with a free domain name
- You get 24/7 customer support
- A free SSL certificate is included with every plan
Disadvantages:
- You’reHigh transaction fees bite you on the cheapest business plan
- Payment options are limited (only Stripe, PayPal, and Apple Pay)
- There is no dedicated app market
Since we are discussing the best e-commerce platforms in the UK, we would be remiss not to mention EKM: Partner of UK Businesses.
EKM has over 70 customizable themes provide the perfect foundation for your online store. Plus, each template is fully customizable with HTML and CSS, so there’s no limit to what you can achieve if you have some coding know-how.
Users can also access a UK-based account manager to help them set up. You can sell through Google Shopping, create a loyalty points system and start a blog. Other e-commerce features include product emergency messages such as “get by” timers and stock warnings. Additionally, you can enable product search on your eCommerce store, automatically manage inventory, and even offer trade discounts for your B2B business.
EKM is also well-suited for multi-channel selling. It allows you to connect to eBay, Amazon, and Etsy marketplaces.
Overall, EKM is a turnkey solution that relies on built-in functionality rather than add-ons from a directory plugin.
Price
You can try EKM for free for 14 days. After that, four premium plans unlock more features, employee accounts, and annual sales limits. The basic plan starts at £34.99 + VAT per month.
Advantages:
- You get three months of access to a dedicated UK account manager
- There are features suitable for B2B businesses, including trade discounts
- Multi-channel selling is possible
- There is a fantastic range of sales, management, and marketing features
- You have access to UK-based support
- This platform was designed for UK businesses
- You can list unlimited products with higher-price plans
- You can integrate with WordPress
- You can sell gift cards
Disadvantages:
- Pricing plans limit how much you can earn each year before you have to upgrade
- The cheapest plan limits you to 500 products
- EKM is more expensive than Shopify and BigCommerce
- There aren’t many integrations or plugins on offer
- All plans charge VAT on top of their existing prices
Ecwid
Ecwid is a fantastic e-commerce platform if you have an existing site and wish to expand it with an online store. You can create an account for free and keep it forever without paying anything. Ecwid easily integrates with existing websites, social logins, and business pages, and all of these storefronts can be managed from a centralized control panel.
Using a simple plugin, if you use Wix, Drupal, Joomla, or WordPress, you can add Ecwid to your existing site.
Ecwiddle’s most notable features include responsive store designs, automatic language detection, and the freedom to add store functionality to multiple platforms at once. Plus, there are no setup or transaction fees, and you can choose from different payment gateways to accept secure payments.
Price
Ecwid comes with a free forever plan which is excellent for UK small businesses. Or there’s the unlimited plan which costs £99 per month and unlocks everything you need to sell online without any limitations:
Advantages:
- Ecwid is excellent for those who already have a website and want to start selling online.
- Ecwide facilitates selling on various social sites
- You benefit from automatic language detection
- Secure payment options are available
- There’s a free plan and simple pricing if you want to upgrade.
Disadvantages:
- There is no stand-alone Ecwid solution – you must create your online store on another website.
- Neither phone support nor live chat support is available on the free plan
- Control panel statistics are not very comprehensive
WooCommerce
WooCommerce is the e-commerce plugin for WordPress, which already powers over a third of all websites online. It is, therefore, no wonder that this platform has caught the attention of thousands of businesses and store owners.
WooCommerce is built on the flexible WordPress CMS and enjoys similar benefits. Like any other WordPress plugin, it works with your site and can be fully customized. You also get access to the same theme and plugin directory, which means you can benefit from thousands and thousands of additional apps for your store.
But, even without these plugin extras, WooCommerce is a powerhouse of functionality when combined with the capabilities of WordPress.
For instance:
- Getting started with dropshipping is easy
- You can launch an omnichannel sales strategy
- You can manage an unlimited number of products and orders
- You will benefit from a wide range of marketing and social media integrations.
Like WordPress, WooCommerce is open-source, meaning you own all your content and products. And to top it off, your store also benefits from the powerful blogging features of WordPress.
Price
Advantages:
WooCommerce is open-source and, therefore, free to install. However, you will need to procure and pay for your web hosting with your WordPress site, and other costs may include premium themes, plugins, or developers if you need additional help customizing your site.
- You can manage an unlimited number of products and orders.
- You can add additional features from thousands of plugins – including SEO tools (search engine optimization), marketing and dropshipping apps, etc.
- WooCommerce is quite affordable – how much you pay depends on the hosting you choose and any premium plugins and themes you buy.
- There is a wide choice of themes.
- You have immense design freedom.
- WooCommerce is built on the powerful WordPress CMS.
Disadvantages:
- To unlock WooCommerce’s full potential, you might need some technical knowledge.
- You may need to pay for third-party plugins and themes to get your desired functionality if you don’t have any coding know-how.
Choosing the Best Ecommerce Platforms in the UK
Just as you would visit and evaluate different rental spaces for a physical store, you need to do some investigative work to decipher the best e-commerce platform for your online store. All have distinct advantages and disadvantages. So, just like choosing a unit for your physical store, some platforms make it easy to start selling immediately. Others, however, require a little extra tinkering or professional help to get you started quickly.
But, it goes without saying that when it comes to choosing the right e-commerce platform in the UK, there are many considerations to take into account – ease of use being just one. . You will also want to determine the design flexibility of the platform, i.e., how much can you customize your store design to bring your vision to life? Or, if you’re not a designer, are there beautiful templates available to help point you in the right direction?
You’ll also want to make sure you can expand the platform’s core functionality. Although you only need a basic storefront to start with, ask yourself what you might need in two years. For example, does the platform integrate with marketing tools, payment providers, inventory management tools, etc., more powerful?
But let’s assume that scalability and design flexibility aren’t significant concerns for your small online store. Then you might be looking for an all-in-one e-commerce solution that offers top-notch user-friendliness and customer support. If that sounds like you, this is where hosted SaaS solutions come into their own. Often these provide everything you need to get started, including free themes and a drag-and-drop web design interface.
In addition to everything we just said, here are some other considerations to keep in mind when choosing the best eCommerce platforms in the UK:
Price
While price isn’t always the most accurate indicator of the best e-commerce solution, your choice will naturally be limited by your budget.
So, make it your mission to assess the value for money of a platform and go for solutions with valuable features at a low price. Luckily, many hosted, open-source frameworks offer a free trial or even a free plan to help you decipher what’s on offer.
Personalization
Although we’ve touched on this before, customization is a big deal, so we figured it required its section. By customization, can you bring your vision to life with the tools provided? Open-source platforms are generally more flexible than their hosted counterparts. However, let’s say you’re neither a web designer nor have the time or inclination to familiarize yourself with web design best practices. In that case, you could benefit from a platform with an intuitive drag-and-drop editor and a range of beautiful, customizable templates.
Marketing
Some e-commerce platforms come with marketing tools already built-in. This includes pop-up banners for your eCommerce site, discounts, coupons, customer loyalty programs, abandoned cart recovery, and email marketing. Remember that you need marketing tools to grow your e-commerce business. If your chosen platform does not include them, it will be an additional cost through third-party tools.
Ease of use
How much, if any, coding knowledge do you need to use the platform successfully? Will you need to manage your server? Do you need to find a host? Open-source platforms may require you to do a lot of this legwork yourself. So, if you don’t know development or technology, you might want to go for a simple self-hosted solution.
Our take on the best e-commerce platforms in the UK (October 2022)
Speed ​​and performance
Slow-loading pages quickly deter customers from spending time on your website. So, fast speed and good performance are essential for the success of your website. Of course, this depends on your web hosting, how clean your website code is, and how well your website images are optimized. A future e-commerce platform can help you with all of these things.
Scalability
Suppose you are now a small company but have high hopes of becoming something iconic. Suppose that sounds like you; look to the future, ensuring any potential platform can grow with you. That is, do the most extensive pricing packages fit your budget? Is an app store or plugin directory allowing you to install new features? Can you buy premium themes? Can you sell unlimited products in a wide range of currencies?
These are all questions worth considering, especially if you plan to use your chosen e-commerce platform for the long term.
Choosing the Best Ecommerce Platform in the UK
The internet has made the world small. So, if you’re a UK startup, there’s no reason you shouldn’t benefit from globally recognized e-commerce platforms that have created thriving online stores worldwide.
But what suits other entrepreneurs may not always immediately suit your business. So which platform should you choose for your UK business?
Suppose it is essential for you to have UK-based support and a dedicated account manager. Then EKM could be a great local choice for you. Although more expensive than many alternatives, it comes with a rich feature set explicitly designed for UK businesses.
Alternatively, for relatively simple stores with big design aspirations, Squarespace is another great all-in-one option. Or if you are looking for more flexibility and want to scale your business in the future. In this case, both Shopify and WordPress combined with WooCommerce should be at the top of your considerations. Both come with hundreds, if not thousands, of plugins and extensions and provide a framework that makes scalability a breeze.
Have any of these e-commerce solutions piqued your interest? Or are you considering other popular eCommerce platforms like Prestashop or Magento? Either way, let us know your thoughts on the best eCommerce platforms in the UK – talk soon!
Flutter vs. React Native: which one to choose?
12 Successful Companies Using React Native in 2022
Reasons to Opt for AngularJS Development Services 2022
When should you change your car battery 2022 ?
Our take on the best e-commerce platforms in the UK (October 2022)
