Top Free E-Commerce Platforms

What are E-commerce Platforms?

What are the Common Features of E-commerce Platforms?

What are the Benefits of E-commerce Platforms?

Who Uses E-commerce Platforms?

In theory, any company that sells online can use e-commerce platforms. In practice, the cost of this type of software can be prohibitive for small businesses. For this reason, these companies usually choose free or limited versions of e-commerce platforms. There are also hundreds of shopping cart tools that can provide sufficient functionality for small companies. Finally, online marketplaces allow these companies to sell their products without investing in e-commerce software. 

E-commerce platforms are most beneficial to medium and large companies who sell their products or services in multiple countries or markets and have complex operations. Since e-commerce platforms provide the most extensive features in the market, this type of software can be used by various employees, customers, and partners.

Employees

Employees from many departments can benefit from using e-commerce platforms, the most important being:

Product management: who make sure that the product information is accurate and up to date and that only active products are available for purchasing online

Marketing: who need to ensure that the products and services sold online are represented and promoted in a manner that protects the brand image and differentiates the company from its competitors

Sales: who define and implement strategies to improve revenues and monitor the performance of the products and services sold by the company

Customer service: who deal with complaints and other interactions with customers that may impact the purchasing process

Additional user personas

Partners: Partners may sell their products and services on the e-commerce platform of a company or their online stores. Partners can also use online marketplace platforms, so they need to synchronize data between these platforms and e-commerce platforms.

Suppliers: They usually provide products and services to other companies and do not sell them directly to consumers. Suppliers need access to e-commerce platforms to provide product information and inventory availability.

Distributors: Distributors buy products from other companies and sell them online. They may sell these products in their online store or online marketplaces. Retailers combine in-store and online sales to target multiple segments of customers or consumers. For this purpose, they need to integrate e-commerce with point of sale (POS) or retail management software.

Customers and consumers: Consumers use e-commerce platforms to look for products and services and to make purchases and payments. The ideal software should provide the easiest and most engaging way to facilitate purchasing.

What are the Alternatives to E-commerce Platforms?

Alternatives to e-commerce platforms can replace this type of software, either partially or completely:

Shopping cart software: This is a lightweight version of e-commerce platforms, with limited functionality that focuses mostly on creating and managing online stores. This option is most beneficial to small businesses that sell a limited range of products.

Marketplace software: This is beneficial for companies that allow partners to sell on their website. This type of software allows each partner to create a separate online store and manage sales independently from the others. 

Omnichannel commerce software: This helps businesses sell their products on multiple channels—online and in store. There are also several online channels such as websites, social media, and mobile devices.

Software Related to E-commerce Platforms

Related solutions that can be used together with e-commerce platforms include:

Inventory control software: This allows companies to manage the availability of the products they sell online. This type of software can also be used to identify the products’ quantities required to fulfill demand, for inventory valuation, and inventory transfers between warehouses and locations. All these features are vital to ensure that companies ship the right products for each consumer and customer.

Accounting and finance software: These tools manage all financial aspects of the sales transactions performed on the e-commerce platform. While consumers do not require invoices and other documents related to a purchase, the high volume of sales data needs to be consolidated and allocated to the appropriate general ledger accounts. For B2B, the volume of transactions isn’t very high, but invoicing is more complicated. Corporate customers may need custom invoices, shipping manifests, and warranty documents. Also, large companies have multiple business units that can purchase online individually or at the corporate level. Payment can also be made by numerous business entities from multiple bank accounts or credit cards.

Product information management (PIM) software: This is a standalone, more sophisticated version of the product management functionality described above. While most e-commerce platforms provide features for product information management, PIM is used by companies selling tens of thousands of products or variations and combinations of items.

Payment gateways: This is usually delivered pre-integrated as part of an e-commerce platform. This type of software can also be used separately by companies who do not want to limit their options to the integrations provided by e-commerce vendors. While most providers of e-commerce platforms offer integration with the most popular payment gateways, other options may be preferable, especially for markets that aren't well served by the main players.

Overview of G2’s categories for e-commerce

Challenges with E-commerce Platforms 

The lack of integration between e-commerce software and other solutions can be a critical issue that can cause the desynchronization of data between online stores and the back office. This, in turn, may lead to lost sales and unhappy consumers.

Another challenge is the ability to transfer product information from e-commerce platforms to other platforms or online marketplaces. Companies using these platforms also need to export sales data and analyze it in accounting or ERP solutions. While there are hundreds of tools to export and import data to and from such platforms, not all e-commerce platforms offer robust features for this purpose.

Which Companies Should Buy E-commerce Platforms?

While any company that sells products or services online can benefit from using e-commerce platforms, this type of software is most beneficial for the following types of businesses:

Retailers: They are embracing e-commerce as an increasing number of consumers prefer to buy online. At the same time, retail companies will continue to sell in store, which means that they need to track sales on all channels. 

Manufacturers: Manufacturing companies use e-commerce for B2B sales but require advanced functionality such as product configuration and quote management. Invoicing is also important for B2B sales, as companies require fiscal documents for each transaction. 

Software companies: These companies use subscription management software, an alternative to e-commerce. This type of software manages software packages, pricing, sales and renewals, and revenue management. Some e-commerce vendors provide some of these features as part of their solutions, but that is the exception rather than the rule.

How to Buy E-commerce Platforms

Selecting the best e-commerce platform for the specific needs of a company can be complicated. 

Requirements Gathering (RFI/RFP) for E-commerce Platforms

Requirements gathering helps companies understand what their users need to be productive at work. For e-commerce, requirements can vary significantly depending on the types of products and services the companies are selling.

There are two main types of products: tangible (physical products) and intangible (virtual goods such as digital content and software). Additionally, some companies may sell age-restricted products or services, such as alcohol or online gambling.

Requirements also vary based on how companies are selling their products and services. This refers to buyer personas (B2B vs. B2C), geographical reach (local or global markets), and channels (online, in store, or through distribution partners)

Prioritization of requirements helps the selection team focus on what matters most for their company. Requirements should cover the present and future needs of the company. The former refers to all features that are needed to keep the company up and running, such as the ability to create online stores, manage product information, and provide a seamless buying experience. The latter depends on the strategy of the company. For instance, expanding into new markets requires features for internationalization such as multilanguage stores and the ability to process payments in different currencies. 

Compare E-commerce Platforms Products

Create a long list

Long lists are created by eliminating the options that do not provide critical functionality. For instance, buyers looking for B2B e-commerce should not consider software that focuses exclusively on B2C. A typical long list should not include more than 10 products unless there are many options that are very similar. In this case, additional details like the geographical presence of the company or its reputation can be used to eliminate vendors.

Product comparison

Buyers have multiple options to compare e-commerce platforms, such as research reports and buyer’s guides, decision support systems, as well as technology review platforms. These resources provide different perspectives on the benefits and challenges of e-commerce platforms. 

RFI distribution is the process of gathering detailed information on software capabilities from vendors. RFIs are usually sent out to the vendor that made it to the long list and can contain hundreds or thousands of criteria. 

What to ask vendors of e-commerce platforms?

Requirements are essential, but there are other details about a vendor that can be dealbreakers, such as:

References: Customer references to allow buyers to get in touch with existing e-commerce users. Open discussions may reveal feedback that users aren’t always comfortable sharing publicly. Software reviews and case studies are also useful.

Partner network: The partner network of the vendor can provide valuable support to global companies. Suppose the vendor doesn’t have an office in Europe, for instance. In that case, a partner can help its customers comply with regulations such as GDPR, which protects the privacy of internet users in the European Union.

Customer support: Support options vary from one vendor to another, from 24/7 availability to only on business days, local or global, and customized support packages. Basic support is usually included in the license cost, but additional services can be quite expensive. Around-the-clock support covers multiple time zones, so customers don’t have to wait for hours to get help. E-commerce companies can lose money even when their system is unavailable for only a few minutes.

Create a short list

Short lists are created by reviewing the RFI information received from vendors. It is possible that some vendors decline to participate and don’t respond to RFIs. These vendors are usually eliminated from the selection process.

Conduct demos

Demos are a great opportunity for buyers to see how e-commerce platforms work. Only the shortlisted vendors are invited to demonstrate their solutions. Demos should be performed live, using the system, not through slide decks and screenshots. All vendors should follow a predetermined scenario that simulates the business processes of the buyer. A common scenario for e-commerce is to add a new product in the system, integrate with inventory management to track its availability, then add it to the online store and go through the purchasing steps that buyers would follow.

Selection of E-commerce Platforms

Choose a selection team

To choose a selection team, decision makers need to involve subject matter experts from all teams that will use the system. For e-commerce, this includes product management, sales and marketing, and inventory. The accounting team should also be involved to evaluate the integration of the e-commerce platform with financial software. 

The selection team needs to analyze all the data gathered from vendors, customer references, software reviews, or reports and research. This task can be daunting because all this information is not homogeneous, making it challenging to analyze.

• Users must get rid of irrelevant data such as research that is too vague to be useful or reviews by users from other industries or geographical locations. A company focusing on the market in North America won’t benefit from knowing what users in Europe think about the software.
• It is important to decide what data is the most significant and then focus on it. Basic features like creating an online store are provided by most vendors, unlike functionality for cart abandonment. Also, buyers may give a higher importance to user reviews than analyst research, or vice versa.
• Users should validate data from multiple sources. The product description on the vendor website, the opinion of an e-commerce expert, and user feedback may be very different from each other. In this situation, buyers should try the product themselves or ask for a demo.

Negotiation

Negotiation happens between the buyer and the short list of vendors. In some cases, there are only two vendors that make it to this stage, which means that they offer similar products. At this point, the dealbreaker is the price of the product, which can vary based on the discounts offered by each vendor. 

The final decision should be based on all the information gathered previously. 

What do E-commerce Platforms Cost?

The types of pricing for e-commerce platforms depend on the delivery model. For on-premises software, vendors sell named or perpetual licenses. For cloud or SaaS e-commerce, the subscription model is used, which allows companies to pay a monthly fee per user. 

There are three types of e-commerce software costs:

• The initial price of an e-commerce platform usually includes the cost of implementation, training, and software licenses
• Ongoing costs such as licenses and maintenance are usually higher for on-premises software
• Additional costs refer to the customization of the e-commerce platform or professional services such as content creation or marketing campaigns

Businesses looking to try an e-commerce platform without an upfront financial commitment may want to consider a free e-commerce platform. More and more vendors are offering free-trials or freemium models that can make these tools more accessible.

Return on Investment (ROI)

The factors that impact ROI can be grouped into two main categories: costs and benefits: 

Costs: This refers to any type of spending related to software such as license costs, training, support, and professional services. The time and effort spent to implement and maintain the software should also be considered. 

Benefits: The benefits are not limited to improving sales and revenues. Other advantages of using e-commerce platforms are increased productivity, better inventory management, and customer satisfaction. These factors impact ROI directly or indirectly, which is why it may be difficult to calculate them.

To calculate ROI, buyers need to estimate software costs and software benefits.

Software costs can include:

• The initial cost of the software, which includes license cost for on-premises software, integration with other systems 
• Implementation and training may include migration from other e-commerce solutions and access to learning portals
• Ongoing license cost and consulting services to optimize the use of the e-commerce platform
• Software maintenance such as regular backups of the product and sales data

Software benefits can include:

• Increased online sales of products and services
• Time saved managing products and processing orders
• Less manual work and data entry for product information
• Reduced number of shipping errors and returns

ROI is calculated as a ratio between the benefits and the costs of the software. When the benefits surpass the costs, the buyers achieve positive ROI.

It is preferable to calculate ROI at least one year after go live since the benefits of the software are not fully realized before that. For e-commerce, companies may need to adjust the platform by configuring it or adding optional features after they start using it. This can generate extra costs, which may impact the ROI.

Implementation of E-commerce Platforms

How are E-commerce Platforms Implemented?

Implementation can be done directly by the vendor, indirectly by one of its partners, or in house by the company that bought the software. 

Who is Responsible for E-commerce Platforms Implementation?

The implementation team usually includes a project manager from the vendor or its partner, subject matter experts from the buyer, and sometimes external consultants. The IT department of the buyer is also involved in the technical aspects of the implementation such as data migration.

What Does the Implementation Process Look Like for E-commerce Platforms?

As most e-commerce systems are subscription based, users may think that the implementation means creating accounts and starting using the software. In reality, implementation can be much more complicated. 

First of all, companies need to migrate data from one or more legacy systems to the new platform. Historical data on sales and inventory, product information, and customer records for B2B are the most important datasets that need to be transferred to a new e-commerce platform.

Secondly, a system may require configuration based on user type and role. Also, user access should be defined so that employees can use the modules and features they need most. For instance, sales may be able to see the inventory availability for a product but should not be able to adjust the quantity.  

Finally, training the users is essential to ensure that they are fully taking advantage of its capabilities. E-commerce platforms can be complicated and self learning is not recommended, especially for modules like product management and e-commerce personalization.

When Should You Implement E-commerce Platforms?

Timing is very important when it comes to e-commerce platform implementation. For instance, implementing this type of software during a peak shopping season is not a good idea because it may disrupt operations. It is therefore critical to define an implementation schedule that works for everyone (employees, managers, vendors, and its partners).

E-commerce Platforms Trends

The evolution of e-commerce platforms will be impacted by new technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and changes in consumer behavior.

Artificial intelligence

AI can be used to personalize the buyer experience or to create bots that can guide buyers through the purchasing process. AI may also help identify fraudulent activity and cyber attacks that can lead to lost revenue and data breaches.

Evolving buyer behavior

Changing buyer behavior is forcing companies and e-commerce vendors to adapt to new ways of shopping. For instance, millennials and members of Gen-Z tend to combine multiple ways to find, compare, choose, and buy products. For each step in their decision-making process, they may use online or offline channels (like stores, events, or public advertising). E-commerce software providers and their customers will need to find ways to engage and influence buyers both online and offline.

Subscription model

E-commerce vendors need to adapt to the increased popularity of the subscription business model, which provides a product or service at regular intervals. Subscription management usually refers to services and software, but some companies also use this sales model for products. A few examples of products sold as a subscription are grooming products or beauty supplies, which are used on a regular basis by consumers. As opposed to traditional e-commerce, subscriptions require regular deliveries and recurring payment options, which aren’t always supported by e-commerce platforms.