If you are a small business owner or just starting your new ecommerce website and don’t want to invest thousands of dollars in developing it then this article is just for you. Ecommerce has become a new trend for selling products although there are marketplaces like Amazon, eBay, Etsy where you can list your products and sell them without developing your own portal and spending a huge amount on marketing but its always good to have your own e-commerce website so that you can offer special discounts, Quick delivery and build a brand around your portal.
Today we are going to cover the topic “Best Ecommerce website builders for small businesses” and which type of businesses do require their own ecommerce portal.

Does a small business need ecommerce portal?

Now as we have already discussed that there are ecommerce marketplaces where you can sell your products and make money but the problem with such portals is a heavy commission charge that these portals impose from the sellers, No dedicated customer base as this portals has their own servers to hold the customer information, you can not offer special discounts for your customers if you are using these portals.
If you own an ecommerce website then you can do everything mentioned above and a lot more.
Earlier, Creating an ecommerce website was difficult because of a lot of customizations and website development has to be done in order to get a full-fledged Online selling portal but because of websites like Shopify, Bigcommerce, Woocommerce this problem is solved and now anyone can create an Ecommerce website in minutes.
Below we are going to list top Ecommerce website Builders (Free and Paid) using which you can create your own online selling portal.

List of top Free and Paid Ecommerce Website Builders

#1 Woocommerce – best ecommerce website builder for small business

Woocommerce is a free and open-source platform built on WordPress Framework. Woocommerce is a free ecommerce website builder and you only have to pay for the premium themes and plugins which adds extra functionality to your ecommerce platform.
For using Woocommerce you have to install WordPress on a website and then add the Woocommerce Plugin to it. as we said Woocommerce is free to use but for WordPress, you have to purchase hosting from a hosting provider like Godaddy, DigitalOcean which generally costs around $5 per month.
You can refer to a lot of tutorials on Youtube regarding how to set up WordPress on DigitalOcean and how you can start selling products on Woocommerce.
Pros :

• Free to use and open-source
• Good for SEO Purposes
• Lots of Plugins and themes available for free to enhance the look of your Ecommerce Store
• Website building tutorial available
• Free marketing channels integration available
• can run affiliate and ecommerce store together

Cons :

• Need WordPress expert to add extra functionality
• Good servers cost high
• Need to spend time to get friendly with the dashboard
• need technical knowledge for payment gateway and other third-party app integration.

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#2 Shopify – Ecommerce Website Builder

Shopify is a very popular Ecommerce platform with more than 500k active ecommerce stores running and hundreds of new online selling portals are added on each day.
Unlike WordPress which can also be used for blogging and other web development purposes, Shopify is a dedicated ecommerce platform.
With Shopify, you can easily Build a Fullfledged ecommerce website in minutes and start selling products immediately. Its as simple as signing up and adding products to your store.It is the best Ecommerce builder in terms of value for money and features it provides
Shopify offers you a Shopify hosted domain like example.myshopify.com or you can purchase your own domain from Shopify dashboard itself or from third-party domain registration services like Namecheap, domains.com, etc. and link it to your Shopify store.
With Shopify, you can do a lot of things easily and without any technical knowledge also it offers wide range of themes and “Shopify apps” to add extra functionality to your store and help you with a better understanding of your customers and products.
Also, we have to note that Shopify is a self-hosted platform which means you don’t have to purchase a separate hosting account and thus it also helps with maximum website uptime and speed.

Shopify also offers various in-house apps and tools to help store owners to increase their visitors and sell their products and services. Some of the apps are designed specifically to increase your subscribers. Apps like Tada allows your visitors play a fun, engaging game to win a discount in exchange for their email address. With Tada’s Gamified and full-screen pop-ups, you can increase subscribers by 500% and sales by 135% instantly and it will also helps in reducing the rate of shopping cart abandonment.

Pros:

• Easy to use and build ecommerce selling platform
• Add inventory/manage inventory
• Easy integration with third-party payment gateways and marketing apps
• Seamless integration with promotional channels like Google Shopping, Facebook, Instagram, etc
• 14-days trial available for any new customer

Cons:

• Self-hosted platform (You have to use the given functionality only unless you are using Shopify Gold or Shopify Plus)
• Cost is high compared to Woocommerce
• Not that great for SEO purposes
• All Good apps on Shopify are paid and can add extra bucks to your budget.
• can not customize the checkout and thank you page in Shopify basic plan

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#3 Wix – Best Ecommerce Website Builder :

Wix is another popular Website builder tool. If you are looking for a Value for money tool then Wix is perfect for you. It suits all the requirements needed for starting an ecommerce business on a small scale.
Wix offers you a lot of features suitable for small ecommerce websites including inventory management, Shipment Management and tracking, Popular payment gateways integration including Paypal, Stripe and a lot more.
You can also opt-in for free as well as paid themes and features. The basic plan of Wix starts at $23 and you can cancel the subscription anytime.
Wix has a lot of pre-made themes for any type of business for example if you want to start a clothing or shoe business online then you can directly choose a clothing theme or shoe theme from the directory and you will have all the options already customized for you.
Pros:

• Easy to use – Drag and drop builder
• You can start Ecommerce business, Blog, Services business
• Hundreds of themes
• 24/7 chat and Email support team available

Cons:

• Expensive for a small business or for a newbie
• not so many advanced features
• limited access to customization
• No bulk upload product option available

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#4 BigCommerce – ecommerce website builder

BigCommerce is yet another Popular ecommerce builder and a great alternative to Shopify. With Bigcommerce you can create stunning ecommerce websites in minutes and it also offers you a 14 days trial version.
It has built-in marketing options such as SEO optimization, Facebook and Instagram selling channels. Google Shopping integration etc. Even if you are a newbie in this field there are a lot of videos available on Youtube if you are struggling to set up the store.
The Dashboard is user-friendly and anyone can learn to use it in few weeks also if you have any issue with your store then you can simply contact their 24/7 dedicated support team.
Pros:

• Friendly User interface with tons of options
• Multiple marketing channels supported
• Hundreds of themes and apps to choose from
• Dedicated 24/7 support team via chat and email

Cons:

• Fewer options compared to Woocommerce and shopify
• less control over store functionality and customization
• limited inventory and product options
• limited payment gateways and shipping channels integration

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#5 Squarespace – best ecommerce website builder

Squarespace provides you everything that a small scale or medium-level Ecommerce Business needs. With Squarespace ecommerce website builder you can build a “monthly recurring subscription website” sell digital content and physical ecommerce products.
You can manage all your ecommerce products under one dashboard and sell your products globally with easy to use tax and shipping rules also popular payment gateways such as PayPal, Stripe, Authorize.net, Checkout.com, etc can be integrated. You can also accept cryptocurrency as a payment method.
Similar to Shopify you can also connect your online Ecommerce Store with POD services such as Printify.
Pros:

• Easy to use Ecommerce website builder
• Pricing is less compared to other popular website builders
• Create Subscription, Appointment booking, Digital services ecommerce website
• Best themes design compared to Shopify and Bigcommerce.

Cons:

• Fewer Features for a dedicated physical Ecommerce store
• If you want advanced features then you have to pay more
• No dedicated App store
• Everything is paid

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Frequently Asked Questions about Popular Ecommerce Builders

#1 Is there any free trial available?
Ans: Websites like Shopify and Bigcommerce offers 14 days free trial. For Woocommerce you don’t need any sort of Trial as it is a self-hosted and open-source platform.
#2 Can I Use my own domain on these websites?
Ans: Yes, Almost all the websites offer you to use your own domain name or you can also purchase the domain from the dashboard of each Ecommerce building platform.
#3 Is it possible to sell Print on demand products on these portals?
Ans: Ecommerce website building platforms like Shopify and Bigcommerce have some Top Print-on-demand suppliers like Printify, Printful, Pillow Profits which offers you a wide range of POD Products.
#4 Which Platform supports major Payment Gateways?
Ans: If you are looking for a Great payment gateways integration then you should opt-in for Shopify as it offers all the major payment gateways including PayPal, Shopify Payments, Stripe, Authorize.net, Payumoney, Paytm, Instamojo. If you are looking to use Bluesnap payment gateway then You should subscribe to Bigcommerce.

Conclusion

There are a lot of other Ecommerce website builders out there this is just a small list of best ecommerce website builders. As you have already read above that every e-commerce platform is unique in its own way and you have to choose for the one that is suitable for your business and meets your Ecommerce requirements. as some platforms only product you dedicated e-commerce features some can also be used for blogging and digital products websites.
If you have any issues or questions please drop your comment below and we will try to help you.

Ecommerce is a trending and profitable niche of 2019 and hopefully, it will continue to gain more popularity in upcoming years. The issue with Ecommerce business in India or any other part of the world, especially in countries like Canada, UK, Germany among others or some states in the USA like California, Alaska, Avada, Texas, has a lot of rules and regulations surrounding the E-commerce or any online selling Business.
In many cases, you need some permissions and licenses from the local governmental authorities in order to sell online. Today we are going to talk about how you can apply for a license to sell online on popular eCommerce building portals like Shopify, Bigcommerce, Magento or Woocommerce.

What is a Business License?

A business license is a Government document issued to any online or offline seller (according to the nature of business). It is important to have a business license in order to manufacture products, Manage inventory and sell online.
Now there are different online business types and thus licenses vary according to your business although you have to do research before applying for the license and know which type of license does apply for your business.
There are many factors affecting the business license type and documents required to submit for obtaining the license and the important factors among all is the location of the business, Type of the business, digital or physical product listing, Taxation etc.

Is it important to get a business license to sell online?

Yes, you will be required to provide a business license for a lot of different online activities such as :

• Getting approval from payment gateways.
• Shipping services.
• Fulfillment services.
• Taxation and yearly audit.
• Selling products internationally.
• Getting products from other countries to your local warehouse.

It is also important to note that this are just a few of the important places where you require a Business license but there are many other sectors where you have to submit your business license in order to gain trust and verification purposes.
Selling products online may get you easier access to your customers and gain global outreach but this does not mean that you are excluded from business license procedure. You are also entitled to a business license even if you are operating from your bedroom having no employees, Physical company location or using third party fulfillment service like Oberlo, Dropified.

Does Registering a company similar to getting a Business license?

Company registration is mainly done for incorporation purposes (Getting a legal name for your company) or for taxation purposes but getting a business license is for selling anything online or offline. In simple words, the business license permits you to sell your products without any hassle or government interference as long as you have the license.
Many Countries and states do not require a business license until you are doing X no of sales. But for many other countries or even local bodies, it is important to have a license even before launching your product line.
Before starting anything just go to the local authorities or any person who is in a similar business and ask them for the required documents for obtaining the license.

What are the types of business licenses in different countries and locations?

Business license nature and distribution may vary according to different states and locations your business operates in. Below we are mentioning common business license types and governmental bodies issuing the licenses.

City Business License :

It is a normal license and you can get it easily without much hassle or without submitting many documents. For obtaining a City or local business license you have to visit the local government officials and tell them about the nature of your business, Operational location for business, Online/Offline scope of the business, etc.

State Business License :

State business license is required for specific occupation like

• Doctor
• Building Contractor
• Architecture
• Pharmacist
• Electrician
• Plumber
• Insurance agent

This is mainly done to ensure that the person providing the services is a professional in their respective field and can do the work effectively and it is important for a person to obtain a license in order to ensure the safety of the citizens and to avoid bogus people from entering the profession and not providing any real value.

Federal Business License :

Although, Not all businesses are required to obtain a Federal Business License we are still covering the topic to understand what nature of business comes under the Federal Government watch. Below are the business verticals which requires the Federal Business License:

• Manufacturing, Importing or selling alcohol
• Pet Shop or animals related business
• Dealing in firecrackers
• Manufacturing or dealing of Firearms, ammunitions
• Natural gas or Petroleum plant
• Transportation service
• Shipping service

You can easily get more information about the businesses required to obtain state and federal licenses from your country’s website or any other government website which handles and permits licenses in your state or country.

Which Businesses Needs License to sell online or for starting an Ecommerce Business?

For many eCommerce Business types you do not need any Specific license like for shopping niche, third-party Electronics, Digital Services, etc. but there are still other businesses for which you will need a license to sell online. Below are a few of them :

• Selling Skincare products online
• Selling private-labeled electronic gadgets
• Selling food, Beverages, and other consumable items
• Baby food and baby products
• For selling alcohol or other drugs
• for selling marijuana and marijuana-related products
• for selling sex toys or sexual treatment medicines

If you are manufacturing anything from your home or locally then you must inform your local government about the same and obtain local manufacturing license otherwise you will be flooded with heavy fines and sometimes serious legal charges.

Difference between sellers permit and business license

Sellers permit and business license are two completely different things. I have seen people mistaking both the things to be the same.
A Business license helps you to run your business in any location or niche whereas a seller’s permit is used for selling rights and taxation purposes. to put this in simple words a seller’s permit allows you to sell specific products that come under the license issued to you and business license helps you to register your company as a legit business and operate under its name.

How do I know more about my local Business rules and regulations to obtain a license?

You can easily get information about your state’s or local business rules by visiting their respective websites or by hiring a lawyer or firm which generally helps you to obtain this type of license. You can also search for the person on the internet or on websites like fiverr.com, Upwork.com, Peopleperhour.com Here you can get experts for as low as $5 per hour.

How do I get a Business License in my Country?

Below we are listing some official websites from where you can obtain your Business license and also look for the documents required for the approval.
Apply for Business License in the United States of America:
https://www.sba.gov
Apply for Business License in Canada:
https://canadabusiness.ca/government/permits-and-licences/
Apply for Business License in India:
https://www.indiafilings.com/learn/licenses-required-business/
Apply for Business License in the UK:
https://www.gov.uk/set-up-business
For all other countries, you can refer to Google Search Engine and search for “Apply for Business license <country name>”.

Conclusion

If you are dealing with third-party sellers or manufacturers then it’s not required to obtain a license just for selling. Also if you are operating from home and running a small online E-commerce store then also in many cases you don’t need any business license just a simple company registration document is enough but if you are dealing in industries like skincare, baby products, Food and illegal substances like alcohol or marijuana it’s better to look for the license information on government portals and on internet to get the basic idea of what are the rules and regulations and how it can affect your business or whether you will need a license for operating the specific business in your area or worldwide.