When it comes to building a business there’s a lot of worry involved no matter what kind of business you have. So any measures you can take to decrease your risk is important not only for your business but for your sanity as well!
A major source of worry for ecommerce business owners are ecommerce sales platforms and marketplaces. Let’s dig in and see how to cut back on the worry to sleep better at night.
The Downside of Online Marketplaces
When it comes to building an online business no single marketplace is totally worry-free.
Look at marketplaces like Amazon, eBay or Walmart for example; There will always be a risk of getting shut down and banned. This poses a HUGE risk to your business if you do the majority of your sales on one of these marketplaces.
Some Amazon sellers have reported losing hundreds of thousands of dollars as a result of getting banned. And these bans can happen through no fault of your own if a customer tries to game the system to get a free return. Some companies will even pay people to leave negative reviews on their competitors products.
So while marketplaces are a great place to get traffic, there’s also a lot of risk involved if you depend too heavily on them. Countless sellers have lost sleep worrying over marketplaces, wondering if the rug is going to get ripped out from under them unexpectedly.
In general, the more control you have, the less you have to worry. That’s why having your own website and ecommerce store is the least worrisome option since you have total control.
Top 3 Most Worry-Free Ecommerce Platforms
1. Shopify
Shopify is probably the most popular ecommerce platform. It’s easy-to-use but difficult to break which makes it worry-free but this also limits how much customization you can have.
There are fees involved with Shopify to maintain your website and also for credit card processing but there are also fees and commissions to pay for any ecommerce marketplace you decide to sell on so in general extra costs are difficult to escape.
On the upside Shopify is trustworthy, they boast large clients like Bombas socks, Gymshark, and Nestle.
Pros:
- Quick set up
- Simple to learn
- Get started selling quickly
- Many plug-ins
Cons:
- Very little customization
- Limits content marketing
- Pricing and fees
Shopify only has 1.5 stars on Trustpilot so it’s not for everyone! Here’s what some customers have to say…
The Good
The Bad
2. WooCommerce
WooCommerce is one of the most popular ecommerce platforms among Ship Central customers. While it isn’t exactly turnkey, it offers a lot of customization and is great for building your SEO. You can turn any WordPress website into a store with WooCommerce. Another great advantage is that you can run both and ecommerce and affiliate site under one roof.
Pros:
- Best Platform for SEO
- 1-Click Selling Apps Available
- Lots of Service Providers
Cons:
- Hosting Can Be Expensive
- Difficult to Troubleshoot
- Needs Lots of Extensions
WooCommerce has 3.0 stars Trustpilot. Here’s what some customers have to say…
The Good
The Bad
3. UltraCart
UltraCart is another popular choice among our customers here at Ship Central. It’s a full-featured ecommerce site builder. That means that there’s a lot of features and opportunity for customization. It also means that UltraCart is more complicated than turnkey options like Shopify. UltraCart boasts on their site that “serious ecommerce starts here.” It’s definitely a platform that’s for serious ecommerce sellers looking to build and scale a business not just sell a few products on the side.
Pros:
- Scalable
- Good Customer Support
- Simple Pricing Plans
Cons:
- Moderate Learning Curve
- Requires Developer Skills
- No Smartphone Integrations
UltraCart has 4.5 stars on Capterra. Here’s what some customers have to say…
The Takeaway
There’s no such thing as a totally worry-free business no matter what type of business you have but there are ways to reduce risk. Creating your own ecommerce website for an online business is one way to reduce your worry. While marketplaces are great of acquiring new customers they have total control over how you do business with them. Ecommerce marketplaces are a great part of a larger strategy.
The point is, don’t put your eggs all in basket no matter how good that basket might look!
As your business grows and you spread out across multiple platforms fulfillment can get complicated. At Ship Central fulfillment we can help! Our software integrates with most major ecommerce platforms so that we can automatically ship orders within 24-hours.