The Most Important Factors to Consider When Looking for the Best Platform to Sell Online

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Themes and Design – Not every eCommerce platform has templates and themes to help you get started with the design process. Others provide large libraries of ready-made themes that cater to a wide range of industries. We look for themes that work well, look great, and don’t cost too much. It’s also nice to see large theme collections and focus on specific industries.
App Offerings – Extensibility increases your chances of creating a sophisticated online store without having to hire and pay for a developer. You don’t want to use too many apps for your store (they can sometimes cause performance issues), but it’s ideal to have at least options for social media , marketing, design, sales, etc.

Sales Channels – Selling online isn’t just about having your own website. It’s often necessary to sync your inventory with marketplaces like eBay and Amazon. We also like to see integration with stores and social media marketplaces like Instagram and Facebook .
Social Media Support: Social ukraine number data media integrations vary in functionality, so we're interested in evaluating all of them. Obviously, integration with social marketplaces and shopping carts is nice to see, but it's also important to have sharing buttons, galleries, and buttons to attract new followers.
Advertising and Sponsored Posts – Instagram, Pinterest, and many other social networks include tools to advertise your products and even link to products in your photos (like Shoppable Pins on Pinterest). Overall, it’s much easier to advertise your store when the information is integrated and synced with your store, eliminating the need to create your own graphics and upload them to individual social networks.
Payment Gateways – Every method of selling online offers integration with payment gateways. Some are limited to the main ones, like PayPal or Stripe, while others offer long lists of third-party payment gateways. On one hand, it’s easy to only have a few reliable options for processing payments. However, some stores need specific payment gateways to reduce listing fees , or for other reasons, like geographic location or the type of products they sell.

Fulfillment options – Some platforms provide their own fulfillment solutions, but this is not very common. In any case, you need to know what fulfillment methods are provided, considering that you may need dropshipping, pickup, or third-party logistics. Each of these methods is completely different and requires alternative third-party or built-in solutions.
Shipping Options – All shipping options vary depending on the products you sell. However, the best situation is to have multiple shipping options to cover all possible scenarios. Whether it’s dynamic shipping rates or flat rates, you still want to have the option. It’s also ideal to have additional shipping tools like automatic shipping calculations, sending emails, and even printing labels. We also want to evaluate whether digital shipping emails and security tools work well .
Marketing tools – does the platform eliminate the need for other software ? We are talking about email marketing, abandoned cart emails, pop-ups and many other elements necessary for proper product marketing.