Anyone into online selling would attest that using an e-commerce website is one of the brilliant inventions of the Internet. E-commerce websites facilitate the exchange of goods and services and the transaction of funds and data over the Internet. E-commerce relies on technology, digital platforms, websites, mobile apps, and social media to make buying and selling possible.
The e-commerce market is projected to reach $3.6 trillion in the U.S. in 2023. Now that’s a big figure! Revenue shows an annual growth rate; compound annual growth rate 2023-2027 (CAGR) of 11.17%, resulting in a projected market volume of U.S. $1,319.00bn in 2023. China takes the lead in revenue generation, and by 2027, an astounding 5.3 billion users are expected to join the e-commerce market.
Currently, market penetration stands at 57.2%, but brace up because soon it will hit 66.6% by 2027. The implication is that the market size of e-commerce—an estimated U.S. $3.6 trillion and its projected 5.3 billion users—is, in comparative terms, more significant than the gross domestic product of the continent of Africa, which is around 3.1 trillion U.S. dollars.
Although Africa holds a strong position in the industry, the U.S.A., the U.K., and Japan have been globally recognized as the most prominent e-commerce markets. While Asia, China, India, and Indonesia are the fastest-growing e-commerce markets.
Despite the odds, starting up an e-commerce business is an all-to-win procedure for you, from an informed browsing experience to an easy-to-use and secure checkout to a remarkably optimized post-purchase journey.
Major global e-commerce companies are Alibaba.com, Amazon.com, Walmart, and nine other platforms, which we will discuss in this piece and guide you on how you can begin earning big on these e-commerce websites.
12 Best E-commerce Websites
1. Alibaba
Alibaba should be the first e-commerce website choice for successful entrepreneurs who are seriously concerned about selling their goods.
Alibaba charges for services in marketing and technical support instead of admission. The fair charges contribute to a large and robust market of loyal customers. The platform’s profits mainly come from advertisements and keyword bidding, which represent 57% of total profits.
Another essential source of profits (representing 25%) comes from technical services based on big data on consumer behaviours. By removing intermediate fees and allowing sellers to register for free, Alibaba has cultivated easy online transactions for Chinese customers.
Read Also: Top 10 Online Businesses That Pay Daily
2. Amazon
Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) is the world’s biggest online retailer, dealing with over 30 product categories (books, video games, fashion, computers, accessories, beauty products, electronics, and more).
The e-commerce website is at the zenith of success now as it provides each customer with a blissful shopping experience using a customized approach to address the needs of its various customers.
By carefully analyzing the customer’s browsing, purchase history, and shopping behaviours, Amazon offers an easy interface consisting of related items, the history of the products they’ve recently viewed, and recommendations for new purchases, including yours, of course.
3. BestBuy
The BestBuy e-commerce website is another sure bet for you. One of its distinct features is its chat’s popularity. The platform constantly provides new ways of handling typical pre-pandemic shopping transactions.
By moving routine questions and advice into the digital realm, BestBuy discovered it was also able to move some of the routine setup processes involved with its products online.
4. Walmart
Walmart has been changing the face of retail since it opened its first store in 1962, pursuing ways to bring technology into retail to offer customers a seamless shopping experience.
Yes, the Walmart website has tons of items, which may seem overwhelming, but as customers increasingly shop across digital and physical storefronts, the system makes it easy to find just what they need right at their fingertips, offering you a vast market at your doorstep.
5. Square Online
Square Online is an e-commerce platform that allows businesses to sell products with built-in inventory management, a point-of-sale (P.O.S.) system, and the ability to accept payments online.
You have a free plan option, but the paid plans offer far more features to help your small business sell more effectively. Whether you run a brick-and-mortar shop or sell on-location occasionally, you can still use Square’s online e-commerce website to process payments, and the inventory syncs automatically between your online and offline stores.
With Square Online, you can quickly sell on Facebook, Instagram, and other social media platforms.
6. BigCommerce
BigCommerce is another hosted e-commerce solution that offers a compelling alternative. This solution allows business owners to set up their online presence and start selling products online with ease.
If you want an effective SaaS service, you don’t need to own software to use BigCommerce. The BigCommerce platform also works like Shopify, as it comes with a wide variety of customizable templates to choose from to help you design your dream online store.
Even better, you can sell both digital and physical goods. There are even some essential tools provided to help you market your products.
7. Weebly
Weebly provides basic analytics in all its sign-up plans. For example, you can view the total number of people visiting your site, where they came from, and their frequently viewed pages.
On Weebly’s e-commerce website, you can easily monitor engagement on your page, and you can even choose to upgrade to its professional plan if you want more detailed reports and advanced stats.
Read Also: How to Earn Money Online Without Investment
8. WooCommerce
WooCommerce’s online selling platform is an open-source, customizable WordPress plugin that business owners can use to transform their websites and blogs into online storefronts. It offers SEO features, various payment gateways, and options for multichannel.
It’s free to use, features a fully built-out integration with WordPress hosting, and has a large and growing application and extension store. It also requires store owners to be responsible for their Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliance; for WordPress plugins, features like abandoned cart recovery and coupons require additional costs.
9. CoreCommerce
CoreCommerce has a set of impressive features and a great customer support team. Your ease of use keeps improving with each update. Customization is available and implemented promptly.
Support for multiple pricing tiers for each product per customer type is also available. You can quickly get instant support on its chat super quick help feature.
10. Ecwid
Ecwid, which stands for E-commerce Widget, is an e-commerce website that provides a platform for creatives and small business owners worldwide. If you want to design your own beautiful online stores without the need for programmers, you have just found your best shot.
It has a free, customizable Ecwid Instant site with a built-in online store. It integrates any existing website and other platforms like Facebook or Amazon while managing all online and in-person sales in one central location—your Ecwid admin panel.
11. Shopify
Shopify has a strong market presence in the e-commerce space. In 2014, Shopify Plus was launched as a solution for enterprise clients. As a SaaS solution, the Shopify Plus platform offers the benefits of handling PCI compliance, security, and solid uptime stats.
The Shopify Plus platform also offers ease of use, mobile optimization, and a customizable checkout. The Shopify platform has a dedicated Merchant Success Manager and Launch Manager to assist sellers, as well as a robust catalogue of apps, some of which are exclusive to Shopify Plus.
12. Newegg
Newegg is another fantastic online retailer that specializes in electronics and computer hardware. It offers many products, including gaming laptops, CPUs, and graphics cards.
Newegg’s website is user-friendly and provides a seamless shopping experience for users. It also offers a subscription service known as Newegg Premier, which provides exclusive discounts and free shipping on eligible items, so if you are into hardware products, you have a large market here.
Read Also: How to Start a Digital Marketing Agency in Africa
Conclusion
E-commerce websites have been made available for global audience reach; therefore, African business owners and world solution providers should not be left behind.
To become a successful entrepreneur, utilizing e-commerce platforms is good enough, but conscious investment must be made to make it work.
If you are ready to kickstart online selling, the “twelve” e-commerce websites provided in this article create access to a global market, giving opportunities for innovation, growth, and clientele problem-solving.
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