Best Ecommerce Platform for Small Business UK

Are you looking for an e-commerce platform for your business? Do you want an affordable solution to set up and run your online store? If yes, our list below will help you choose the best ecommerce platform for small business UK.

Choosing the right solution has become a challenge for small business owners because of the availability of numerous options. That is why, we are throwing some light on the top e-commerce platforms suitable for UK business.

Let’s get into it.

4 Best ecommerce platform for small business in the UK

An e-commerce solution suitable for one owner might not be the right choice for another. So consider the platform features and other aspects when selecting one for your store:

Shopify (Best for non-tech savvy Business Owners)

Shopify is a leading e-commerce platform that was established in 2006. Since then, it has become one of the most popular e-commerce platforms globally.

Shopify provides businesses of all sizes the tools they need to succeed in the digital marketplace. It is an excellent choice for companies looking to establish or expand their online presence.

Pros of Shopify

1. Ease of Use: Shopify is known for its user-friendly interface and intuitive setup process.
2. App Ecosystem: It offers a vast array of third-party apps and integrations that helps extend the functionality of your store.
3. Design Customization: Shopify provides a wide range of templates that can be customized to fit your brand’s look and feel. It also allows deeper customization through HTML, CSS, and JavaScript editing.
4. Scalability: It is designed to grow with your business. It can handle high-traffic volumes and large product catalogs without compromising performance.

Cons of Shopify

1. Transaction Fees: Shopify charges transaction fees for third-party payment gateways if you do not use Shopify Payments.
2. Customization Limitations: Shopify does not offer the same level of flexibility as open-source platforms like WooCommerce or Magento.

Key Features of Shopify

• Shopify offers a user-friendly interface for intuitive store management.
• It provides access to a vast App Store with thousands of apps for enhancing store functionality.
• Responsive themes and mobile-friendly design ensures optimal viewing on all devices.
• Shopify provides secure hosting with SSL certification and PCI compliance.
• It supports various payment options including Shopify Payments and third-party gateways.
• It helps customize store design with a wide range of professionally designed themes.

Shopify Pricing structure

Shopify offers a 3-day free trial. Additionally, it charges only £1 for the first month for the first 3 plans listed below:

• Basic Shopify: £19 per month (on a 1-year term)
• Shopify: £49 per month (on a 1-year term)
• Advanced Shopify: £259 per month (on a 1-year term)
• Shopify Plus: Custom pricing (typically costs $2,300 per month on a 3-year term)

WooCommerce (Best for Organizations on a tight budget)

WooCommerce is an open-source plugin designed for WordPress websites. Developed by Automattic, the creators of WordPress, WooCommerce seamlessly integrates with WordPress sites.

It allows you to convert your WP website to a store and sell products or services online. WooCommerce is highly flexible and scalable. This makes it popular among businesses of all sizes looking to establish an online presence.

Pros of WooCommerce

1. Integration with WordPress: It seamlessly integrates with WordPress. This helps leveraging its powerful Content Management System (CMS) capabilities and extensive plugin ecosystem.
2. Cost-Effective: WooCommerce itself is free and open-source, making it a cost-effective solution.
3. Flexibility and Customization: It offers extensive customization options through themes and plugins.
4. Scalability: WooCommerce is scalable. It can accommodate stores of varying sizes and help them grow.
5. Community and Support: WooCommerce benefits from a supportive community of developers, designers, and users. This community provides resources, forums, and documentation.

Cons of WooCommerce

1. Complexity for Beginners: WooCommerce operates as a plugin for WordPress. This means setting it up requires familiarity with WordPress itself.
2. Cost of Add-ons and Extensions: While WooCommerce itself is free, the ecosystem of add-ons, extensions, themes, and plugins can become costly.

Key Features of WooCommerce

• It allows creating and customizing product pages with images, descriptions, variations, and prices.
• You can set up diverse shipping methods and rates, including flat rates, free shipping, and location-specific options.
• It integrates extremely well with WordPress.
• Its analytics and reporting feature allows accessing detailed reports on sales, customer behavior, and performance insights.
• WooCommerce offers extensive customization options through themes and plugins that help extend store functionality.
• Its built-in SEO tools optimize product pages and improve search engine visibility.
• WooCommerce has a large community of developers, designers, and users.

WooCommerce Pricing structure

WooCommerce is a free plugin for WordPress websites. However, you will have to invest in purchasing a domain name and hosting for your store.

BigCommerce (Best for Small & Medium-sized Businesses)

BigCommerce enables businesses to create and manage online stores with ease. It provides a comprehensive suite of tools and features. This helps businesses in building, customizing, and scaling e-commerce operations.

Designed for scalability, BigCommerce caters to businesses of all sizes, from startups to enterprise-level operations. The platform empowers merchants to establish and grow their online presence effectively.

Pros of BigCommerce

1. Scalability and Performance: BigCommerce is built to handle high-traffic volumes and large product catalogs without compromising performance.
2. Built-in Features and Tools: The platform offers a comprehensive set of built-in features and tools. This reduces the need for third-party plugins or extensions.
3. Security and Compliance: BigCommerce prioritizes security with features such as SSL certification, PCI compliance, and protection against DDoS attacks.
4. Support and Resources: BigCommerce provides customer support through various channels, including 24/7 live chat, phone support, email, and a comprehensive knowledge base.

Cons of BigCommerce

1. High Cost: BigCommerce can be relatively more expensive than some other e-commerce platforms.
2. Learning Curve: A beginner goes through a learning curve to navigate the BigCommerce interface, features, and settings.

Key Features of BigCommerce

• It is built to handle high traffic and large product catalogs, scaling effortlessly as your business grows.
• It has built-in marketing tools, including SEO features, built-in blogging, and integration with social media platforms.
• It supports multi-channel selling, thereby enabling you to sell on Facebook, Instagram, Amazon, and eBay from a single dashboard.
• BigCommerce has a flexible product catalog with advanced product options, variants, and dynamic pricing rules.
• The platform has built-in security features including SSL certification, PCI compliance, and protection against DDoS attacks.

BigCommerce Pricing Structure

BigCommerce offers a 15-day free trial for the first 3 plans listed below:

• Standard: $29 per month (about £23) (on a 1-year term)
• Plus: $79 per month (around £64) (on a 1-year term)
• Pro: $299 per month (around £240) (on a 1-year term)
• Enterprise: Custom pricing

Magento (Best for Large Businesses)

Magento is an open-source e-commerce platform known for its flexibility and robust features. It provides merchants with a highly customizable environment to create and manage online stores.

Magento supports a wide range of e-commerce capabilities and advanced marketing tools. Its open-source nature makes it suitable for businesses seeking a scalable and tailored e-commerce solution.

Pros of Magento

1. Scalability: Magento is highly scalable. It can support large volumes of products, orders, and website traffic.
2. Flexibility and Customization: It offers flexibility and extensive customization options. The platform supports custom extensions, themes, and integrations.
3. Open-Source Community: Magento’s open-source nature fosters a vibrant community of developers and contributors. They continuously enhance the platform’s capabilities.
4. Enterprise-Grade Security: Magento prioritizes security with built-in features like secure payment gateways, PCI compliance, data encryption, and regular security patches.

Cons of Magento

1. Complexity and Learning Curve: Magento has a steep learning curve, particularly for users with limited technical expertise.
2. Cost and Resources: While Magento Community Edition is free and open-source, Magento Commerce (formerly Magento Enterprise) involves significant costs.

Key Features of Magento

• Magento enables you to manage extensive product catalogs with support for configurable products, product bundles, and advanced pricing rules.
• You can set up various pricing structures, including discounts and promotions.
• You will get a scalable architecture that supports high traffic volumes while maintaining performance.
• Magento has highly customizable themes and templates with support for HTML, CSS, and JavaScript customization.
• Multi-store management is possible with a single Magento installation.
• It has extensive integration options with third-party systems for ERP, CRM, and other business tools.

Magento Pricing Structure

Magento offers three main editions:

• Magento Open Source: Free
• Magento Commerce: Starts from $22,000 per annum
• Magento Commerce Cloud: Starts from $40,000 per annum

7 Factors to Consider When Choosing an Ecommerce Platform

Ease of Use

User-friendly interfaces are important for both merchants and customers. They enhance operational efficiency, customer satisfaction, and overall user experience.

For merchants, intuitive interfaces simplify management tasks. It leads to increased productivity and reduced errors. Meanwhile, customers have seamless access to product information, smooth checkout processes, and personalized recommendations.

Thus, look for the user-friendliness of your preferred e-commerce platform. It will be beneficial for you as well as your customers.

Scalability

The ability of an e-commerce platform to scale with a growing business is crucial for long-term success. Scalability ensures the accommodation of higher levels of website traffic without performance degradation.

Additionally, a scalable platform supports the addition of new products and categories. This flexibility allows businesses to adapt quickly to market demands.

Payment Options

Your ideal e-commerce platform must offer support for a variety of payment methods. Look for traditional options like credit cards & PayPal, and newer alternatives such as Apple Pay.

Businesses can accommodate different customer preferences by offering multiple payment choices. It also ensures customer trust and enhances the overall shopping experience.

Integration Capabilities

Choose an e-commerce platform that seamlessly integrates with other tools. It includes email marketing software, CRM systems, and inventory management. Integration capabilities enable automated data syncing across platforms.

It helps you with improving operational efficiency and enhancing customer relationships. Therefore, selecting a platform with excellent integration capabilities maximizes your growth potential.

Customer Support

Consider the availability and quality of customer service that aligns with your business hours. Look for platforms offering robust customer support during UK working hours. This will ensure resolving issues promptly without time zone delays.

Additionally, check the availability of multiple support channels. The knowledge and responsiveness of the support team will ensure high-quality service.

SEO and Marketing Tools

Consider features that optimize your store for search engines and marketing. Look for platforms that offer SEO-friendly features like customizable URLs, meta tags, and sitemaps.

Built-in tools for keyword optimization and integration with analytics platforms can provide valuable insights.

Additionally, look for marketing features like email marketing, social media integration, and promotional campaign management. Choosing a platform with these capabilities helps maximize your store’s visibility.

Pricing Structure

Understand the overall costs involved when choosing an e-commerce platform. Consider transaction fees for each sale. Evaluate monthly fee that the platform charges for its services and features.

Also, consider additional charges for premium themes, plugins, or integrations. Understanding these costs upfront helps you choose a platform that aligns with your financial goals.

Best ecommerce platform for small business UK?

A single platform is not perfect for all businesses. Consider our recommendations based on your business needs when selecting one:

Shopify: It is ideal if you’re not tech-savvy and want to focus entirely on your business. Shopify’s intuitive interface is perfect for setting up simple e-commerce sites. You’ll also get reliable customer support during UK business hours.

WooCommerce: It is an excellent option if you’re seeking affordability and extensive customization capabilities.

Being a free WP plugin, WooCommerce is best for budget-conscious entrepreneurs. It allows for complete flexibility in design and functionality with its vast library of plugins and themes.

Magento: It is a perfect fit for large businesses aiming for rapid scalability and extensive customization.

Magento’s advanced features help to handle large inventories and complex e-commerce operations. The platform ensures customization by supporting integration with multiple third-party extensions and tools.

BigCommerce: It is an excellent choice for small to medium-sized businesses seeking scalability. It offers a user-friendly interface and a range of built-in features that simplify e-commerce operations.

The platform has built-in features to comply with EU VAT and other regulations. This makes it an ideal choice for UK businesses.

Case Studies/Success Stories

We collected real-life examples of UK businesses that have successfully utilized these platforms. Here are some insights into their decision-making process and the outcomes:

Shopify

Gymshark

Gymshark has made a significant impact both in the UK and globally within the fitness apparel industry. It utilizes Shopify for its scalability, user-friendly interface, and robust customization options.

The brand uses Shopify Scripts on Shopify Plus servers for customizations. Gymshark reached £41 million in sales in 2017 using Shopify.

Tropic Skincare

Tropic Skincare is known for its natural and sustainable products. The brand has a loyal customer base worldwide through its commitment to ethical practices.

Tropic Skincare opted for Shopify due to its robust features that support seamless online sales. Shopify Plus has helped the brand in efficiently optimizing its store performance while catering to a global audience.

WooCommerce

Porter and York

Porter and York is a premium meat supplier founded in the USA. It has established a notable presence in the UK and worldwide markets.

The brand chose WooCommerce for its online operations which helped in its worldwide expansion. The platform helped the company maintain a personalized online shopping experience while managing complex logistics and inventory.

Bang on Books

Bang on Books is a leading provider of personalized children’s books. It has carved out a significant niche in the UK and worldwide markets.

The company adopted WooCommerce to resolve its website coding and speed issues. The platform also helped them create a personalized shopping experience for customers globally.

BigCommerce

The London Tile Company

The London Tile Company has established a prominent position in the UK’s home improvement sector. It is renowned globally for its extensive selection of tiles and exceptional customer service.

The company utilized BigCommerce’s robust features to build customizable storefronts. The platform provided the brand with extensive freedom to optimize and enhance the customer experience.

Rohan

Rohan is a clothing brand known for its durable and innovative apparel designed for adventurers. The brand opted for BigCommerce to efficiently handle backend operations.

The platform helped the company in scaling business and enhancing customer engagement. It resulted in more than 1200% increase in conversions and a 77% increment in engagement sessions per user.

Magento

Missguided

Missguided is a significant player in the UK fashion retail market and has also made an impact worldwide. Missguided has expanded its reach globally through online sales and adopted Magento in 2012.

The platform helped the brand in managing rapid growth and maintaining brand consistency across multiple markets. Magento’s support for multiple languages, currencies, and tax regulations facilitated the brand in its global operations.

Paul Smith

Paul Smith is an iconic British fashion brand established by Sir Paul Smith in 1970. It has achieved significant stature both in the UK and globally for its distinctive designs.

Paul Smith selected Magento to utilize its powerful features and enhance the brand’s online presence. Magento helps the brand deliver a seamless digital shopping experience. It also enables the company to maintain its brand image of quality and innovation.

Legal and Compliance Considerations

E-commerce businesses in the UK must adhere to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). It governs the collection, processing, and protection of personal data.

Additionally, businesses must follow other UK-specific regulations. It includes the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) and the Consumer Rights Act.

Compliance with these regulations is essential for e-commerce businesses to maintain legal compliance. E-commerce platforms assist in complying with GDPR and UK-specific regulations:

Shopify: It offers built-in tools for generating privacy policies and managing cookie consent. It helps secure customer data through PCI DSS compliance.

WooCommerce: It supports GDPR compliance through extensions for privacy policy generation and cookie consent management. It also supports integration with GDPR tools.

BigCommerce: It includes built-in tools for GDPR compliance. It has data encryption, secure checkout processes, and settings for managing customer data rights.

Magento: It provides extensive customization options to implement GDPR-compliant features like data access requests and cookie consent banners.

These platforms allow e-commerce businesses to comply with the legal requirements. This helps them operate without any issues in the UK market.

Conclusion

Choosing the best ecommerce platform for small business UK involves a few considerations. Keeping them in mind, we recommend going with Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, or Magento.

Stay away from the other e-commerce platforms, especially Wix. It offers limited scalability and customization. Many Wix users also experience slow page loading.

FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

Best website builder for ecommerce UK?

Shopify is the best website builder for e-commerce in the UK. It offers comprehensive features, scalability, ease of use, and effective legal compliance for UK businesses.

How much does an ecommerce website cost in the UK?

The cost of an e-commerce website in the UK ranges from £10 to £10,000 and even more. It depends on the e-commerce platform you choose in addition to the website’s complexity, features, and customization.

What is the best payment gateway for the UK?

Stripe is often considered the best payment gateway for the UK. It offers excellent features, competitive pricing, and seamless integration options with popular e-commerce platforms.

Is the UK good for eCommerce?

Yes, the UK is good for e-commerce due to its strong digital infrastructure and high internet penetration. Additionally, it has a mature consumer market and a supportive regulatory environment conducive to online business growth.

What is the size of the UK ecommerce market?

As per Statista, the UK e-commerce market size exceeded £100 billion in 2023.