Best B2C eCommerce Platforms 2024

A very significant shift has been taking place in the retail sector for some time now. Commerce globally, is moving online, and while this is no secret ÔÇò the scale at which it is happening, and the impact it is making is significant. Whether one views it as the saviour of the pandemic situation in the past, or simply a convenient way to shop ÔÇò eCommerce is retail redefined.

Statista confirms it with a key stats reveal: in 2025, one in five of all global retail sales is expected to occur online. This can be expected since the industry continues to reach the masses with increasing options, products, and more possibilities.  As the market continues to mature across borders ÔÇò for businesses, eCommerce is quickly moving up the priority ladder ÔÇò from an additional consideration to an imperative.

Given this increased traction, as an aspiring entrepreneur, you might be curious to know, what is the best way to enter this industry, especially considering multiple scenarios of achieving this. The answer lies in various eCommerce platforms, that vary amongst themselves to include multiple startup variables. LetÔÇÖs discuss these top B2C eCommerce platforms.

What is B2C eCommerce and How does it work? LetÔÇÖs know more

Fundamentally, B2C (or Businesses to Consumers) is businesses interacting directly with consumers to sell their products or services. When this engagement takes place online, this is when we call it B2C eCommerce. Furthermore, the websites used for this engagement are eCommerce websites, built specifically for this purpose. They can be of two types i.e. a Single vendor eCommerce website or a Multi-Vendor marketplace website. Understandably, eCommerce platforms offer either single-vendor or multi-vendor functionality.

For instance, a digital storefront such as Apple or Ikea is a business selling its inventory on a digital storefront. This is simply an online store ÔÇò a B2C platform is a solution to launch such an e-store with a single seller.

On the other hand, a website like Amazon has three main participants instead of two. The business owners, who play the role of an intermediary party.  They set up the infrastructure (digital and physical) and provide backend services/support. Moreover, they assign a marketplace operator to manage Admin duties. Then there are third-party vendors selling their inventory or services. Finally the buyers of the platform. A multi-vendor B2C eCommerce platform allows you to launch a marketplace website.

That said, letÔÇÖs analyze what all these B2C eCommerce platforms offer at their core to make this ecosystem function seamlessly, and with aplomb.

Key components of an eCommerce platform

Buyer Engagement: Over the years the industry has analyzed the complete buyer journey in an eCommerce setting. From the moment buyers land on the website with a purchase intent that varies. They then search for products they have in mind, or they may just be aware of the product category. They browse around and find what they are looking for. In the process, they find additional products or services.

For eCommerce platforms, there is a consistent effort to discover and perfect the science behind this, analyzing and crafting all elements in the website, and tailoring the UI/UX in a way to make this process as seamless as possible for the buyers.

Shopping Cart: Once the buyer finds what they are looking for, they need a virtual shopping cart. This keeps their selected products in place while they continue their shopping. Moreover, the capability to pause and resume the shopping process in multiple sessions is an additional advantage.

Checkout and payment infrastructure: Once the buyer is ready to make the purchase, the checkout process assists them in completing the purchase. Moreover, contemporary eCommerce demands the facility of multiple payment methods to offer consumers multiple buying options. For instance, eWallets, cards, bank transfers, and POD are some of the payment options to complete the transaction.

Backend infrastructure: This relates to all the features and their various functionalities to carry out the operations of the eCommerce business. From shipping to taxation to marketing and more, this is the engine of the eCommerce platform.

API integration: Modern-day eCommerce is a dynamic mix of possibilities. To make this work, multiple eCommerce tools come together to support businesses in achieving various goals. For instance, Google Analytics gives businesses key insights into the performance of various elements in an eCommerce business, empowering them to drive effective business decisions.

List of Best B2C eCommerce Platforms:

On a broader level, all eCommerce platforms will allow you to build an eCommerce website. But once get down to intricate details, they vary amongst themselves. Each of these give you certain unique capabilities. You can decide the best fit depending on your business goals. Listed below are the top B2C eCommerce platforms in 2024.

Yo!Kart – Launch and host your Amazon-like marketplace

5000+ businesses globally found an easy process to launch and scale a purpose-built multi-vendor e-marketplace like Amazon. The engine behind their growth has been Yo!Kart. The multivendor marketplace platform has been built from the ground up to power multiple use cases of a multi-seller business. The reason for this is the list of features this solution has to offer.  Moreover, these features give extended capabilities to all platform participants i.e. the operator, sellers, and buyers to engage and transact effortlessly. Significantly the impact comes from a minimalist clean UI and a conversion-driven UX that engages users. Financial goals are also fostered with the support for multiple revenue streams.

A key feature of YoKart is also the low cost of ownership. The solution is available in one-time payment packages that also include extras like free (upto) 1 year tech support, installation, and others.

Highlights of YoKart:

• Self-Hosted eCommerce platform

• Pre-integrated business APIs and payment gateways

• Boost revenue with multiple revenue channels

• Facilitates efficient operations with Logic-driven workflows

• Gives complete control with dedicated dashboards for all users

• Sellers have Independent microstores and other branding features

• Data-driven business decisions with analytics for eCommerce

• Blogging, SEO, and features for eCommerce marketing and branding

• PWA compliant for higher business reach and added buyer convenience

• Mobile apps for Android and iOS available

However some limitations:

• Limited free themes out of the box

• Learning curve is higher due to the list of available features

Prestashop – open-source platform for wide-ranging bespoke projects

An open-source eCommerce platform is a solution that allows one to download and customize on top of it to build their website. It is a low-code solution that gives you a basic platform to work with. However, the overall cost of the platform can be higher, considering the need for extensive customization services. Moreover, that would also depend on the business goal, and the overall customization required. Prestashop is a popular open-source solution when it comes to B2C eCommerce platforms. It builds a single-vendor eCommerce store by default.

Highlights of Prestashop

• Open-source benefits

• Good set of features

• Active community support

• Modular functionality

• Operational features like inventory control

• Freedom of hosting

However some limitations

• Good for smaller businesses

• For complex eCommerce stores, customization costs will be higher

• Customer support can be limited

• Picking the right module can be tedious

• Technical knowledge will be required

Kreezalid – Use SaaS(rented) infrastructure for a multi-seller website

A SaaS (Software as a service) eCommerce platform is a solution that is hosted and owned by the provider itself. If an entrepreneur wishes to use this solution they pay rentals as a recurring charge till the time they wish to use it. So itÔÇÖs easy to get started with a SaaS solution but ownership of the platform will not be there. Kreezalid is a SaaS-based solution, that can help you to start with a marketplace with multiple sellers. The solution offers an intuitive UI. More design themes are available, albeit some can be paid for. Moreover, Kreezalid offers features as a modular plugin approach. The business owner can purchase these plugins and add them to their website for enhanced functionality.

Highlights of Kreezalid

• Easy to use

• Multi-seller support

• Marketing and SEO features

• Order management

• Commission management as a revenue stream

• Flexible rental plans (monthly/yearly)

However some limitations

• Rental payment structure limits long-term business viability

• Some key features are missing

• Users on your website will be limited to the plan you choose

• Enterprises/Bigger businesses can find the platform limiting

BigCommerce – Benefit from a resourceful single-vendor platform

BigCommerce falls in another distinct category. It is another SaaS-based solution. However, this eCommerce platform builds an online store (single-vendor eCommerce website) and it is best suited for larger businesses. So if your requirements are the same, BigCommerce is a good choice. Being a SaaS solution, the platform comes with the typical advantage of easy set-up but the trade-off of recurring charges throughout the business lifecycle, and no ownership. Moreover, it also comes with an annual sales limit starting with just $50,000. Having said that the B2C eCommerce platform comes with some good features such as storefront-designing capabilities, abandon cart feature, product catalog, and the ability to optimize conversions on the platform.

Highlights of BigCommerce

• Entry plan is well designed

• Intuitive website builder

• Marketing and SEO features

• Content Blogging module can be opted for

• Reporting features are there

However some limitations

• Incremental feature list as you move up plans

• Lower plans skip essential eCommerce features

• Free themes are limited

• Can be expensive to use overall

• Customer Service can be insufficient

WooCommerce – Make your WordPress website eCommerce-ready

WordPress is a popular website builder that allows building basic websites. However, WordPress websites donÔÇÖt have eCommerce functionalities. For that there is WooCommerce. It is a plugin for WordPress websites that adds eCommerce functionalities to WordPress websites. So you can create a B2C online store with a single-vendor option and sell your products or services. With this plugin, you get features for inventory management, checkout, shipping operations, and some front end customization capabilities. It further offers some paid extensions and themes to enhance functionality and design.

Highlights of WooCommerce

• User-friendly interface

• Flexible B2C eCommerce platform plugin

• Leverages popularity of WordPress

• Can be utilized as add-on shop built over content marketing WordPress websites

• High compatibility

• SEO features

However some limitations

• Lack of sufficient documentation

• Limited extensions

• Some expenses can be hidden unless scrutinized beforehand

• Shipping management can be better

Wix eCommerce – Build a single-vendor website for free

Wix eCommerce is another B2C eCommerce platform that allows users to build a single-vendor website for free. However, an important detail in this is that you can build the website for free but you canÔÇÖt sell from it. For selling you will have to opt for their plans that start from $199/month onwards. Just like WordPress, WIX eCommerce also has a popular blogging website presence. So content marketers will find this a good option. Furthermore, it has ease of set-up featuring an intuitive CMS that features the ease of using drag-and-drop tools, making the ease of setting up shop easy.

Highlights of Wix

• Intuitive Drag and Drop CMS

• Customizable templates, although some can be paid

• Blogging tools

• Mobile responsive websites

• Social media selling capabilities

However some limitations

• Aggregating all extensions you may need will add up to (high) final costs

• Stock management feature is limited

• Hosting performance can be better. Since it is SaaS solution, you are stuck with the proprietary hosting.

• Some operations are complicated

Squarespace – Unify your brick-and-mortar and online sales

Squarespace is a SaaS B2C eCommerce platform that gives businesses with Brick and Mortar retail operations a good option to add an online sales channel. What separates Squarespace from a platform like Wix eCommerce is the simplicity paired with good features. This makes it ideal for efficient use. So if you compare Wix vs Squarespace, Wix fosters a more creative process of site building while Squarespace brings in higher efficiency, typically suited for existing businesses ÔÇò  giving them a solution for unified physical and online sales.

Highlights of Squarespace

• Mobile responsive design

• A good number of paid front-end templates

• Easy to use

• Ability to use custom code

However some limitations

• Limitation of design flexibility

• Some features need refinement

• Can get expensive

 

To Sum it up

All B2C eCommerce platforms shared in this blog are built to give you certain advantages. They solve a specific purpose for aspiring entrepreneurs. However, the majority are for single-vendor eCommerce stores. The way the eCommerce industry is progressing, multi-vendor eCommerce has a distinct leverage over smaller e-stores. Single-vendor eCommerce has limited application and finds traction with top brands considering online presence. In many scenarios, this is in addition to the presence in other popular multi-vendor websites.

Given these market indicators, existing online stores can consider migrating to multi-vendor eCommerce. For startups, as well, multi-vendor eCommerce is a consideration worth pondering over.

For these reasons, a B2C eCommerce platform like YoKart, which is purpose-built to support multi-seller eCommerce, presents a unique proposition. To add to it the benefits of lifetime ownership and the range of features it offers.

FAQs

Q1. What is a B2C eCommerce platform?

Ans. B2C eCommerce is when businesses sell directly to consumers on a website purpose-built to allow business engagement. A B2C platform is a solution that allows aspiring eCommerce entrepreneurs to build their eCommerce business using the platform.

Q2. How many types of B2C eCommerce platforms are there?

Ans: B2C eCommerce platforms can either be single-vendor or multi-vendor. The former allows you to build an Online store with one seller, wishing to sell own products or services. Examples include Apple store, Ikea, and others. On the other hand, a multi-vendor eCommerce platform allows you to build a marketplace website like Amazon or Etsy.

Q3. What is the biggest example of B2C?

Ans. The biggest example of a B2C website is Amazon. It has a global presence and offers a huge assortment of products. Business model wise, it follows multiple business strategies and can be categorized under multiple definitions. With a revenue of US $574.78B in 2023, it leads the eCommerce world with a significant share of the market.

Q4. Which is the best B2C eCommerce platform?

Ans: Each B2C eCommerce platform comes with its own strengths. But if you consider the current trend in the eCommerce industry, the multi-vendor marketplace model holds the edge with higher consumer traction. Given this market scenario, YoKart gives entrepreneurs the ability to build a contemporary marketplace website like Amazon with a rich feature set. Moreover, one-time pricing structure gives the owners a lifetime of low business overhead advantage. All these virtues make YoKart a compelling B2C eCommerce platform in the current market.