Which Online Store/Cart?

Over the years, when it comes to online stores I have worked with several e-commerce shopping carts: OpenCart, Magento, WooCommerce, Yahoo! Stores, Volusion, BigCommerce, Squarespace and Shopify to name a few. What’s the difference?

Self-Hosting vs. Platform-Based Hosting

Self-Hosting requires a server (a computer that serves up your web site when people go to www.yourbusiness.com). There are numerous web hosting companies that will host your web site and run your own shopping cart software (OpenCart, Magento, WooCommerce) on it. The downside is, they require a lot of upkeep/maintenance which can be ongoing and costly.

Shopify & Squarespace (Platform-Based Hosting) are two solution-oriented companies that take care of the entire technical side for you. They host your web site on their servers, they take care of the upkeep of their proprietary shopping cart/website software, and handle security.

My Recommendations:

I recommend Shopify for all online stores and Squarespace for all informational sites. Shopify offers a nicer overall experience for selling (as well as discounts on shipping). Squarespace offers a nicer editing experience. Free tech support is provided by these companies included with their plans.

Most small businesses will be more than satisfied with a platform-hosted solution like Shopify or Squarespace.

Unlimited & Extended Trials

As a Shopify and Squarespace developer, I am able to offer clients unlimited & extended trials. This allows you to set up a website without paying for hosting until you’re ready to launch!

SHOPIFY: Unlimited trial period (instead of 3 days)
SQUARESPACE: 6 month trial period (instead of 14 days)