Wholesalers need good online platforms to sell their products. However, it is often difficult to choose the best platform. In this article, we dive into the world of wholesale eCommerce platforms and find out what are the best platforms out there.
What are eCommerce platforms needed for?
Wholesalers are typically located in markets quite distant from their customers. In addition, such markets are often difficult to access. For example, a big number of US companies have suppliers in Asia. It is difficult for these countries to gain access to the wholesale market. And here’s where the eCommerce platforms save the day.
Best Wholesale eCommerce Platforms
Shopify Plus
In order to become a successful brand on the Internet, you will need a wholesale website to grow your business. One of the most popular eCommerce platforms is Shopify Plus which provides wholesale businesses with great solutions.
Shopify Plus lets you quickly customize pages to fit your brand and target audience. It also has a feature for setting volume-based prices and discounts, which is a perfect option for wholesale businesses to sell goods in bulk.
Shopify has a huge number of plugins that provide many valuable features to enhance the selling functionality. In addition, the platform lets you sell your products more effectively through email systems, Google smart shopping, and Facebook ads.
X-Cart
X-Cart is a powerful B2B platform for professional wholesalers. The platform provides you with over 1,000 applications with different useful features, over 120 payment options, and over 150 order management support features.
X-Cart has a reliable 24/7 support system, fast site loading, and stable operation. Wholesale eCommerce websites built with X-Cart are optimized for expected SEO performance.
Despite some limitations such as high price and unoptimized mobile experience, X-Cart is still a smart choice if you are looking for a professional wholesaler eCommerce platform.
BigCommerce
BigCommerce is an excellent platform for you to start an online wholesale business. With many built-in features and customization options, BigCommerce has over 55,000 merchants of different sizes. BigCommerce is a great platform for promoting large and fast-growing companies. In addition to being extremely scalable for online stores, BigCommerce offers advanced SEO options and multi-channel integrations.
Magento
Magento is one of the most popular wholesale e-commerce platforms in the world. The platform was made with built-in PHP, using open source technology. As a result, Magento users have control over their websites’ look, features, and content without sacrificing the shopping experience. What sets the Magento platform apart from other eCommerce development platforms is that it gives you the freedom to choose your hosting platform.
How to compare eCommerce platforms and choose the best one
To choose the wholesale eCommerce platform that will be perfect for your business, you need to compare the platforms by the following factors:
Budget
When you’re choosing a platform for your eCommerce business, keep your actions in mind. These platforms charge a fee that you will have to pay annually or monthly. Choose a wholesale eCommerce platform that fits your budget.
Languages
You need to take into account the number of languages offered by the platform. As with e-commerce, you can have buyers from all over the world. Therefore, to better entertain them, you should be able to better communicate with them. Choose platforms that can provide you with more than one language. So you can reach all your clients.
Business needs
The wholesale eCommerce platform should meet all your requirements. Thus, it can support your business better and make your business successful.
Features
It is crucial these days to communicate better with your customers and tell them about your product. Therefore, the wholesale eCommerce platform should be able to provide you with various interactive features.
Payment methods
For an online eCommerce business, a money transfer process can be a decisive factor. When choosing a wholesale eCommerce platform, be aware of the payment methods they offer you. A good payment method will be a trustworthy and legitimate way to transfer money.
Fulfillment and logistics
Fulfillment logistics is a supply chain fulfillment method that includes transporting customer orders and shipments, holding inventory, packing, and delivering orders to customers. So, choose a wholesale eCommerce platform that can guarantee you a consistent supply of products. This way will you be able to get all the products to customers on time.
Flexibility
A wholesale platform that you choose should be flexible, so you could follow all the technology trends. Today, technology is developing at a fast pace, and there is a strong need for a wholesale platform to meet the demand for technical advances, like updating the platform with content and data, etc. In addition, you need to remember what kind of business the wholesale platform is intended for. You should be able to customize the front-end and back-end to suit your business needs.
Easy integration
The platform that you choose should have the opportunity for integration with third-party services. Make sure your wholesale platform is a good base for the features and services you need.
Your perfect wholesale platform should be able to combine various features and be integrated with other intermediate platforms. This will improve your ability to conduct detailed analyses and customer management.
Scalability
The wholesale platform you choose should scale with your business. Scalability is a feature offered by many service providers. So when making your choice, be sure to check several business scenarios. For example, imagine where your business is in the next 4 years and check the platform scalability to that level.
Conclusion
In order to take full advantage of the steady growth of wholesale e-commerce, online stores must carefully prepare to operate in extreme market conditions. The 4 best wholesale e-commerce platforms have been introduced to help you find the perfect platform for your business. Choose a wholesale platform that will build a solid foundation for your wholesale online store and help you reach your business goals.