Written by Sabrina Dougall Reviewed by Natasha Willett Updated on 7 February 2023 On this page Best for sales features: Shopify Best for SEO and marketing: Wix Ecommerce Best for multichannel selling: BigCommerce Best value for money: Square Online Best for ease of use: Squarespace Expert verdict How We Test Ecommerce Platforms FAQ Expand Our site is reader-supported – by clicking our links, we can match you with a potential supplier, and we may earn a small commission for this referral. Shopify is our pick of the best ecommerce platforms on the market today. With slick inventory functions and marvellous multichannel integrations, Shopify is simply the best – though Wix is not far behind.We know how tough it is to track down the best ecommerce platforms Australia has on offer. While you’re busy running operations, we’ve done the dirty work of in-depth ecommerce platform comparison – and the results are in.The 5 Best Ecommerce Platforms:Shopify – 4.7/5Wix – 4.6/5BigCommerce – 4.4/5Square – 4.4/5Squarespace – 4.3/5We compared online shops based on factors that matter most to Australian businesses: sales features, design, marketing tools, ease of use and value for money. Using our 15+ years of tech review expertise, Expert Market researchers gave each platform a ranking out of five (both overall and for each factor) and asked everyday users to try the platforms, too.Check out our comparison table followed by a handy overview of the best ecommerce platforms. Swipe right to see more 0 out of 0 backward forward Shopify Wix BigCommerce Square Online Squarespace Score 4.3 Score 4.7 Score 4.4 Score 3.7 Score 4.7 Best For Advanced sales features Best For Creating a good-looking website with excellent sales features Best For Multichannel selling Best For Value for money Best For Selling digital products or portfolios Price Range Incl GST A$7-$2,000 USD+/month (incl GST)$1 for first month Price Range Incl GST A$16-$179/month (incl GST)A$13.50-$161.10/month with code “TAKE10” Price Range Incl GST A$43–$444/month Price Range Incl GST A$0–$99/month Price Range Incl GST A$25–$52/monthA$22.5-$46.8/month with code “EM10” Transaction fees Charged by platforms on top of card processing fees 5%-0.15% Transaction fees Charged by platforms on top of card processing fees 0% Transaction fees Charged by platforms on top of card processing fees 0% Transaction fees Charged by platforms on top of card processing fees 1.9-2.2% Transaction fees Charged by platforms on top of card processing fees 0%-3% Free Plan Free Plan Free Plan Free Plan Free Plan Free trial Free trial Free trial Free trial Free trial Try Shopify Try Wix Try BigCommerce Try Square Try Squarespace Shopify 4.7/5Sales features /5Design functionalities /5Value for money /5Help and support /5Ease of use /54.73.93.04.43.5 Best for sales features In our latest round of testing, Shopify shot up to an overall score of 4.7/5 compared with 4.2 the year prior. This comes down to its intuitive inventory management tools and improved customer support. Shopify feels like an all-in-one platform; our researchers appreciated the wealth of sales and accounting features, such as daily revenue reports and an online invoice generator.We found the platform intuitive, anticipating everything a merchant would need when setting up a store. Its ability to handle complex inventories makes it the best choice for store owners with a lot of products. It also offers superb multichannel integration, letting you sell through Facebook, Instagram, Amazon, eBay, and others. In that sense, it offers more options than Wix and Woocommerce. You can learn more about how the latter compares to Shopify in our comparison article on Woocommerce vs Shopify.However, it’s the only platform to enforce its own transaction fee (2% on the ‘Basic’ plan) unless you use Shopify Payments. It also relies on third-party apps for much of its functionality, which adds to monthly costs.Shopify is a secret weapon for complex inventory management. Pros Excellent multichannel integration Best sales-specific features of any platform we tested Strong server response time (pages load quickly) Best for large or complex inventories Cons Transaction fees if you don’t use Shopify’s own payment gateway Less creative freedom for your storefront than with Wix eCommerce Fewer in-built features (you'll rely more on costly apps) Shopify PricingShopify offers a 14-day free trial period and five pricing plans, which we’ve converted from USD to AUD (to the nearest dollar).Be aware, with Shopify Starter you can’t build an online store, but you can add sales functions to your existing website or social media channels.For more detail, check out our Shopify pricing guide. Or take a look at our quick price plan comparison table: Swipe right to see more 0 out of 0 backward forward Price (Paying Annually) $7/month Price (Paying Annually) $42/month Price (Paying Annually) A$114/month Price (Paying Annually) A$433/month Price (Paying Annually) From $3,000/month Best For Adding a buy button to your existing website or social media Best For Starting a small online store Best For Growing your business Best For Larger online stores Best For High volume merchants, large businesses Key Features Get “shoppable links” (URLs)Product pagesBasic order managementOnline credit card rate: 5% + 30¢ Key Features Create an online shopUnlimited products24/7 supportOnline credit card rate: 1.75% + 30¢Sell in 33 currencies Key Features Abandoned cart recovery emailsFive staff accountsOnline credit card rate: 1.6% + 30¢Shipping discounts Key Features Third-party calculated shipping rates15 staff accountsOnline credit card rate: 1.4% + 30¢Custom international pricing Key Features 99.99% uptimeBuilt-in AR, video, 3D media on product pagesAutomation for complex processesFaster checkout Rake in the revenue with our top rated ecommerce platform Try Shopify now Wix Ecommerce 4.6/5Sales features /5Design functionalities /5Value for money /5Help and support /5Ease of use /53.93.54.24.34.0 Best for SEO and marketing If you’re struggling to get the word out about your company, Wix’s ecommerce plans boast six marketing apps, social media integrations and live social media feeds. Uniquely, Wix offers a built-in video-maker and logo-maker as well as the option to hire quality-checked freelancers.Wix scored a perfect 5/5 in SEO functionality testing, offering everything from image alt attributes to SEO best practice prompts. Overall it offers comprehensive ecommerce functions, including abandoned cart recovery, across all three price options.The drawbacks? There’s a bit of a learning curve – some test users found the editor became cluttered at times. Plus, syncing your physical inventory with your online store is far easier on other platforms. There’s also no specific fraud detection, unlike with Shopify and BigCommerce.Wix is our top choice for business owners looking to improve marketing and search engine reach. Wix Review: Worthy of Winning Best Website Builder? Pros Lots of creative control Wide array of social selling and marketing features Excellent SEO tools Cons Editor can get cluttered Slow server response time Inventory syncing is fairly difficult Wix eCommerce PricingWix offers a 14-day free trial on its premium plans, with three ecommerce-specific plans to choose from: Swipe right to see more 0 out of 0 backward forward Price (Paying Annually) $32 per month Price (Paying Annually) $44 per month Price (Paying Annually) $58 per month Best For Starting a small online store Best For Selling internationally or subscriptions Best For High-volume selling online Key Features 2GB storage30 minutes videoRemove Wix watermarkFree domain for 1 yearLight marketing suite Key Features 50GB storageAbandoned cart emailsSell on social channels5hrs videoProfessional logo Key Features 50GB storageCustomised data reportsRewards for loyaltyUnlimited dropshipping (via Modalyst)Unlimited video hoursPriority support Transaction Fees 0% Transaction Fees 0% Transaction Fees 0% Sometimes it can help to compare two similar ecommerce providers directly. If you’re looking for more in-depth insight into Wix vs Squarespace, we’ve written a comparison guide to help you. Work wonders with a well made Wix store Try Wix now BigCommerce 4.4/5Sales features /5Design functionalities /5Value for money /5Help and support /5Ease of use /54.64.23.04.53.3 Best for multichannel selling BigCommerce is geared towards businesses with complex inventories that are serious about scaling. Its top notch inventory management and wide-reaching multichannel integration (Walmart, eBay, Amazon and Google Shopping) mean BigCommerce is best suited to clothing stores.Overall, it feels like an all-in-one solution with marketplace and social media sales integrations plus email. One user said: “BigCommerce goes beyond just creating a website – you can create an online business with the capability of running itself once you have the setup correct.”As far as pricing goes, BigCommerce scored low in value for money (3/5). That said, it charges no transaction fees – unlike Shopify and Square Online – and this is a major financial bonus.While it’s still the least user-friendly platform we’ve tested (scoring 3.3/5 for ease of use), BigCommerce is brilliant at helping you to manage your entire business processes, not just sell products.If you want to grow multichannel selling for your clothing store, BigCommerce is best. Pros Strong inventory management No transaction fees Multichannel integration across marketplaces and social media Cons Interface not very user-friendly Overwhelming for tech beginners Restrictive template designs BigCommerce PricingBigCommerce offers a generous 15-day free trial period, and three core price plans in USD, which we’ve converted to AUD (enterprise pricing is available upon request): Swipe right to see more 0 out of 0 backward forward Recommended: Best Value Price (Paying Annually) A$43/month Price (Paying Annually) A$117/month Price (Paying Annually) A$444/month Best For Starting a small or medium-sized online store Best For Growing your online store Best For Scaling your business to new heights Key Features Sell an unlimited number of productsMultichannel sellingCoupon creationReporting toolsAccept 100+ currenciesReceive real-time shipping quotes Key Features Abandoned cart recovery emailsCustomer loyalty programmesStore credit card payment detailsNo transaction fees Key Features Product filters for sizes and coloursDedicated SSL securityGoogle reviewsNo transaction fees Try now Try now Try now Seize big growth opportunities with multichannel selling Try BigCommerce Square Online 4.4/5Sales features /5Design functionalities /5Value for money /5Help and support /5Ease of use /53.72.64.74.13.9 Best value for money Square Online lets you build a website and sell for free, which is by far its biggest selling point. It’s also one of the quickest and most affordable ways to build an online store. Its self-serve features create a straightforward buying experience. “Perfect for a physical store looking to pivot online,” one of our test users aptly summarised.While Square Online could massively improve its design flexibility (users scored it a measly 2.6/5) and offer better reporting features, it has all the essentials you need to start selling online for free, including multichannel integration. The transaction fees are relatively high, and the overall layout could be more intuitive, but Square Online is still an excellent no-frills approach to selling online.We recommend Square Online for smaller online stores and restaurants as it doesn’t overwhelm you with data fields like BigCommerce does.Square Online is the best value for money platform we’ve tested. Pros Ability to sell for free Great self-serve buying features Easy to get your store up and running Cons High transaction fees Overall layout could be more logical Restrictive design tools Square Online PricingSquare Online has four price plans to choose from: Swipe right to see more 0 out of 0 backward forward Price (Paying Monthly) Price (Paying Monthly) Professional Price (Paying Monthly) Price (Paying Monthly) Best For Starting your first online store Best For Establishing your SMB Best For Growing your SMB Best For Scaling up your business Key Features Sell unlimited productsInstagram and Pinterest integration2.2% transaction fees Key Features Custom font uploadsPassword-protected pagesFree custom domain for one year2.2% transaction fees Key Features Customer reviews on your siteAbandoned cart recoveryAccept PayPal2.2% transaction fees Key Features Advanced ecommerce analyticsReal-time shipping1.9% transaction fees Try Square Try Square Try Square Try Square Create your online store and sell for free Try Square Online Squarespace Ecommerce 4.3/5Sales features /5Design functionalities /5Value for money /5Help and support /5Ease of use /53.13.94.23.94.2 Best for ease of use Squarespace impressed us with its intuitive inventory management, visual marketing approach and improved ease of use – going from a 3.4 to 4.2/5 score since our previous testing. In fact, it’s now the easiest platform to use on our list.It supports multichannel selling, offers the ability to create and brand your Instagram story posts, and allows for built-in social media live feeds on your website – a feature that costs extra with other platforms. Squarespace has also increased the number of integrated payment processors from two to five.Space for improvement? Sure. Squarespace has limited stock monitoring capabilities and a relatively poor site speed. For a platform focused on design, we were disappointed to find a limited number of ecommerce-specific templates, too.Squarespace will get you selling online regardless of your skills. Pros Excellent value for money Easiest to use Great for visual marketing Cons Relatively limited stock monitoring Poor site speed Few ecommerce templates Squarespace PricingSquarespace offers a 14-day free trial period and has four main pricing plans. Also, don’t forget you can save 10% on Squarespace by using code EM10 at the checkout. Swipe right to see more 0 out of 0 backward forward Price (Paying Annually) A$27.50/month Price (Paying Annually) A$37.40/month Price (Paying Annually) A$57.20/month Best For New entrepreneurs and small business owners Best For SMBs looking to sell online Best For Medium-sized ecommerce businesses Key Features Sell unlimited number of productsFree Google account for one yearGoogle Ads extra creditSell gift cards Key Features Product waitlistsSell on InstagramEcommerce analyticsProduct reviewsDisplay stock levels Key Features Abandoned cart recoverySell subscriptionsCommerce APIsAdvanced shipping features (including a real-time cost calculator) Transaction Fees 3% Transaction Fees 0% Transaction Fees 0% No tech skills? No worries – build an easy ecommerce platform Try Squarespace now Expert Verdict The best ecommerce platforms are Shopify and Wix eCommerce, scoring a respective 4.7/5 and 4.6/5 in our testing. Shopify is an all-in-one ecommerce solution ideal for larger, more complex setups. In comparison, Wix eCommerce has more creative marketing options for Australian businesses eager to grow their customer base.Increased competition between ecommerce website builders results in improved features every year. This is great news for business owners, who enjoy a pretty good selection of online store options. Nowadays, it’s easy for just about anyone to set up their digital storefront in a few clicks. If you’re worried about a lack of experience setting up an online store, Squarespace is the easiest to use, so take a look at its ecommerce platform templates.Whether you’re looking to sell services, physical items or digital products, you’re sure to find an ecommerce plan that works for your business. Now you’re ready to visit the platform that will transform your takings and set sales soaring. Accelerate your sales with our recommended ecommerce platform Try Shopify now How We Test Ecommerce PlatformsWe've tested and researched 16 market-leading website builders, evaluating their functionality, usability, integrations and customer support so we can make the most useful recommendations to businessesOur rigorous testing process means these products have been scored and rated in seven main categories of investigation and 33 subcategories. We then gave each category score a ‘relevance weighting' to ensure the product's final score perfectly reflects the needs and requirements of Expert Market readers.Our main testing categories for website builders are:Sales features: The sales capabilities and sales functionalities offered by an ecommerce platform, including shipping, product capacity, payment options, tools for in-person selling and more.Website features: The capabilities and functionalities offered by a website builder, e.g. blog functionality, SEO capability, marketing capacity and AI tools.Design functionality: The aesthetic appeal and visual layout of a website created using a website builder. It encompasses aspects such as page templates, customisable themes and content display tools (accordions, tabs, etc.)Ease of use: How user-friendly and intuitive a website builder is for people with varying levels of technical expertise.Value for money: The balance between the cost of a website builder and the benefits it provides. It considers factors such as pricing plans, subscription models and available features.Reputation: External customer opinion; the feedback and ratings given by customers who have used a particular website builder – the market position and reputation a website builder holds.Help and support: the assistance and resources available to users when they encounter issues or need guidance while using a website builder. This can include tutorials, knowledge bases and email or chat support. FAQ What is the best ecommerce platform and why? Shopify is the best ecommerce platform because it has a wide range of sales-specific features and multichannel integration. In our research, Shopify scored 5/5 in its provision of alternative sales channels, the highest of any platform we tested. We were also impressed by its strong capability in large inventory management. Its huge selection of apps enables a highly flexible merchant setup, plus testing revealed a rapid server response time. Can I build an ecommerce platform for free? Yes, but you may not want to. Square Online is our pick of the best free ecommerce platforms, though it is worth remembering its transaction fees are pretty high. For most of its price plans, Square Online charges 2.2% transaction fees which could eat into your profit margins if you’re not careful. In truth, you are better off choosing a paid plan from one of the ecommerce platforms we’ve reviewed. What is the difference between Magento and Shopify? While Shopify is a subscription-based ecommerce platform builder, Magento software is open source (free) but requires much more advanced setup know-how. Shopify is aimed at a wide range of skill levels, whereas Magento is only really for developers and those with a deeper interest in design control. Written by: Sabrina Dougall Web Marketing Expert Sabrina is a business journalist whose career began in news reporting. She has a master's in Investigative Journalism from City University London, and her work has appeared in The Times, The Daily Express, Money Saving Expert, Camden New Journal, Global Trade Review, and Computer Business Review. She specializes in writing about SEO (search engine optimization). Having run her own small business, Sabrina knows first-hand how critical digital marketing is to building a client base and local reputation. Reviewed by: Natasha Willett Head of Research For over nine years Natasha has worked as a mixed method researcher across a range of sectors, from insurance and policy development to business services and software. As a member of the Market Research Society, Natasha is an advocate for high ethical, commercial and methodological best practices.