5 Best Ecommerce Platforms in UK in 2025 (+ Pros and Cons)
Choosing the best eCommerce platforms in the UK is crucial for the success of your online platform. We’re here to guide you through making an informed decision.
Squarespace
Wix
Shopify
BigCommerce
Square Online
Finding the best eCommerce platforms in the UK is key to online success. This is true whether you're starting your own business or managing a dropshipping operation. The right platform makes running your shop easier and helps with everything from shop management to customer happiness.
It is important to choose an eCommerce platform that offers great features. These eCommerce features should help both beginners and experienced business owners. This article zeroes in on the top contenders that have proven to be game-changers and offer cutting-edge features.
Top eCommerce Platforms in the UK
Here are the best eCommerce platforms for easily starting, running, and growing your online stores.
- Squarespace – Best Overall
- Wix – Best for Speed Optimization
- Shopify – Best for Dropshipping
- BigCommerce – Best for Scalable Businesses
- Square Online – Best for Marketing
1. Squarespace
Best Overall eCommerce Platform in the UK
- Offers beautiful, professional templates.
- User-friendly for beginners.
- All-in-one solution with web hosting and domains.
- Built-in analytics tools for monitoring store performance.
- Inventory management system for effective product tracking.
- Can be expensive.
- Limited customisation for advanced users.
- A proprietary system complicates platform switching.
- Doesn't offer automatic tax calculation for the UK.
Squarespace combines ease of use with beautiful design. With the drag-and-drop builder, anyone can quickly create a good-looking online store. Squarespace also offers a range of customisable templates that you can use to make your store unique. Not only does Squarespace look good, but it also has strong inventory management tools. With these tools, you can easily keep track of your products.
Squarespace is known for being user-friendly. This eCommerce platform offers top-notch website designs, beautiful fonts, and eye-catching colour schemes, helping your brand shine online. Squarespace also makes marketing easy. You can keep your customers returning with branded email campaigns and social media tools. You can also use Squarespace's AI to quickly add catchy product descriptions to your store.
But this website builder is about more than just making your online store look good. It handles shipping, taxes, and payments all in one place. It is also amongst the UK's best self-hosted eCommerce platforms.
Key Features
Content Generating AI
This AI tool generates your on-brand starter copy, getting your online store up and running quickly. Squarespace AI is not just about speed; it's about quality, too. It crafts product descriptions and other web copy that resonate with your brand voice. You can feed the AI prompts or pieces of text you've already written. The AI then generates a first draft of content for your own eCommerce website that fits your brand's style and tone.
Customisable Templates
Squarespace's templates are designed by top-notch designers. They aim to make your online store look unique and appealing. Every design takes modern trends into account. These are not just good looking, but also make your store accessible for everyone. The design and customisation options are tailored for modern browsers and mobile devices, ensuring your online store is always presented in the best possible way.
Flexible Shipping
Squarespace offers various shipping methods. Small businesses can choose from flat-rate, weight-based, carrier-calculated, or free shipping. You can also buy and print USPS shipping labels from the eCommerce platform. This saves you time and money. Plus, it keeps your customers happy. They get to see exactly where their order is with detailed tracking.
Tax Management
This drag-and-drop builder makes it easy for customers to pay online. They can use Stripe, PayPal Payments, or Apple Pay. This choice makes the checkout smoother and keeps customers happy. Squarespace also helps you sell in real life. They can take payments in person by connecting a Square reader to the Squarespace app. This is great for shops or events.
Order Management
With Squarespace, you can access your customer details, orders, and shipping addresses online or on the go with the Squarespace app for iOS and Android. The platform lets you keep track of customer profiles. This way, you can learn more about your customers and make smarter decisions based on what you find out. Squarespace also lets you customise how your emails to customers look.
Pricing
- Mobile-Friendly Websites
- 100+ Templates
- Free Custom Domain
- Unlimited Bandwidth
- 2 Contributors
- Ecommerce Functionality
- Unlimited Products
- 3% Transaction Fees
- Custom Code (CSS & JS)
- Unlimited Contributors
- 0% Transaction Fees
- Point of Sale
- On-site Checkout
- Product Reviews
- Facebook and Instagram Selling
- Abandoned Cart Recovery
- Advanced Shipping
- Advanced Discounts
- Subscription Selling
- Commerce APIs
Read more about Squarespace pricing or Squarespace ecommerce examples
Personal plan is best if you have a small team of up to 2 contributors and need access to only basic website metrics.
Business plan is the right choice if you want to add promotional pop-ups and banners for sales or events to your eCommerce store.
Commerce Basic plan is perfect if you want to maximise profits with 0% transaction fees on product sales.
Commerce Advanced plan is ideal for you if you're looking to boost sales by recovering abandoned carts.
Every Squarespace pricing plan has SEO tools to enhance site visibility, unlimited bandwidth, SSL security, and round-the-clock customer support.
Are you still unsure about Squarespace? Take advantage of their 14-day free trial to test any plan.
2. Wix
Leading eCommerce Platform in the UK for Speed Optimization
- Offers 500+ customizable templates.
- Get a lot of creative control over your site design.
- Powerful SEO tools to help your site rank better.
- Free custom domain.
- Available in 22 different languages.
- Built-in email marketing tools.
- Tax is calculated automatically at checkout.
- Can't change your website template once it's live.
- Free version displays Wix ads on your site.
- Site analytics are not available with the Free or the Lite plan.
- Customer support isn't always prompt.
Wix sets itself apart with its robust, performance-first infrastructure. This eCommerce platform ensures that your online store loads quickly, offering customers an enhanced shopping experience. Wix can handle record traffic, high-volume sales, and up to 750 simultaneous transactions per second. This makes Wix a dependable support for your eCommerce business, especially when many customers shop simultaneously.
Wix lets you sell everywhere: on your website, across social media, through various sales channels, and even in person with its point-of-sale (POS) system. It simplifies business management with a single dashboard that covers shipping, payments, and marketing tools.
With over 500 designer-made templates, Wix ensures your online store looks good. It supports 80+ payment methods, so customers have plenty of options. Plus, Wix connects you with dropshipping partners worldwide, which is great for expanding your product range.
Key Features
Multichannel Sales
This website builder allows you to reach customers on Facebook, Instagram, Google Shopping, eBay, and more, all from one place. This makes managing your sales much easier and lets you monitor your performance across different platforms. Its Point of Sale (POS) system also supports selling in person.
Automated Sales Tax
This feature simplifies sales tax handling in your online shop. Wix works with Avalara®, a top tax software that automatically updates tax rates for every sale anywhere in the world. This is a big help for shops to start selling online internationally, making tax handling much easier. This feature also makes the checkout process clear for customers, as they can see exactly what they are being charged for tax.
Multichannel Inventory Management
With the eCommerce functionality, you can keep your inventory in check. Everything stays up-to-date in one place. You can also watch your stock levels closely. You'll see which items are selling fast and which ones aren't. This helps you decide when to order more stock or rethink your sales approach. Plus, Wix automatically stops listing products once they run out. This way, you avoid selling online more than you have, keeping your customers happy.
Built-In SEO Tools
Wix sets up your website with a strong SEO foundation right from the start. This means your site is built in a way that search engines like helping you compete better in organic search results. You can customise your site's meta tags and URLs. These are key for SEO because they help engines understand your site better.
eCommerce Analytics
This eCommerce software gives you a detailed look at how your online store is doing. The analytics dashboard keeps you updated on your products. You can easily choose which products are selling best and which aren't doing so well. It also gives you insights into your website's traffic. This means you can see how people are finding your site and what they do once they're there. These insights help you tweak your marketing.
Pricing
- 500+ Ecommerce Templates
- Unlimited Products
- Abandoned Cart Recovery
- Sell on Instagram, Facebook, etc.
- 20GB Storage Space
- Multiple Currencies
- Sell on Amazon & eBay
- Modalyst Dropshipping - 250 Items
- Sell Subscriptions
- 35GB Storage Space
- Priority Customer Support
- Unlimited Modalyst Dropshipping
- 50GB Storage Space
- Upload Unlimited Videos
- 500 Auto Sales Tax Calculations
Read more about Wix pricing Or beautiful examples of Wix
Lite plan is ideal for those exploring the eCommerce platform without Wix branding. It includes a free custom domain for getting started.
Core plan is perfect for listing up to 25 dropshipping products and accepting payments directly on their online store.
Business plan is good for you if you want to display up to 1000 product reviews, notify customers about restocked items, and reclaim lost sales.
Business Elite plan is perfect for those wanting to show product prices in the customer's local currency and benefit from unlimited storage space.
Every Wix pricing plan has a custom domain, no Wix ads, and 24/7 customer support.
If you purchase a plan and decide it's not the right fit, Wix offers a 14-day money-back guarantee for a full refund.
3. Shopify
Best eCommerce Platform in the UK for Dropshipping
- User-friendly interface.
- Wide range of free and paid themes.
- Strong SEO features.
- Over 1200 plugins to automate your tasks.
- 24/7 customer service.
- Multiple payment gateways.
- Encrypted checkout process.
- Monthly plugin subscription and payment processing fees can add up.
- Need to pay transaction fees unless using Shopify Payments.
- Template switching requires reformatting.
- CMS is comparatively less flexible.
- Does not offer email hosting.
Shopify is a top choice for anyone who is into dropshipping because it is easy to set up an online store. With Shopify's drag-and-drop tool, you can quickly design your store to match your brand. What also makes Shopify shine is its one-click checkout. It's fast and reliable, making shopping smooth for your customers and helping you avoid lost sales from abandoned carts.
Shopify is the go-to choice for millions of business owners worldwide and is available in over 170 countries. It stands out with its reliability, boasting a 99.99% uptime rate. This means your online shop is almost always up and running.
What makes Shopify UK's favourite eCommerce platform is how well it handles checkouts. On average, Shopify eCommerce stores see 15% more sales from visitors than other platforms. Shopify's AI tools also help you create catchy headlines, detailed product descriptions, smart chat replies, and interesting blog posts.
Key Features
Inventory Management
With Shopify, you get an easy-to-use inventory editor and an order tracker. This makes keeping track of your stock simple. Adding products to your shop is flexible with Shopify as well. You can add items individually or import many at once using an Excel or CSV file. You can easily export your products if you're moving from eBay or Magento.
Customer Relationship Management
Shopify's CRM lets you sort your customers into groups based on where they live or how much they spend. This is great for getting to know your customers better and sending them personalised marketing emails. It also lets you make your store public or let people with an account make purchases.
Automated Shipping and Fulfilment
This eCommerce software makes sending products to customers easier. You can set the shipping cost based on the weight or price of the product. You can automatically calculate shipping rates from UPS, USPS, or FedEx using the Advanced Shopify plan and show them in real time. This helps your customers see exactly how much shipping will cost when they check out, based on where they live. Shopify also lets you send out orders from a warehouse with just one click.
Content Management System
The CMS is a big part of what makes Shopify more than just a sales platform. It lets you easily create web pages and blog posts for your eCommerce site and is easy to use. Plus, you can use Shopify's AI tools to help you create headlines, detailed product descriptions, and interesting blog posts.
Marketing Tools
This website builder gives you amazing marketing tools like coupon codes, A/B testing, and SEO to help you spread the word about your shop and attract more customers to your site. The platform is designed with SEO experts' help, ensuring your shop indexes and ranks on Google, Yahoo, and Bing. Shopify also automatically creates an XML sitemap for your store.
Pricing
- 100+ Templates
- Unlimited Products
- International Commerce
- 24/7 Support
- Shopify POS
- Ecommerce Automations
- up to 88% Shipping Discounts
- Standard Analytics Reports
- 5 Staff Accounts
- 1% Fees for 3rd Party Payments
- 0.5% Fees for 3rd Party Payments
- Lower Credit Card Fees
- 15 Staff Accounts
- Advanced Analytics Reports
- Duties and Import Taxes
Read more about Shopify pricing or successful Shopify stores
Basic plan is perfect for solo entrepreneurs, offering full store management and access to abandoned cart recovery.
Shopify plan is ideal for small teams, allowing up to 5 staff members and the ability to automate tasks and create workflows.
Advanced plan reduces third-party transaction fees to 0.6% and offers third-party calculated shipping rates, making it great for scaling businesses.
Every Shopify plan allows you to add unlimited products, sell across multiple sales channels, and manage inventory and orders from various locations.
Shopify offers a 3-day free trial to get started. Additionally, there's a special promotion where you can use the platform for only £1 during your first month.
4. BigCommerce
Popular eCommerce Platform in the UK for Scalable Businesses
- Lets you sell unlimited products online in multiple currencies.
- Has a variety of payment gateways.
- Good for scaling businesses.
- No transaction fees.
- Collaborate with unlimited users on all plans.
- Good SEO features.
- Can be complex for beginners.
- Limited free themes.
- Higher cost for advanced features, like abandoned cart recovery.
- Does not offer subscription features.
BigCommerce combines the best bits of SaaS—easy to use and reliable—with the flexibility of APIs. You can easily customise your online store to fit your unique needs. Whether you're just starting or ready to grow big, BigCommerce grows with you. It's built to handle changes and expansions smoothly.
BigCommerce is amongst the most reliable options for building an online store. It offers a wide range of app integrations, which means you can customise your shop to work exactly how you want it to. BigCommerce also promises exceptional performance for your own eCommerce site.
It's created on the Google Cloud Platform and uses Cloudflare's network to ensure your store loads quickly for customers everywhere.
Key Features
Checkout Customization
This website builder lets you change every part of the checkout process however you want. BigCommerce has advanced tools, like its checkout API and SDK, that help you gain total control over making the checkout experience perfect for your customers and your brand. This means you can make the checkout process faster and easier or add special touches that match your store's theme.
Digital Wallets
These wallets let customers pay quickly and easily with multiple options. It gives you options like Apple Pay, Amazon Pay, and PayPal One Touch. Having these digital wallets available means your customers can breeze through checkout. These wallets also add a layer of security, making customers feel safer when buying from your site.
Bulk Pricing
This lets you precisely control your pricing, even allowing changes for each product code (SKU). This means you can set separate prices for different customers or groups. It is perfect if you're selling online. This customization is great for businesses like wholesalers, individuals, and larger buyers.
Multi-Currency Options
This feature lets you accept payments in over 100 currencies. This is great for international customers because they can pay in their own currency. BigCommerce also works with many payment gateways. This means you can offer local payment methods that your global customers prefer. Being able to pay in a familiar way makes shopping easier and can help you make more sales.
Staging Environment
This website builder is a game changer if you want to update your online store without interruptions. It lets you make and test changes using the Stencil CLI tool in a separate, safe space. This is great because it means you can try out new designs or features and make sure everything works perfectly without affecting your live website.
Pricing
- 200+ Store Templates
- 24/7 Chat & Phone Support
- No Additional Transactions Fees
- Unlimited Bandwidth & Storage
- Annual Sales Limit - $50k
- Clients' Credit Cards Storage
- Abandoned Cart Saver
- 5 Storefronts & Inventory Locations
- Customer Segmentation
- Annual Sales Limit - $180k
- Google Customer Reviews
- Price Lists for B2B & B2C
- 8 Storefronts & Inventory Locations
- Filtering with Custom Product Filters
- Annual Sales Limit - $400k
Standard plan is ideal if you're looking to avoid transaction fees and need to create up to 3 storefronts.
Plus plan is ideal for businesses segmenting their customers into distinct groups.
Pro plan is perfect for improving your customer's shopping experience with features like Google customer reviews and dynamic product filtering.
Every BigCommerce pricing plan comes without transaction fees, allows unlimited products and staff accounts, ensures a mobile-responsive website, and accepts payments in over 100 currencies.
For a firsthand experience of this sophisticated platform, BigCommerce offers a 15-day free trial.
5. Square Online
Best eCommerce Platform in the UK for Marketing
- Easy integration with Square POS.
- Quick setup for online stores.
- Offers a free plan.
- Mobile-friendly designs.
- Sell unlimited products on your eCommerce store or social media channels.
- In-built marketing tools.
- Multiple payment methods.
- Limited customisation on the free plan.
- Higher transaction fees without Square Payments.
- Limited third-party app integrations.
- Customer support isn't available 24/7.
Square Online helps you keep in touch with your customers. You can send personalised emails and texts for different occasions. This means you can welcome new customers, wish them on their birthdays, win back those who haven't shopped in a while, and remind others about their abandoned carts. Setting up these automated messages is simple. You only need to do it once; the system will send them out at the right times.
Square Online is great for handling orders from everywhere, whether it's your online shop, a physical store, or even social media and mobile. It makes shopping easier for your customers, too. The platform suggests products they might like based on past purchases, encouraging them to shop more.
It also works great on mobile phones. It's designed to be super user-friendly, so customers can scroll, pick products, and pay quickly from their phone's browser.
Key Features
Easy Shipping Options
Square Online gives you access to big discounts on shipping, which can save money for you and your customers. This feature is key for offering good shipping prices. It also makes it super easy to deal with shipping orders. You can create and print shipping labels from your Square dashboard, which means you can handle everything about your orders in one place.
Built-In SEO Tools
Square Online offers great SEO tools and works well with Google and Meta. This means your shop can pop up in search engines and on social media, where your customers will likely spend much of their time online. These SEO tools are designed to help your website climb higher in search engine rankings.
Multiple Payment Options
This feature lets customers pay their way, making checkout quick and easy. You can accept payments through Square Pay, Apple Pay, Cash App Pay, and Google Pay. Offering these payment methods means a smoother checkout for everyone. Apple Pay and Google Pay are perfect for shoppers on their phones, making mobile purchases easier. Square Pay and Cash App Pay add even more choices.
Loyalty Programs
With this website builder, you can get your loyalty program started in just minutes. This means you can quickly begin rewarding your customers for their purchases. It is great for encouraging people to buy from you again by offering them rewards they'll value. Your customers can earn rewards whether shopping online, in your physical store, or through social media.
Square POS
Square Online works seamlessly with Square POS. This smooth link lets you handle your shop's online and in-store sales with just one system. Whether a sale happens on your website or in your shop, all the information goes into the same place. This makes tracking what you're selling and providing great customer service easier.
Pricing
Free plan is perfect for getting started with a website builder that includes SEO tools and supports various payment types.
Plus plan is ideal if you want to connect a custom domain, upload custom fonts, embed custom widgets, and remove Square branding from your site.
Premium plan is the go-to choice for displaying precise shipping rates at checkout, considering weight and destination, and access to premium customer support.
Every Square Online pricing plan includes a website builder with SEO tools, syncs with Square POS, enables selling on social media, and supports various payment types.
You can explore this eCommerce platform by starting with Square Online's free plan.
Best eCommerce Sites to Grow Sales in the UK
There are a few eCommerce sites that can help businesses increase their sales. These platforms are known for their great features, ease of use, and success in helping businesses grow online.
They offer everything from smooth integrations to fantastic user experiences, giving UK businesses the tools they need to stand out in online shopping. Let's explore which platforms can make your eCommerce goals a reality.
Amazon UK
Amazon UK is part of the global Amazon family, giving UK businesses a huge stage to sell their products to a wide audience. It is known for getting a lot of visitors and being a place where customers feel safe shopping, making it perfect for businesses looking to sell more.
It has different plans for sellers, whether you're starting small or already have a big business. With its Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) service, sellers can make shipping and handling a lot easier by using Amazon's own storage and customer service. This makes things better for customers and easier for sellers.
On top of that, Amazon UK offers tools to help you understand the market and set the right prices. You can also use its advertising tools to make your products more visible and attract more buyers.
Ebay UK
eBay UK is known for its unique bidding system and various products. This platform is great for businesses looking to enter eCommerce or expand their annual online sales.
This eCommerce site caters to both auction-style listings and regular, fixed-price listings. This flexibility allows businesses to start selling online in a way that suits them best. The site also provides tools for managing listings, understanding market trends, and optimising pricing strategies.
Additionally, eBay UK is a hub for new and used items, attracting many customers. This inclusivity broadens businesses' potential customer base. The platform's user-friendly interface and secure payment options, including PayPal, make transactions smooth and build trust with shoppers.
Etsy
Etsy is a fantastic platform for sellers of handmade, vintage, and one-of-a-kind items. It's known worldwide for bringing together creative sellers with buyers who love unique goods. Etsy is a great place to sell online if you make art, crafts, or anything special.
Setting up a shop on Etsy is easy, which is great for small businesses and crafters. The site gives you tools to manage your products, monitor sales, and learn what your customers like.
Etsy's community is one of its best parts. It's full of buyers and sellers supporting each other, which creates loyal customers who love shopping from independent makers. The site's design helps these customers find exactly what they're looking for, making it more likely they'll buy from you. It also offers tips on making your shop stand out, using SEO to get noticed, and connecting with customers.
How to Choose The Right eCommerce Platform?
Choosing the right eCommerce platform is crucial for any UK business looking to succeed online. With so many options, finding the perfect match for your business needs, budget, and growth plans is key. Here's how you can make that choice a bit easier:
1. Understand Your Business Needs
Before looking for an eCommerce platform, you should assess your business model, product range, and what you need from an eCommerce solution. Are you selling handmade goods, digital products, or various items? Your business type will influence which platform suits you best.
2. Evaluate the Cost
Most eCommerce platforms offer a range of pricing models, from subscription costs to transaction fees. Consider your budget and how these costs align with your financial plan. Remember to factor in additional expenses for any third-party apps or integrations you may need.
3. Consider the Ease of Use
The best platform for your business should be one that you and your team can comfortably use. Most popular eCommerce platforms, like Shopify and Wix, offer drag-and-drop builders, making setting up your store without extensive technical knowledge easy.
4. Scalability
As your business grows, your eCommerce platform needs to grow with you. Consider how scalable a platform is. Can it handle increased products, traffic, and transactions without compromising performance? Choose a platform that supports your long-term growth ambitions.
5. Customer Support
When issues arise, having access to reliable customer support can be a lifesaver. Check what type of support is available (e.g., phone, email, live chat) and the hours of operation. User reviews and testimonials can give you insight into the support quality provided.
6. Security
Online stores are prime cyberattack targets, so security should be a top priority. Look for eCommerce platforms that offer robust security measures, including SSL certificates, secure payment processing, and data protection.
7. SEO Capabilities
Your platform should support your efforts to rank higher in search engine results. Look for features like customizable meta titles and descriptions, SSL certificates, and mobile-friendly designs, which can all influence your SEO.
Frequently Asked Questions
The UK is a prime location for eCommerce. It has a large and growing online shopping audience and high internet penetration, and its digital market is well-developed. This makes the UK a welcoming place for online businesses to grow.
Starting an online store in the UK can vary widely in cost, depending on your platform, inventory, and marketing strategy. Initial costs can range from as little as £20 for a basic setup on platforms like Squarespace or Shopify to over £5,000 for a custom website and a more extensive inventory.
The cost of an eCommerce website can vary depending on your needs. For smaller operations, a basic plan on eCommerce platforms typically starts between £7 and £20. Larger businesses may opt for advanced plans ranging from £40 to £300 and offering more features and support.
What Is The Best eCommerce Platform In the UK?
Finding the right eCommerce platform in the UK depends on your shop's needs, budget, and future growth plans. Squarespace, Wix, and Shopify offer everything from simple setups to tools for boosting sales. Considering costs, scalability, and the specific features that will support your online store's success is essential. Try other website builders with free trials to see which one works best for your online business in the competitive UK market.
Squarespace
Wix
Shopify
BigCommerce
Square Online
Explore Further
- Squarespace Pricing Guide
- Best Squarespace Websites
- Square vs. Squarespace
- Wix Pricing Guide
- Best Wix Websites
- Wix vs. Squarespace
- Wix vs. Weebly
- Shopify Review
- Shopify One Product Stores
- Shopify eCommerce Stores
- Shopify vs. Amazon
- BigCommerce vs. Shopify
Was This Article Helpful?
Martin Luenendonk
Martin loves entrepreneurship and has helped dozens of entrepreneurs by validating the business idea, finding scalable customer acquisition channels, and building a data-driven organization. During his time working in investment banking, tech startups, and industry-leading companies he gained extensive knowledge in using different software tools to optimize business processes.
This insights and his love for researching SaaS products enables him to provide in-depth, fact-based software reviews to enable software buyers make better decisions.