The Most Popular Design Programs to Create an Online Store

On modern website builders, users can build a full-fledged online store or a versatile website, like Netflix or 22Bet in a couple of hours. These popular services will help you quickly launch online sales.

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Tilda

By 2020, the developers have updated Tilda and expanded the functionality for e-commerce. There is now integration with 1C, delivery services, and new blocks in the “Store” category. In the control panel, you can connect payment systems, analytics, the shopping cart, and set SEO parameters.

The editor on Tilda is convenient and flexible. The page is assembled from ready-made sections, then customized. There are more than 550 block templates, sorted by section. They can be viewed in scrolling mode or in the left pane, which opens when you click on the plus sign between the sections.

Pros of Tilda:

  • Zero Block is an empty block for designing the look from scratch and creating unique page designs.
  • Zero Block can import a layout from Figma, an online graphic editor that is often used to prototype websites. No additional extensions or work with code are required.
  • A large library of fonts, plus a collection of designer fonts from the Rentafont studio.
  • Interactive product cards: the image will change when the cursor is moved.
  • Extended tool for built-in analytics. You can study statistics on visitors, requests, conversions, popular pages, click-through sources, and see how many people clicked on buttons or filled out forms.
  • Integration with a large number of payment systems, delivery services, you can create your own delivery option by city or with drop-off points.
  • Flexible image editor and Drag-and-drop function: images can be dragged and dropped from a folder on your computer or browser window.
  • A set of SEO tools with recommendations and error analysis.
  • A free domain at any paid plan.

Cons of Tilda:

  • You can only create from 50 to 500 pages, depending on the plan.
  • Even at the most expensive plan the server space is only 1 GB for each project, you can create up to 5 sites.

Tilda will help you make a beautiful online store with a small catalog of goods. At the start, you can choose the Personal rate, and in the future, if necessary, switch to Business.

Nethouse

It’s a simple designer with a large set of options. In the left menu of the control panel are sections for site configuration, at the top – the editor and page viewer. The desktop is easy to navigate, the interface is “friendly”.

In “Site Design”, you can choose a template, many will suit online stores. Each block is configurable in the visual editor – you can change the background, fonts, upload images. Sections are easy to move, hide and add new ones.

Pros of Nethouse:

  • Tools to automate sales of digital goods. After payment, the buyer will receive them immediately in the mail.
  • A good set of tools for increasing sales: advertising tags, blocks for related products, discounts and promo codes, mailing letters with built-in statistics.
  • Customers” section for analyzing orders and keeping your customer base up-to-date.
  • SSL-certificate connection even on the free plan.
  • Discounts from Nethouse partners. For example, free connection to chat-bot Jivo for 1 month, SEO-promotion with a discount of 25% and other favourable offers.

Cons of Nethouse:

  • Small selection of layouts, in addition, not all have an adaptive design.
  • Serious limitations on the number of items in the catalog, even on the most expensive plan.

Ucoz

Ucoz has a huge arsenal of frontend and backend settings, this builder is almost as good as any good CMS.

You can activate only those applications that are needed. Modules are located in the left vertical menu of the control panel. Six majors on default are already activated, including: online store, page editor, advertising module, SEO module. To see the rest of the applications, you need to click on the “Inactive” button.

In the library, there are high-quality premium templates, though for a fee. Possibilities for customization are huge, but most changes are made manually by editing the source code – will require appropriate skills or services webmaster. Edit the template in the “Design”, here you can completely transform the framework of the site and its appearance.

Pros of Ucoz:

  • Convenient modular system – only what is needed is connected.
  • A large number of extensions. There is almost everything: Minichat, auto-posting, feed generation for Yandex and much more.
  • Access to the source code CSS and HTML allows you to create atypical designs.
  • High-priced plans have a unique mobile template that looks better than the standard one.
  • A good SEO module. Redirects, meta tags, integration with services Webmaster, a built-in tool to monitor the position of the site – everything is there.

Cons of Ucoz:

  • The complexity of the settings, beginners will need time to understand the system.
  • To customize templates, you need skills to work with code.

Ucoz will appeal to web designers and developers. On the platform you can build a large online store with a unique design to stand out among competitors.

uKit

The tool was created by the same company as Ucoz, but it’s fundamentally different. uKit is simpler and more similar to classic builders with a block editor.

In the control panel on the desktop, there are 3 sections: “Statistics”, “Promotion”, “Settings”. Just below there is access to external widgets – you can quickly connect CRM, smart advertising, and other apps.

The “Designer” tab contains blocks and widgets that are added to the page by simply dragging and dropping with the mouse. There are tables, dividers, buttons, timelines, product showcases. All of this can be edited: change the font, hue, and location of elements.

Pros of uKit:

  • The combination of a visual editor and drag-and-drop feature allows you to flexibly customize pages and see the result in real time.
  • Adaptive Version mode to separately and more finely tune the mobile design.
  • Ability to insert your own HTML code and thus add any elements.
  • The Promotion tool. In it, you can check how well the site is optimized for the requirements of search engines. When the check is completed, a list of recommendations is displayed.
  • Many tools to increase conversions: cost calculator, feedback block, timer, dynamic text and others.
  • All rates have no restrictions on server space and the number of pages.

Cons of uKit:

  • The import of goods only in a YML format. To transfer data from CSV, XML, TXT files you must use a special converter.
  • Despite the good choice of templates many of them are of the same type.

Shop2YOU

Shop2YOU is designed exclusively for online stores, and you can see it right away when you log in. There’s nothing extra in the control panel – only the tools necessary for online trading: catalog, product cards, shipping, payment, mailing, uploading, gallery. The menu is horizontal, so there is more space on the screen.

There are only two templates in the designer, each has several color scheme options. You can create your own design on the basis of the current design by changing the color of each section and editing CSS. There is no block editor, the parameters for setting up the appearance are set in the relevant sections.

Pros of Shop2YOU:

  • Access to CSS allows you to significantly transform your template.
  • Special reports in which you can track the dynamics of net and gross profit.
  • Proprietary accounting system for the amount of goods in stock.
  • A lot of plugins extend the functionality of the platform.
  • A huge number of integrations with various delivery and payment services, accounting services and popular marketplaces.
  • An overview of marketplaces where you can sell to small businesses can be found here.
  • Intelligent page on shipping and payment. For each city you can set conditions, methods and terms of delivery, and set up automatic calculation of cost.
  • You can order individual fine-tuning of the site according to business needs.
  • Paying for 3 months you get a free domain, and paying for 1 year you get free custom design.

Cons of Shop2YOU:

  • Not the easiest designer – will take time to figure out.
  • Many plugins, but half of them are paid.
  • Few ready-made designs, no usual block editor.

The platform is suitable for those who plan to develop a project and expand their assortment. On the first two tariffs you can open a small online store, on the last two – a large, with a catalog of up to 50,000 items. It’s possible to switch to a dedicated server and add an unlimited number of products.

Creatium

Creatium is a relatively young designer, it entered the market in 2018. The platform has developed rapidly, and now there are all the options to make a good online store.

In the control panel, there are a lot of settings for the paginated assembly of the site. It’s possible to migrate from the LP branding constructor: both services were created by the same developers.

Creatium has special templates for stores. After choosing, you can go to the editor and customize their design. You can add new blocks to the layout, set indents, change the background, create effects. 

Pros of Creatium:

  • Blank template and blank blocks to develop a unique layout.
  • Good selection of ready-made blocks.
  • Ability to switch to a smartphone, tablet, laptop or PC and edit each version.
  • Access to CSS, HTML, JS editing.
  • Special version of Creatium International to work abroad. Technically and legally it is independent of the Russian version, you can pay with foreign cards.
  • Flexible rates. You can build a package of services yourself and pay only for what you will use.

Cons of Creatium:

  • Restrictions on the number of pages: 20 pages on the first site and 100 on subsequent sites. 
  • There are no ready-made forms for product cards, you have to create them yourself from widgets: block, text, picture, “add to cart” button.

To open an online store, additional options are added to the basic package, such as a shopping cart, A/B testing, integrations, and payment systems.

Creatium will appeal to developers of client sites: you can work with a large number of projects and experiment with design. It’s also worth choosing this designer if your online store is focused on the foreign market.

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