21 Ways To Build An Online Store

So you have products & services you want to sell right? So that means you want to build an online store, and with all the cool things that are always popping up on the web, finding a way to get this done has not become any easier.
Nowadays when it comes to selling online, you have to factor in stuff like payment types, shipping & handling, social media, blogging and allot more.
Through building stores for numerous clients I've come across quite a few services available for building an online store, so I decided to put together a list.

A list of the best solutions to build an online store.

Check em out below.

1. InstantEstore

This is one of the veterans of the online store builder solutions, I remember first seeing this service back in 2005 or maybe it was 04. Back then the service was much simpler, which is only natural since back then Facebook was non-existent, smartphones weren't around yet and Twitter wasn't even born yet.
Fast forward to 2013, the service has gone through many changes. With InstantEstore you can now sell products and services everywhere, aside from your website you can sell your stuff directly on Facebook as well as on mobile devices.
Another cool thing about the service is that it also has a built-in affiliate program, so you can recruit affiliates to help you promote your products.
Visit InstantEstore.

2. BigCommerce

I actually wrote about this service back in 2009, this platform is brought to you by Interspire, the same guys that brought you Email Marketer, one of the most widely used self-hosted email marketing software on the web.
BigCommerce is still relatively young compared to others on this list but from the very beginning they started out as a very innovative company, the only problem I still have with them is the fact that they still don't have a built-in affiliate program.
Apart from that, they're one of the best solutions to build an online store, so if an affiliate program is not necessary for your products and services, this is a good choice.
They also have a great API and developer section, so it's very easy to integrate it with a 3rd party affiliate service.
Visit BigCommerce.

3. Volusion

These guys have been around since 1999, one of the survivors of the DotCom bubble, they've been on the forefront of eCommerce innovation. They serve of 40,000+ clients and did over $2.4 billion in transactions in 2011.
If you're worried about the company hosting your store not being around in the future, this isn't one of those guys.
Visit Volusion.

4. ProStores

An eBay company that was very popular around 2006 to 2008, they still have a lot of clients but I haven't seen anything new from them lately, eBay has taken ProStores and incorporated it into a bigger eCommerce suite.
More on that below.
Visit ProStores.

5. Magento

This is one of the largest Open Source eCommerce platforms on the web, with over 120,000 merchants and just as many developers.
eBay acquired the company back in 2010, and now they offer Magento Go, Magento Enterprise, and ProStores as an eCommerce suite to help customers to find the right solution.
Visit Magento.

6. Shopify

Funny story about this service, it actually started out as an e-commerce business for snowboarding equipment, which they named Snowdevil. When it came time to add a shopping cart, Lütke, who is a programmer by trade, could not find a suitable product. He states “to make a long story short, after trying a series of existing online store software packages I got so disgusted with the quality of the whole lot, that I wanted to do something about it just to spite them.”
And so Shopify was born, and since it's birth it's been very well received. It now hosts over 35,000 stores with big names like Gatorade, Foo Fighters, Encyclopedia Britannica, Tori Amos, General Electric, Tata Group, Tesla Motors, Amnesty International, Pixar and much more.
Visit Shopify.

7. CoreCommerce

Whether you're new to e-commerce or a pro, everything you need to grow your online business is here. You'll love our easy to use Setup Wizard, friendly and knowledgeable Customer Service Team, free templates and a wide variety of features!
Visit CoreCommerce.

8. HighWire

A very clean and polished system, they've coined a term called Multichannel selling, which basically means you can sell on your own online store, eBay, Bonanza, Facebook & mobile and sync all of your orders and inventory from one centralized system.
Visit HighWire.

9. Goodsie

A new company with allot of the most popular features you're looking for has a great price margin and setting up a store is pretty much drag & drop.
Visit Goodsie.

10. 3Dcart

This is both an eCommerce software and a shopping cart, you can use whichever one you want or use it as a full solution.
Visit 3dcart.

11. LiteCommerce

Don't get the name twisted, there's nothing lite about the platform all, it's very capable. Oh and not to mention that the service is free.
Visit LiteCommerce.

12. Fortune3

Easily deploy your website with Fortune3, they especially have a great mobile experience for bother shoppers and merchants.
Visit Fortune3.

13. Yahoo Small Business: Merchant Solutions

One of the pioneers of eCommerce and one of the few things Yahoo does right these days. You'd be hard pressed to be looking for something that Yahoo! Merchant Solutions doesn't offer. I wrote about them years ago.
Visit Yahoo Small Business: Merchant Solutions

14. Amazon Webstore

Amazon continues to be a great company and continues to release great products and services, they are already the number one for selling products and they've taken it a step further with the Amazon Webstore.
It allows you to setup your store that is fully integrated into Amazon's marketplace.
It's very affordable and gives you a big advantage over other stores.
Visit Amazon Webstore

15. 1ShoppingCart

1ShoppingCart is very popular among small businesses, it's three services in one, shopping cart, store builder and email marketing.
Visit 1ShoppingCart

16. Moonfruit

I didn't expect these guys to still be around, they started out years ago as a standard website building service which wasn't very good. Since then they have developed into a pretty respectable service.
They have over 5 million sites hosted which is most likely due to the fact that the service is free to begin with and if you want to do more advanced stuff, you upgrade to a premium service.
Visit Moonfruit

17. Znode

If your programming savvy and looking for a hosted service that offers freedom to tweak it to fit your needs. One of the most interesting features is Multifront.
With Multifront you can launch hundreds of online stores using a single integrated system.
You can create unique online stores for multiple brands, product sets, B2B, B2C, affiliates, franchisees, employee stores, co-branded stores and more.
You can also quickly launch micro-stores for promotional campaigns. Best of all, every online store shares a single database.
Visit Znode

18. CS-Cart

I don't know much about this service, from what I do know they are compatible with a wide array of third party services. The platform is built on the PHP programming language, so if that is your language of choice then you'll be right at home.
Visit CS-Cart

19. PinnacleCart

A very reliable service compatible with damn near every 3rd party service available, and they have a very easy to use store builder solution.

20. UltraCart

A new solution that has a lot of potential.
Visit UltraCart

21. PrestaShop

Yet another open source eCommerce solution, with over 120,000 online stores worldwide. They have a vast selection of templates and modules and over 300+ features.
Definitely worth a look.
Visit PrestaShop
You should find something that fits your needs on this list, thank you for reading.