What are the best web platforms for an online jewellery business?

Teens, mum-preneurs and business people from all backgrounds have jumped onto the jewellery business bandwagon over the years and selling your items online has never been simpler.

Whether selling your own items or those made by others, you need an efficient web platform to display MoissaniteCo rings and bangles and an effective checkout system We run through some of the best platforms to use for online jewellery business.

Shopify

Shopify has grown to new heights in recent years as the go-to platform for eCommerce – and is used by tens of thousands of people to sell all items across fitness, food, beauty, retail and more.

You can choose from a number of different templates to make your website look unique and you also have features such as unlimited products to upload, easy checkout and payments, automated emails and discount codes. One of the best features is that it shows you how many sales you have made and over what time, providing clear reporting.

This is perfect for selling bracelets, engagement rings, earrings and more – and will make your website look as good as any Hatton Garden shops.

The basic package starts from $29 per month (£24) and you can always speak to a developer to spruce it up a little more.

WordPress

WordPress is definitely a favourite for more digital marketing people because it is built with the option to add different plugins and functions, such as eCommerce, SEO, reporting and more.

Unlike Shopify which you can mostly do yourself, WordPress is a bit more technical and sophisticated and will require help from a professional developer. However, you may find that you have more freedom to add custom features, add a more unique and professional design and it is more scalable if you are building a big company.

A basic WordPress package starts from around $45 per month (£37) to use your domain and hosting is only a few pounds per month. However, you may need to pay a developer to help you get going and £2,000 is usually a good starting point.

Wix

This is a ‘drag and drop’ web builder which looks very professional. It is very cost-effective too, starting from £3 per month for the full package or £18 per month if you want to go more high end and include hosting and ongoing support.

You can make your jewellery look as bespoke as you want, using some Wix themes as a guideline and also include all the images and checkout features that you need.

The only criticism is that it adds a lot of code to the website which can make it slightly harder to rank on Google.

Squarespace

This is another cost-effective web builder which is drag and drop and perfect for beginners – and it starts from just £10 per month.

The sites can look very professional, allow you to make changes as quickly and easily as you want, with shopping carts and checkouts available.

Again, the ability to do drag and drop adds a lot of code to the website and makes it very difficult to rank on Google – so if this is part of your marketing strategy, always keep this in mind.