You need to set up an online e-commerce store for your business but are simply overwhelmed at the choices laid out there before you. Hosted or self-hosted? Expensive all-in-one solution or piece it together?

We feel your pain, and in the interests of making life a little easier in this regard, we've come up with a list of 5 hosted e-commerce software solutions that will do just that.

We're only going to consider hosted e-commerce software solutions this time, as self-hosted is a much more daunting endeavor, requiring a great deal more technical savvy than many new e-commerce entrepreneurs possess. Never fear though, as after looking through these choices, you'll be far better armed to make a smart decision on what's best for your company and business!

5 Software solutions for E-commerce stores

Shopify

Photo Credit: Flickr/Daniel Weinand | CC BY-ND 2.0 License

Shopify is well known as the being dog in this space, and it's definitely an earned reputation. Possessing all of the tools necessary for you to make an attractive and easy to use platform, they also have a lot of awesome themes to give your store the perfect look. Not the cheapest, but clearly the best. So far they have more than 160,000 stores online.

BigCommerce – Another in the drag and drop variety, BigCommerce is similar to Shopify, but in my opinion a bit more complicated to use. Still they have their adherents, as 90,000 stores will attest to!

Wix E-Commerce

One of the easiest to use tools with Wix you can literally have your store up in a matter of a few hours, depending on the number of your offerings. They offer tons of flexibility and a fully integrated shopping cart. Learn more about Wix E-commerce here.

Weebly E-Commerce – The e-commerce tool of choice for more than 440,000 sites, Weebly makes it easy to produce a store, but in my experience the building platform can be slow and unresponsive. Still, a good tool for beginners. Click here for more information.

SquareSpace

Photo Credit: Flickr/SATOSHI TOMIYAMA | CC BY-SA 2.0 License

This solution offers some spectacular looks and can help you produce a good-looking store in no time. Although they may not have as many features as Shopify and BigCommerce, you can picture Squarespace as a lower-cost little brother. Learn more about Squarespace here.

Opening up shop on the internet can be a fearsome task if you're unfamiliar with all the tech involved, and who is? Particularly when you are looking at e-Commerce solutions and payment portals. Unless you've dealt with this kind of software before, you are pretty much in the dark about what you need and how much it should cost.

To help diminish this task a bit, see these 5 e-commerce platforms for you to begin your search. There are many more, certainly, but these are solid solutions that will get you started.

5 Terrific E-Commerce Solutions for startups

Volusion – Volusion is a good place to get your feet wet. Very economical at just $15 a month and no transaction fees, they have lots of of templates, a powerful website builder, along with numerous other features including SEO built right in, and a shopping cart, as well as 24/7 support.

Square Market – If you want a solution fast, then Square Market could be right for you. You can be accepting sales within a few minutes, with a surprisingly large number of features as well. You can use your own logo, imagery and more. They are a mobile ready solution, with all the bells and whistles you'd expect from a more expensive choice. They don't charge a monthly fee; only 2.75% per transaction.

Shopify – Starting at $14 a month with no transaction fees, Shopify is another choice at the entry level. One nice addition from them is Shopify Mobile (Shopify's own mobile credit card reader) and Shopify POS (Shopify's iPad point-of-sale system) which let you be making sales on the road or wherever you are.

WooCommerce – If you are using WordPress as many of us are, one of the best choices available would be WooCommerce, which effortlessly integrates into your existing WordPress site, and can take advantage of the many plugins and advantages WordPress has to offer.

BigCommerce – One of the initial and now serving the mid-level market and over 55,000 websites, BigCommerce has a lot more features, but can also be a tad more complicated. Primarily designed for mid to high volume businesses. Prices start at $29.95 with a 1.5% transaction fee.