E-commerce Platforms: How They Compare + How to Choose One

Key takeaways

E-commerce platforms enable both large and small businesses to sell their goods and services online. 

• E-commerce platforms provide consumers with a search capability that allows them to easily find products online, a digital cart to manage their orders, and a payment system to make purchases.

• Popular e-commerce platforms include Square Online, WooCommerce, Squarespace, GoDaddy, and Wix.

• You can choose an e-commerce platform by considering its features, conducting a cost-benefit analysis, testing the user experience, and examining SEO settings.

Explore popular e-commerce platforms, how they compare, and the steps to choosing a platform for your business. If you’re ready to start learning more about creating your own e-commerce store, enroll in the Google Digital Marketing & E-commerce Professional Certificate. You’ll have the opportunity to learn how to build e-commerce stores, analyze their online performance, and grow customer loyalty in as little as six months. Upon completion, you’ll have earned a career certificate for your resume.

What are e-commerce platforms?

An e-commerce platform, also called e-commerce software, is an application that facilitates the buying and selling of products online. As a result, whether you sell directly to consumers (B2C) or to other businesses (B2B), your e-commerce platform will be the centerpiece of your digital storefront. Businesses use e-commerce platforms to manage their websites and operate their sales and marketing functions. This means that picking the right platform will be critical to achieving your business goals.

At their most basic level, all e-commerce platforms provide consumers with the following three features:

1. A search capability that allows them to easily find products online

2. A digital cart that allows them to manage their orders

3. A payment system that allows them to make purchases

E-commerce is a fast-growing market that requires flexible platforms to meet consumers’ needs. Statista predicts that the number of e-commerce users worldwide will reach 4.1 billion by 2030, and e-commerce revenue will grow 6.84 percent annually between 2026 and 2030, generating a market volume of $5.05 trillion [1]. To capture some of that profit yourself, you’ll need a platform that meets your needs and helps you achieve your own goals. Many platforms also use data analytics to provide businesses with insights into their consumers’ behavior so that they can improve their digital marketing and business operations.

In today’s e-commerce economy, buyers can purchase just about anything through the internet. Trending e-commerce categories include sports trading cards, printable fabrics, instant coffee, wall tiles, and digestive supplements, according to popular e-commerce platform Shopify’s sales data (trending as of September 2025) [2]. 

A comparison of top e-commerce platforms

One of the most important first steps in selecting a platform is to investigate the key features available and how they compare. Explore the table below to start the process.

*Prices are based on information available as of June 2026. 

How to choose an e-commerce platform

In this section, you will use our process to choose the best platform for your e-commerce business needs. Build from the information in the table above, adding additional e-commerce platforms as needed, and follow the steps below to further investigate platforms, pricing plans, key features, and more.

1. Identify necessary e-commerce platform features.

When you have clarity on what you need an e-commerce platform to do, you can confidently choose among the numerous features. Start by listing the key features essential to selling your products and operating your business effectively. For example: 

• Integrations for offering customers multiple payment options 

• A customer relationship management (CRM) system for organizing a growing list of leads and customers

• An analytics dashboard for examining multiple performance metrics 

• Integrations for dropshipping (selling your products online without having to store inventory yourself)

• Simple, intuitive admin panel for quick setup 

• Custom domain 

Online or on premises?

As you’re exploring e-commerce solutions, you’ll want to consider whether your platform should operate on your own on-premise servers or in the cloud via a software as a service (SaaS) platform. Each has its own use case.

While on-premise platforms tend to be best suited for businesses that work in tightly regulated industries, like health care, cloud-based platforms are well-suited to businesses looking for a scalable solution.

2. Conduct a cost-benefit analysis. 

Your next step is to compare the cost of using essential features on different platforms. Take into account what features you may need now, as well as ones you may need as your business grows. Most platforms unlock different features, such as increased storage and additional integrations, when you upgrade from a basic plan to a more expensive price tier.

Your goal is to balance making an economical selection with gaining access to essential features. 

3. Test the user experience.

With the information you’ve gathered from the first two steps, begin narrowing down your list to the two or three most appropriate platforms for your business. Sign up for a free trial on these platforms to test the experience of using them as a site administrator. 

• What’s the ease in setting up the customer-facing components of the site, including product pages, checkout pages, and blog articles?

• Do the platform’s features, such as the checkout process and payment processor, allow you to create a seamless customer journey and buying experience?

• How intuitive is it to navigate the admin panel? 

• How helpful do you find the support documentation and customer service experience?

• Does the e-commerce website builder allow you to create the kind of storefront you want?

Read more: UI vs. UX Design: What’s the Difference?

4. Examine SEO settings. 

While most website platforms, including those for e-commerce, allow you to customize your search engine optimization (SEO) settings, some platforms may offer more extensive SEO tools, such as blogging tools and the ability to change ALT tags for images. 

SEO is important for an e-commerce website because it means you can rank higher in search engine results for inquiries related to your products. In other words, the right SEO settings help customers find your site and purchase your products. 

Before making your final e-commerce platform selection, be sure that the SEO tools will support you as your business grows so that you can attract more internet traffic. 

Choosing from the best e-commerce platforms

Remember: As the e-commerce industry grows and your online business evolves, it’s important to find the best platform for your e-commerce website. Keep in mind the cost, functionality, and scalability of your options as you choose a platform and even upgrade to premium versions.

Empower your growth with curated learning resources 

Subscribe to our weekly LinkedIn newsletter, Career Chat, for industry updates, tips, and trends. Then explore free digital marketing and e-commerce resources to optimize your professional growth:

• Take the quiz: Digital Marketing Career Quiz: Is It Right for You? Find Your Role

• Follow a tutorial: How to Set Up a Shopify Store

• Watch on YouTube: How to Pivot Your Digital Marketing Skills to ANY Industry (4-Step Framework)

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