Scale or Fail. How to Find a Scalable e-Commerce Solution for Your Business Size? Part I

Any entrepreneur who plans to launch a retail website has to choose among the variety of e-commerce platforms available on the market.

An e-commerce platform is a software application that allows merchants to create and manage their online business, enabling the process of buying and selling on the Internet.

For better or worse, there is no universal solution for any business type, which begs the next question: which e-commerce platform fits exactly your company level?

In this article we are going to overview some of the most popular e-commerce solutions on the market from the scalability perspective and decide, which is the most suitable and cost-efficient option for your business size.

WooCommerce

It is a WordPress plugin that provides a website with full-fledged features to add e-commerce to a website.

This plugin itself is free, so it is often used for dropshipping businesses that require a low barrier to entry. Except for a standard e-commerce model, WooCommerce frequently serves the following business models: affiliate, subscription, membership, auctions, and bookings.

Beyond the diversity of e-commerce facilities, WooCommerce is not technically efficient for business scaling. It’s more like a good option for aspiring online merchants who need to test their business idea and identify their further path.

Prestashop

It’s an open-source e-commerce system for small and middle-sized businesses, which offers many modules to customize an online-store without developers’ assistance.

It’s possible to run a successful e-commerce business with its help. But any successful business should be expanded one day. The main Prestashop’s drawback is insufficient scalability, so your business growth perspectives are limited with this platform.

Oxid

It is an e-commerce software that provides a rich number of e-commerce functions. This solution is aimed at managing small and midsize businesses and brings enough advantages for B2B clients.

However, traders are not really satisfied with its backend structure, which plays a big role in business management and its improvement. Even with solid B2B functions that deliver customers a better experience, online merchants have still been overlooked, as they face many problems with an administrative area, which may discourage them from further business development with this e-commerce solution.

Shopify

It’s a hosted e-commerce platform that is highly popular among both B2C and B2B businesses of different scope along with a subscription-based business model. That’s because of Shopify’s convenience in use and rich feature-list that allows building an online business quickly.

Whatever this is, the scalability issue should be raised in this case as well. Even Shopify Plus edition isn’t really well-suited for larger enterprises.

Shopware

This e-commerce platform can certainly be a final destination for all e-commerce websites that experienced defeat on the above-mentioned platforms. Shopware covers all of their shortfalls, providing exclusive features for a smooth selling process, like storytelling and digital publishing, along with unlimited opportunities for business scaling.

You can discover more about Shopware benefits for your business, reading this article.

To sum up, any platform can be good for a particular business. But the most important thing is to determine your business needs and select a platform that is able to clearly address them not just today, but tomorrow too.