E-commerce is experiencing significant growth, with global sales exceeding $6 trillion in 2024 and online retail comprising over 20% of all retail sales. Choosing the right e-commerce platform is therefore crucial for online business success.
What is an e-commerce platform?
An e-commerce platform provides the software to build and manage your online store, handling everything from marketing and inventory to payment processing.
Here’s an overview of the 4 best e-commerce platforms for 2025 to help you make the right choice for your customers.
Shopify: The Leading E-commerce Solution
Best for getting your e-commerce store up and running quickly.
It is the world’s leading e-commerce platform. Its self-hosted software helps you sell everywhere your customers are, with features to handle all aspects of retail, from website design and product management to finances and shipping.
Why choose this e-commerce platform?
With Shopify, you can start a business from home and grow until you’re an international brand with physical storefronts. It’s a platform that supports individual business journeys, with a single admin to manage your entire business, optimize your store, sell on social media, or explore popular retail models like dropshipping.
Plans and Pricing
Shopify offers a free trial, and paid plans start at $29 per month when billed annually.
Store builder
Shopify provides an intuitive onboarding wizard and a user-friendly site builder with free and paid themes. The Shopify Theme Store offers a wide selection of themes (nearly 200) for store customization. Free web hosting is included.
Oh, and by the way, choosing Shopify as a platform for your e-commerce website includes free web hosting.
The intuitive and user-friendly interface means you can easily figure out what you must do next. Every step and feature is clearly labeled so that you won’t get lost.
Selling features
Shopify facilitates sales through websites, social media, marketplaces, wholesale, and in-person via Shopify POS. It offers abandoned cart recovery, customized email marketing, and foreign selling options. Shopify interfaces with more than 8,000 applications to improve customer service, analytics, and marketing.
Payment Processing
Shopify provides a native payment provider with every plan, supporting major payment forms. It also supports over 100 third-party payment gateways and offers a flexible checkout system with various payment alternatives.
WIX
Best for merchants looking for a drag-and-drop builder
Wix is a flexible drag-and-drop website builder that includes configurable templates, web hosting, and domain registration. Wix also provides a variety of themes for e-commerce sites, although the basic online store is free. If you desire more advanced e-commerce options, you may upgrade to a premium subscription. To get those features and the ability to sell through social media, you’ll need to rely on third-party apps, or consider a wix to shopify migration to unlock more built-in eCommerce capabilities.
Why choose this e-commerce platform?
Wix is developed to make online selling easier. It enables you to collect payments, track purchases, and manage inventory through several channels.
Plans and Pricing
- Silver (ideal for beginners)—$75/month
- Gold (for professional e-commerce firms) costs $100 per month.
- Platinum (for high-volume merchants) costs $150 per month.
BigCommerce: Feature-Rich E-commerce Platform
Best for a well-integrated e-commerce website
BigCommerce provides a diverse set of e-commerce capabilities and functionality for enterprises of all sizes. It is a SaaS platform that includes open-source features. So you should select this platform based on your desired level of control.
There are many inherent features, like Shopify, and company owners can customize them to meet their own needs. As expected, BigCommerce users have access to 24/7 customer care, while premium subscribers can receive additional assistance from the customer service staff.
According to BigCommerce, online store owners were able to make a profit even in the first eight months of operating their e-commerce sites.
Why choose this platform?
BigCommerce is popular among enterprise-level organizations because of its capabilities that facilitate large-scale retail. However, it’s worth noting that some users find the platform less versatile and user-friendly than others.
Plans and pricing
Plans with BigCommerce begin at $29 per month if paid yearly.
E-commerce features
BigCommerce works with several sales channels, including Google Shopping, Facebook, price comparison engines, Amazon, and Etsy. The mobile app allows you to check analytics and manage inventory with one click. There’s no native POS system.
The need for an easy, flexible interface was a major factor in clothing brand Grace & Lace’s decision to migrate from bigcommerce to shopify.
WooCommerce
Best for an existing WordPress site.
Not quite an e-commerce platform, but rather a WordPress plugin. If you already have a WordPress site, you can utilize this plugin to transform it into a fully working e-commerce website, complete with inventory listings and an order page.
You can install paid extensions to access themes, improve security, or integrate marketing tools. While having this option is beneficial for sellers, there is one drawback: you have to make e-commerce payments through third-party apps, making it impossible to track your spending.
The need for a secure and scam-free platform was a major factor in the decision to transfer woocommerce to shopify.
Plans and pricing
The basic WooCommerce plug-in is free; however, advanced e-commerce and website hosting may require additional fees.
E-commerce features
The mobile app lets you add items, manage orders, and check analytics. WooCommerce also provides a native POS system.
While some retailers like to select the features they want, many consider WooCommerce’s add-on feature a drawback. With your store’s many functionalities distributed over a web of plugins and extensions, it can be difficult to keep track of how much you’re paying, and this is in addition to the expense of hosting and maintaining your WordPress website.
The Best eCommerce Platform for Startups and Small Businesses in 2025
All of the e-commerce platforms provide excellent value to new store owners. However, due to the high expense of switching between e-commerce platforms, it’s crucial to choose one that suits you from the very start.
- For serious eCommerce businesses, Shopify is best. But the Liquid programming can make it complicated to use.
- For e-commerce first-timers, BigCommerce is the best. You’ll enjoy running your website.
- For small businesses, Wix is the best. But be aware that you will not receive much technical support if something goes wrong.
- For people with a WordPress website, WooCommerce is the best. The only downside is the slightly slower loading speed.