10 Most Used E-Commerce Platforms
E-Commerce Platforms
November 2 2024 ・ 15 mins read
In this review article; According to October 2024 data (source), we have compiled the 10 most used e-commerce platforms among the 1 million websites with the highest traffic. We investigated the user experiences of e-commerce entrepreneurs and web developers. We took a look at the user number trends of the platforms. Finally, we examined the evaluation articles by developers and e-commerce entrepreneurs and listed the positive and negative features.
The list is ranked according to statistical data of builtwith. However, some of the platforms in the ranking will be added later. The opinions presented while preparing the evaluation article were prepared entirely according to the opinions, comments and suggestions provided by e-commerce platform users, entrepreneurs and developers. This article was created completely independent of commercial brand collaborations as a recommendation.
If you are ready, let's start..
1
Shopify
- Shopify provides an intuitive, user-friendly interface suitable for beginners.
- Shopify Payments provides seamless, integrated payment processing.
- The platform is highly scalable, accommodating businesses of all sizes.
- Shopify is widely preferred for its ease of use, enabling users to set up and manage online stores with minimal technical knowledge.
- The platform integrates seamlessly with social media and other sales channels, making multi-channel selling simple for businesses.
- Shopify provides an intuitive, user-friendly interface suitable for beginners.
- Shopify Payments provides seamless, integrated payment processing.
- The platform is highly scalable, accommodating businesses of all sizes.
- Shopify is widely preferred for its ease of use, enabling users to set up and manage online stores with minimal technical knowledge.
- The platform integrates seamlessly with social media and other sales channels, making multi-channel selling simple for businesses.
Shopify is one of the easiest platforms to set up for e-commerce beginners and small businesses. However, what brings it to the top is its reliable payment infrastructure. This is so important that customers find any store with the Shopify infrastructure more reliable than other platforms, and with this trust, they prefer to shop easier and faster..
According to August 2024 data, more than 700 million people have shopped from Shopify stores worldwide. There are more than 2 million Shopify merchants and more than 4.6 million Shopify stores. Finally, it is known that Shopify merchants have more than $300 billion in revenue. Source
Shopify’s ecosystem is vast, with over 8,000 third-party apps that integrate seamlessly to extend the platform’s functionality, addressing a range of merchant needs from customer relationship management to social media marketing. Shopify has over 170 themes and over 10,000 apps in the Shopify App store.
Beyond its core e-commerce platform, has evolved to support multi-channel commerce, allowing sellers to reach customers via social media, marketplaces, and in-person sales through its point-of-sale (POS) system. Shopify has a strong commitment to supporting small and medium-sized businesses, with 84% of its merchants generating less than $50,000 in annual revenue. This support for small businesses has helped cement Shopify's reputation as a platform that democratizes access to e-commerce, providing a scalable solution for businesses at every stage of growth.
Shopify Usage Statistics
When we look at Shopify statistics, we see that the number of users has always increased from 2002 to 2024. We notice that almost all of its competitors hav decreased in the number of users. This statistical data shows us the power and stability of Shopify more clearly.
Important websites that use Shopify infrastructure; Gymshark, Kylie Cosmetics, SKIMS, Hein, Red Bull, Tesla, Allbirds
2
WooCommerce
- WooCommerce is free and open-source, making it cost-effective for new businesses.
- It integrates smoothly with WordPress, allowing for powerful content and SEO capabilities.
- WooCommerce offers extensive customization options through plugins and themes.
- It provides flexible payment options, supporting numerous gateways and currencies.
- WooCommerce has a large community and extensive support resources for troubleshooting.
- WooCommerce requires a separate hosting service, which can add to setup complexity and cost.
- Large stores may experience slower performance without proper hosting and optimization.
- Customizations and extensions can increase costs if using premium plugins or themes.
- Security measures are the user’s responsibility, requiring regular updates and monitoring.
- WooCommerce can be challenging to manage for non-technical users without WordPress experience.
When comparing WooCommerce to other e-commerce platforms, its flexibility and integration with WordPress stand out as major advantages.
WooCommerce enables businesses to create highly customizable online stores while leveraging the SEO capabilities and content management strengths of WordPress. Its open-source nature gives users full control over design and functionality, making it a favorite among businesses looking for an adaptable, cost-effective solution. Additionally, the WooCommerce ecosystem offers a wide range of plugins and themes, allowing merchants to tailor their store’s functionality to specific needs, whether by adding advanced analytics, unique payment gateways, or streamlined checkout processes.
WooCommerce Usage Statistics
50 Best Woocommerce E-commerce Sites That Will Inspire You
3
Adobe Commerce Magento
- Magento is highly customizable, allowing for detailed control over store design and functionality.
- It offers robust scalability, making it suitable for both small and large businesses.
- Magento supports advanced SEO features, helping improve search engine visibility.
- The platform provides comprehensive multi-store management from a single dashboard.
- Magento has a strong developer community, with plenty of resources and extensions available.
- Magento can be complex and challenging to set up for non-technical users.
- It requires high-quality hosting, which can be costly, especially for larger stores.
- Customization often requires coding skills or developer support, adding to expenses.
- Magento updates and maintenance can be time-consuming and complex.
- The platform's initial learning curve is steep, particularly for new e-commerce users.
Developed initially as an open-source platform, Adobe Commerce (Magento) offers a robust set of features, including multi-store management, advanced SEO tools, and a vast marketplace for extensions that can enhance functionality.
It supports various product types and provides detailed analytics and reporting, helping businesses make data-driven decisions. Adobe Commerce (Magento) also has strong support for international commerce with multilingual capabilities, multiple currencies, and tax rates, making it an ideal choice for businesses looking to expand globally. The platform’s vast customization options empower businesses to tailor the user experience and manage complex product catalogs with ease, making it suitable for companies with specific needs or those seeking full control over their online store.
In 2018, Adobe acquired Magento for $1.68 billion, a move aimed at enhancing Adobe’s Experience Cloud by integrating a comprehensive eCommerce platform into its suite of digital marketing, analytics, and content management tools. This acquisition allowed Adobe to offer a seamless end-to-end experience for businesses seeking to create, manage, and optimize online stores alongside other customer experience initiatives. By combining Magento’s robust eCommerce capabilities with Adobe’s strengths in design and data-driven insights, Adobe positioned itself to compete more directly with major players in the eCommerce and customer experience markets, such as Salesforce. Since the acquisition, Adobe has continued to develop Magento under the name Adobe Commerce, pushing forward with innovations and tighter integrations within its ecosystem.
When we look at the distribution of Magento's number of users over the years, we see that there has been a horizontal line in the number of users after Adobe's acquisition. You can see in the table above that the number of users started to decrease significantly, especially after 2021.
4
Prestashop
- Completely free to use.
- Ideal for low-budget projects.
- Large community support.
- Extensive plugin options.
- SEO-friendly features.
- Difficult to use for beginners.
- Limited flexibility due to infrastructure issues.
- Heavy reliance on third-party plugins.
- Potential scalability issues for large stores.
- Limited customer support compared to competitors.
PrestaShop is a powerful and widely-used open-source e-commerce platform that offers a rich set of features for online retailers. It's highly customizable and supports a range of online store functionalities, including product management, payment processing, and SEO optimization, making it suitable for businesses of various sizes.
The platform is known for its flexibility, allowing users to tailor their store's design and functionality to meet specific needs. With over 300 built-in features and a large community of developers and users, PrestaShop makes it possible for users without advanced technical knowledge to set up and maintain a successful online store.
One of the features that sets PrestaShop apart is its modular approach, which enables users to add or remove functionalities as needed, making it a scalable option as businesses grow. Additionally, the platform supports multi-store management, allowing business owners to control multiple online stores from a single interface—a feature not as robust in some competing e-commerce solutions. However, PrestaShop’s open-source nature can also be a downside, as many essential features and advanced customizations require paid add-ons or developer assistance, which can drive up costs. While PrestaShop provides flexibility, its performance may lag with larger product catalogs or higher traffic volumes if not optimized, which may push some businesses to consider more robust alternatives. Nonetheless, for smaller to mid-sized businesses looking for a versatile and customizable platform, PrestaShop remains a compelling option.
Prestashop Usage Statistics
5
OpenCart
- OpenCart is free and open-source, making it a cost-effective choice for businesses.
- It offers a user-friendly interface, which simplifies store management for beginners.
- OpenCart has a vast marketplace with numerous extensions and themes for customization.
- It supports multiple languages and currencies, ideal for global eCommerce.
- The platform is lightweight and performs well, reducing server load and improving speed.
- OpenCart’s functionality is limited without additional plugins, which can add costs.
- It has a smaller community and fewer resources compared to platforms like WooCommerce.
- OpenCart lacks built-in SEO features, requiring extensions for optimization.
- The platform can be challenging to scale for large, complex online stores.
- OpenCart’s security relies heavily on third-party extensions, increasing vulnerability.
OpenCart is an open-source e-commerce platform known for its simplicity and ease of use, making it a popular choice for small to medium-sized businesses. It provides a straightforward and user-friendly interface that allows store owners to manage their products, orders, and customers efficiently.
OpenCart includes essential e-commerce functionalities out of the box, such as SEO optimization, multi-language support, and a variety of payment gateway integrations. Its built-in marketplace offers thousands of extensions, allowing users to expand the capabilities of their store as needed. For business owners who seek a reliable, no-frills platform that is easy to set up and manage, OpenCart provides a solid foundation.
One feature that sets OpenCart apart from other e-commerce solutions is its lightweight structure, which generally requires fewer server resources, leading to better speed and performance for smaller stores. Additionally, OpenCart's multi-store functionality allows business owners to manage multiple storefronts from a single dashboard, which is particularly useful for businesses with diverse product lines or global reach. However, while OpenCart is accessible and cost-effective, some users may find its functionality limited compared to more feature-rich platforms like Magento or Shopify. Advanced customization often requires extensions, and depending on the needs, the platform can feel limited without technical support or development assistance. Furthermore, as businesses scale, OpenCart's performance may not be as robust in handling high volumes, leading some larger businesses to seek alternatives.
OpenCart Usage Statistics
6
Wix
- Wix eCommerce provides an easy-to-use, drag-and-drop builder, ideal for beginners.
- It includes a wide variety of customizable templates for online stores.
- Wix offers built-in SEO tools, helping businesses improve search engine rankings.
- The platform integrates with various payment providers, making transactions easy for customers.
- Wix provides excellent customer support with extensive tutorials and resources.
- Wix eCommerce has limited scalability, making it less suitable for large businesses.
- The platform’s customization options can be restrictive compared to other eCommerce builders.
- Transaction fees are required for some payment methods, adding to overall costs.
- Wix e-commerce structure, which has received negative comments from many users, has an infrastructure that needs further development.
- Migrating a Wix eCommerce store to another platform can be challenging and time-consuming.
Wix Stores is an intuitive e-commerce platform designed for small to medium-sized businesses that want to set up an online store quickly and with minimal technical expertise. Integrated into the Wix website builder, Wix Stores provides a comprehensive solution for creating and managing an online store, with easy-to-use tools for product listings, order management, and payment processing. With its drag-and-drop interface, Wix allows users to customize the look and feel of their store without needing coding skills, making it an appealing option for business owners who value simplicity and flexibility. Wix Stores also offers built-in SEO tools, marketing features, and integrations with social media and other sales channels, helping businesses reach a wider audience.
What differentiates Wix Stores from other e-commerce platforms is its ease of use and extensive design capabilities, allowing store owners to create visually compelling websites that match their brand identity. Wix’s App Market also provides numerous add-ons for additional functionalities, from email marketing to customer reviews, making it versatile enough to meet different business needs. However, Wix Stores may not be ideal for larger businesses with complex inventory and order management needs, as it lacks some advanced e-commerce features found in platforms like Shopify or BigCommerce. Additionally, while Wix provides attractive templates and designs, the platform’s customization options are somewhat limited in comparison to fully open-source solutions, and it can be challenging to migrate if a business outgrows the platform. For smaller businesses focused on design and ease of use, Wix Stores is a strong choice, but it may feel restrictive for more advanced e-commerce requirements.
Wix Stores Usage Statistics
7
Webflow
- Webflow offers highly customizable design tools, giving designers creative freedom without coding.
- It provides a visual editor that combines HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, suitable for professional web designers.
- Webflow includes built-in SEO tools, enhancing website visibility on search engines.
- The platform allows seamless animations and interactions, enabling unique, dynamic websites.
- Webflow hosts sites on fast, reliable servers, ensuring quick loading times and high performance.
- Webflow’s pricing can be high for small businesses, especially for eCommerce plans.
- The learning curve can be steep for users without prior design or development experience.
- Webflow’s eCommerce capabilities are still developing and lack some advanced features.
- Limited third-party app integrations compared to other website builders may restrict functionality.
- Webflow doesn’t allow direct access to the site's backend, limiting advanced customizations.
Webflow is a versatile website builder that combines powerful design tools with a visual interface, making it an excellent choice for businesses, designers, and developers looking to create highly customizable websites without extensive coding. Known for its flexibility and robust design capabilities, Webflow allows users to create responsive sites tailored to various screen sizes, offering full control over layouts, animations, and interactions.
While Webflow has gained popularity as a comprehensive website-building tool, its e-commerce features have also developed, enabling businesses to set up online stores and manage products, orders, and payments in a visually engaging environment. With integrated SEO tools and seamless CMS capabilities, Webflow provides an all-in-one solution for those who want creative freedom and scalability.
What distinguishes Webflow from other e-commerce platforms is its advanced design flexibility and the ability to create custom site structures that go beyond typical templates. Webflow’s Designer tool gives users pixel-perfect control, allowing for creative layouts and micro-interactions that make websites feel unique. However, Webflow’s e-commerce features may feel limited compared to specialized e-commerce platforms like Shopify or BigCommerce, especially for businesses with complex inventory or shipping requirements. Additionally, Webflow’s learning curve can be steep for users unfamiliar with design principles or visual coding, and the cost can be higher for advanced features and larger product catalogs. While Webflow is ideal for creative professionals or businesses that prioritize unique design, it may not be the best fit for large-scale e-commerce stores with specific sales needs.
Webflow Usage Statistics
8
Ecwid
- Ecwid offers a free plan, allowing small businesses to start selling online without initial costs.
- It integrates seamlessly with existing websites, enabling users to add e-commerce functionality without rebuilding their site.
- The platform supports multiple languages and currencies, facilitating global sales.
- Ecwid provides a user-friendly interface, making store management straightforward for beginners.
- It offers a wide range of payment gateways, giving flexibility in transaction processing.
- Advanced customization options may require CSS knowledge or third-party apps.
- The free plan lacks essential features like discount coupons and the ability to sell digital goods.
- SEO capabilities are limited, with restrictions on editing URLs and image alt text.
- Ecwid's app market is smaller compared to competitors, offering around 330 apps and extensions.
- Customer support is limited to seven languages, which may be a barrier for non-English speakers.
Known for its ease of integration, Ecwid allows users to seamlessly embed a store into a variety of platforms, including WordPress, Wix, and even social media channels like Instagram and Facebook, without the need for a full site redesign. Its setup process is straightforward, making it accessible to non-technical users, while its essential e-commerce features—such as product catalog management, order processing, and integrated payment gateways—provide everything a small to medium-sized business needs to get started with online sales.
What sets Ecwid apart from other e-commerce platforms is its adaptability and multi-channel approach, which allows businesses to unify their online sales across multiple sites and social channels. Ecwid’s centralized dashboard makes managing products, orders, and customers across these various channels convenient and efficient, giving businesses a cohesive sales strategy without requiring separate setups. However, while Ecwid excels in its multi-channel capabilities, it may not offer the same depth of customization as more dedicated e-commerce platforms like Shopify. Advanced customization often requires coding or third-party integrations, and its features may feel limited for businesses with extensive product catalogs or specific needs like complex shipping or inventory management. Additionally, as a hosted solution, Ecwid can become costly at higher subscription levels. Overall, Ecwid is a strong option for smaller businesses looking to sell across multiple platforms but may be restrictive for larger operations needing more specialized tools.
Ecwid Usage Statistics
9
osCommerce
- osCommerce is open-source and free, making it affordable for businesses to set up an online store.
- It offers a large selection of add-ons and plugins, allowing for significant customization.
- The platform has an active community, providing support and resources for troubleshooting.
- osCommerce supports various payment gateways, enabling flexibility in payment processing.
- It is relatively lightweight and can be hosted on most standard web servers.
- osCommerce’s default design is basic and may require extensive customization to meet modern design standards.
- The platform lacks built-in SEO features, which can make optimization for search engines challenging.
- Limited scalability makes osCommerce less suitable for large or rapidly growing businesses.
- osCommerce updates and security patches can be infrequent, requiring users to stay vigilant about security.
- Customization can require PHP knowledge, making it less accessible for users without coding experience.
osCommerce is one of the original open-source e-commerce platforms, offering a range of features for creating and managing online stores. Established over two decades ago, osCommerce provides core functionalities such as product management, customer management, and order processing, enabling businesses to set up a store with essential e-commerce features.
As a free and open-source solution, osCommerce has built a large community of users and developers, allowing for extensive customization and flexibility. It supports a variety of payment and shipping options, which can be extended through numerous community-created add-ons, giving businesses the opportunity to create a tailored e-commerce experience.
What differentiates osCommerce from many modern e-commerce platforms is its open-source nature, which provides full control over the code and allows for unlimited customization. Unlike hosted platforms like Shopify or Wix, osCommerce offers a self-hosted solution, giving businesses more flexibility in terms of functionality and server control. However, osCommerce’s age does show, as the platform’s interface and design options can feel outdated and may require significant technical know-how to fully optimize and modernize. Additionally, without built-in support for advanced features like mobile optimization or SEO best practices, osCommerce often requires extensive customization or third-party assistance to remain competitive. For tech-savvy users who appreciate control over their platform, osCommerce is a viable option, but it may not be suitable for those seeking an out-of-the-box, modern e-commerce experience.
osCommerce Usage Statistics
