For those who are planning on starting a new eCommerce business this year, it’s worth thinking about how you’re going to host and support your new business. Your website will be the source of your livelihood going forward, so it’s crucial to make sure that you’re using the right eCommerce platform to encourage long-term success.

There’s no one-size-fits-all strategy for the perfect eCommerce store. You’re going to need to choose a platform that meets your own unique requirements for features and accessibility. Whether you’re looking to create a multi-vendor marketplace or merely a small business store, there are plenty of options out there. Here’s our insight into the top five to help you make a more informed decision.

1. Magneto

Released in 2008, Magneto is a highly popular open-source website platform for eCommerce companies. The scalability and reliability of this platform make it one of the most popular platforms around today, and many prominent brands, including Huawei and Burger King, have sites built on the Magneto platform.

If you’re an enterprise-level online store with a lot of products to sell, then Magneto could be the ideal choice. However, it’s not suitable for smaller companies because of a highly complicated store setup.

2. YoKart

Probably the exact opposite of Magneto, YoKart was specifically designed to make setting up an eCommerce store easier for smaller companies. YoKart is packed full of rich features for your eCommerce marketplace solution, and it’s even helped with creating multi-vendor stores like Etsy and Amazon. While there are a lot of different platforms out there that can provide a multi-vendor option, YoKart is a specialist in this area. It’s also worth noting that there’s a huge number of payment gateways to choose from too.

SMBs will love YoKart, with its extremely affordable starter package and one-year license. You can also tap into a range of extensibility options if you want to upgrade your SMB store experience.

3. Shopify

It’s hard to find someone who hasn’t heard of Shopify these days. Probably one of the best-known eCommerce solutions in the world, Shopify was created in Canada, but it’s been helping businesses around the globe to thrive for nearly fifteen years now. Shopify is always on the cutting edge of the latest eCommerce trends, and it integrates with plenty of applications and tools too, so you can even build your own website out directly from your social media page.

If you’re a beginner in the eCommerce space, and you need a conventional solution to get your strategy up and running, then you’re sure to benefit from what Shopify has to offer. The biggest downside is the additional transaction fee you’ll need to worry about if you don’t use Shopify payment.

4. BigCommerce

Since this eCommerce platform first begun, it’s been gathering attention in the online space. Now, there are more than 55,000 stores on the BigCommerce platform, and many of them are highly famous groups like Toyota and the Martha Stewart brand. BigCommerce has helped companies of all shapes and sizes launch incredible storefronts over the years. If you don’t have a lot of coding skills to your name, then the built-in features are sure to be helpful.

BigCommerce is the best solution or eCommerce individuals who want to run a fantastic store without having to worry about things like plugins, coding, and other tech hurdles. If you don’t mind missing out on free themes, then this is the store for you.

5. WooCommerce

Finally, built to run on the world’s most popular CMS system, WooCommerce is a free WordPress plugin that practically needs no introduction. WooCommerce comes with a secure payment gateway and shopping cart that are both fantastically effective. The service is open source and easy to use, although you’ll need an additional plugin if you want to run a multi-vendor store.

WooCommerce is a fantastic option if you already have a WordPress account and you want to stick with it. However, the biggest problem with this solution is its general lack of scalability. As your business develops and you get more sellers, WooCommerce may begin to slow down.

Ultimately, the perfect eCommerce store for your needs will depend on what you want to accomplish for your business. All of the eCommerce platforms mentioned above all feature their own benefits and negatives for different types of company. Still, with a little luck, the information that we’ve provided should help you to make a more informed decision about how you should start your business online.