Choosing An eCommerce Platform

Thinking of switching to a new eCommerce platform?

Whether you're looking to launch your first online store, or are considering making the switch from your current eCommerce solution, it's important to weigh up all of your options. This eCommerce platforms comparison guide gives you a snapshot of the core features and functionalities within each major platform, and highlights the many benefits of choosing Kooomo as your end-to-end digital commerce solution.


Company Information
Headquarters	UK & Ireland	Canada	USA	USA	USA	USA	Germany
Industry Experience	Founded 2000	Founded 2004	Founded 1985	Founded 2004	Founded 1997	Founded 2009	Founded 2000
Cost & Time to Market
Average Implementation Cost	€ 20-50k	€ 18k	€ 40-100k	€ 500k +	€ 600k	€ 150k +	€ 30k
Revenue Share	A tiered revenue share depending on client turnover upto 3%	x	n/a	0.5-3%	x	x	x
Time to market	1-3 months	1-6 months	3-6 months	6+ months	6+ months	4+ months	weeks
Annual licensing cost	none	€24k +	€ 24k +	none	varies	varies	500 maintenance fees per month
System integrator required?	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
Business Model
Architecture	Cloud	Cloud	On-premise	Cloud	On-premise	Cloud	On-premise
ERP/EPOS Integration	In-house	Third-party Agencies	Third-party Agencies	Third-party Agencies	Third-party Agencies	In-house	Third-party Agencies
One click integrations	✓	x	x	x	x	✓	✓
Upgrades	Free of charge	Free of charge	Free of charge	Free of charge	Additional charge	Additional charge	Free of charge
Updates	Every 3 weeks	Regular	x	6 times per year	x	x	Every month
Value-added services	Digital Marketing, SEO, Store Management, Warehouse Management	x	x	x	x	x	x
Features & Functionality
End to end solution (without needing integrations)	✓	x	x	x	x	x	x
Multi-language	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Multi-currency	✓	x	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Omnichannel	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Marketplaces Connector	✓	Via Partners	✓	✓	Via Partners	✓	✓
Distributed Order Management	✓	x	x	✓	✓	x	✓
Programming Language	php	html, css	php	proprietary Language	c, c++	html, css	php
Front-end Design (Look & Feel)	CMS & Global ecosystem of agency partners	Shopify templates only	Third-party agencies	Third party-agencies	Third-party agencies	BigCommerce templates + customisation	CMS & agency partners

Company Information
Headquarters
	UK & Ireland
	Canada
	USA
	USA
	USA
	USA
	Germany
Industry Experience
	Founded 2000
	Founded 2004
	Founded 1995
	Founded 2004
	Founded 1997
	Founded 2009
	Founded 2000

Cost & Time to Market
Average Implementation Cost
	€20 - 50k
	€ 24k
	€ 45-100k (Cloud edition)
	€ 500k +
	€ 600k
	€ 150k+
	€ 30k+
Revenue Share
	A tiered revenue share depending on client turnover up to 3%
	x
	x
	0.5-3%
	x
	x
	x
Time to Market
	1-3 months
	weeks
	6+ months
	2-4 months
	6+ months
	4+ months
	weeks
Annual Licensing Costs
	none
	$2,000USD a month for standard setups and integrations
	€ 24k +
	none
	varies
	varies
	500 maintenance fees per month
System integrator required?
	No
	No
	Yes
	Yes
	Yes
	No
	No

Business Model
Architecture
	Cloud
	Cloud
	Cloud & On-premise
	Cloud
	On-premise
	Cloud
	On-premise
ERP/EPOS Integration
	In-house
	Third-party Agencies
	Third-party Agencies
	Third-party Agencies
	Third-party Agencies
	In-house
	Third-party Agencies
One-click integrations
	✓
	✓
	x
Salesforce	x
	x
	✓
	✓
Upgrades
	Free of charge
	Free of charge
	Free of charge
	Free of charge
	Additional charge
	Additional charge
	Free of charge
Updates
	Every 3 weeks
	Regular
	x
	6 times per year
	x
	x
	Every month
Value-added services
	Digital Marketing, SEO, Store Management, Warehouse Management
	x
	x
	x
	x
	x
	x

Features & Functionality
End to end solution (without needing integrations)
	✓
	x
	x
	x
	x
	x
	x
Multi-language
	✓ (multiple languages supported through single storefront)
	Via multiple storefronts (additional $2,000 a month per storefront)
	✓
	✓
	✓
	✓
	✓
Multi-currency
	✓
	Via Partners & multiple storefronts
	✓
	✓
	✓
	✓
	✓
Omnichannel
	✓
	✓
	✓
	✓
	✓
	✓
	✓
Marketplaces Connector
	✓
	Via Partners
	✓
	✓
	Via Partners
	✓
	✓
Distributed Order Management
	✓
	x
	x
	✓
	✓
	x
	✓
Programming Language
	php
	html, css
	php
	proprietary Language
	c, c++
	html, css
	php
Front-end Design (Look & Feel)
	Built-in content management system
	Shopify themes only
	Third-party agencies
	Third-party agencies
	Third-party agencies
	BigCommerce templates + customisation
	CMS & agency partners

eCommerce Platforms Comparison Guide

In this eCommerce platforms comparison guide, we compare all of the main eCommerce platform providers across 5 key categories (Pricing, time to market, flexibility, global expansion, and features/functionality), to determine which solution best fits your business needs.

Platform Costs

Kooomo: The average cost for brands to implement Kooomo as their eCommerce solution provider is €20-50k. There are no hosting fees, no annual licensing costs, and Kooomo operates a revenue sharing model that varies from 0.5% - 3%. A system integrator isn’t required to set up your online store, therefore businesses save on initial development costs, as well as fees associated with further developing and customising your e-Shop over time through an agency or a dedicated team of developers. All of this is managed in-house.

Magento: The initial investment cost to set up Magento as your eCommerce solution can range from €50k to upwards of €100k, depending on the size of your business, as well as how extensive functionality needs to be. Annual licensing fees are 24k +. Ongoing development costs for additional customisation or functionality must be managed through either an external agency or an in-house dedicated Magento development resource typically start at €80+ per hour.

Shopify Plus: The average implementation cost for Shopify Plus is €18k. Pricing plans typically start at approximately €2000 per month, but can vary greatly depending on whether retailers want to add specific customisations to their online stores. Annual license costs aren't applicable, and there is no revenue sharing model available to retailers.

Salesforce Commerce Cloud: Pricing for Salesforce Commerce Cloud is based around Gross Merchandising Volume (GMV) on a revenue share basis. This means that the cost is viewed more as an operational expenditure (OPEX) rather than a capital expenditure (CAPEX). As with all eCommerce platforms, total cost of ownership varies greatly as it is completely dependent on the size of your business and turnover, but as Salesforce Commerce Cloud is aimed at enterprise level brands, the investment to get an online store up and running generally exceeds €500k.

SAP Hybris: Similar to Salesforce Commerce Cloud, the cost of implementing SAP Hybris as your eCommerce platform of choice varies. However, as it is an on premise solution that needs a system integrator, and an annual licensing fee, costs can easily clock up to €600k+ in terms of TCO. Pricing is based on the needs of retailers in terms of integration points, development models, system integrations, as well as domestic and international websites.

BigCommerce: BigCommerce Enterprise plans are dependent on the merchant's sales figures, and support sales of $400k+ per year, based on a tiered pricing system across various levels of the platform. Custom development and design work are all at an extra cost to merchants.

Shopware: The average cost of implementing Shopware Enterprise is €30k with additional €500 maintenence fees per month.

Time to Market

Kooomo: The average migration timeline for Kooomo is approximately 1-3 months. This includes any development work that needs to be done as well as migration, customisation, and/or bespoke integrations.

Magento: Deployment time on the Magento platform is typically 6+ months, depending on the complexity of the project at hand. A full project may even take from 6-9 months from concept to implementation, as development time is heavily dependent on linking in-house systems, integrations, and customisations

Shopify Plus: Most Shopify sites can be built and launched within 2-4 months of initial implementation. By using simple templates as well as the fact that there is little need for development work, building a site tends to be that of a 'drag and drop' process.

Salesforce Commerce Cloud: Typically, the timeline for platform implementation is 6+ months. Salesforce Commerce Cloud is cloud-based, so hosting isn't something that will affect the timeline for implementing the solution. However, as the platform uses its own proprietary language, it means that specialised developers need to work on each implementation project.

SAP Hybris: Similar to Kooomo and Salesforce Commerce Cloud, there is a certain amount of out-of-the-box functionality that as a result shaves development time off the speed to market. However, overall deployment time from start to finish is 6+ months on average, again depending on the size of the project.

BigCommerce: With BigCommerce, customers can expect a migration/launch timeline of approximately four months, depending on any custom development that needs to be completed (at an additional cost).

Shopware: Shopware has a number of out of the box features and functionality that makes it possible for businesses to launch their online stores in basic form in four weeks. Further development and time are required if merchants wish to have custom work completed on their online stores.

Flexibility and Customisation

Kooomo: The Kooomo platform offers full-scale customisation and flexibility as integration with other systems is straightforward. Customised storefronts are possible from a design and UX perspective, and an ecosystem of over 200 partners allow retailers to integrate with third-party applications with little or no extra development work.

Magento: The Magento platform is highly customisable, so it's possible to create bespoke storefronts, as well as integrate with other systems. However, in order to do this, you need to have a specialist Magento developer to find, customise or create custom plugins for your site, either through an agency or as a full time resource in-house.

Shopify Plus: As the Shopify Plus platform relies heavily on the use of templates and API integrations, true flexibility and customisation is limited, especially considering the fact that source code isn't accessible to outside developers.

Salesforce Commerce Cloud: Salesforce Commerce Cloud has the power to create highly-customised online stores, as well as platform-level integrations, but it has a considerably smaller community of integrations than that of Magento.

SAP Hybris: Most components within the SAP Hybris eCommerce platform are customisable, or can even be replaced if needs be within 'The Service Layer'. However, it's important to note that in order to successfully customise the platform, a deep understanding of the various layers of the solution architecture is essential.

BigCommerce: As BigCommerce is a headless solution, front end capabilities are extremely flexible through APIs. With that comes the fact that the maintenance required to maintain a headless commerce-based store typically means requiring more resources, as well as a much higher ongoing development budget.

Shopware: Shopware offers a level of flexibility and customisation, where custom themes can be developed, and extra plug-in extensions can be added to merchants' online stores at an additional cost.

Localisation

Kooomo: The Kooomo platform supports all languages, VAT rates, and currencies. Marketplace integration is also built directly into the platform, with over 60 pure-play and category-driven marketplaces available for users to quickly and easily launch their products into new regions.

Magento: Integration with online marketplaces is possible using Magento using community-based extensions, however, some development work is needed if you have specific business requirements that need a bespoke solution. Magento supports multiple languages, currencies, and VAT rates also.

Shopify Plus: Through the Shopify App store, you can plug in up to 10 available online marketplaces into your eCommerce store. However, Shopify Plus doesn't support multiple languages through a single store. If you want to integrate multiple languages and various VAT rates, an individual store needs to be created for each country you want to sell in, making cross-border trade a heavily manual process.

Salesforce Commerce Cloud: Through a single back-end view, users can manage multiple languages, currencies, and VAT rates.

SAP Hybris: SAP Hybris supports multiple currencies, languages, and VAT rates through a single platform. Integration with online marketplaces is also possible through the Hybris partner network.

BigCommerce: Merchants can trade in multiple geographic locations with BigCommerce, through a multi-store approach, utilising APIs to push out localised product information, storefronts, and checkouts.

Shopware: Shopware has multi-language (German and English are provided as standard) and multi-currency capabilities. Translations can be extended through language plugins (additional cost).

Features & Functionality

Kooomo: Platform features range from omnichannel to product information management, to DOM and warehouse management, promotions and marketing, and so on. In addition to the core stack of features directly built into the platform, Kooomo's extensive partner network links retailers with industry aggregators across all functions means that users can manage every step of the eCommerce journey through one unified platform. With most other eCommerce platforms, merchants need to move to higher tiers to 'unlock' more features over time, whereas with Kooomo, all customers have access to our full stack of features and functionality.

Magento: Features on the Magento platform include order management, checkout and shipping tools, SEO tools, marketing, and catalogue management. However, functionality around product information management often requires extra work from a third-party partner.

Shopify Plus: Shopify Plus features aren't as extensive as those on other eCommerce platforms, but include content management, discount management, payment management, and PIM. The majority of features aren't built directly into the platform, but instead are available through plug-ins of over 1200 apps in the Shopify App Store.

Salesforce Commerce Cloud: Features on the Salesforce Commerce Cloud platform include omnichannel, marketing and promotion, product information management, and more. The ‘LINK’ partner ecosystem allows users to link pre-built integrations into the platform. However, there are some limitations when it comes to B2B features on the platform, in terms of supporting complex product and organisational hierarchies.

SAP Hybris: SAP Hybris has a core set of built-in platform features that include product content management, catalogue management, SEO optimisation, omnichannel, reporting, and more. The platform also integrates with other SAP applications, such as SAP ERP and SAP Data Hub.

BigCommerce: Built-in features include up to 600 variant SKUs, a promotions engine, catalogue trees, and B2B capabilities.

Shopware: Shopware's native features on the platform include an infinite number of products, product ratings, B2B functionality, CMS, and SEO.

eCommerce terms and definitions

When you’re weighing up all of your options for choosing your eCommerce solution, it’s important that you full understand understand eCommerce terms and their definitions to ensure that you’re picking the best platform for your business. Below is a list of the most common eCommerce terminologies and their definitions to help you cut through the jargon!

What does 'time to market' mean?

‘Time to market’ refers to the time it takes from choosing your eCommerce solution to the point of full implementation of the platform into your online business. Depending on what eCommerce platform you choose, time to market can range from a few weeks right up to 6+ months.

What is 'implementation cost'?

The implementation cost of your eCommerce platform is the total cost of getting a platform integrated into your business. This includes setup costs, license fees, subscription plans, maintenance fees, migration fees, hosting fees, and development and design fees. Implementation costs vary for each eCommerce solution depending on what is required by the software itself, as well as any optional elements or projects brands want to introduce at the implementation stage. Costs range from €18,000 right up to over €1 million depending on the eCommerce solution.

What is 'revenue share'?

Revenue sharing is an eCommerce pricing model whereby your chosen eCommerce provider is entitled to an agreed percentage of sales revenue from your online store. Revenue share percentages vary greatly depending on the eCommerce platform you choose to implement. Some eCommerce solutions don't have a revenue-sharing model but will have higher implementation costs as a result. Some eCommerce platforms will have different revenue share percentages based on the size and income of your business. The contract agreed with your eCommerce solution provider may involve a variable revenue share percentage that changes over time. Revenue share rates range from 0.5% to 10% depending on the eCommerce platform you use.

What is a 'system integrator'?

Just as a general contractor would coordinate all aspects of getting a house built, a system integrator is responsible for connecting all relevant systems needed to create an end to end eCommerce solution for your business. This typically means integrating a brand's CRM, ERP, billing system, shipping system, fulfilment system, and more. Generally, system integrators are a separate entity from your eCommerce solution provider, which can result in higher implementation costs for retailers. However, some platforms either do not need a system integrator, or the service is provided in-house.

What is 'eCommerce Architecture'?

As far as eCommerce terminology goes ‘eCommerce Architecture’ is at the core of all platforms. Architecture refers to how an eCommerce platform is composed and where it lives – be it on-premise, or in ‘the cloud'.

What does 'cloud-based' mean?

A cloud-based eCommerce platform is one whereby all data and programs are stored online, meaning that users can access the software anywhere on any device. Cloud-based software also tends to be agile in nature, lending itself seamlessly to companies as they develop and scale their offering over time.

What is 'on-premise software'?

An on-premise eCommerce platform is one that is installed and runs on the physical premises of an organisation, which requires web servers in order to run. On-premise software typically cannot be accessed from any device or from remote locations. The software must be managed by the company's in-house IT team and integrate with existing hardware systems.

What is a 'programming language'?

A programming language is the particular set of grammatical rules used by developers to build an eCommerce platform. Different eCommerce solution providers use various programming languages (e.g css, html, PHP, c+, c++, javascript, etc.) A programming language is important to consider when choosing a suitable eCommerce platform because it needs to have the capacity of handling all the functions and aspects required for your eCommerce store.

What is 'ERP integration'?

ERP stands for 'Enterprise Resource Planning' and is an integration that links an eCommerce site with a company's back-end accounting and inventory systems. Not only does an ERP integration connect these systems together, but it also enables them to speak to each other, so that information only needs to be entered into any system once, and the others will sync automatically.

What are one click integrations?

Most eCommerce solutions enable users to 'plug in' specific third-party applications into their platform across various categories such as digital marketing, logistics, payment gateways, and more. One-click integrations are those that do not require any development work to integrate into your online store - it is just a simple case of connecting the application to the eCommerce platform in question.

Platform Features

One of the most common eCommerce terminologies regarding Platform Features - 'full stack of technology' refers to eCommerce platforms that have the features and functionality to power all aspects of an online business built directly into the software (for example omnichannel, online marketplaces, payment gateways). Many eCommerce solutions rely on third-party applications to bolster the built-in features on their platforms. However, if an eCommerce platform has a 'full stack of technology', it means that users have everything they need within the platform to manage every aspect of the retail journey.

What does 'omnichannel' mean in eCommerce?

Omnichannel is the synchronisation of digital, mobile, and physical eCommerce in terms of order management and inventory optimisation. The purpose of implementing omnichannel into your eCommerce strategy is to create a seamless customer experience so that shoppers have various ways to order products, receive, and return them. By implementing an omnichannel experience, all stock is synchronised, meaning that physical stores become their own warehouses.

What are 'online marketplaces'?

Online marketplaces are websites whereby online retailers can sell their products alongside numerous other merchants, and transactions are handled by the marketplace operator. While category-driven marketplaces sell products that belong to one specific category (e.g. Farfetch UK, AirBnB), pure-play marketplaces sell a range of products across all categories (e.g. Amazon, eBay, Alibaba, JD.com).

What are 'additional services'?

Additional services are available to online retailers can utilise in order to strengthen their eCommerce offering if they don't have resources available within their own company. If a retailer chooses to use an additional service from their eCommerce solution provider, it means that a specific in-house team will look after the implementation of specific projects (for example SEO migration), or manage one or many aspects of running an online business. Value-added services include store management, digital marketing, SEO, project implementation, strategic consultancy, etc.

Find out more about Kooomo's platform features

Choosing An eCommerce Platform?

Thinking of switching to a new eCommerce platform?

Company Information

Headquarters

Industry Experience

Cost & Time to Market

Average Implementation Cost

Revenue Share

Time to Market

Annual Licensing Costs

System integrator required?

Business Model

Architecture

ERP/EPOS Integration

One-click integrations

Upgrades

Updates

Value-added services

Features & Functionality

End to end solution (without needing integrations)

Multi-language

Multi-currency

Omnichannel

Marketplaces Connector

Distributed Order Management

Programming Language

Front-end Design (Look & Feel)

eCommerce Platforms Comparison Guide

Platform Costs

Time to Market

Flexibility and Customisation

Localisation

Features & Functionality

eCommerce terms and definitions