Best Ecommerce Platform for Enterprise: Buyer’s Guide for 2023
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By
Omar - Updated on Apr 15, 2023
Now that your online business has grown, you’re probably considering switching to an ecommerce platform that can keep up with your demanding business processes.
In this article, I ranked and reviewed 6 of the top enterprise ecommerce platforms available today, so you can easily pick the right one for your enterprise business. Here are the best at a glance.
ShopifyPlus is a highly secure platform, making it an ideal choice for B2B merchants who need a secure ecommerce platform for their business.
This ecommerce platform offers marketing tools and features for selling on international markets, such as currency, payment methods, language, and taxes.
Squarespace is an all-in-one, fully-hosted ecommerce platform. The vendor handles technical upkeep and gives you access to in-house marketing, SEO, and design-related tools.
This ecommerce platform features a builder that allows business owners to create custom ecommerce pages easily.
WooCommerce offers 28 affordable in-house themes (starting from just $39) that you can personalize to your heart’s content.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
What Is An Enterprise Ecommerce Platform?
SMEs (Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises) have quite a lot of options when it comes to ecommerce solutions.
However, this isn’t the case with enterprise-level organizations.
An enterprise ecommerce platform is a software that serves the complex requirements of a large business. Enterprise ecommerce solutions are designed to provide a comprehensive range of solutions in a single platform, such as:
- Inventory Management
- Order Fulfillment
- Accounting
- Customer Relationship Management
- Resource Planning
- Marketing Automation
- Analytics and Reporting
- Sales
Types Of Enterprise Ecommerce Solutions
On-Site
On-site tools require you to self-host the software through your own physical servers.
Self-hosting software is usually open-source, meaning you can modify all aspects of the source code to meet your business requirements.
On-site ecommerce platforms are suitable for enterprises with their own data center or at least a large enough room to store a physical server.
Choosing on-site hosting means you are entirely responsible for fixing hardware malfunctions and software glitches. You’ll need a team of competent IT specialists who can maintain your hardware and manage manual patches, updates, and security protocols.
Cloud-Based
Cloud-based networks use clusters of servers and other cloud-based systems from cloud vendors to handle higher volumes of ecommerce transactions and traffic to online sales channels.
Compared to on-site hosting solutions, a cloud-based enterprise ecommerce platform allows companies to outsource their IT infrastructure without investing in costly on-site equipment and maintenance.
Open-Source Cloud-Based
An open-source cloud-based platform is a cloud service that uses open-source technologies and software.
You can modify the source code, manage website security, and exert more control over the servers and software.
However, if you don’t employ a robust IT department or plan to invest in one, an open-source cloud-based enterprise ecommerce platform is probably not the right one for you.
SaaS Platform (Software-as-a-Service)
An SaaS enterprise ecommerce platform is an ecommerce software made available as a cloud-based system. You can access this type of platform via a web browser.
This type of enterprise software is popular among many B2B and B2C companies since it offers ecommerce functionality without the hassle of on-site hosting.
A SaaS platform also comes with a reduced cost of ownership. You just purchase the platform hosting and management from another company instead of buying the entire platform.
A SaaS solution gives you less control over the source code, which means a hands-on approach isn’t necessary to maintain the platform.
Going for a SaaS solution is a good idea if you prefer to invest more of your budget in marketing tools, customer support, and other critical aspects of your ecommerce business.
Headless Platform
A headless ecommerce platform is a type of SaaS platform wherein the front-end (head) is separate from the back-end commerce functionality.
With the help of APIs (Application Programming Interfaces), you can update or edit a headless ecommerce platform without interfering with the back-end. This allows for easy customization and automation where you want it.
You can customize the heads (e.g., product catalog tools, employee support, customer transitions, etc.) any way you want without affecting the automated processes of your ecommerce store.
How To Choose The Right Enterprise Ecommerce Platform For Your Business
What Problems Are You Encountering Now?
If you’re considering switching from a traditional ecommerce platform to an enterprise ecommerce platform, there must be a reason.
Here are some of the most common reasons businesses want to switch to enterprise ecommerce systems.
- Loss of revenue caused by frequent system failures or
- Having to divert workforce into solving website problems
- Constant crashes during peak times
- Difficulty integrating critical systems into your platform
- Poor data security
- Lackluster server performance
- Low conversion rates
What Are Your Business Goals?
What exactly do you want to accomplish with an enterprise ecommerce platform?
You should choose an enterprise ecommerce solution that can help you achieve these goals:
- Higher profits and better performance
- Fewer expenditures and reduced cost of ownership
- Better scalability, stability, flexibility, and operation speed
- Efficient data analysis and reporting
- Optimized employee workload
- Improved UX and UI
- Support for various stores and multiple payment channels
- Effortless integration with other IT-related component
What To Consider When Choosing An Enterprise Ecommerce Solution
Cost
There’s no doubt that enterprise ecommerce platforms cost more than the traditional ecommerce solution you are now using.
An open-source ecommerce platform will probably have the highest cost due to IT maintenance expenses and licensing fees.
On the other hand, a SaaS platform is usually the more affordable choice in terms of initial investment and maintenance costs.
However, these platforms will probably offer less flexibility and customization options.
If you prefer full control of the entire ecommerce platform, you’ll need to shell out more money.
Reliability
Websites can freeze or malfunction whenever there’s a spike in activity due to a sale, a holiday, or an ongoing promotion.
If an increase in traffic slows down or crashes your website, you’ll likely lose out on customers and revenue.
The enterprise ecommerce software you choose needs to be highly reliable. It should be able to handle seasonal spikes without issue so that it doesn’t negatively affect the customer experience.
Website Security
Falling victim to a data breach is the last thing your business needs. If your website’s security gets compromised, this can lead to substantial financial losses while you wait for IT to fix the issue.
You may also end up paying for the legal consequences of that security breach and perform damage control on your reputation.
Since your business has access to sensitive customer information, you need enterprise ecommerce software that is safe and secure.
Open-source enterprise ecommerce platforms give you full control over your website’s security.
With SaaS enterprise ecommerce software, providers handle security and PCI compliance for you.
Provisions For Mobile Versions
According to statistics, mobile traffic share has reached over 54%. When it comes to accessing the Internet, more people use mobile devices than desktop devices.
Even if your business doesn’t receive that many orders from mobile sales, your ecommerce website should function as smoothly on mobile devices as it does on a desktop computer.
SEO Features
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) can be a unique challenge for enterprise ecommerce websites with large product catalogs and high product turnover rates.
An ideal enterprise ecommerce software should have SEO-focused features to help potential customers find your business on the web.
Effortless System Integration
Each enterprise has unique integration requirements.
Depending on what your ecommerce platform offers, you will probably need third-party integrations to handle additional website features.
Your enterprise ecommerce platform should easily integrate with your network, including your current system modules and those you plan to use.
Ready For Diversification
As your enterprise business grows, there may be a point in time where you decide to expand beyond ecommerce.
You might want to open a physical store, sell on social media channels, or manage multiple online retail stores using a single platform. Regardless of your expansion goals, your enterprise ecommerce platform should be able to provide support for multi-channel sales or multi-store management.
Best Ecommerce Platform for Enterprise (Top 6)
Omar's Take
Shopify is a highly secure platform, making it an ideal choice for ecommerce businessess.
Many enterprise companies love ShopifyPlus because it is easy to install and allows straightforward customer transactions.
Brands that use ShopifyPlus include Nestlé, Unilever, and Hawkers.
- Best For Overall
- Price Ranges from $2,000 – $40,000/mo
- Annual Discount Yes
- Promotion Free Trial
Shopify Plus takes the number one spot for the best enterprise eCommerce platform.
It is a fully hosted enterprise platform. It’s ready to use out of the box.
With a fully hosted platform, you don’t have to mess around with coding, security issues, or bandwidth—the vendor takes care of all that for you.
Shopify Plus lets you choose from over 3,000 apps you can integrate with your online store, helping boost your website’s ecommerce performance.
Shopify Plus is also known for its stability and reliability. It can process up to 10,000 transactions per minute. If you’re launching a new product or carrying out an epic promotional offer, you won’t have to worry about your website crashing or slowing down.
Shopify Plus has a minimum price of $2,000 monthly, which some may find too costly. However, the price is quite reasonable compared to the cost of hiring a web development agency or adding in-house programmers to your staff.
Shopify Plus also provides 24/7 customer support. When you subscribe to Shopify Plus, you’ll the vendor will provide you with a dedicated account manager to help you out at any time.
Here are some notable features of Shopify Plus.
- Faster checkout process, allowing customers to save their shipping and billing information.
- Access to self-guided training to help with business development and growth
- No migration charge
- Access to a Shopify Plus expert and a launch engineer to help you with onboarding
One drawback of Shopify Plus is that it offers limited coding and design flexibility.
As with all hosted platforms, Shopify Plus lets you customize your code through apps, but you won’t be able to create custom designs from scratch.
Also, expect your monthly costs to rise whenever you add more plugins and features.
Here are examples of brands that use Shopify Plus.
- Nestle
- General Electric
- Unilever
- Pepsi
- GymShark
Omar's Take
BigCommerce is one of the leading open SaaS ecommerce platforms for mid-market and enterprise brands.
It features versatile APIs for easy integration with mission-critical systems, such as ERP, PIM, CRM, etc.
- Best For Onboarding Speed
- Price Starts at $400 to $20,000/m depending on volume
- Annual Discount Yes
- Promotion Free Trial
BigCommerce Enterprise shares quite a few similarities with Shopify Plus.
Like Shopify Plus, BigCommerce Enterprise is fully hosted, offers a marketplace for third-party apps, and requires zero technical skills to set up.
What sets BigCommerce Enterprise apart from the competition is its quick onboarding rate.
Based on the numbers, 95% of BigCommerce Enterprise merchants were set up in just four months or less, making it 50% faster than most competitors with regard to setup time.
BigCommerce Enterprise provides 24/7 customer support through email, live chat, and phone. You also get a dedicated account manager who can assist you anytime.
You get priority support from technical support agents with a wide range of expertise, including account management and in-house catalog transfer services.
The price you pay for BigCommerce will depend on your online sales volume.
I suggest contacting a sales rep to get a custom quote.
Here are some notable features of BigCommerce Enterprise.
- Product Search Function to personalize the customer experience with suggestions (based on user’s language, location, and purchasing history).
- Sync more extensive product catalogs within minutes (supports 400 API calls per second)
- Accepts more than 250 types of payment in over 100 countries
- Multi-layered security and DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) protection against hackers
- View all your desktop or mobile website design changes in real-time before you publish your updates
One downside with BigCommerce Enterprise is that it offers limited store personalization options.
When you sell your products in BigCommerce Enterprise through the PayPal payment gateway, there is no reduction in transaction fees. You still pay the same PayPal transaction fees as you would on the BigCommerce “Basic” plan.
Brands that use BigCommerce Enterprise include:
- SkullCandy
- Sony
- QVC
- Paul Mitchell
Omar's Take
Squarespace markets itself as an all-in-one, fully-hosted ecommerce platform.
The vendor handles technical upkeep and gives you access to in-house marketing, SEO, and design-related tools.
What I love about Squarespace is how their experts advise you on optimizing your site for search engines and help you maximize the use of their SEO and marketing tools.
You also get a dedicated account manager who provides personalized onboarding support according to your business goals.
- Best For Personalized Onboarding Support
- Price Custom Quote Per Business
- Annual Discount N/A
- Promotion N/A
Squarespace features award-winning templates that look elegant and classy, which are ideal for brand-conscious businesses.
Their in-house design experts also provide consultation services and design recommendations for your brand.
In terms of pricing, Squarespace Enterprise has a price tag of $4,900 per year. I suggest contact one of their team members for a custom quote.
Notable features of Squarespace Enterprise include:
- Impressive inventory system and blogging tools
- Set different roles and permissions for team members to help boost efficiency
- More than 100 modern design templates to choose from, covering a wide range of industries
- Flexible payment options, allowing you to accept credit cards, PayPal, and Apple Pay
One drawback with Squarespace Enterprise is that it’s missing an extension store where you can add third-party integrations to your site.
Compared to many ecommerce platforms, Squarespace Enterprise gives you less customization over your website’s features.
Remember that Squarespace isn’t solely focused on ecommerce, which means that it is probably not as specialized as its competitors.
Popular brands that use Squarespace Enterprise include:
- Etsy
- DoorDash
- Harper’s Bazaar
- TP Apparel
- Remitly
Omar's Take
Adobe Commerce (formerly Magento Commerce) offers a complete ecommerce solution for online retail and B2B sales businesses.
This ecommerce platform features a builder that allows business owners to create custom ecommerce pages easily. What I love about this feature is the drag-and-drop interface that makes it easy to design web pages.
Brands that use this B2B ecommerce platform include Rural King, JCB, and Bulk Powders.
- Best For Professional Web Developers
- Price Starts at $22,000 to $125,000/Year
- Annual Discount N/A
- Promotion N/A
Magento Commerce (now known as Adobe Commerce) is a self-hosted platform. You have complete creative freedom over your website’s design as long—as you know your way around code or hire people who do.
This open-source enterprise ecommerce system has a huge developer community. This community constantly improves the platform and its customization options, allowing Magento Commerce to be a solution for enterprises with different requirements.
Magento Commerce offers extensive creative control on your site design, thanks to its unmatched choice of integrations.
Magento Commerce license fees cost around $1,988 per month. This figure does not include costs for hosting, domain name, security certificates, or website development.
Notable features of Magento Commerce include:
- Omnichannel B2B and B2C commerce
- Personalized customer shopping experience based on AI and business intelligence
- Expansive customer reach via multiple channels and touchpoints
- Multi-site management via a single platform
- Mobile and advanced web applications
One downside with Magento Commerce is that it can be too complex, especially for those running smaller stores. Using the platform also requires technical knowledge, as well as programming and design experience.
If Magento Commerce detects vulnerabilities within your code, they could charge you around $1,000 to $5,000 for that instance.
Some Magento Commerce users also report experiencing bugs or slow website speeds when trying to scale up.
Brands that use Magento Commerce include:
- Toyota
- Ben & Jerry’s
- Gibson
- Kodak
Omar's Take
If you know how to code, WooCommerce offers 28 affordable in-house themes (starting from just $39) that you can personalize to your heart’s content.
Audited by industry-leading coding experts, WooCommerce maintains high coding standards, ensuring that your online store is in safe hands.
- Best For Budget-Friendly
- Price Depends on Customizations
- Annual Discount N/A
- Promotion N/A
WooCommerce is an open-source ecommerce platform that is free to install. However, you need to add it to an existing WordPress site, which involves paying setup fees.
Since WooCommerce is a WordPress plugin, you can use it to support any part of your online store, whether it’s the entire foundation or just a tiny component of your content structure.
WooCommerce’s in-house features include secure payments, tax calculations, shipping rates, shipping options, and label printing.
You may also manage your store on the go with the WooCommerce Mobile App, which lets you create and edit products, get real-time notifications, manage orders, or keep track of your store’s numbers.
Notable features of WooCommerce include:
- Unlimited coding capabilities
- Offers one-click refunds for customers
- Best if you’re running an ecommerce site and an affiliate store on the same website
- More than 1000 free WordPress themes compatible with the platform
A drawback of WooCommerce is that it doesn’t have a dedicated customer support team to help you out if you encounter issues.
If you encounter problems, you’d have to consult other web developers, which could be costly and time-consuming.
You also need to be knowledgeable and proficient in WordPress to maximize WooCommerce.
Brands that use WooCommerce include:
- Blue Star Coffee
- Wakami
- Clickbank
- Bookriot
- Forage & Graze
Salesforce Commerce Cloud
- Best For International Business
- Price Custom
- Annual Discount N/A
- Promotion N/A
Salesforce Commerce Cloud (formerly known as Demandware) prides itself as the world’s #1 cloud-based CRM (Customer Relationship Management) platform.
Salesforce Commerce Cloud enables you to run multiple online stores from a single platform efficiently. You can also accept multiple currencies as payment and use a variety of languages for your stores.
If you use any other Salesforce software, you may integrate your store with its cloud-based customer relationship management software to help propel your business growth.
Salesforce Commerce Cloud offers both B2B and B2C commerce pricing plans. Pricing is based on your enterprise ecommerce business needs. You’ll need to consult with a sales team member to get an accurate price for your business.
Before you can use Salesforce Commerce Cloud’s enterprise-level software, you must own more than five online stores.
Notable features of Salesforce Commerce Cloud include:
- 24/7 customer support
- User-specific customer experiences
- Single-platform management of globally distributed websites and locations
- Wide variety of touchpoints within the system (e.g., mobile apps, POS, etc.)
- Omnichannel sales
One downside of Salesforce Commerce Cloud is that it requires web development experience to build a professional-quality online store.
Since pricing depends on your sales percentage, the more money you make, the more money you spend.
Brands that use Salesforce Commerce Cloud include:
- Adidas
- L’Oreal USA
- Beats by DRE
- Otterbox
- Torrid
More Enterprise Ecommerce Platforms To Consider
Oracle Commerce Cloud (Oracle CX Commerce)
Oracle Commerce Cloud (or Oracle CX Commerce) also offers a comprehensive suite of integrated customer experience applications.
This enterprise ecommerce software makes it easy for you to manage multiple product categories from a central location. It provides tools for accounting, shipping, multi-store management, order processing, and more.
However, Oracle Commerce Cloud doesn’t integrate with major online marketplaces. It’s probably not the right ecommerce platform for you if you plan to sell on Amazon and eBay.
Oracle Commerce Cloud also lacks a single-click checkout feature.
Oracle Commerce Cloud’s price starts at $150,000.
Notable brands that use Oracle Commerce Cloud include:
- Dollar Tree
- Shop Direct
- ZODIO
SAP Hybris
SAP Hybris features a combination of SAP commerce and CRM software, giving you better control over the customer experience.
SAP Hybris has an umbrella of related products, including:
- SAP Commerce Cloud for operations related to digital commerce.
- SAP Customer Data Platform that collects user-specific data for content personalization
- SAP Sales Cloud for streaming connected sales
- SAP Marketing Cloud to maximize customer engagement
- SAP Service Cloud to facilitate customer support across all channels
With its wide array of features, SAP Hybris may be too overwhelming for new enterprise businesses.
SAP Hybris is also costly. You need to pay $5,000 a month to get started.
Brands that use SAP Hybris include:
- Sally Beauty Supply
- Radio Systems Corporation
- bareMinerals
Frequently Asked Questions
What are enterprise ecommerce platforms?
An enterprise ecommerce platform is an online enterprise platform that’s either self-hosted or on-site.
These platforms allow enterprise-level businesses to scale and sell online.
Typically, enterprise businesses process thousands of orders every minute through multiple online stores.
What size business should consider using an enterprise ecommerce platform?
It depends on your business needs. Here are some questions to ask if you are considering a switch to an enterprise ecommerce platform:
- Has your enterprise business outgrown your current platform’s basic plan?
- Do you need advanced features to help sustain your business growth?
- Are you on the lookout for more third-party integrations?
- Are you planning to expand your online or offline presence?
- What kind of support do you need to help support business growth?
I’m already using an enterprise ecommerce platform. Can I switch?
Yes, of course! If your existing enterprise ecommerce platform isn’t meeting your needs, you can always change to a different one.
Many ecommerce platforms offer expert support or migration services. Feel free to contact different vendors to see how they can help you.
Final Thoughts
There’s no single best ecommerce platform for any enterprise.
The best ecommerce platform for you is the one that meets your unique business requirements at a reasonable cost.
When choosing an enterprise ecommerce solution, consider your budget, the cost of ownership, the third-party integrations you need, and the features that will make a difference for your business
I hope reading this article has given a clearer picture of what enterprise ecommerce platforms are, and which one is perfect for your business. Visit our blog for more information on how to maximize your online presence.
Omar
Founder of OJ Digital Solutions
