The five ecommerce platforms with the highest transaction volumes are Adobe Commerce, BigCommerce, Ecwid, Oracle Commerce, and Salesforce Commerce Cloud. Adobe expects a transaction volume of more than $500 billion in the first half of 2024, representing growth of 6.8% year-on-year.
Maybe you’re not quite there yet, but the issue with hosting for a relatively high-volume ecommerce platform stands.
Ecommerce platforms vs. ecommerce hosting
An ecommerce platform provides the features and tools you need to sell products and services online, such as payment processing, a shopping cart, and inventory management. It is different from an ecommerce host. The platform is the company that provides access to the servers and technology needed to display and host an online store.
When should you choose a platform? It’s typically a good option for businesses that want a full-scale solution for developing and managing an online store. It offers a wide range of tools and often includes options to customize the store’s look and feel.
An ecommerce hosting provider is a good option for businesses that have already set up their online store. All they are looking for is a company to host it so customers have access to the store.
In simpler terms, the platform is your ecommerce vehicle. It provides the code that enables the functionality behind the following ecommerce features, among others:
- Displaying products
- Accepting credit card payments
- Uploading products to sell
- Changing their prices and descriptions
- Sending transactional emails
- Login and user accounts
- Shopping cart functionality
The hosting company only stores the code files.
Best hosting for ecommerce platforms
In 2024, WordPress powers 43% of all websites. WooCommerce is used by more than 3.9 million retailers worldwide, making it one of the most popular ecommerce platforms on the market.
WooCommerce web hosting is suitable for many ecommerce businesses. When implemented well, it’s perfect for medium-sized and large ones. It’s not the best option for very large platforms, though. Hybrid or customized solutions are worth considering for these cases, with a multi-CMS or headless approach as an example.
This is not a disadvantage for WooCommerce, as no single type of web hosting will meet every possible need. In some cases, a combination of two approaches will work best.
WooCommerce can be the best solution if you’re scaling up or you’re already a significant, well-established brand.
For whom is WordPress best?
You can only use WooCommerce with WordPress, which is suitable for laypeople in web development and web design. It’s most familiar as a free, downloadable blogging platform with tens of thousands of plugins that you can download to boost functionality. WooCommerce is one of those.
WordPress.com is the paid version. If you choose it, you won’t need to download anything. You sign up for the managed hosting plan that suits you, and the team takes care of all technicalities and updates. The commerce hosting package is equipped with WooCommerce, and your platform will be preconfigured with ecommerce functionality.
If you find it too expensive, the business package is a bit more affordable. However, you must download and install WooCommerce yourself. You are also responsible for the updates.
How to choose an ecommerce hosting solution
You need to consider the scalability, costs, and your level of technical expertise and design skills. If you don’t have any, choosing a dedicated platform with integrated hosting would be a good option. WordPress is much more flexible than other content management systems, and you can switch your hosting provider whenever you want.
Recap
- Difference between an ecommerce platform and ecommerce hosting
- WooCommerce hosting is suitable for many ecommerce businesses
- WordPress is best for laypeople in web development and web design
- Consider the scalability and your technical expertise when choosing
Lynn Martelli is an editor at Readability. She received her MFA in Creative Writing from Antioch University and has worked as an editor for over 10 years. Lynn has edited a wide variety of books, including fiction, non-fiction, memoirs, and more. In her free time, Lynn enjoys reading, writing, and spending time with her family and friends.
