In terms of eCommerce, a platform is where purchasing and selling activities occur. An eCommerce platform is ideal if it is user-friendly, lets customers find the desired products instantly, and offers multiple payment options.
There are three types of e-commerce platforms:
- SaaS (software-as-a-service): SaaS platform lets you deliver eCommerce solutions with the help of the Internet. With a SaaS platform, you don’t have to deploy the code of your website, as you are just responsible for the content and visual look of your online store. For instance, Shopify, BigCommerce.
- PaaS (platform-as-a-service): PaaS is something between typical shared-hosting and SaaS, wherein you get a platform on which you can set up your own eCommerce website and do not need to administer the operating system and system software. For example, AWS Elastic Beanstalk.
- On-premise (self-hosted): On-premise platform means the merchant hosts its eCommerce site locally. It requires you to have a dedicated IT team who can help you manage everything in-house.
The most popular eCommerce platforms are Shopify, Magento, Wix, Squarespace, WooCommerce, Salesforce Commerce Cloud, BigCommerce, Volusion, and Big Cartel.