10 SaaS Ecommerce Platforms: Pros and Cons + Pricing Comparison

Senior Writer: Janvi Vekaria

Reading Time: 13 Minutes

Published : December 19, 2022

Do you prefer visiting the E-commerce store or a physical shop?

As per data, 93.5% of internet users prefer online shopping rather than physical shopping. Furthermore, the industry is growing at 23%, and by 2040, it is estimated that 95% of purchases (all) will be made online! So, now we guess it’s a Yes for most of you!

We are well-versed in the popularity E-commerce platforms have gained in today’s time. However, have you wondered what the technical ground these platforms are based on? How do they function? What helps them to run on the web?

There are quite a few, but we shall consider SaaS Ecommerce here. But what is SaaS Ecommerce, and how does that work? Let’s find out!

What is SaaS eCommerce?

SaaS Ecommerce

SaaS or Software-as-a-Service E-commerce accelerates business processes and functions on the e-platform. It can be called a delivery model that provides a software license to users to gain accessibility to the platform through the internet.

SaaS is cloud-based, making it easy to access on any web browser. But, you must be thinking about what is special about SaaS Ecommerce that differentiates it from other platforms.

We’ll answer that for you!

All the E-commerce applications based on SaaS run on the providers’ servers. What does that mean? It simply states that web hosting providers are responsible for the software’s security, maintenance, and performance because it runs on their servers.

Thus, it means that the application’s software needs a subscription. So, if you want to build an E-commerce on SaaS, you must get a legal and authorized SaaS vendor subscription.

Any E-commerce SaaS consumer doesn’t require a server; thus, the process becomes cost-effective while the accessibility to the platform is smooth.

How do SaaS eCommerce Solutions work?

To study the business model of SaaS Ecommerce, let’s take the example of a case study:

Consider getting an E-commerce on the SaaS from a third-party resource to build a digital store on the platform. Now, you have the accessibility to a platform, but building the e-store is on it. It is like getting sorted with the plot, but building the store and designing the space is onto you.

So, while the SaaS companies ensure that your platform runs smoothly and is well-secured, you are supposed to look after building and designing the store.

When it comes to customizing the e-store as an e-commerce platform owner who has subscribed for SaaS, you have quite a few options, but it’s limited to that extent and works as per what is provided by the vendor.

But why have Shopify and BigCommerce chosen to run their e-commerce on SaaS? because it is easy to set up an E-commerce platform that runs in no time!

What is the Difference Between SaaS eCommerce vs. Open-Source eCommerce?

SaaS Ecommerce v/s Open Source eCommerce

Now, you’re probably wondering what I want for my E-store: SaaS or Open-Source? Know this when you know the difference. Follow along:

SaaS is a subscription-based platform solution built on a third-party’s server. So, you don’t need to add or build the platform in any way. The complexity is broken down, and your only concern is to plan the store’s look, feel, and functionality.

If you get an open-source connection for your E-commerce platform, you will have access to source code, which means you can customize features per your store’s specific needs.

For owners who want complete control of the E-commerce platform, open-source is the way to go. However, data reveals that most E-commerce platform owners do not want the responsibility of source code because the SaaS Ecommerce platform went from a market of $31.4 billion in 2015 to $171.9 in 2022.

While two different Software as a service Ecommerce platforms built on Open Source and E-Commerce would look similar, there’s a lot of difference behind the scenes. Here are a few of them:

Open Source is costlier than SaaS because you own the platform.

In an Open Source, you have all the control, but to meet the security requirements, you must accompany complaints and get the right tools to safeguard data. But with SaaS, the entire responsibility lies on the vendor, and everything is rightly mentioned in the SaaS agreement you have signed.

Installing SaaS and Open Source platforms is easy; the application would require charges for Open source, where SaaS comes with a free trial.

How to Apply SaaS to eCommerce?

Applying SaaS to the Ecommerce business is easy! You only need to get a subscription and then build your e-store. Their application of SaaS on Ecommerce works in the following ways:

Easier to Implement

It is much easier to integrate and implement SaaS to Ecommerce platforms. There are offered extensions that are optimal for connecting SaaS applications with enterprise platforms.

Increased ROI

One of the greater tasks of the best SaaS Ecommerce platform is the quick delivery of products and services. With SaaS, no speed or performance pressure helps in quickly grabbing orders and thus results in better ROI.

Upscale the Business Model

Upscaling the business on SaaS is even easier. You can talk to multiple software providers, learn about page response and understand when the web page has multiple responses. In peak periods, the concern of  Ecommerce stores should be order fulfillment, inventory management, and customer experience.

10 Best SaaS eCommerce Platforms in 2023

Below are some of the best SaaS eCommerce Platforms Build your own Store:

1. Shopify Plus

If somebody wants to start an eCommerce store without caring about the tech stack, the first name that comes to mind is Shopify. Shopify app store is a SaaS-based eCommerce platform used by some renowned names, such as WestSide, Nilkamal, Sony Center, ITC, TRESemme, Duroflex, and more.

With Spotify Plus, you can set up an online SaaS eCommerce store by following a few easy steps without a team of developers. Adding products and selling them in over 175 countries also becomes a cakewalk.  You may ask, “What is the difference between Shopify Plus and Shopify?”

Shopify is accurate for small to medium-scale businesses that want to sell online. On the other side, Shopify Plus, which comes with extra features, is for enterprises dealing in millions of sales.

Shopify Plus at a glance:

• Number of brands collaborating: 10,000+
• The number of countries covered: 175
• The number of languages supported: 21
• Peak checkouts per minute: 10,978
• Money earned with sales: 25LCr INR

The key features of Shopify Plus: 

• Live chat feature
• Flexibility in launching enterprise fast
• Automated workflows
• Shopify API lets you connect systems and tools that are crucial to your business
• Availability of Shopify Plus Academy with various courses
• Help from Shopify Plus Consultant and Solutions Engineer

Pros of Shopify Plus:

• Cost-effective
• Localized customer data and experience with Global storefronts
• Custom automation with apps like Shopify Flow, Launchpad, and Scripts
• Advanced online retail experience
• Provision of Service providers and Certified App partners
• Personalized checkouts, including custom discounts, shipping rates, and product recommendation
• Use of the latest technology that supports built-in augmented reality, 3D, AR, and product videos

Cons of Shopify Plus:

• No multi-store inventory management
• Little to no business guidance
• Undocumented and weak API
• Not so-robust POS

What does the pricing look like for Shopify Plus?

Monthly fees with Shopify Plus start at 1,52,000 INR.

Fees may differ for higher volume businesses, but you wouldn’t have to incur additional costs like hosting, infrastructure, outsourcing simple changes to developers, etc.

2. BigCommerce

Whether you have a new or already growing eCommerce business, BigCommerce will be a valuable platform to incorporate in growing your business online. Trusted by brands such as bliss, LARQ, Burrow, and Mrs. Meyers, BigCommerce makes selling streamlined.

Selling online with BigCommerce is not only cost-efficient but takes just 3 easy steps:

• Start a trial
• Launch your store
• Grow your business

BigCommerce at a glance: 

• Track record of 85% issues solving on the first call
• Free trial of 15 days
• Features included: 100+

The key features of BigCommerce:

• Plug in POS integrations to leading providers like Square and Clover
• Custom URLs to boost strategies
• Leading shipping and payment providers
• Channel integrations with Amazon, eBay, and Facebook
• Optimized one-page checkout and shopping cart recovery
• Community forums that include webinars, tutorials, and guides
• 24/7 customer support

Pros of BigCommerce:

• No need to provide credit card information
• Integration of all popular social media
• Personalize the shopping experience with customers
• Page builder tools that require no coding to get your store up, to run, and change the site
• Native Google AMP for product listing
• Increased speed and personalization with BigCommerce headless.
• Optimized images via Akamai Image Manager
• Personalized site audits from professionals

Cons of BigCommerce:

• Limited annual online sales
• Free themes are similar to each other
• Non-availability of discounts on shipping plans

What does the pricing look like for BigCommerce?

3. Volusion

Volusion has significantly found its sweet spot amongst midsize business owners. This ecommerce SaaS platform comes with almost everything you need to create and run an online SaaS ecommerce store.

Volusion serves various industries such as electronics, apparel, automotive, jewelry, food and beverages, health and beauty, and many more. It wouldn’t be wrong to suffice that whatever you sell online could be handled easily by Volusion.

Volusion at a glance: 

• Free trial: 14 days
• Discounts: For 12 months or longer agreement
• Uptime guarantee of the store: 99.9%
• Free content blocks: 50+

The key features of Volusion: 

• 24/7 customer support
• Simple and customizable SaaS eCommerce storefronts
• Responsive themes and comprehensive site builder
• Inventory management
• Streamlined payment collection
• Unlimited product options
• Built-in SEO management
• Functional CRM system

Pros of Volusion:

• Storefront design tools
• Content Management System
• Tax Display and processing
• Mobile Responsiveness
• Budget Friendly

Cons of BigCommerce:

• Merchants using Volusion 1 are bound to pay additional fees
• The site uses Angular JS, which is not suitable for SEO
• Developers complain about basic code errors in the program

What does the pricing look like for Volusion?

Volusion has annual, and monthly plans for businesses with different needs, and here are what they look like.

4. Adobe Commerce

Adobe Commerce, formerly known as Magento till May 2021, is a platform for creating and managing world-class B2B and B2C online shops. The giant SaaS ecommerce platform was developed specifically for sales and drove more conversions.

Adobe Commerce helps to target customers based on their activity history. With high-end in-built features, owners can obtain insights into customers, products, and orders while enhancing their sales.

Adobe Commerce at a glance: 

• Global support from 315,000 developers
• Out of the box extensions: 4,000+

The key features of Adobe Commerce

• Large global community
• Up-selling and cross-selling strategies
• B2B and B2C marketplace
• Seamless purchasing
• Advanced SEO
• Live chat feature

Pros of Adobe Commerce: 

• Uses AI and advanced data-sharing capabilities
• Flexible, scalable, and extensible
• Site content and promotion are easy
• Use of new tools like drag and drop without the assistance of a developer
• Easy integration to other Adobe products like Analytics, Real-time CDP, Experience manager

Cons of Adobe Commerce: 

• With Adobe Commerce, you will have to provide a server. This can be a difficulty when you are new and unaware of the amount of traffic that will come to the website
• Challenging to navigate the platform for technically handicapped users
• Inclusion of additional costs

What does the pricing look like for Adobe Commerce?

To know about the pricing of Adobe Commerce, submit the essential information regarding your business on their website, and they will get back to you with the pricing information.

5. Wix

Wix, a beginner-friendly website, is a cloud-based builder for bloggers focusing on content and smaller business websites. Wix is popular because it has a feature of pairing off with shopping cart software. This can be done using the in-built function or integrating an external app with the website builder.

Wix gives you the freedom to create websites even without requiring the knowledge of coding. It is best for professionals like musicians, designers, artists, photographers, and small business owners of cafes, gyms, restaurants, and many more.

Wix at a glance:

• Apps integration available: 300+
• Free website templates: 900+
• 1000’s of advanced design capabilities
• Free trial of 14 days
• 99.9% uptime even during traffic spikes

The key features of Wix:

• Drag and Drop website editor
• Personalized SEO plan
• Live chat
• Free hosting
• 256-bit SSL encryption

Pros of Wix: 

• Advanced functionalities
• Enterprise-grade foundation for limitless scalability
• Built-in marketing and business solutions
• Custom domain and logo

Cons of Wix:

• No interchangeable templates
• With Wix, a Google API connection will cost you a plan upgrade
• Difficulty in migrating data

What does the pricing look like for Wix?

Wix has two types of pricing plans, which are:

• Website plans
• Business and SaaS eCommerce plans

Below, we have mentioned the Business and eCommerce plans billed annually. Have a look!

6. Salesforce Commerce Cloud

Salesforce Commerce Cloud gets you discovered by customers and fills your pockets with the revenue earned, so it’s a win-win for everyone. In addition, Salesforce saves time and money so that you can spend that time building your business rather than worrying about the tech.

Salesforce Commerce Cloud at a glance:

• Companies growing their business with Salesforce: 150,000+
• More Sales: 26%+
• Happier customers: 26%+
• More leads: 32%+

The key features of Salesforce Commerce Cloud: 

• Live chat feature and 24/7 customer support
• Trial available for free
• Reduce costs and increase sales
• Flexible tools and workflow automation
• AI support

Pros of Salesforce Commerce Cloud:

• Personalized experiences through connected consumer journeys
• Launch new sites from geographies and payment methods
• Reduced inventory risk with the help of third-party sellers
• Order & Project management in both B2B and B2C commerce
• Trusted by renowned brands such as Boggi Milano, Cargill, PetSmart, Stonewall Kitchen, and many more

Cons of Salesforce Commerce Cloud:

• Limited CMS built-in
• Responsive can be improved
• Not-so-user-friendly administration design

What does the pricing look like for Salesforce Commerce Cloud?

Salesforce Commerce Cloud has different pricing packages for different services and different levels of businesses, so make sure you check their website. However, to give you an idea, here are the price packages for small businesses.

7. Instamojo 

All your eCommerce products need 1 platform, and it’s just a few minutes before they get sold out. Instamojo can be that platform; they let you ship all over India with doorstep pick-up and delivery. With Instamojo online stores, you will be able to:

• Showcase your collection
• Offer workshop
• Collect event tickets

Instamojo at a glance: 

• Trusted users: 20 lakhs
• Integrated payment modes: 100+

The key features of Instamojo:

• Safe hosting
• 100+ integrated payment modes
• Honest, transparent, and flexible
• Support team to set up your store from scratch
• Website customizations
• Add-on services
• Feature recommendation for business growth

Pros of Instamojo:

• Get started for free
• The best payment gateway for Indian websites
• Pocket-friendly

Cons of Instamojo:

• Sellers can’t download invoices
• Long documentation works
• Bugs in the system

What does the pricing look like for Instamojo?

Instamojo provides 2 plans for its trusted users, and they are:

• Free plans
• Premium plans start at 3,999 INR/year

8. Printify

Printed T-shirts, hoodies, and accessories are trendy today. If you want to build an eCommerce SaaS store to sell printed products, don’t look further than Printify.

With them, you can make customized printed products and sell them in 5 easy steps.

• Pick – Choose products from their various catalogs ranging from mugs, and accessories, to home decor and kid’s clothing.
• Customize – Use their free Mockup Generator to upload your chosen design, color, and text.
• Sample – Once you are done customizing. Order a sample product from them to ensure that the end product turns out exactly how you wanted.
• Publish – Enlist the finalized products on your online store automatically.
• Relax – The product is shipped directly to customers after passing the quality check and production. Now you can sit back and track the orders from the Printify account.

Printify easily integrates your business with major eCommerce platforms like Walmart, Shopify, Woo, SquareSpace, Wix, Etsy, and more. This helps to scale your business across all platforms and achieve target sales.

Printify at a glance: 

• Number of high-quality products available: 750+
• Number of sellers who trust Printify: 4M

The key features of Printify:

• 100% free to use
• Live chat feature
• Rewards are available for November and December. Grab them!
• The largest global print network
• Lowest prices, highest profits
• Wide network of partners
• Automatic routine functionality

Pros of Printify:

• Free design tool
• They offer quality checks, and if the quality is not up to the mark, then they also refund
• Amazing product quality

Cons of Printify: 

• Unresponsive customer service
• Limited customizations

What does the pricing look like for Printify? 

Printify has 3 plans, all of which have different prices and features.

• Free plan
• The premium plan is priced at USD 24.99/month
• Enterprise plan has custom pricing

Make sure you go through their website to learn more about all the plans and their different features before choosing one.

9. Shift4 Shop 

Migrate your current eCommerce website to Shift4 Shop or create a new eCommerce store for free with a quick setup. In addition, they provide PCI-compliant security with advanced tokenization, which lets you convert higher and sell more.

Your business will have reduced cart abandonment, and you can notice real-time shipping from your mobile phones. Not just that, Shift4 Shop integrates your business with powerful platforms such as Amazon, Facebook, eBay, FedEx, Avalara, and Kount, so that you can increase your consumer base.

Shift4 Shop is trusted by renowned businesses such as The UPS Store, Hickory Farms, Everything But Water, Hammacher Schlemmer, The Honey Baked Ham Co, CAA, and many others.

Shift4 Shop at a glance:

Dollars earned annually: $200 Million+

Annual transactions: 3.5 Billion

Current customers: 200,000+

Premium themes: 100+

The key features of Shift4 Shop:

• Available for free
• A complete suite of inventory management
• 100+ Mobile friendly, SEO-optimized, and highly functional templates
• An intuitive web design tool that lets you edit the HTML and CSS directly
• AI-driven fraud protection provided by Kount
• Seamlessly and securely accept credit cards and digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay

Pros of Shift4 Shop:

• Most feature-rich website builder
• Availability of customer marketing tools
• Single page checkout
• Built-in blogs for websites

Cons of Shift4 Shop:

• Users may find Shift4 Shop difficult
• Customer support could be inconsistent sometimes

What does the pricing look like for Shift4 Shop?

Shift4 Shop offers free:

• eCommerce SaaS platform
• SSL Certificate
• Domain name
• Website themes

Basically everything you need to start a store, Shift4 Shop is offering for free.

10. WooCommerce

With WooCommerce, you can sell online and even build customizable stores. Add the WooCommerce plug-in to any WordPress site, and voilà, you are ready to set up a store in minutes. It’s that easy.

WooCommerce at a glance:

• Meetups worldwide: 80+
• Team of engineers: 58+
• Money-back guarantee: 30 days

The key features of WooCommerce:

• A platform that is fully customizable down to the source code
• Secure payment gateways
• Configurable shipping options
• Customize and add extensions such as PayPal, Google Ads, Stripe, Mailchimp, TaxJar, and others
• WooCommerce Mobile app lets you monitor statistics and metrics on the go
• Developer-friendly build with REST API
• Support teams across the world

Pros of WooCommerce:

• Able to integrate with any virtual service
• Experts available to offer advice
• Amazing flexibility

Cons of WooCommerce:

• Additional costs are required with every extension added
• It’s a plugin, so you cannot use it on sites that WordPress does not host

What does the pricing look like for WooCommerce?

WooCommerce allows you to customize the price by making changes accordingly; you can launch a store with them at as low as $1,000.

What is the future of eCommerce software as a service (SaaS Market)?

SaaS Ecommerce Future

It is no doubt that E-commerce will dominate the entire market, and the future is quite dominated by that, as per the data we have mentioned above.

Regarding SaaS Ecommerce providers, Software-as-a-Service is gaining immense popularity because of the convenience, ease, and affordability of plans it offers to e-commerce owners. This form of AI would likely take everything to the cloud.

Since more and more people would like to shift their market online, owning a platform would be quite inconvenient. Thus, everyone would sway towards a convenient option: SaaS ecommerce solutions.

Updated : September 28, 2023

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