What to Choose - Your Own Online Store or an E-Commerce Marketplace?

There is currently a massive movement among entrepreneurs toward creating online stores - those who had not yet considered an online presence are now scrambling to fix it. Even under normal conditions, the question often arises: should you build your own online store or sell on an existing online sales platform?

What are these options?

Your own online store is a website built on your brand domain. It is the company's property, infrastructure, and virtual storefront. You must pay for website maintenance, hosting, domain, fixes, design elements, and content.

On the other hand, with an online sales platform, you "only" need to create an account, add products to the catalog, and start selling. The platform typically charges commissions for each product sold, and there may be monthly fees or setup fees depending on the platform.

Pros and Cons

TOP E-Commerce Platforms

Let us look at the leading solutions on both fronts. We will start with ready-made e-commerce solutions that specialize exclusively in online retail. These solutions offer full-service packages for anyone wanting to start an e-commerce business. The end result is your own online store rather than a marketplace profile, built on pre-made foundations and available for a monthly or annual fee.

Shopify

Currently the trendiest solution. A very convenient and generally enjoyable product because everything is thought out, featuring a vast number of various plugins that are easy to integrate into the website.

Everything is completely clear and easy to use, making this product attractive to e-commerce beginners. The pricing also appeals to small and medium merchants. A Shopify Plus version is available for larger players.

Pricing:

• Basic - 29 USD/mo.
• Shopify - 79 USD/mo.
• Advanced - 299 USD/mo.

BigCommerce

Another market leader, much older but less recognized in our region than Shopify - BigCommerce. Unlike Shopify, which is easy to use for beginners with fewer technical skills, BigCommerce is geared more toward professionals. That is precisely why this platform has lower mainstream recognition.

Just like Shopify, BigCommerce offers an Enterprise solution, while its base-level offerings are similar to its competitor.

Pricing:

• Standard - 29.95 USD/mo.
• Plus - 79.95 USD/mo.
• Pro - 299.95 USD/mo.

Magento

Magento represents the transition from ready-made subscription platforms to open-source software. Magento offers both options. The open-source solution is free, while the Enterprise solution ranges from 15,000 to 50,000 USD/year.

The open-source solution is one of the most popular e-commerce platforms globally, having earned the trust of entrepreneurs for years. Although a wide variety of plugins are available, a store built with Magento will not be as fast and inexpensive as those of the competitors mentioned above. However, the end result can yield a very powerful online store.

Other similar solutions include Squarespace, WIX, Volusion, Weebly, Selz, and of course many other platforms depending on your taste, functionality, and needs. We can also mention our local Mozello, although small platforms like Mozello have very limited functional development options.

TOP Open-Source E-Commerce Platforms

This solution is completely independent. With an open-source platform, you can build how and what you want using free and paid extensions to expand your store functionality and enhance the customer experience.

Many web development companies have their own proprietary programmed solutions. If you are confident in the company's long-term viability, all aspects of cooperation, and primarily the cost, you can choose this option. However, in practice, these companies often lock clients into their proprietary solution. The client has no opportunity to migrate to another, cheaper, or more advantageous web development agency simply because others are unwilling to deal with a custom solution.

WooCommerce

WooCommerce is the undisputed leader among e-commerce solutions built on the WordPress platform. WordPress was not originally designed for e-commerce; it started as a blogging platform and works exceptionally well for informative business websites (for instance, this MMN website is also built on WordPress), news sites, and similar pages. However, with the evolution of WooCommerce, you can build a powerful online store.

The WordPress CMS is available without separate license fees, and WooCommerce is also open-source at its core. There are numerous free and paid plugins and extensions to upgrade your store, though expenses can add up quickly. Paid plugins usually come with good support services to help resolve issues, implement integrations, and more.

Speaking of the WordPress open-source ecosystem, the Shopify and BigCommerce e-commerce plugins reviewed above are also available here. Furthermore, a vast number of developers build projects primarily using the WordPress platform.

Drupal

Drupal is also an open-source solution like WordPress, but it is much more tailored and ready for e-commerce out of the box. Drupal's biggest advantage is its stability; many developers work with it, and it is relatively popular among web creators.

With Drupal, you get a robust and reliable solution.

The aforementioned Magento also belongs to this category through its Open Source edition.

Several other platforms are worth considering:

• xCart
• Leading Joomla platforms
• PrestaShop
• OpenCart
• OsCommerce
• CubeCart
• AbanteCart
• and others

The next step after creating your online store is investing in digital marketing services. Do not overlook this: a finished website, unless you already have a loyal user community, will not suddenly start selling on its own. It needs to be advertised.

TOP Online Marketplaces

Finally, there are ready-made sales venues such as digital marketplaces where you can secure your trading space and try to stand out among numerous competitors with similar advantages.

Amazon

Of course, the main player in this field is Amazon, which also has international local versions such as the UK (.co.uk) and Germany (.de).

Massive buyer inflows and a huge number of affiliate partners drive traffic from their own websites to the Amazon store. During the COVID-19 crisis, Amazon's sales figures only grew; this is truly a place where you can scale your business.

Countless resources are available, both free and paid courses teaching how to properly run a business on Amazon from A to Z. It seems simple yet complex at the same time, with many factors and details influencing success.

Pricing: similar to all platforms of this type, a percentage share of sales, with commissions potentially very high for certain product categories.

eBay

Another universal giant is eBay. Until 2011, eBay was even more popular than Amazon, but since 2011 Amazon has slowly and confidently surpassed eBay by a wide margin. The current trend also shows eBay's popularity declining while Amazon's grows rapidly.

The most significant difference is that eBay is an auction-style e-commerce platform where purchases are made by the buyer who bids the highest price for the desired product. You can evaluate which of the major platforms is worth starting with based on these factors.

What other platforms are available?

• Etsy - handmade/vintage niche
• Alibaba, AliExpress - the Chinese giants
• Our own local 220.lv Marketplace
• Social media selling tools - Facebook, Instagram
• Various niche platforms to sell courses, digital products, books, designs, music, etc.

As you can see, the options are varied. Many entrepreneurs combine strategies, building their own online stores where they want full control over the brand and business processes while simultaneously partnering with marketplaces, thus creating additional sales opportunities that frequently turn into core revenue streams. Amazon and our local 220 are good examples, where you can find many well-known brands.