Best Ecommerce Platforms: Which Should You Choose in 2025?

It’s tough to market and sell a product in 2024. Not only do Canadian businesses need to deal with competition from other local and national retailers, but there is also the global online marketplace to be concerned about. 

Bottom line, if you’re a retailer today, you almost certainly need a strong eCommerce platform. Canadian shoppers are buying online more than ever, and it’s not slowing down. According to Statistica, the Canadian eCommerce market is forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2029 by a total 7.8 million users, which would represent a 31 percent increase. 

The International Trade Administration states that there were over 27 million eCommerce users in Canada in 2022, accounting for 75% of the Canadian population. They also predict growth in this area.

In short, if you’re not offering eCommerce, your business is missing out.

To provide online shopping to your customers, you need to have an eCommerce platform that works for your company. These platforms are not all created equal. If you’re hoping to get into internet retail, you’ll need to choose the right one for your business. 

8 Key Things to Consider when Choosing the Right eCommerce Platform  

When you’re looking at different eCommerce platforms, there are several factors to consider. Each organization will have their own needs and their own requirements, but there are eight important factors that each business will want to think about. These factors are:

• Pricing
  • Obviously pricing is important with every business decision, and it’s no different when choosing an eCommerce platform. When it comes to pricing, there are free options, there are those that come with a one-time charge, and then there are services that require a monthly fee. These costs often vary depending on your needs, such as the number of features you’re looking for or the size and complexity of the store. 
• Ease of Use
  • You’ll want to know how difficult it is to add or remove products, make updates to your store, and manage other features of the platform before you decide to use it. Otherwise, you could complicate your daily life in ways that will waste a lot of time and effort. 
• Scalability
  • The business you’re running today likely won’t be the same one you’re running in a year or two or five. That’s why it’s important to look at how well a platform scales. Otherwise, you could end up having to start all over with a new platform in a few years. 
• Security
  • Online security becomes more and more important each day. Hackers and other criminals frequently target eCommerce sites to gain access to financial or personal information or to otherwise cause trouble for their own benefit. Choosing a platform with weak security could cost your business a great deal 
• Payment Gateways
  • A payment gateway acts as an intermediary in online financial transactions, making it a critical part of your online store. When choosing an eCommerce platform, make sure that it works with the payment gateway you’re considering. You’ll want to consider the fees associated with the gateway as well. 
• Customer Support
  • If something goes wrong or if you have a question, it’s important to know that you can contact customer support for help. Before deciding on an eCommerce platform, look into their customer service. How are you able to contact them (phone, email, text, social media, etc)? What are their hours? What are their typical response times? If there is a problem with the platform, you don’t want to be sitting around for days waiting for help. 
• SEO Options
  • Search engine optimization (SEO) is critical for every website, especially an online store. If your site doesn’t rank highly for your desired keywords and phrases, your business will suffer. Choose a platform that provides extensive SEO options so you can help your store get noticed.
• Performance & Speed
  • Customers don’t want to sit around while a site loads. If your online store is slow, buggy, or suffers from other performance issues, you’re going to lose business. Make sure the eCommerce platform you choose is quick and reliable in similar cases to your own. 

Best Free eCommerce Platforms  

The good news is that you don’t have to spend big money for a reliable eCommerce platform. In fact, there are free options available! By understanding these options and what they provide, you’ll be able to choose the right eCommerce platform for your small business.  

WooCommerce 

WooCommerce is an open-source eCommerce platform that is available as a plugin for WordPress websites. There is no cost for the plugin itself, however you will likely need to pay for website hosting for your store if you don’t already have a host. There are also costs associated with some WooCommerce themes, though free options are also available.

Wix

Wix has a free option where you can start and maintain a website without paying an upfront or monthly fee. There are hundreds of free Wix templates available, including many that are designed for eCommerce sites. However, there is a cost for creating an online store. Plans that include eCommerce range from $29/month to as high as $149/month, depending on the features you’re interested in.

Big Cartel

Big Cartel is an online store platform that has a free plan available. However, on the free plan, the number of products you can sell and the number of images you can post per product are limited. This makes it a good option for those with relatively small stores. If you are looking to sell more products, there are plans available ranging from $9.99/month to $29.99/month. These plans come with various other features as well, such as inventory tracking, Google Analytics integration, and more. 

Best Paid eCommerce Platforms  

Of course, while there are free options available, many of the best Commerce Platforms for small businesses in Canada are paid services. Since you’re paying money, you want to make sure you’re getting the best service for your business. 

Some of the best paid eCommerce platforms available today include: 

Shopify

Shopify provides extensive eCommerce features and is bolstered by the Shopify app store, which provides access to scheduling, invoicing, marketing, and many other apps designed to help you run your store. Prices range from $38/month to over $2000/month for those with very large and complex stores. Various free and paid themes are available to help you customize your store. 

BigCommerce

BigCommerce is an eCommerce platform with open APIs, SDKs, and data so you can customize it to your liking. It also includes numerous platform integrations to improve your site and its functionality. BigCommerce costs range from $29/month to $299/month with customized plans available for larger enterprises. 

Magento Commerce

Magento is an open-source eCommerce platform that provides several features out of the box, including reporting, customer management, order management, and more. There are also many modules and extensions available to boost its capabilities. There is a free, open-source option available. The paid version is now known as Adobe Commerce and pricing is available only by contacting the company directly for a quote. 

How Much Does an eCommerce Platform Cost in Canada?

Much like with many services, there isn’t a flat cost for an eCommerce platform. Instead, there are several options and many factors that go into pricing. You’ll likely find that there may even be different options available at different prices. 

The cost of a service often depends on what you are looking for and which features are best for your business. 

Factors to consider when looking a eCommerce platform prices: 

• Platform Type
  • The vast majority of eCommerce platforms can either be considered on-premises platforms (on-prem), and software-as-a-service (SaaS). On-prem platforms run on a server and are managed by the business, while SaaS run in the cloud and are managed via a web interface.
  • There are benefits and drawbacks to each type of platform.
• Number of products
  • The number of products you sell in your online store will affect the complexity and resource requirements of the product database. This can affect the overall costs associated with development.
• Transaction Fees
  • Depending on the payment processor used, you may need to pay fees on each transaction. These can be a fixed fee or you may be charged a percentage of the transaction. These fees can add up over time, so think about this aspect carefully. 
• Hosting Costs
  • There are hosting costs associated with running an online store. Some eCommerce platforms are hosted in the cloud, so you won’t need to find a separate host, but others will need to be hosted on a server. This comes with a cost as well as security and maintenance requirements. 
• SSL Certificates
  • Your website needs security and your visitors need to know that your online store is secure. This means you’ll need an SSL certificate. Not having one can also potentially affect your search engine ranking. 
• Web Design
  • Many of the eCommerce Platforms used by small businesses in Canada offer different templates or themes for their stores. Some have both free and paid themes available. If you want to truly customize your store, however, you’ll want to work with a trusted and experienced web developer. This will ensure that your site matches your company brand. 
• Marketing and SEO Tools
  • Some eCommerce platforms have marketing and SEO features included in their offerings, but many do not. If they don’t, you’ll need to budget for these costs. 
• Support and Maintenance
  • Updating, maintaining, and securing your website is critical. With some platforms, some of these services are included. With others, you’ll be responsible for paying for them. 

As you can see, there are many potential costs associated with an eCommerce platform in Canada. Depending on the platform you choose and your requirements, the costs could be quite different. Setting a budget and determining what services you need for your business can help you find the right option at the right price.  

What is the Best eCommerce Platform for SEO?

SEO is important. If your website doesn’t rank well, no one will be able to find it. It won’t matter how great your business is or how amazing your products are if your site is buried on the fifth page of the Google search results. 

The WooCommerce WordPress plugin is a very SEO-friendly option. Not only is WordPress itself a good choice for its SEO capabilities (along with the other benefits of using WordPress) but WooCommerce makes it easy to write and optimize product titles, add SEO meta descriptions to each product, change product URLs to attract more traffic, organize your store using categories and tags, and much more. This makes it an excellent choice for anyone who wants to improve the search engine ranking of their online store. 

Shopify vs Wix: Which is Better?

Shopify and Wix are two of the most popular eCommerce platforms out there. They both have benefits for Canadian businesses, but which one is the best choice?

As always, you’ll need to break down and analyze several factors before you can come to a decision. 

Price:

The cost structure and pricing systems of the two choices are similar, but Wix is generally cheaper than Shopify and it offers a longer free trial. Wix also doesn’t charge transaction fees, though some payment processors may have their own fees. Shopify charges a fee for each transaction. This fee varies depending on your plan.

Ease of Use:

Both platforms are designed to be easy to use. Wix offers drag and drop functionality, so you don’t need to know any coding or programming to get started. Shopify offers templates and a section-based editor to help you customize your store. Many people may find Wix easier to use, but it is also more limited in its customization options. Shopify is specifically focused on eCommerce (while Wix is available for standard websites as well), you have more options aimed at designing an attractive online store. 

Payment Options:

Wix offers several payment options such as PayPal, Square, and Stripe. However, Shopify has much broader options, including Apple Pay, Google Pay, and cryptocurrency options. 

Features:

Both services offer hundreds of different integrations to improve your site’s functionality. However, Shopify may be a better choice if you have a larger store since it is able to scale much more easily. Shopify also offers 24/7 customer support, while Wix support varies based on the chosen support channel. For a smaller business that is just starting out, Wix may be a better choice. However, for a larger or more established business, Shopify might be the more attractive option. 

Bottom Line

eCommerce doesn’t have to be complicated, but it does involve making the right decisions and choosing the right tools and platforms. It also means implementing them correctly and effectively. 

If you need a hand, book a discovery call today with Eggs Media, Toronto-based design agency. With years of experience, our team is the right choice to not only help you choose the best eCommerce platform for your small businesses in Canada, but we can also ensure that it’s functioning as it should, integrated with your website, and optimized for SEO so you don’t miss out on traffic. We’re the right choice to help your online store succeed!